Consent agenda.
Items 4.5 and 4.6. Motion made, seconded and approved these items. Motion carried 5-0-0
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Item 4.2 Question about which positions are expected to be filled during the summer. (this is the item about allowing the Superintendent to appoint positions during the summer)
There will 4 elementary school principal positions open, and maybe filled, this summer (after the vote on 4.3 tonight), plus 2 middle school principals and some others; AP openings, special ed, etc.
Gary Eberhart requested the board not take action on this item. The suggestion was that they do call another meeting in July and feels it is a key responsibility of the board to approve the candidates. Dick Allen added that in the past there have been issues with candidates that needed to be explored more fully. He seemed to have concern that no names were presented to the board prior to the meeting. The board agreed to table this item.
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Item 4.3
5 candidates recommended by Superintendent:
-Linda Pete - Administrator at Diablo Community Day School (currently at YV)
-Dr. Christopher Nugent - appointed Mt. Diablo ElementaryPrincipal (comes with experience from Tennessee and California. Has elementary and middle school Principal experience. Is a co-administrator in Elk Grove currently.) (update 7/5/10, Dr. Nugent has resigned)
-Vicki Eversole - appointed Highlands Elementary Principal (currently a Program Specialist in the district)
-Rachel Buckner - Olympic / Alliance (currently a counselor in another district)
-Danielle Beachum (not sure on last name spelling) - Program Specialist - district wide
All were confirmed and approved by the board, some were in the audience and stood to say a few words.
____________________________________________________________
Meeting adjourned approximately 6:25pm with thoughts to Kathy Wells, former teacher at Sequoia who passed away last week.
Another meeting in late July will likely be called to appoint any new administrators.
-Vickie Eversole - appointed Highlands Principal
ReplyDeleteWhat and where was her previous position?
Apologies if that was posted somewhere and I missed it.
Vicki Eversole, I updated the post last night.
ReplyDeletePeople, please let's stay on topic, I have had to enable moderation already on this one. Sad isn't it? I'll approve comments as quickly as I can throughout the day.
Any word yet on the new Silverwood Elementary principal?
ReplyDeleteVicki Eversole- She has worked in the district for a long time. Started out as a teacher, moved to a reading specialist, was a Vice Principal at Meadow Homes, and into the district office for one year. Very good with discipline and data.
ReplyDeleteThis Chris Nugent???
ReplyDeletehttp://www.newschannel5.com/Global/story.asp?s=8661656&clienttype=printable
Does the board review any of the applicants prior to their approval? Over on Claycord.com, there is a link to a story possibly regarding the new principal at MDE. Nothing has been confirmed, as far as whether it is definitely him.
ReplyDeleteIf it is him, was the board aware of this issue, or does the Superintendent just pass on the recommendations?
I am not saying that if this is the same guy, he is not an appropriate candidate, everyone makes mistakes, but there is a reference in one story to a DUI arrest, and resisting arrest.
http://www.wsmv.com/news/16843341/detail.html
What happened to Kari Rees from Shore Acres and Bob Dodson from Mt. Diablo El?
ReplyDeleteNothing with Rees or Dodson yet. They expect another 4 appointments likely this summer. I guess we'll see where and if they land soon. The board was discussing a late July board meeting to affirm more appointments as necessary.
ReplyDeleteWhy were the MDE parents and community invited to offer their opinions on what is needed for their students? Dr. Lawrence already had his mind made up with his appointment of Dr. Nugent. As a parent of a student at MDE, I am deeply concerned with his track record if he is in fact the same man who released student records and social security numbers on the internet and then was arrested in Nashville, TN for a suspected DUI! This "appointment" is unacceptable!
ReplyDeleteIf what is being said is true, I certainly think the MDE community is owed not only an apology but an explanation. No one likes to feel "humored." I hope the MDE commmunity will demand answers. After what MDE has gone through, they deserve a quality leader. The district owes them that much in my opinion. And this, unless there is some reasonable explanation, is going to spin into a PR nightmare.
ReplyDeleteMDE parents may want to use a page from the Bancroft handbook. The one about fighting for what they want. Linda Schuler did not get transferred because the parents fought to keep her. MDE parents need to band together in order to be heard. I do believe the MDE community needs answers.
ReplyDeleteWow, just wow. It seems that either Dr. Lawrence or the board was trying to slip something by all of us with the whole Principal musical chairs game. Maybe it has something to do with the Chris Nugent fellow?
ReplyDeleteI think this was a massive failure that we need to hear more about. And hopefully a retraction of assignment for MDE. I have to believe that the responsibility falls somewhere between Personnel and the Superintendent. I do not think that the board knew about this until it was brought to light on the blogs. I think the board relies on the Superintendent to make good selections based on experience and merit, and then on personnel to do their job of assessing the applications merits and doing a background check. That should include a google search! Even if these offenses weren't going to show up on their DOJ check, an easy google search would've given them the info they needed. In fact, Nugent himself should've disclosed it... and that is the question.
ReplyDeleteSo I have a question:
ReplyDeleteWhy are we playing this whole round of principal musical chairs anyway? No one seems to be able to give a coherent answer to that including the board and Dr. Lawrence himself.
