http://www.sec.state.ma.us/AppealsWeb/AppealsStatus.aspx
Apri 14, 2015 C Kourkoumelis Appeal
Read the whole decision and see how brazen the administration with its idiotic lawyers really is!
Finally some truth about the investigation into a "racially hostile" school district!
July 15. 2015 1:04PM
Melrose Civil Rights investigation records sought
By Aaron Leibowitz
aleibowitz@wickedlocal.com
An investigation into the Melrose Public Schools by the federal Office for Civil Rights over an alleged racial incident has prompted one School Committee member to raise questions about transparency between the district and the committee.
In search of information pertaining to the OCR investigation that has not been disclosed to the School Committee, committee member Carrie Kourkoumelis submitted a public records request in March to Superintendent of Schools Cyndy Taymore.
Taymore denied Kourkoumelis’ request to see communications among Taymore, members of the School Committee and legal counsel surrounding the OCR investigation, citing attorney-client privilege and the deliberative process exemption under Mass. General Law.
Kourkoumelis formally appealed Taymore’s decision to Mass. Supervisor of Public Records Shawn Williams. On July 8, Williams ordered the district to provide Kourkoumelis with the requested records within 10 days, or to provide a detailed explanation of why a legal exemption applies to each record.
“The Melrose Public Schools intends to comply with the Supervisor of Records’ determination and specify how the attorney-client privilege is applicable to the request for public records,” Taymore said in a statement emailed to the Free Press this week.
Kourkoumelis initially requested the records as a member of the School Committee, but Taymore and committee Chairwoman Kristin Thorp, citing the committee’s policy norms last updated March 24, said that the level of information being provided to members is appropriate.
“The committee as a whole has access to the [legal] invoices,” Thorp said. “We’ve decided the invoices are at the level of detail that is of interest to us. If [Kourkoumelis] wants additional information, she has to make a public records request.”
At that March 24 School Committee meeting, Kourkoumelis was the lone dissenting vote in the move to update the policy norms regarding, in part, the ways in which the district and School Committee communicate with each other.
Other committee members agreed that Taymore provides the information they need while acting within the law.
“I feel like what we set as a committee is kind of the global approach to what’s going on, and then the details are administrative and left to the superintendent to take from there,” committee member Jessica Dugan told the Free Press earlier this week. “I have never felt like we’ve needed more, and I’ve never had to request more.”
Committee members were informed of the OCR investigation at an executive session on Feb. 12, several months after the investigation began. During that session, Taymore told the Committee that the ongoing investigation had resulted in a bill of $6,622. Taymore also said the district had spent $2,537 to comply with a public records request filed by an attorney for the student involved in the incident in question.
Before signing off on those payments, Kourkoumelis sought a detailed breakdown of the OCR-related costs.
“We as a school committee are expected to sign the warrants to pay the legal bills,” Kourkoumelis said. “That, to me, says we should be able to see every aspect of those bills.”
On March 6, Kourkoumelis emailed Taymore to request four items as a private citizen: the OCR Notice of Investigation; communications among committee members, Taymore, and legal counsel surrounding the investigation; communications among Taymore, school staff, School Committee members, and attorneys representing the district since January 2014; and Taymore’s phone log indicating contact with attorneys resulting in billable hours since January 2014.
Taymore replied that she could not fulfill the second and third requests due to attorney-client privilege, and that she could not fulfill the fourth because no such records exist.
She did, however, send Kourkoumelis the OCR Notice of Investigation. In that letter, Civil Rights Attorney Allen Kropp explained that the OCR was opening an investigation into a complaint that the Melrose Public Schools are “discriminating on the basis of race.”
“Specifically, the complaint alleges that in the 2013-14 school year, a middle school teacher made derogatory remarks to one of her assigned students, directed at the student’s race,” the Notice of Investigation reads. “The complainants also reported that the District has failed to adequately respond to reports and/or complaints about the remarks. They maintain that the lack of response continues to subject students to a racially hostile environment.”
The district employed a private attorney to assist in compliance with the investigation, which began in late 2014. The OCR has not yet released its findings.
http://melrose.wickedlocal.com/article/20150715/NEWS/150717945
“I feel like what we set as a committee is kind of the global approach to what’s going on, and then the details are administrative and left to the superintendent to take from there,” committee member Jessica Dugan told the Free Press earlier this week. “I have never felt like we’ve needed more, and I’ve never had to request more.”
says it all
Melrose School District Faces Federal Discrimination Investigation
The Office for Civil Rights investigation stems from a claim that a middle school teacher made a racially derogatory remark to a student.
