Hate Group Endorses Middletown BOE Member for Re-election

 Before casting your ballot this year for the Middletown Board of Education(BOE), you should be aware that a long time member of the BOE who is seeking reelection, Joan Minnuies, has been endorsed by the New Jersey Project.  This should raise a few red flags and give pause to anyone looking to cast a vote for Minnuies.

Why?

 The Southern Poverty Law Center(SPLC) has labeled the antigovernment organization New Jersey Project as a hate group, defining the New Jersey Project as, "Antigovernment groups are part of the antidemocratic hard-right movement. They believe the federal government is tyrannical, and they traffic in conspiracy theories about an illegitimate government of leftist elites seeking a “New World Order.” In addition to groups that generally espouse these ideas, the movement is composed of sovereign citizens, militias, overt conspiracy propagandists and constitutional sheriff groups. In the past, this movement was referred to as the “Patriot” movement by adherents and critics."

Can you imagine being endorsed for office by a hate group and supporting that person? I guess you could if you're a Republican that supports Donald Trump.

Another reason why people should have second thoughts about supporting Joan Minnuies for re-election is the troubling accusations brought against her by a Township resident, accusing Minnuies of bullying and berating the resident's intellectually disabled son.  According to an online petition that has been signed by over 1500 people, seeking Minnuiess' removal from the BOE and General Election ballot, "Minnuies' intolerable behavior towards vulnerable individuals raises serious concerns about her suitability to sit on the Middletown Board of Education. Those entrusted with such influential positions have the responsibility to advocate for the wellbeing of all students, including those with intellectual and developmental differences. Individuals like Minnuies who display blatant disregard for the feelings and welfare of others, arguably are not fit for these positions. This matter has been brought to all members of the Board of Education with no responses..." 

It should be noted as it pertains her the accusations of bullying, Joan Minnuies is on record, both recently and in the past, of voting against or abstaining from various bullying measure that the BOE has tried to enact. It's really disgraceful.

Joan Minnuies has been a member of the Middletown Board of Education for longer than I can remember. During her tenure she has been nothing but controversial. There is not one former BOE member that I know (and I know over a dozen) that has anything constructive to say about her. She has been described as hard to work with, untrustworthy and only out for herself. She has also had a number of ethical complaints filed against her by fellow BOE members in the past.  

Joan's time has come and gone, she doesn't deserve another term as a member of the Middletown Board of Education, we don't need more hate! It's time to move on.

I for one will not be supporting her and I hope others feel the same.

BOE Voting Meeting - January 24, 2017

I can't believe that I haven't posted this video yet. It was really quite entertaining.

During the meeting, the Board of Education voted to reverse it's controversial December decision to provide personal legal counsel to 5 board members in the on going battle over ethics charges filed against fellow board member, Joan Minnuies. The fireworks begin at the 51 minute mark of the video and proceed from there. It really is a must watch.

Also be sure to check out minutes between 1:12:00 to 1:28:00 of the video. Former board president Jim Cody, who was one of the board members looking for free legal representation against Joan Minnuies, decided to vote against the advise of the BOE lawyer, who advised that there may be a conflict of interest if he voted on the proposal to table the legal representation. He voted anyway and when the vote passed to reverse the BOE's December action, he accuses other board members of collusion and conspiracy!  Ain't that a case of the kettle calling the pot black?!




You can find the Meeting Agendas, Committee Report and  all other Attachments HERE.

BOE Voting Meeting - December 13, 2016: Legal Fees Controversy

I finished watching the latest recording of the Middeltown Board of Education meeting late Monday afternoon and needed some time to post it to the blog, so that I could process what I had finished watching. And it's good that I did. The Asbury Park Press posted two articles about what transpired during the meeting which saves me a lot of time trying to explain it myself:

Posted online Monday was, "7 highlights from Middletown schools' audit", which pointed out some very good news for the district:

Revenues

• $206,501,974: This figure includes all the money that flows into the district, most of which is property taxes. In 2015, total revenues were $192.8 million.

