Costly to every citizen in Melrose!
From a posting today:
Famous
Feb 17, 2016 - 10:20AM
Re: What kind of school system Does Melrose want.
Apparently, Melrose wants the kind of school system that is famous across the state. I had dinner with some lawyer friends of mine the other night, and found out that when educational law experts go to school districts throughout Massachusetts to do professional development, they use Melrose as the example of how not to handle issues around SPED law and civil rights. Seriously, they use the recent OCR case to show other systems how to avoid having a case brought against them. According to one of the lawyers at the table, "Melrose handles almost every potentially- litigious situation badly", making them a great case study for other places. So proud.
That is funny because when I talk to my make believe friends they tell me that Melrose is great and people that pay our high taxes here then send their kids to over-priced, under-performing private schools are morons. Things sure are crazy in the world of make believe.
It's absolutely true. Melrose is the example of HOW NOT TO BE. Keep your head in the sand. Bet you're one of those parents who believe their kid never did or said anything wrong or are one of the guilty parties.
Watch last night's meeting.
CKK most powerful yet. Home run.
Superintendent mid-year eval. The rest looked like as complicit and ethically bankrupt as they so obviously are.
CKK final remarks:
"The United States Office of Civil Rights Findings Document of January 8, 2016 answers this element most directly and details the comprehensive failures of this superintendent and her administrative team: "...the District had actual notice of racial harassment; the harassment created a racially hostile environment for the Student; and, the District failed to take adequate action to redress that environment....Based on its investigation, OCR finds that the District did not comply with its obligations under Title VI...."
In short, the events leading up to and following the Office of Civil Rights investigation provide a case history of how not to act. Administrators seemed more concerned with suppressing the issue than working towards a quick and cooperative resolution. The administration conducted an incompetent, deliberately superficial investigation and did not appropriately address the students’ needs or respond to parents respectfully, all the time claiming that the process was being managed "by the book."
Any discussions about Policies and Practices of this superintendent that do not address these comprehensive failures constitute a deflection from our primary obligation to the students and taxpayers of Melrose. Our students and our community are paying a terrible price for the inexcusable actions of this administration as stated in the OCR Findings document."
Just exactly how much worse do things have to get before this community steps up? At least in Boston there is outcry for administrative wrongdoing. Why is it that people care so little in Melrose (or perhaps care only for themselves)?
The culture of the city is very much go along to get along. There is a deep (social) fear of ostracism that has been bred into the community about speaking out against the perceived establishment. Believe it.
It's clear you are correct, sadly, Mr. Snow. That being said, it's past time for this culture to break apart. There is no social advantage to staying silent now, especially if your own children are being neglected and/or damaged in this awful school system. It can become a social plus to speak out. Looking at the couple of notable (one on each) courageous members of BOA & SC, they are now viewed with fear by the rest of the cowards/bullies on those boards. Neither woman is the least bit lacking in social engagements or friends from the looks of things, with both in high demand, both in Melrose and in much wider circles, one nationally, and neither one seems to mind in the least if some of the pols despise them. It's more of a badge of honor, since being "liked" by those jerks would be more concerning. RD and his ilk (there's that word) have lost their power to control the social scene here now, having so besmirched their own reputations with chronically bad behavior and wrong-headed political actions. The Machine is not what it once was, as November's election proved in spades. Thousands of blanks and a ballot measure that went down almost 2 to 1. Not exactly a commanding mandate, to put it mildly. The temper tantrums since and still are only losing RD even more of his voting block as the sycophants start to leave the obviously sinking ship of political misfortune tainted forever now with the stain of federal findings of civil rights violations and who knows what else coming down the pike. Those things can never be erased, and RD is wearing them, whether he wants to or not!