By Joe Vince (Patch Staff) July 15, 2015
Melrose School District Faces Federal Discrimination Investigation
The U.S. Office for Civil Rights is investigating Melrose Public Schools in connection with a 2014 complaint that the district racially discriminates based on an incident between a teacher and student, according to a Wicked Local report.
The investigation centers around an accusation that a middle school teacher made derogatory comments about one of her students that were racially based, the report stated. The complaint also claims the district did not adequately address or resolve the incident, and that inaction has created a ”racially hostile environment” for students, which is still present, the report added.
District officials have not been forthcoming when it comes to releasing details about the alleged incident and the subsequent investigation. That’s led a School Committee member to actively challenge this lack of transparency.
»Via Wicked Local
In March, committee member Carrie Kourkoumelis filed a records request to Superintendent Cyndy Taymore in order to uncover more information about the investigation, the report stated. Committee members were initially told about the OCR notice in a February executive session, the report added.
Taymore denied the request, citing attorney-client privilege and the state’s deliberative process exemption, the report stated. But on July 8, the state’s supervisor of public records ordered the district to either produce the requested records in 10 days or thoroughly explain the legal reasons why it doesn’t have to, the report added.
In response, Taymore again cited attorney-client privilege for not fulfilling two of the records requests, the report said. The superintendent also said records for another request didn’t exist, the report added.
Ultimately, the only request Taymore completed was to turn over a copy of the OCR investigation notice, the report stated.
“Specifically, the complaint alleges that in the 2013-14 school year, a middle school teacher made derogatory remarks to one of her assigned students, directed at the student’s race,” the Notice of Investigation stated, according to the report. “The complainants also reported that the District has failed to adequately respond to reports and/or complaints about the remarks. They maintain that the lack of response continues to subject students to a racially hostile environment.”
Listen folks - this only goes to confirm what many of us have been saying for many years - we have a rogue Superintendent in Ms. Taymore and school committee - another reason why NOT to vote fo this override!
http://www.sec.state.ma.us/AppealsWeb/AppealsStatus.aspx
Apri 14, 2015 C Kourkoumelis Appeal
"Read the whole decision and see how brazen the administration with its idiotic lawyers really is!
Finally some truth about the investigation into a "racially hostile" school district!"
The whole thing is quite a story. But the most central is buried in this reply from the Secretary of State's Office and in what led to it. What it says about the incompetence and treachery of Melrose officials is quite significant.
It would seem Taymore, Thorp, Driscoll, et al, are now hoist on their own petard, and rightfully so, since they have obviously failed to understand that the cover-up always causes more problems than the incident itself. Rather than one rogue teacher making racist remarks, we now have an entire SC accused of attempting to cover up the incident.
Here's a suggestion: CKK was denied any access to the records in question. Put each and every other member of the SC under oath and ask if any of them have ever seen or been made aware of the contents of the records.
Do you think it's a coincidence that the accused teacher is the former head of the MTA, and that said teacher was "transferred" out of the MS during this whole process?
What a bunch of incompetent nitwits. If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck........
Citizens of Melrose, these are your elected representatives. Do you think maybe it's finally time you pulled your heads out of your a$$es and realized exactly what kind of blithering fools you've put in these critical positions?
One more question - do you really think these fools did this own their own without direction from the big office on the second floor?
Congratulations and Thank You to Mrs. Kourkoumelis! Once again she has shown her selfless dedication and intelligence, and taken the initiative (and heat) to tackle the toughest issues of all of our children. Time for everyone else to get off our butts and pay attention and help! This is a real victory for The Good Gals!
Yes, thank you, Mrs. Kourkoumelis.
Does anybody know what happened to the teacher and the student involved? Are they both still at the school? Was the teacher disciplined at all?
Nothing happen and nothing is going to happen to Mrs. B
NB got to "retire" after being promoted to the high school for the past year (so she'd be in the faces of those she offended so egregiously). Justice indeed! Great administration indeed!
And let's not forget all this is not even about the original incident. That's a Federal investigation that is still ongoing. This is merely about the cover-up attempted by the City.
Let's remember, too, that this is about the "authorities" abusing their power to withhold what any reasonable dolt would know is supposed to be PUBLIC INFORMATION about the use of PUBLIC FUNDS and PUBLIC RESOURCES (staff, etc.). And these same officious officials are now going to continue abusing their power and use even more public money to defend what is indefensible, and have their legal team concoct more absurd "rationales" for why this information must remain secret. It is truly Kafkaesque that Melrose citizens have allowed this absurdly abusive conduct over and over again in the management of its school district and city governance.