Property taxes

• $137,004,630: The township schools are the single-biggest contributor to the bottom line on your property tax bill. The district collected about $4 million more from homeowners in 2016, an increase of 3 percent from the previous year. Local taxes make up 76 percent of the public money that fund Middletown schools.

Expenses

• 206,168,208: Transportation was one area that shot up. Getting students to and from school cost $10.8 million, or $866,000 more than in 2015.

Teacher compensation

• $75,592,658: The cost of instruction increased by less than 1 percent from 2015. The $570,000 in new money went to negotiated salary increases and a handful of new positions. The certified teaching staff was counted at 922.

Enrollment

• 9,698: For some perspective, 10 years ago the district had 427 more students in class on an average day. There are 12.6 pupils for every teacher. The national average is about 16 to 1, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

Cost per pupil

• $16,510: This represents the highest amount the district has ever spent, but it's still relatively low. The average district in New Jersey was paying close to $20,000 for each student in the 2014-2015 school year, according to the Taxpayers Guide to Education Spending.

Debt

• $68,920,000: That's down $3.8 million from the previous year. The district's bond rating remains at "AA", which is the second-highest rating that Standard & Poor's assigns. Generally speaking, the higher the rating, the less it costs to borrow money. About 4 percent of district spending goes to paying down debt and interest.

I would like to see some of that savings "banked" for a rainy day because I know theater are things coming down the line that will cost the district big time over the next couple of years.

The other article posted yesterday, "Middletown school board hires outside lawyers for ethics dispute", however is what gave me pause and the need to think before posting about what I had experienced after watching the BOE video. During a 20 minute discussion (triad really) beginning at 1:12:00 mark of the video, Middletown Board of Education disfunction once again raised it's ugly head.

In essence, a last minute item was added to the night's Agenda that many Board members weren't fully aware of.  That item was for the approval of the hiring of the law firm of Giordano, Halleran & Cielsa, PC as special counsel to represent 5 Board members in connection with the several ethic complaints they filed against fellow member Joan Minnuies, some of which has been dismissed, while some others have been bumped up to OAL litigation.

For this representation, the school district will be paying any legal bills associated with the litigation of the 5 individual Board members, Vinnie Brand, Bob Banta, Ernest Donnelly, Michael Donlon and BOE president Jim Cody  at the rate of $250/hour for litigation counsel and $100/hour for paralegal/legal assistant time with NO cap on the fees!

When the items was being introduced, Board member Sue Griffin made a motion to table the item until the following meeting, when the new BOE could discuss it further and decide whether it was appropriate or not to continue. After a heated argument between Griffin, Brand and Cody erupted about due diligence of board members still sitting on the Board and what was actually stated in the legal agreement that was to be voted on, the board went into executive session to discuss the item further.

Again you can watch the whole exchange staying at the 1:12:00 minute mark of the video.

In my opinion, this is outrageous and utter waste of tax payers money. If the School Ethics Board dropped some other charges against Joan Minnuies but couldn't decide on others and referred them for OAL litigation to pass the buck so to speak, then the charges aren't worth pursuing if it means that it could cost the district tens of thousands of dollars! And that's not easy for me to say, I'm not a big Joan Minnuies fan.  All this comes down to now is a very expensive, personal vendetta against Minnuies by her fellow board members - two of which, Brand and Banta, will no longer be members of the board, when legal action will proceed and representation will be needed sometime next year.

If action does move forward on this now frivolous legal action, than I think Vinnie Brand and Bob Banta should have to pay for their own legal expenses since they will no longer be members of the Board of Education.

There has also been outrage expressed by some Middletown residents HERE and HERE on Facebook over this.

But, as Board president Jim Cody stated during the video, there's nothing really to worry about.  No money from the school budget will be allocated for legal fees. The cost of legal fees will come out of the BOE's Legal Services budget.  HA-HA, ain't that great! It's all one and the same to me.

I would expect that once the new Board takes control next month this issue will be looked at once again and the correct decision will be made to kill this nonsense once and for all.