Is all this shuffling the attempt to put up a smoke screen to get unqualified people into positions of power? It sure is starting to have that appearance? What say you board?
Perception and modeling is so critically important for a person to be an effective leader. Parents and students will look up to whoever is the leader of their school. It is not fair to put this kind of person into this kind of position. Dr. Nugent should stay in Elk Grove where he would have the opportunity to prove himself, regardless of his past offences (or not). I'm concerned about this. How long was he in El Grove? These questions should be thoroughly answered before anything goes any further in this decision. Just because a person has a Dr. in front of their name is not enough. As a matter of fact the large security breach he caused was due to his working on his PHD. I think the parents and teachers at MDE need complete and full disclosure of this situation. I say "parents of MDE band together, meet down at Skip's and work towards an open and honest search for a new principal." Someone needs to take the lead on this as was done at Bancroft.
ReplyDeleteIt could be b/c DUI is a misdemeanor, not a felony, at least in CA. I don’t think the fingerprint check reveals misdemeanor convictions, but I could be wrong. Was Nugent actually convicted of any felonies? I doubt it, or the fingerprint scan would have revealed it. Are there pending charges? Regardless, Julie Braun-Martin, Steve Lawrence and the Board all know how to spell his name. I would assume they know how to spell g-o-o-g-l-e.
ReplyDeleteIs Kari Rees leaving Shore Acres?
Anon 11:34
ReplyDeleteI too would like the answer to that question. Why are we reorganizing the administrators at Dent and why are we shuffling so many site administrators?
Is it part of a greater plan? How will it help our kids? Is it to save the jobs of those being laid off at Dent? Is it part of the reorganization process to qualify for the school improvement grants for the lowest performing schools?
Doesn't it seem like this kind of reorganization should be part of an overall plan? A plan that should be communicated to the community and should outline how it will improve the quality of education in our district.
Should MDE parents and staff request a meeting with the district to find out what they intend to do with the principal appointment? I think the community deserves answers. We were told an all call or email would be received when they appointed a candidate....that hasn't come yet. They need to know that we're concerned.
ReplyDeleteAnon 3:29. They know. And I hope if you are concerned you too have written to the board and to the Superintendent. A hire like this really is unacceptable and I hope that anyone out there concerned has written in. But I know they know because I've gotten responses back from a couple of the board members. Nothing yet except an auto response from the Superintendent.
ReplyDeleteI do believe they are working on this issue behind the scenes and at least one board member has said both personnel and legal is already on this matter. Also acknowledged is that the board did not know about this issue until it came to light on the blogs.
This Superintendent needs to hear it from the entire MDE community. The meeting on Weds night was apparently just for giggles. Then MDE gets this guy? Dr. Lawrence has a lot of explaining to do.
So here's who to write to:
Superintendent:
lawrences@mdusd.k12.ca.us
The board can all be found here:
http://www.mdusd.org/boe/Pages/default.aspx
I would like to know who, knew what, by when. Obviously someone and maybe multiple people need to be fired and or recalled for agreeing to hire this Chris Nugent fellow.
ReplyDeleteThere are some things we'll probably never know because personnel matters are private. But my guess is that the Superintendent gave the hire a green light, and Julie Braun-Martin, in what might have been her first official hire of her new job, did the "personnel" thing and gave the stamp of approval. Gary Eberhart at the board meeting said plainly he would not relinquish the duty of signing off on candidates to the Superintendent, and Dick Allen expressed concerns of not having the names beforehand. My guess is that by the time it gets to the board these candidates are supposed to be fully vetted. Something failed. And I read in some PAC meetings from some time back that it was Gail Isserman (now Julie Braun-Martin) who makes the final determination on what can disqualify a volunteer insofar as criminal record, so maybe the same holds true for employees too? I'd really like to know this answer.
ReplyDeleteA failure in a major way, but I'm not ready to put the blame on the board. I'm ready to take aim at the Superintendent for many things, this is just one of them now. I wrote to him this weekend, I hope you did too.
To: MDE parents and community - Please band together and oust this man from our district. MDUSD already has enough mud on their collective faces, without this man joining the ranks. It's no secret that there have been some issues at MDE. What the school and community need is someone we can respect. I doubt many people can garner up respect for this man. If Bancroft can band together and save L. Schuler, we can band together and oust C. Nugent!
ReplyDeleteJust as MDE parents are concerned, so should be the parents of SMS. I feel it no oversight we have no principal in place, yet. With no fierce leader, we're easier to close. Why not fight for our principal as did Foothill and Northgate. It's not too late to get her back!
ReplyDeletewhat is SMS?
ReplyDeleteI believe SMS is Sequoia Middle School. Their principal was one of the chosen ones to go work at the district as a "principal coach".
ReplyDeleteat the mt diablo el meeting mr. lawrence sat with his back to us the entire time. he would turn if a question need his response, but all in all the body language told us everything we needed to know.
ReplyDeletewe deserve better than that.
Lawrence must resign.
ReplyDelete