Oh yeah, and that little matter of racism and civil liberties.... A FEDERAL INVESTIGATION! And these administrators and politicians have the unmitigated audacity to think there is any justification whatsoever for their despicable conduct--for hiring and/or retaining anyone who would mistreat students (or staff--as we saw with that art teacher), for covering up the investigation, for putting up innumerable roadblocks even to our own elected official for access to documentation that should be instantly available were Melrose to have respectful officials with any integrity! For starters....
Astonishing indeed.
"On March 6, Kourkoumelis emailed Taymore to request four items as a private citizen: the OCR Notice of Investigation; communications among committee members, Taymore, and legal counsel surrounding the investigation; communications among Taymore, school staff, School Committee members, and attorneys representing the district since January 2014; and Taymore’s phone log indicating contact with attorneys resulting in billable hours since January 2014.
Taymore replied that she could not fulfill the second and third requests due to attorney-client privilege, and that she could not fulfill the fourth because no such records exist."
So the Superintendent of Schools keeps no phone log? Well maybe that explains why it's so difficult to get a return phone call. But it doesn't explain why the taxpayers should be paying her $180,000 (and she wants another raise next month!), or her "executive secretary" who is also being paid handsomely (more than many teachers!). No phone log! But yet she is the "official records keeper" of the district!
Who needs Communication Plans when these arrogant a$$es won't even fulfill the basic requirements of their job?! Repeat: The superintendent of schools does not keep a log of phone calls! (Either that or she out and out lied so she wouldn't have to produce it, but either way, Not Acceptable!)
I don't know what the administration is talking about. A phone log would be readily available from the telecommunications service provider whether it be Comcast, Verizon, etc. It would show incoming and outgoing phone calls from the Superintendent's line, the date and time of the call and the length of time those lines were connected. This info is readily available to the customer for a period of two years after the call is made. These days, there is no such thing as a phone communication that is not on record (ask the NSA!). Ms. K should insist these records be released immediately.
Yes of course. But beyond that a basic notebook detailing phone calls is what most competent secretaries keep for their bosses, especially in a school district. And if they don't, both should be fired. Just a phone number (from a phone provider) is not enough good information.
So what does this mean? When someone calls and Diane gets the call, does she just do nothing with it every time Cyndy is in a meeting? Or make no notation and just put it to voicemail, expecting the superintendent to field all of her calls? This is ludicrous. If that office staff doesn't even keep track of who is calling and why, then things are even worse than anyone could have thought!
Let's be honest with each other - we have an incompetent school superintendent and school committee. This report from the Secretary of State's office just confirms it!
So now we have a full blown Office of Civil Rights investigation of our school administration underway, an attempted cover-up of the pending investigation by Kristen Thorpe with her willful actions to violate the State's Open Meeting Laws, and now her failed attempt with the help of Superintendent Taymore to unlawfully prevent the release of public records to our elected school committee members who are desperately trying to get to the bottom of why we are spending fistfuls of taxpayer dollars for legal fees to defend the corrupt actions of these two. I have had it up to here with the corruption in this city! It is time to abolish the illegal School Committee Norms which Thorpe and Taymore hide behind so that they can illegally withhold public information from the citizens' elected school committee members. Meanwhile, our illustrious Mayor sits back quietly taking the moral low road, doing nothing and just lets the corruption fester. Are you ready for another four years of this corruption?? We already have the trifecta of the Office of Civil Rights, Secretary of State's Office and State's Attorney General calling out the Taymore/Thorpe corruption spree. Who's next; the FBI? Do we really need these two to continue to embarrass our community for the next few years?
IT IS WHAT IT IS.Important Notice.The whole thing is quite a story.
I don't understand the criticism of the Foundation. They are trying to good things and raise money for the schools. They have the mayor and superintendent on their advisory board so they are getting guidance directly from the top about what the schools need. Why is this wrong? If they're volunteering for the schools and trying to help, why the criticism? If several of them got their start when their children didn't get the choice of kindergarten/school they wanted, and then they stepped up to work with the administration, why is that wrong? They're giving their time and money to make the schools better, which is more than lots of people are doing. It does make me and my husband nervous that they are front and center trying to get an override thing passed, putting letters in the paper and so forth, since this does seem like maybe they're crossing a line. But still, they are at least trying to advocate for the schools instead of just ignoring the problems. And where they're working so closely with the mayor and Mrs. Taymore, they get to know a lot of the information even better than the rest of us, so why can't we just assume the best in these dedicated parents and appreciate what they're trying to do?