Middletown Board of Education: Dysfunction And Strife Never Seems to Change

I talk to a lot of people and I hear a whole lot of things. So, when I get asked by several people over the last couple of days for my thoughts on the most recent example of dysfunction from the Middletown Board of Education (BOE ), I have to give my thoughts and opinion on the situation.

Since I've had a busy week, as most weeks have been for me lately, I haven't had time to publicly comment on the recent controversy surrounding the BOE until know. So here it is.

As reported by the Asbury Park Press earlier this week, board member Helene Henkel submitted her resignation from the BOE sighting family reasons and overall BOE dysfunction:

..."I know people are busy and it's difficult to attend," Henkel told the Press, "but as long as people aren’t witnessing what's going on (the board) will continue to operate undercover."

Part of the criticism leveled by Henkel is the war between longtime board member Joan Minnuies and five of the eight other members of the board — board president Jim Cody, Bob Banta, Vinnie Brand, Michael Donlon and Ernest Donnelly" ...

As everyone knows, I've written about the various egos, personal petiteness and demagoguery by different individual BOE members over the years, that has rightfully so, given the school district a bad reputation within the community and surrounding area. Given the fact that Helene Henkel was/is a member of the Bayshore Tea Party and hasn't voted for any spending measures that I'm aware of, her resignation from the BOE is nothing to cry about; she won't be missed. Most anyone who gets appointed to her unexpired term has to be better.

Good people that have spoken to me over the years, that would make great BOE members, have shunned away from the idea of serving on the BOE because of the politics of destruction that seems to dominate board meetings; board members seem to care less about the students and faculty best interests and more about their own. That's a problem that needs to change. You just have to watch or listen to the video from this weeks BOE meeting that took place on Wednesday night (posted below) to see it.

The alleged riff between board members (male vs female), which has been publicly denied by members, is apparent and in full display; bickering between the two sides, in public (or behind closed doors ) is disgraceful and unprofessional. It also seems apparent the women on the board, who are in the minority, aren't consulted or their opinions heeded, on some issues effecting the BOE and school district.

The example that I point to is the dismissal of longtime BOE Attorney, Christopher Parton, which was questioned and opposed by board members Danielle Walsh, Joan Minnuies and Sue Griffin as one of the first points of business opening Wednesday's meeting. They were concerned over the process and didn't believe that his experience, knowledge or expertise concerning the district should be lost, especially when the new law firm being hired to take over as consultants has been together for less than a year.  These sentiments were also express towards the end of the meeting (1:35:00) when two members of the audience questioned the same.

School Superintendent Dr. William George, should put a stop to the bickering. Unfortunately however, I think he thrives in the dysfunction. The more that board members bicker amongst themselves, the less time board members have to examine or scrutinize his performance and the direction he is or isn't taking the district.  

The dysfunction has to stop, it shouldn't be allowed to go on the way it has. The only true way to end the chaos is to elected need board members in November. It's obvious that current members aren't able to put their differences or personal agendas aside for the good of the community.

Here's a list of candidates that have filed petitions to seek election to the Middletown Board of Education this year:

• John Little
• Frank Higgins
• DJ Hager
• Lenora Camonetti (former member, lost reelection previously)
• Vinnie Brand (incumbent, seeking reelection)
• Andy Nichols (2015 candidate, 2nd try)
• Mike Donlan (incumbent, seeking reelection)

The only two on the list that I personally know and have spoken to in the past are John Little, who I think would a good choice and Vinnie Brand.

Vinnie is a funny guy, and I not saying that because he's a comedian. He's personable and ready to engage in conversation, which is often one-sided. It's hard to get a word in with him because he's mouth moves a mile a minute (which isn't necessarily a bad thing), he has strong opinions and beliefs and expresses them vocally which gives him the reputation of not playing nicely. And, Vinnie is the board member who filed several ethics complaints against fellow board member Joan Minnuies, for what's it worth.

I've grown to like Vinnie, I think he's generally a good guy and I believe his heart is in the right place.

