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Post by wantagh2016 on Sept 20, 2012 12:51:15 GMT -5
Does anyone know what the 5:00 BOE meeting today covers. It's listed as a Planning Session and was added on 9/18. I called the district and they are taking phone numbers to call back people because they have no information to give out. If they are formally appointing Maureen Goldberg shouldn't we be allowed to there.
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Post by jdelisa on Sept 20, 2012 19:04:31 GMT -5
first of all, all the best (and all our prayers) to Maureen for whatever comes next; Forest Lake's partial loss is the District's fortunate gain.___________________________________ here's one of today's top stories in the Syracuse area: Skaneateles school officials surprised to learn former superintendent is out of new job - By Catie O'Toole, The Post-Standard (also on syracuse.com) Skaneateles, NY -- Former Skaneateles School Superintendent Philip D’Angelo Jr. is no longer in charge of the Long Island district he took over less than three months ago. The Wantagh Union Free School District Board of Education issued a statement Thursday saying it has approved a leave for D’Angelo, effective last Friday. The board appointed an elementary school principal in the district to take over as acting superintendent, according to the release. The Wantagh school district updated its superintendent’s page Wednesday afternoon so it was blank Thursday. An email sent to D’Angelo at Wantagh schools was returned with an error message that read, “No such user.” Wantagh school board president Michael Cucci referred questions to the district’s public relations firm. He asked, “Can I ask you one thing? How is (the) Skaneateles (school district) now?” Cucci then asked for the name of the Skaneateles school board president. D’Angelo was the fourth superintendent for the Wantagh school district in less than a year, according to a Long Island newspaper. Skaneateles school board president Evan Dreyfuss said he talked to D’Angelo just before school started and everything seemed to be going well for him. “This is very surprising to me,” Dreyfuss said. “I had no inclination. I’m very sorry to hear this. I hope he’s OK personally and professionally. People here liked him. He was a standup guy and we wished him well. We wanted to see him do well in that position.” Dreyfuss said D’Angelo had a professional relationship with the Skaneateles school board, and there was never any conflict. “Everyone in our school got along with him and respected him,” Dreyfuss said. “In my six years on the board, there was no misconduct, no reason to reprimand, nothing of that nature.” D’Angelo could not be reached for comment. The Wantagh school district’s public relations firm sent a two-paragraph release stating the board approved D’Angelo’s leave and appointed Forest Lake Elementary School Principal Maureen Goldberg as acting superintendent. “Once a decision has been finalized, the Board of Education will appoint and announce an acting principal for Forest Lake Elementary School,” the release said. Skaneateles school officials said they have had little contact with D’Angelo since he left Central New York. “We’ve only heard he’s no longer in the role of superintendent,” Assistant Superintendent for Business and Finance Dale Bates said. Bates said officials in Skaneateles learned the news Thursday morning from media reports. In May, Skaneateles school board members agreed to give D’Angelo a 1.5 percent raise — increasing his salary from $179,417 to $182,108, retroactive July 1, 2011 — at the same meeting in which they accepted his letter of resignation. D’Angelo joined Skaneateles in 2005. Prior to that he had been the superintendent of the Warsaw Central School District, where he had been the junior-senior high principal before becoming superintendent. D’Angelo resigned as Skaneateles’ superintendent effective June 30. He took over July 1 as superintendent of the Wantagh Union Free School District on Long Island. His annual salary there was $227,000. www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2012/09/update_skaneateles_school_offi.html
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Post by apteacher on Sept 20, 2012 19:27:54 GMT -5
Of course Dr. D'Angelo is getting paid. He signed a 5 year contract. Does anyone think someone with a contract who relocated from upstate is going to walk away for free? That's ridiculous.
Another thing, the school board doesnt run the school. They hire the superintendent to do that. MAybe they are confused as to what their role is.
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Post by Chris_Wendt on Sept 21, 2012 6:56:34 GMT -5
But the Patch article and district email from the BoE said the BoE approved a leave for D'Angelo, and that he "exited the district". From that it could be inferred that the leave had been requested (initiated) by D'Angelo, and like any of us do when we exit from someplace, we walk out the door.
The key word was missing from the Patch article and district email. Taken all by itself with no context, the word "leave" implies a period of unpaid absence, not to be confused with a suspension, which for school administrators is almost always "with pay pending..." some outcome.