Dear Supporter of MEF:
Those of us who have some issues with MEF do not demean those who want to improve and assist our schools - in fact I admire those parents who extend themselves to do just that. The issues I have are that the city allocates a special lump of money (about $10,000) each year from a "hidden budget cost center to do this. They will only admit so when they are finally confronted with the facts and the Mayor is aware of it.
Many of us can't understand why these city monies are used for this purpose when these monies should be added to the school budget. Why spend city money which is clearly being used in the schools and not have this money as part of the school budget? And why doesn't this foundation admit this in their advertisement. Their website claims they get their money from only individual donations which is where they do get some of their money but not all money from. If you look carefully at their website, they have a section noted "Partners/Donors" which seems to be a deliberate attempt to disguise this financial relationship with the city. Any organization that intentionally disguises their financial support should be closely scrutinized.
Also, the monies allocated for grants and special school activities are controlled again by a special group of people with the Mayor and Ms. Taymore included in this group. Can you think of a more politicized group of individuals having input in the decision-making process for allocating these city and donation money? Why not take any apparent or suspected favoritism out of the decision-making process and allocate the money based on a lottery system? But then this would not allow the foundation to reward "friends" rather than those teachers or organizations less favored by the school administration.
This attitude may seem paranoid to you but many of us have seen this occur in our school system for many years. The “means” in this case do not justify the “end”!
I was pleasantly surprised to see this article in the Patch of all places! The local news outlets have really let down this community by failing to report anything of substance about town politics other than what has been to date sanctioned by Mayor and his spin department. I commend whatever changes have taken place so that some real reporting and journalistic integrity might reappear in Melrose.
MFD,
Thanks for the respectful explanation to the MEF supporter. It was well done.
The administration (mayor, super, SC, BOA) have made education in Melrose totally politicized, which is exactly not what is supposed to happen.
The fact that this so-called foundation is entirely aligned with the administration and working way too closely with it is exactly what is wrong. It is not an independent tax-exempt non-profit with appropriate checks and balances. It is the de facto lobbying arm for the mayor and the superintendent, which is wrong on all counts.
If it is even legal for all of these people to "be in bed together" the way they are, then it shouldn't be. It is reasonable to wonder if laws have already been broken in the way these people do business (to say nothing of all the laws the administration is apparently breaking with abandon according to the news reports when it comes to American civil rights, ethics, sunshine lines (public records, open meetings), etc. The treasurer of that foundation is on the city payroll and then also a vocal proponent of the Override. She's also the same one who verbally attacked Ms. K on the SC in a public participation session (thinly disguising herself as "just" a parent supporting the way the budget process had been done, praising Driscoll to the hilt simultaneously), which is no surprise, since she and the other members of that foundation board have a fully synchronized approach to any who have stood up to criticize the administration (you can read what one of those members, McAndrew, put in this week's paper to "rebut" criticism of the Override). This synchronized attack system, along with the deep embedding with the administration, is part of why many see this group as a "cabal" rather than as a legitimate public service (tax-exempt--maybe we should ask to look at MEF financial records?!) educational foundation.
Reasonable citizens have strong reasons for noting that this MEF and its operations do not pass the sniff test. There are laws and rules that any of the rest of us would be required to respect and obey. It's past time that Melrose administrators and politicians be held accountable and made to observe those same boundaries.
the story was reported by the free press...patch picked it up from them.
In addition to private donations, the MEF readily and inappropriately accepts a $10,000 "grant" of tax payer dollars (not a private donation) from the City's Human Resources Budget every year from the Mayor who actually sits on the non-profit board along with other City Hall and Melrose City and school employees and administrators and you don't see the conflict of interest there?? Then a small board of MEF insiders tied to the Mayor's coat-tails doles out the taxpayer's dollars to favored teachers (public employees, mind you) who have to grovel for the money via a laborious and time consuming grant proposal process on their own time. Why can't this happen above board and just put the $10,000 directly into the School department budget, allocated for the same purposes as the MEF wishes?
Then to shield the Mayor and Alderman from legal liability, the City Solicitor, rather than an independent third party , drafts a bogus legal opinion (that will never see the light of day) claiming this is somehow all above board, despite IRS and MA Department of Revenue regulations to the contrary. And you don't see the problem with that??