Talking to a few board members both past and present however, it seems that he is just as much a problem on the BOE as anyone else that he may have issues with. And since he's told me on a few occasions in the past personally, that he had no intentions of seeking reelection this year because it wasn't worth it to him, personally or professionally, anymore to deal with the headaches, conflicts or personalities of various board members. I question his motives behind seeking reelection and wonder what changed his mind.

It is something that I'll to speak with him about.  

UPDATE: Ethics Complaint Filed Against Middletown BOE Member By Fellow BOE Member; My Conversation with Vinnie Brand

Last October, just before the November elections, it came to light that an ethics complaint was filed against Middletown Board of Education member Joan Minnuies with the New Jersey School Ethics Commission by fellow board member Vinnie Brand (you can refresh your memories by referring back to my earlier posting on the subject ... HERE ).

Back in October when I wrote the post, Vinnie Brand mentioned to me that he had several other ethic complaints against Joan Minnuies yet to file. I've learned that those complaints have been filed (and confirmed with Brand) and are pending a hearing. What's interesting about this latest ethics filing is that Vinnie Brand's complaints have been endorsed and signed by the other 4 male members of the Middletown Board of Education against Joan Minnuies.

I don't have information about what the actual charges that were filed happen to be, but back in October Brand said that he had grounds to file several more, which at the time he cared not to specifically mention. And as of today, there has been no word from the New Jersey School Ethics Commission concerning the previously pending filed charges against Minnuies.

Stay tuned ...

Middletown Board of Education Election Results 2015

New comer Danielle Walsh (17.02%) was the top voter getter in yesterday's Board of Education elections easily topping the #2 & #3 vote getters, incumbents Joan Minnuies(16.11%) and James Cody(14.32%).

As a result of her win, Danielle Walsh unseated incumbent Leonora Caminiti from the BOE.

Interesting to note, former BOE member Chris Aveta lost for the 2nd time in a row, in his attempt to regain a seat on the Middletown Board of Education. Aveta had the lowest vote totals last night with 1320 votes (7.92%).  The next lowest vote getter was 18 year old Tom Ballard, who didn't campaign, had no election signs and is allegedly attending college out of state!

I would think that after this embarrassing loss, Aveta needs to pack it in. The people have spoken and they don't want him anywhere near the BOE.

My congratulations go out to the winners.

Ethics Complaint Filed Against Middletown BOE Member By Fellow BOE Member; My Conversation with Vinnie Brand

Yesterday was a rather interesting day, shortly after waking I was bombarded with texts, emails and a few phone calls, all wanting to know if I had read or heard anything about an ethics complaint filed by Middletown Board of Education (BOE) member Vinnie Brand against fellow BOE member (former board president) Joan Minnuies. I had not and was referred to a posting in the MIDDLETOWN New Jersey Facebook group. And it has taken until now to get my thoughts together. The post was written by another local blogger that I chose not to link to,  if you wish to read it you can by accessing it through the Facebook group page.

Joan Minnuies

According to the account, Brand filed a two part complaint. The first part of the complaint has to do with a personnel issue and whether or not Minnuies should have recused herself from voting due to the fact that her daughter, Jenna Minnuies Jackson, is a sports coach at Middletown North High School and would have benefited if the outcome of the vote was favorable; it was not.

The second part of the complaint filed with the New Jersey School Ethics Commission against Joan Minnuies, alleges that Minnuies arranged for Middletown High School North students to receive credit for community service in exchange for "volunteering" at her granddaughters birthday party. Minnuies's granddaughter is the daughter of High School North coach, Jenna Minnuies Jackson, Joan Minnuies's daughter.

Both allegations are serious and it will be up to the ethics commission to decide on the appropriate punishment if they find that the allegations have merit. Punishments for ethics violations could range from a simple reprimand, a censorship of some type to be determined by the local BOE or removal from her position on the BOE.

Now let's backtrack a little bit.

Last week I ran into Vinnie Brand at the Harmony School "Meet the Candidates Night", I wanted to see for myself  who was running and what they had to say. Vinnie saw me come in and pulled me off to the side and stated that he had something to speak to me about but he couldn't that night due to the circumstances of the event. We exchanged phone numbers and he said he would call me. That phone call never came until yesterday. I sent him a text stating how I could now assume what he wanted to talk about; he called me immediately.