Until yesterday we were all free to interpret the Patch article and email however we wanted to, but in a fog of poor diction and loose terminology. However, now a kernel of truth as been seeded into the district website:
"A meeting of the Wantagh Board of Education, Wantagh Union Free School District, was held on Friday, September 14, 2012...at 7:00 a.m.
Those in attendance were:
Mr. Michael Cucci President
Ms. Jean Quinn Vice-President
Mr. Tony Greco Trustee
Mr. Bill Russack Trustee
Mr. Michael Soethout Trustee
Ms. Dana DiCapua Assistant Superintendent for Business
Dr. Maureen Appiarius Assistant Superintendent for Instruction
MOTION was made...seconded...and passed 4-0, with Jean Quinn
abstaining, approving the following resolution:
RESOLVED, that the employee named and discussed in executive session is hereby suspended with pay pending an investigation and/or the applicable and appropriate proceedings effective immediately.
MOTION was made...seconded...and passed unanimously, approving the
following resolution:
RESOLVED, that a firm to be determined is hereby appointed as Special Counsel/Investigator for the purposes of investigating allegations made regarding an employee discussed in executive session at a fee to be negotiated."
Special Counsel/Investigator?
(Scratching head, wondering how a Board can "appoint" an unnamed entity for an undetermined fee; no, of course they can't do that, but it definitely sends a message.
What message? GUILTY, as soon as we find the right special counsel who will do the deed!)
Of course, this is Wantagh, in America, and there is that presumption of innocence that goes along with due process. So maybe, just maybe Phil gets his job back and that chance, however remote, is why Maureen can only be appointed "Acting" Superintendent, and, why a shadow of uncertainty will hang over the appointment of Maureen's replacement as an acting principal at Forest Lake. You know, until this is settled.
So, Welcome to Wantagh, Home of the Most Superintendents in the Nation! We now have two, or at least we are paying for two! How many SMART Boards are we not buying next year to pay for two Superintendent salaries?
Oh, we could buy-out Phil's contract, presuming he's willing to sell-out for cash.
Astounded!
Chris Wendt
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Post by lilly on Sept 21, 2012 7:17:10 GMT -5
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Post by mommymomo on Sept 21, 2012 11:32:24 GMT -5
If D'Angelo is taking the fall for the Mel situation I am appalled! You fire a guy with autism who threatens to blow up the school and YOU are the bad guy/enemy? YOU lose your job? I wonder what the community would have thought if the guy who threatened to blow up the school was a 45 year old man without autism? Or if he was a 45 year old arab-american with or without autism. Disgusting. Are the citizens of Wantagh really so simple minded ? If this is the case, I , for one, stand behind PHIL!
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Post by pat2345 on Sept 21, 2012 11:59:04 GMT -5
If he was fired because of MEL, we are on the hook for the remainder of his contract, way to go BOE. IMO, I agree with Mommymomo on the "threatening to blow up the school", anyone regardless of their situation should be taken serious. But a room full (still could be the majority) were yelling the loudest and we (not just the majority, every taxpayer) will be cutting a check for over 1 mm to make this group happy. I'm sick of these people, they are the same that when their children are out of the system, they sell their homes because the property taxes are too high.
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Post by mommymomo on Sept 21, 2012 12:46:24 GMT -5
If he was fired because of MEL, we are on the hook for the remainder of his contract, way to go BOE. IMO, I agree with Mommymomo on the "threatening to blow up the school", anyone regardless of their situation should be taken serious. But a room full (still could be the majority) were yelling the loudest and we (not just the majority, every taxpayer) will be cutting a check for over 1 mm to make this group happy. I'm sick of these people, they are the same that when their children are out of the system, they sell their homes because the property taxes are too high. I totally agree. I really hope they find that he either did something really awful warranting his firing (like, maybe, murdered someone) or that he is taking leave because of personal, non-Mel-related issues because if not I am just sick to be a part of this idiotic, short-sighted, self-righteous community. Many said how proud they were to be a part of Wantagh after the public outpouring of love towards Mel, well, if this super's leaving has anything to do with this incident, then I am ashamed to be a part of this community. I stand with Phil! |
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Post by Chris_Wendt on Sept 21, 2012 12:47:08 GMT -5
I do not think Phil D'Angelo is taking the fall for the "Mel situation". Of course, in my opinion it would be convenient for the BoE if the community adopted that thinking as being factual, thus shifting the focus of the Mel situation off the Board and onto Phil.