I'm sure that the intentions of most (not all) of the MEFers are good but they don't seem to have done their homework about non-profit foundations and the impropriety of MEF officers and members using their status to influence elections and ballot questions. A perfect example recently was the MEF treasurer (a city hall employee appointed by the mayor) who controls the non-profit's funds, much of it derived from city tax dollars. Without disclosing that she was a city employee appointed by the mayor, and an MEF officer/treasurer, she publicly slandered two Melrose citizens of this town(one a dedicated school committee member), at a recent school committee meeting regarding their earlier concerns about the flagrant and well known efforts of Margaret Driscoll and SC board chair Kristen Thorp to stifle residents' rights for transparent and open deliberation of the budget process at a recent school committee meeting, despite her "non profit" foundation standing to gain from this very same budget process via the mayor's yearly MEF "grant" of tax payer dollars. And you don't have a problem with this??
Thanks, "Naivete"! That was really well stated!
I believe the MEF’s organizational board runs afoul of their stated nonprofit goals by having elected officials and city employees like the Mayor, Taymore, and Grover openly taking tax payer dollars and redistributing them arbitrarily by a “process” that is completely non transparent. This is most certainly a violation of the IRS code governing nonprofits and a blatant conflict of interest. If you look at the MEF’s financial disclosures, they reported almost 23,000 dollars collected in “donations”. 10k of that money comes from Dolan finding some line item in the budget to “give” to them.
I didn’t vote to “give” 10K to the MEF. Did you? And that’s really the problem that most of us have with this cozy alliance between the Mayor and the MEF. The Mayor has no business (legal or otherwise) giving taxpayer dollars to this particular nonprofit. This isn’t his money to allocate! If the citizens of Melrose find the MEF a worthy “charity” then they will give freely to it.
The disturbing lines drawn here is an egregious example of how this city rolls. And back to the topic of this string; we have a citywide cover up of a civil rights violation AGAINST A MIDDLESCHOOLER that is costing our city THOUSANDS of dollars and the Mayor and Taymore claim that full disclosure of legal fees and communications regarding this violation (courageously requested by Ms. Kourkoumelis) is violative of “attorney client privilege”. Hogwash! This is after all TAXPAYER DOLLARS being spent and the Secretary of State’s office apparently agrees. I don’t know when the state’s 10 day demand to turn over the records began but we will soon find out for the second time what Dolan and VanCampen help Taymore cook up as a lame excuse to deny the disclosure of these records.
If Dolan (and we all know it’s Dolan that has his mitts all over this) directs Van Campen, for a second time, to refuse to turn over the records, then I ask the MEF folks to seriously question what kind of alliance they choose to maintain with an administration that overtly and arrogantly refuses to comply with state laws. Remember...this was a Middleschooler who was the victim here. This could have been one of your own children! Doesn't this give you pause to question the existing dysfunction in the culture of our schools when we have a teacher and the former head of the teacher's union in Melrose directing alleged racial epithets towards a student? What will you stand for? This?
I think the MEF folks need to realize that while their state purpose may be admirable and their efforts noteworthy; it is their unholy alliance with city officials that is THE issue. The readers and contributors of this board have witnessed first-hand “the other side of the story” which rarely makes it into the local press. Luckily, when the pressure mounts, the local press is often forced to investigate issues that start right here as discussions that can’t take place anywhere else.
If you truly want support in dollars for your organization, I and others will gladly donate if you refuse to take our taxpayer dollars from the Mayor. That is how you will achieve credibility with the rest of us, and in the process achieve legitimacy for your cause.
Just one comment, Patty, the Board of Aldermen had to vote approval of that $10k for the city to release the funds. They are complicit in condoning such practices and all should be ashamed of themselves.
Thanks Myron for the reminder. When are they ever going to say no to Dolan? I often forget about the other set of rubber stamps in our City. Next time this comes up I'd like to raise the issue in public comment.
Once again, the alderman, except for a few, seem to be beholden to the Mayor, now that he has given them the gift of health insurance. Likewise, many school committee members seem to be holding on for future patronage positions with the school department or the city in return for being subservient to the Mayor. This is how you end up with such poor decision making that has been bringing down our district over the last several years. Witness the selection of the mayor's recommendation of the current superintendent of schools. After only three years, we are deep into Melrose School Department's first Civil Rights investigation ever, there is rampant illegal retaliation against parents, teachers and children who file complaints with the administration. Our best teachers are fleeing the system. The Mass Secretary of State's Office has confirmed repeated violations of the State's Public Records Laws with Superintendent Taymore and School committee chair Kristen Thorpe (with the help of City Solicitor Robert Van Campen) brazenly and repeatedly withholding basic public documents from our elected school committee members and Melrose residents. And of course the Mass Attorney General's Office has also admonished the School Committee for repeated Open Meeting Law violations. Because of all of these troubling violations of state and federal laws, hundreds and thousands of your tax dollars are being unnecessarily spent on legal fees and settlement payments which is distracting the District of it's core duty of providing a proper education for our students. And we all know how poorly that has been going.