I was on the phone with Brand, between two calls, for nearly 45 minutes yesterday, after which my head was spinning. If you've ever talked to the man you'd know what I mean. The conversations were fast, furious and dominated by Brand explaining himself and his actions for filing the complaint against Minnuies. Most, if not all, of what he said I couldn't disagree with after he explained himself.

Vinnie Brand

Brand went on to say that Joan Minnuies has several other conflicts of interest, as well as, questionable actions as a BOE member, that will lead him to file another ethics complaint against her shortly. He stated  that he could recount a minimum of 15 examples of ethical violations conducted by Minnuies attempting to protect her daughter. He could also recount many other times in which Minnuies stated, "I don't care", to the board attorney referring to how many ethical violations she may be in violation of as long as she gets what she wants.

Brand continued and added that Minnuies recently used Middletown High School North letterhead to send letters to parents, telling them of her many personal accomplishments as a BOE member and organizer of Project Prom.

When I questioned Brand about the timing of the ethics filing - that it seemed like a cheap campaign stunt designed to embarrass Joan and sway voter opinion against her a week before election day, he said that wasn't the case. He said that there had been many instances over the past few months when he thought about filing charges  but didn't until after a September meeting of the BOE, when he had had enough of her behavior that he deemed offensive and unethical.  He said his motives were not political and that he did not publicizes or announce to anyone that he had filed charges against her. He said that he had no idea how people found out about it, but it wasn't through him.

When I said to him that some are saying that he was in cahoots with current Middletown Board of Education President, James Cody, (who's up for reelection as well this year) against Joan Minnuies he flat out denied it.  He said that as a member of the BOE, he informed Cody and the school board's attorney that he was filing ethics charges against Minnuies and that both were leery and advised against it.

I could go on further about what we talked about, but the bottomline is Brand is fully aware of what he did and he is unapologetic about it. As a father with children still in the school district, he knows full well that his kids my suffer some type of retribution for his actions in this matter. But he said someone needed to stand up to Joan Minnuies because so many others in and around the district are "petrified" of her because she can be a bully and isn't afraid to retaliate against someone if they cross her in someway.

Here's my two bits on the subject:

Over the years I've heard many stories about Joan Minnuies's conduct and actions as a BOE member from others, including former (and current) BOE members, former and current district teachers, guidance counselors and administrators, as well as, parents that take a good portion of their time to attend the rather long meetings (on school nights)  of the Middletown Board of Education. Depending on whose stories you listen to or care to believe, you either love Joan or hate her; there are few that fall in-between.

For many reasons I personally don't care for the job Joan Minnuies has done as a member of the Middletown Board of Education. As the longest serving member of the BOE, I feel that she has become to accustomed to the position and feels entitled to it. Once any elected official begins to feel entitlement in any way, it's time for a change. My feelings have nothing to do with whether or not there is an ethical complaint filed against her. It's just time for a change.

If the New Jersey School Ethics Commission finds that Minnuies has indeed had lapses in ethical conduct detrimental to the local school board, then they will handle it appropriately. Until then, there's an election in several day and voters can determine for themselves what constitutes a lapse in ethics and whether or not the changes filed against her were for the good of the school district or just a political ploy.




***********************
Correction 10/29/15

It was previously stated that Jenna Minnuies Jackson was a teacher at Middletown High School North, she is not. Minnuies Jackson is a sports coach for the high school. Sorry if there was some confusion.

Mid'Town Board Of Education Disfunction Leads To Yet Another Superintendent Resignation; Interim Superintendent Pat Houston Storms Out Of Meeting

It's a shame that I can't make it to every meeting that goes on around town but luckily there are sources of information like friends, neighbors and Middletown-Patch to keep me informed. After reading what went on during last night's Middletown Board of Education(BOE) meeting, there isn't much left to say about how totally dysfunctional the current make up of this BOE is.

