| Del Mar superintendent Bishop fired He sounds exactly like Lowell Billings of Chula Vista. |
| Voice of San Diego Bishop’s Exit and the Widening Schism By Ian S. Port March 2, 2008 ...When parents who were thrilled to see Bishop depart took the mic, the trickle of applause from a back corner left no doubt about who was in the minority. "There aren’t a lot of parents here speaking in support of Mr. Bishop because he frankly didn’t listen to parents," said Ginny Merrifield, a district parent and frequent critic of the superintendent, who managed the election campaigns of the board members who pushed him to resign. "He misrepresented the facts, he lied and he collaborated with others to undermine the board. I think it’s fair to call the question of whether or not he’s willing to work with the board," she said, over a swell of booing. The roughly 90 minutes of verbal combat yielded a spate of interesting charges: First, that board member Katherine White should resign, be recalled or be censured for a quote she made in my last column about other unsavory goings on in the Del Mar district. (Goings-on that were not only never denied by any of the speakers, but which were in fact fleshed out by one of them, who added details that White did not offer.) Second, that your Merge-land correspondent is in fact a "crony" of White, Annette Easton and Steven McDowell, the board majority who ousted Bishop. (I try hard to be fair and honest.) Third, that it was the goal of the new board majority to oust Bishop from the start, a claim bolstered by a quote White gave to the Union-Tribune in 2006, where she mentioned the option of buying out Bishop’s contract if he didn’t deal well with a newly powerful board. ("What I mean was not supposed to be a comment on Tom in particular, it was just a comment in general," White told me. "It was supposed to be a statement of fact.") Two questions, both of them still unanswered, overshadowed the meeting and will likely overshadow the Del Mar district for some time. The first, and most obvious, was why exactly Bishop was booted right there and then. All Board President Annette Easton said, with an apology, was that she couldn’t say. "I would only consider a decision like this if I really felt that it was in the best interest of helping us as a community move forward," Easton told the room, still brimming two hours in. "You see different sides of the entire picture ... Not all of us have access to the same information." (Bishop is unpopular among some in the district for having an uncompromising management style, being less-than-upfront on his personal agenda and not tolerating dissenting views, all of which critics say have hindered many district endeavors: Its effort to sell a piece of land to the city of Del Mar, its setting of boundaries for attendance at its eight schools, the process of setting up a Spanish-language program and the management of a nonprofit that supports the Del Mar curriculum, among other things.)... [Maura Larkins' comment: Top-down management causes lots of problems. I'd like to see more willingness among board members and administrators to conduct open discussions, and to change their plans when a better plan is suggested. I hope the new superintendent will have a different style. Of course, this would mean that he will not have an allegiance to any faction of board members, and will not be the pawn of district lawyers. Fat chance, eh?] |
| Del Mar Union School District |
| Ouster of superintendents, one after another |
Voice of San Diego
Del Mar’s Missing Money, Mysterious Politics
By Ian S. Port
Feb. 19, 2008 |
Sometime in the middle of January, an envelope containing
about $8,000 in cash and personal checks disappeared from a
drawer at Del Mar Heights Elementary School.
The money was proceeds from a book fair the school held in
December to raise money for new library books � and no one
knows what happened to it. The locked drawer where it was
kept showed no signs of forced entry. The money didn’t turn up
in a massive search of the school office.
Ian S. Port
Days after the envelope was discovered missing, the police
were called. They have no leads.
The incident is obviously embarrassing for the staff of the
school, members of which admit that they broke with district
policy by not keeping the money in the school safe when it
wasn’t being counted.
"Mistakes were made," said Heights Principal Wendy Wardlow.
"There should have been better oversight."
The errors were magnified by a news story about the missing
money appeared in The San Diego Union-Tribune. In a short
Feb. 8 piece, Wardlow was quoted as being regretful and
Superintendent Tom Bishop as disappointed -- with him also
noting the amount of the loss as unprecedented.
United States v. Richard King
Everyone acknowledges that losing track of over $8,000 is a
pretty big bungle.
But the appearance of a story about the missing funds in the
Union-Tribune has raised the suspicions of many in the Del
Mar Heights community, who wonder if the story was pushed to
the Union-Tribune by someone in the district who might not
mind seeing the school embarrassed in the region’s biggest
paper.
True or not, such paranoia is commonplace in the district these
days. While schools in Del Mar manage to produce some of the
highest test scores in San Diego County -- and absolute
adoration from many parents -- the politics of education in this
affluent and successful community are frequently vicious,
vindictive and sometimes nearly violent.
The U-T story raised eyebrows partly because the paper writes
barely at all about mid-coastal elementary schools. Besides
fluffy features, the only hard news that makes it to print is truly
major: bond measures, board elections and major curricular
crisis.
Moreover, the story was published before many in the district --
even many of those on staff at Del Mar Heights School -- had
heard about the missing money, leaving a very limited pool of
potential leakers.
After Superintendent Tom Bishop was informed of the missing
funds on Jan. 24, he issued a gag order for everyone who knew
of the incident, including staff and the school board.
Two weeks later, the story appeared.
