What Some Elected Officials

Don’t Want You To Know

To the Editor:

Ever since the transportation decision and the election, the amount of misinformation and party line propaganda directed at Newtown’s school district has continued to accumulate without the Board of Education setting the record straight. Clearly, some BOE members are not playing on the same team as the teachers, administrators, students, and superintendent. They have helped to fan the flames with a smear campaign of their own and I believe this was their plan even before they were elected. It’s not about what they tell you, it’s about what they don’t want you to know. Here are just three examples:

The Communications Consultant: There was nothing illegal about the superintendent retaining the services of a communications consultant. Not only had the Legislative Council encouraged the superintendent to fix the communications gap, but even the district’s own strategic plan, crafted by teachers and parents alike, called for a communications resource to support the district’s initiatives. For some people however, the rub comes from the fact that it was the consultant who helped the district and the BOE manage the transportation review program. Had the transportation decision ruled in the owner-operator’s favor, the consultant’s work on that project would have been applauded.

The Pre-K Special Education Bus Aides: What you don’t know is that the reason the superintendent contacted parents was because a review of the transportation invoices found that the district was being charged for more buses than were used, for services on days that school was closed, and for aides that were assigned to the pre-K special ed buses even though the special education plan did not require an aide. We’re not talking small change, either. Our schools administration should be doing everything they can to cut unnecessary and unapproved spending, especially when it adds up to tens of thousands of dollars. But for some reason, most people never knew about that part of the story.

The Administrator’s Complaint: Based on comments made in The Bee article by members of this board, one might think the administrator’s complaint came as a surprise to the BOE. But in fact, despite claiming transparency, some BOE members have been conducting meetings with district staff and personnel without the superintendent’s knowledge and in some cases even without the administrator’s approval. One teacher described it to me as a “wedge” that some BOE members are trying to drive between the teachers and the administration. In one case back in February, the BOE member asked an administrator to leave the room so she could speak with that administrator’s employee in private. I am sure this BOE received complaints about these actions long before this administrator’s complaint arrived. And so I do not understand why Ms Roche would comment in the recent article about the administrator’s complaint “What’s frustrating to me is we’re all supposed to be on the same team” unless she and maybe others on the BOE are playing for the wrong team.

It’s time to stop the slander and half-truths against our schools. Grow up. 

Kevin Fitzgerald

24 Old Farm Hill Road, Newtown                                     May 2, 2012