According to Middletown-Patch (you can read the article below) Middletown's interim school Superintendent Pat Houston resigned suddenly and walked out of the meeting due to a 5-2 "No" vote on accepting Houston's recommendations to hired Middletown High School South Interim Principal, Patrick Rinnella, as it's new full-time Principal, replacing Dr. Anthony Shallop.

If you remember, last month there was a huge outcry from parents and students when Shallop was demoted as South's Principal and returned to his former position as a science teacher within the school by the BOE. And to add to Houston's sudden resignation last night, Shallop also suddenly resigned his position within the school system.

Now that Houston has resigned, Middletown BOE will be looking for it's fourth Superintendent since January with the possibility of a fifth and High School South will be with out a Principal to start the school year.

When will this insanity stop? I have kids in the school system myself and it's starting to make me very angry at the direction in which Middletown schools seems to be heading - it's been all downhill for the past 16 months or more.

I would be remiss however if I didn't commend board members Vinnie Brand and Mike Mascone for trying to end the craziness last night by voting to approve Pat Houtson's recommendation of Patrick Rinnella. If approved, Rinnella's appointment as South's Principal, as controversial as it my have been, would have shown that a little common sense and stability returned to the school system.

In an abrupt, unexpected move, Middletown Township Schools Interim Superintendent Patrick Houston, minutes ago during the Board of Education
meeting, announced his resignation.

"I can't work under these conditions," Houston said before leaving the meeting. "Tomorrow I will be resigning as interim superintendent of schools."

The public gasped and grumbled as he slammed his microphone down on the dais, at which point Board of Education President Joan Minnuies called for a five-minute recess and Houston clutched his briefcase and walked out of the Middletown High School North meeting venue.

This happened after a contentious majority "no" vote (5-2, with one absent and one abstention) was taken turning down Houston's recommendation to hire Patrick Rinnella, who was serving as High School South's interim principal until tonight, as its permanent, untenured principal. A very vocal Vincent Brandt cast one "yes" vote; and Michael Mascone cast the other.

There has been much controversy lately over the demotion of Anthony Shallop, former High School South Principal, and Houston's rapid recommendation of a new principal. Board members had complained that the move, albeit legal, was made entirely too autonomously by the interim top administrator.

While parents, students and others in the public questioned what they deemed Houston's lack of transparency about the process to the public and adamantly opposed his earlier recommendation to demote Shallop, they supported Rinella as top candidate to fill the South principal slot.

The majority of the board voted "no" to the recommendation of Rinella's hiring based on what they saw as a flawed procedure. Those who supported Houston's recommendation felt that Rinella, regardless of claims of procedural flaw, was qualified for the job and should not be the one to fall victim to board politics.

Rinella declined to comment when seen outside during the break.

Houston, as superintendent, has the legal right to make such a recommendation without any public or board input. Procedure dictates that once such a staff recommendation is made, the board then votes to either sanction it officially or turn it down, with a majority vote. The recommendation then becomes an appointment.

However, in light of recent contentiousness over the Shallop demotion, there has been an outcry from the community to have more input on such decisions. According to the agenda, Shallop, who was due to return to the classroom as a science teacher in September, resigned effective Aug. 30, "for personal reasons."

While the public, according to comments during the public portion, did not necessarily approve of Houston's method, they were eager to have a new principal in place at South for the start of the school year.

Tired of what many have called a "revolving door" of administrators in the district, many teachers, administrators and other colleagues applauded the notion of having an administrator in place who has demonstrated commitment to the district and is more likely to stay put.

There were 15 candidates for the job, Houston explained. Fourteen of the 15 were out of district. Rinella was the only in-district contender with experience as assistant principal.

Minnuies, before Houston announced his resignation, had made a motion to revise the procedures by which new administrators are hired.

During the recess, people were outside grumbling, milling around, as the recess extended well beyond five minutes to over half an hour. One woman was crying. Another stormed up to the stage and yelled at the board members after the recess was called.

People were clearly upset over the board voting down Rinella's appointment as interim principal for South. Much of the source of their malcontent was derived from the fact that with the "no" vote, High School South will begin the school year
without a principal in place.