But critical thinking and the few known facts do not support the conclusion that Phil D'Angelo is being made the scapegoat for the community outrage over the Board's firing Mel in the manner they did.
On point is the very fact that the Mel situation is still not resolved, meaning his firing has not been undone. Consider that, at one point, Mel was determined by the Board to have been a threat, a danger and was both fired and banned from the premises. At a later point, it was determined by the Board that Mel actually did not pose a threat or danger and was permitted on the premises, near the conclusion of one of Wantagh's finest hours, the massive turnout of public support for Mel Turner at the September Board Meeting.
As of this writing, with Mel now back in the good graces of the Board, no action has yet been taken to reverse his firing and reinstate him to his job. What's up with that? Either Mel is a threat and should remain fired AND be banned from the property, or, Mel is NOT a threat and therefore should be allowed on school property AND get his job back.
The second curious and (to me) troubling fact is (and should be to you) the absence of any detectable union support for Mel during any of this "situation", including any demands by the union for Mel's reinstatement, especially now that he is no longer considered to be a threat.
The final fact is that Phil D'Angelo was not superintendent of Wantagh Schools at the time Mel was hired. So, whatever the union's deal or position or problem is concerning the "situation", the union's behavior cannot be blamed on Phil. Especially not in light of the Board's history of micromanaging all facets of district operations, especially the facilities operations, the very department where Mel worked.
Circling back, I am not buying Phil as a scapegoat for Mel for one minute. This does not resolve the "Mel situation" unfortunately, but it does give us pause to wonder what the "Phil situation" is really all about, since I don't believe it has anything to do with Mel Turner.
I figure the cost to buy out Phil's contract to be in the range of three quarters of a million dollars to a cool million. About the same order of magnitude as the entire sports budget for the district. Punitive damages would be another matter, if applicable.
Final comment, God bless Louis (Lou) Hirschfield for stepping up as the acting principal at Forest Lake. He is another terrific educator and we are indeed fortunate to have him, and for his pitching-in at this time.
Chris Wendt
PS - Note: Phil is not on Leave, he is suspended with pay pending an investigation. The Board is hiring an investigator to see what they can get on him. Read the minutes posted above, or, on the district website.
-CW
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Post by tiredoftaxes on Sept 21, 2012 12:51:49 GMT -5
To begin with, I am no fan of employment contracts, but why are we entering into 5 year contracts??? Why not just do one year with an option to renew?? This entire process, including the BOE, is a joke!!! Doesn't the BOE discuss these sensitive legal issues with the attorney representing the District before taking action?? If so, maybe they need a new law firm?? This District is just loaded with politics from different groups having their own agendas....Maybe its time to bring in the Feds to get to the truth and clean up the mess!!!
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Post by mommymomo on Sept 21, 2012 12:55:26 GMT -5
Well, Mr. Wendt, I certainly hope that they find that Phil D'Angelo is guilty of some very heinous crime and the BOE has saved Wantagh from a villian.
I believe the Mel situation is still being reviewed and he may still get his job back, but I may be wrong. The Phil situation appears, too, to be being investigated and we may end up back with Phil.
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Post by Chris_Wendt on Sept 21, 2012 12:59:24 GMT -5
State Law established a minimum 3-year term and maximum 5-year term for all Superintendent contracts in Union Free School Districts. Phil's contract is for 5 years, in my opinion a ridiculous decision for a new hire.
The good news is that only the first three years have a specified salary, and the last two years do not specify any salary, so in effect it is a 3-year contact that sounds like a 5-year deal. You know, just as a "suspension with pay" sounds like a "leave".
Chris Wendt
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Post by lilly on Sept 21, 2012 13:01:38 GMT -5
Well, tons of TV news crews up at the school right now waiting for the Mel decision. Still irks me that the TV news crews were given the heads-up, the community wasn't. Just a series of BOE planning session notices barely making the district website in time.
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Post by tiredoftaxes on Sept 21, 2012 13:06:35 GMT -5
Chris, thanks for the clarification on the 3 year contract minimum...Didn't know that was one of those bad state laws that should be changed, along with the governor.
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greda
Junior Member
Posts: 44
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Post by greda on Sept 22, 2012 17:21:52 GMT -5
Based upon news reports, perchance the suspended with pay employee is Mel who is waiting for an evaluation? Does Mr. Wendt have any other theories he would like to throw out there? He needs to get another hobby
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