Have heard through the grapevine that the super and SC flipped the bird and have not complied with the deadline, instead having the city solicitor call the Sec'y of State's office "with questions about how to proceed" or somesuch ridiculous crap. The audacity of these officials is really quite something. On the other hand, if the city issues some sort of edict, you can be sure the same officious officials will use the full force of their authority (and thensome, since they have no qualms about abusing their authority!) to come down on any one of us!
If you think this is only the school system think again
Regarding the City's non- compliance with the Secretary of State's order to release the public documents, here is the State Law's enforcement provision below:
32.09: Enforcement of Orders
A custodian shall promptly take such steps as may be necessary to put an order of the Supervisor
into effect. The Supervisor may notify the Attorney General or appropriate District Attorney of any
failure by a custodian to comply with any order of the Supervisor.
REGULATORY AUTHORITY
950 CMR 32.00: M.G.L. c. 66, § 1.
The irony here is that the more the School Committee Chair, Superintendent and City Solicitor misbehave and refuse to obey the Secretary of State's order, the more taxpayer dollars they are spending to defend themselves. If the Secretary of State goes to the Attorney General's office to sue for compliance, then you will really see the legal fees escalate, at our expense again, of course.
I find the unrestrained arrogance displayed by these people to be truly astonishing. It appears that they actually believe that they are above the law. I think though, that the law is about to come down on them like a ton of bricks. I'd actually be willing to pay the escalating legal fees just to see that happen. Since it appears we are stuck with Dolan for another term, at least we hopefully may be able to eviscerate a good portion of his lackeys rendering him at least partially irrelevant.
Realistically though, I have very little hope that the citizens of our fair burg will awaken from their stupor, smell the coffee, and do anything other than what they have always done - go back to sleep.
As I have said previously - if ignorance is bliss - we are living in ecstacy!
It is what it is.Nothing new.
Perhaps the next step is a complaint to superior court. Maybe Patti can help?
Or maybe the Public could start taking some (long past due) action, phoning Secretary of State's Office and asking them to push harder to have AG enforce their own laws and force some consequences on these brazen officials here:
Mr. Shawn A. Williams, Esq.
Director, Public Records Division
Supervisor of Records
Office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth
One Ashburton Place, Room 1719
Boston, MA 02108
(617) 727-2832 (office)
All good ideas, but the cheapest and simplest solution at this point in time is to just get rid of Taymore, Thorpe, Driscoll, and the rest of the Dolan Lackey League. Unfortunately, that won't get rid of the real root of the problem, who's running unopposed again, and if you don't think he's the root of the problem, I have a bridge I want to sell you.
That's true. And isn't it strange that all the administration attack dogs have gone conspicuously silent lately?
That is because the Federal Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights, the MA Attorney General's Office and the Secretary of State's Office are all rightfully breathing down their necks for their chronic infractions of state and federal laws.
"And isn't it strange that all the administration attack dogs have gone conspicuously silent lately?"
You just haven't been watching/listening in the right places. Wait until this school year begins and watch what happens. OCR is only strengthening their desire to come out on top at all costs. I repeat at all costs.
I wish you were wrong. I fear you are right, and it all goes back to the man in charge. He really does think he is smarter than everyone else, is incapable of admitting he's wrong, and when backed into a corner, his default response is rage. That means more of the same dismal situation, getting even worse over time, to the detriment of every single student in the system, and to every single taxpayer paying for this debacle of a school system.
It is truly amazing how our Mayor can run the city (non-school activities) so well, as a general rule, yet be so incompetent in terms of our schools?
Our city has never looked better with all the infrastructure improvements over the years; yet our schools remain in a state of continual mediocrity - with no hope that the current superintendent or school committeee are capable or are able to offer any hope for the future.
What remains clear is that there is an habitual selection of mediocrity of senior staff with an indifferent school committee unable or unwilling to make substantive changes to "right the ship"! Sad - very sad indeed!