Board attorney Chris Parton said that it is legal to be without a principal in a school. That fact did not soothe anyone. On the other hand, it is not legal for a school district to operate without its top administrator, the (interim) superintendent. Resignation or not, Houston is obligated by law to stay for a month.

After reassmembling and hearing more disapproving comments from the public and board member Vincent Brandt (who voted "yes" to Rinella), the meeting ended at about 10:45, with a disgruntled public exiting.

Letters To The Independent Expressing Outrage Over The Demotion Of Dr. Shallop Have BOE Members Defending Reassignment of Principal

According to the this weeks edition of the Independent (already posted online), many residents had sent letters to the publisher this past week, expressing outrage over the action taken by the members of the Middletown Board of Education that lead to the demotion of the very popular Principal of Middletown High School South, Dr. Anthony Shallop.

So many letters in fact that the Independent felt compelled to follow-up on these letters of support by contacting BOE members for a response, all of whom defended their decision to reassign Dr Shallop to his previously tenured position as a teacher at High School South via email.

...Board Member Vincent Brand said in an email that his decision was based on the facts relevant to the issue, which by law cannot be discussed in public because the issue remains personal and confidential.

“It would have been easy to vote the popular vote last night, but that would have been, for me, unethical to do so.”

According to Brand and board Vice President Christopher Aveta, the board gave Shallop a chance to address the issues prior to the vote.

“I fought hard for Dr. Shallop to get into executive session so that he would have every opportunity to impact the vote and so that he could hear directly from the board the specific issues at hand,” Brand said.

“He was given that chance and could not positively affect the outcome.”

Board member Michael Donlon was the only board member to vote against the reassignment.

“I had not been totally convinced the decision was correct, therefore I could not go along with it,” he said in an email.

“Granting tenure to someone is not a decision that is taken lightly,” board President Joan Minnuies said in an email.

Minnuies said that the decision was three months in the making and involved discussions with the district’s central office and Shallop.

“I feel that the information provided to the board by both the central office and Dr. Shallop himself has convinced the board that the decision we ended up making was the correct one,” she said....

This vague reasoning by BOE members is a little hard to swallow based on some of their comments. It seem as if the decision to reassign Shallop was made long in advance and no matter what he would have said to the Board in Executive session, his words would not have been convincing enough to change their minds and will remain a mystery until someone decides to break the silence and explain what really went on between Dr. Shallop and the BOE that lead to his reassignment.

Comments left on my previous post on this subject are full of speculation, name calling and innuendo as to the real reason why Anthony Shallop was stripped of his duties as Principal of High School South and reassigned back to his original teaching position that he had held before becoming principal a couple of years prior.

Some of the comments seem to have merit while others are a little farfetched, you can read them and decided for yourself which ones seem legitimate and which ones are bogus. The bottom line however, is that when the truth comes out someone will have egg on their face and will have some explaining to do.

The Independent posted online two letters that were sent them supporting Dr. Shallop in his fight to retain his position. The letter sent by Patricia Wood,Resident heartbroken over Board of Ed. action, was referred to in the article posted by the Independent, while the other written by Judy Krivitzky, Parent urges Mid’twn BOE to reconsider principal’s removal (An open letter to the Middletown Board of Education and Interim Superintendent Patrick Houston), collaborates and supports much of what is contained in Patricia Wood's letter.

They are both worth reading, as is the article about the BOE defending Shallop's reassignment. Somewhere in between the three, the truth lies.

Middletown School Board Election - Budget Passes & Cody Lost

For all of those who voted in todays Middletown School Board election the results are in:

The budget passed by a vote of 4621 yes  2887 no 

All three incumbents were also re-elected to 3 year terms

Minnuies with 3976 votes
Skelton with 2894 votes

Donlon with 2423 votes  

I would like to thank all of you who read my earlier post and took my advice to follow the ABC rule, Anyone But Cody. James Cody lost by a good margin. 

The Board of Education is no place for a person with a personal ax to grind and an agenda against others, and who serve honestly and with the best intentions of our children in mind.