Has The Beginning of the End Begun?

This past summer at a candidates debate, board member Susan Valdes said in no uncertain terms that she was the “boss” of Superintendent Elia and that all district employees were “my employees.”

I thought then that those were rather blue collar descriptors mixed with great hubris. Problem is, I think she literally believes it.

There is no doubt that the superintendent serves at the pleasure of the board…..all seven members. A majority of those seven can hire or fire the superintendent. Understood.

But, the Maverick of Minutia forgets she is one voice out of seven, one opinion out of seven to provide policy oversight to the district. Thank God she is not tasked either through practice or law to actually provide hands-on management of schools, departments, or any employee. Remember, she said she trusts no know in the district, so why should we, as district employees, trust her?

Which brings me to......

This past week, the result of an official request, I met with Linda Kipley, General Manager of Professional Standards. Not to be too redundant, but Mrs. Kipley is among the most professional managers within the district: professional in dress, professional in manner, and amazing professional in conversation.

An agenda for this meeting, as she explained, was that the district has become aware that this internet site may have criticized unnamed upper-managers or unnamed school board members (her words). Mrs. Kipley also said that district legal and HR staff have been tasked to research the legality of an employee, like myself, away from work and on my own time, criticizing “my” employers.

To be sure, I do work for and report to a director. And if any manager above my director’s pay-grade asked me to perform a district-related task, I’d jump to it. I do wonder, though, if I’d be required to report to and have my daily schedule reviewed and approved by any board member. Just wondering!

So let’s recap: Someone (unnamed) in the upper echelon of district management or an (unnamed) elected member of the school board is pissed. And, whoever that person is, he or she has to juice to force work upon the district’s legal and HR team to see if I can be censured….and prohibited from further criticism of my “employers.”

To go even further with this ploy, I must assume that the unnamed person or persons must hope that future censorship of this site is only a first step. That same person or persons must also hope the law would allow for me, a district employee, to be disciplined for perceived criticism….if not terminated.

I guess at this point, I will sit back and wait for a decision. Certainly, I’ll be researching case law and recent court outcomes on my own. I’ll have to scale back my verbiage about Florida’s Superintendent of the Year MaryEllen Elia, or couch my words when discussing the District’s increasing success at FACT testing or becoming a finalist for a huge Gates Foundation grant. Yup, I’ll even refrain from telling the world that Jack Lamb and Doretha Edgecomb are award-winning lifetime educators, not rubber-stampers as some unnamed board “employers” have concluded.

I will admit making nice will be difficult. This whole thing has the rotten-egg stench of two unnamed employers , Humpster and Dumpster.

posted by admin @ 5:25 PM