Burglaries, thefts, narcotics violations, vandalism and other
crimes are regularly reported at schools in the area, so it’s hard
to see why this report would stand out. According to the crime-
mapping website Arjis.org, at least five similar crimes were
reported at DMUSD schools between November and January.
Does the U-T check them all out, or did something else draw
the paper’s attention to that January incident at Del Mar
Heights?
School board member Katherine White said the circumstances
-- the leak of an embarrassing story when only a few knew
about it -- "are something."
"I didn’t read about it in the paper when there was a principal
drunk in a school event," White said. "And I didn’t read in the
paper when a school employee was using drugs on campus.
And I don’t read about the principal that screams at his
employees. And I don’t read about the other thefts that have
happened in the schools this year ... I don’t understand what
makes this such a reportable event when those other things I’
ve never even been officially told about."
The view of the Heights School as a target of the district
administration -- specifically Superintendent Tom Bishop -- is
widely (though not universally) held among the school’s
parents and staff.
None that I contacted would speak for attribution on the subject,
but the story they tell is the same. Critics from all over the
district have long said that Bishop does not tolerate
disagreement from employees. And Wardlow, the Heights
principal, has earned a reputation as a straight-talker.
"He hates Wendy and he hates the Heights and he’s been
trying to get rid of her for years," one parent said. "And why is
that? Because Wendy speaks what she thinks. She’s not
diplomatic."
Bishop told me he was "disappointed" about the missing
money. He did not return calls Friday seeking further comment.
The spat between Bishop at the Heights has old origins,
according to those who describe it, but the conflict has
heightened recently. In 2006, a brand new, three-person school
board majority was elected on a message of reform, implicitly
criticizing the superintendent and a school board that they said
had long given him everything he wanted. Their election came
amid a mass evaporation of faith in various divisions of the
district, especially in the nonprofit foundation that supports Del
Mar classes with private money. Many of the most vocal
supporters of the "slate of three" reformers were Heights
parents. Two of the new school board members sent their kids
to the school.
Since the election, the Superintendent’s professional life has
been significantly less predictable. Board meetings are no
longer smile-a-thons held to ratify Bishop’s desires. When
oddities occur -- and there have been too many to list here --
Bishop is brought into line by his board.
Last year, parents from another DMUSD school nearly erupted
into a fistfight over the district’s plan to start a pilot Spanish
immersion program, partly because the district didn’t bother to
tell parents of its plans until after the decision to go ahead was
made. The principal of the school herself learned of the
immersion program minutes before the school board voted to
approve it. But after parents revolted -- complaining that no one
told them what was going on -- the plan had to be canceled.
Two months later, Heights Principal Wardlow appeared in front
of the school board asking to start a different Spanish language
program at the school. Her proposal for a smaller program was
developed entirely by the school staff and had its support.
Despite that adding foreign language education has been a
longtime stated goal of the district -- and that the Heights
curriculum was an obvious chance to atone for the blundering
of the earlier immersion program -- Bishop and an ally on the
board rode Wardlow through a two-hour hearing on the
proposal, bringing to bear their full arsenal of nitpicking on the
principal.
The message was clear: the district can do what it wants, and it
might mess things up horribly. But even an obviously
competent and heavily supported proposal from the Heights is
going to get the toughest scrutiny from the district.
One wound between the Heights and the district goes to the
very existence of the school itself. Rumors have persisted for
years -- heard by teachers and school board members -- that
Bishop has plans to close the Heights, sell the extremely
valuable land it sits on, and use the money to build a new
district office.
The superintendent always denies this. Of course, Heights
parents and staff still find such talk incredibly disturbing. And in
other matters, not a lot of love rains down from the district to
dissuade parents and staff of the notion that their school is
looked upon less than favorably by it.
The very thing that allegedly pits Wardlow against Bishop -- her
forthrightness -- is what many parents say they like most about
her.
"Wendy Wardlow has all of my tremendous support, as well as
everybody in the community that I’ve ever talked to," said parent
Ralph DeMarco, who sent five kids through various Del Mar
schools, and says he likes Wardlow the best of any principal.
When DeMarco heard about the missing $8,107.18 in book fair
funds, "I went over there and I said I want to write you a check
right now."
With a tone of suspicion that has become all-too-common
around Del Mar schools lately, he admitted finding the U-T
piece a bit weird.
"Is that somebody’s PR plan there? Why this article like that? Is
somebody feeding that for the purpose of their overall agenda?"
he asked.
It could be nothing. But in Del Mar these days, you just never
know.
Del Mar’s Missing Money, Mysterious Politics
By Ian S. Port
Feb. 19, 2008 |
Sometime in the middle of January, an envelope containing
about $8,000 in cash and personal checks disappeared from a
drawer at Del Mar Heights Elementary School.
The money was proceeds from a book fair the school held in
December to raise money for new library books � and no one
knows what happened to it. The locked drawer where it was
kept showed no signs of forced entry. The money didn’t turn up
in a massive search of the school office.
Ian S. Port
Days after the envelope was discovered missing, the police
were called. They have no leads.
The incident is obviously embarrassing for the staff of the
school, members of which admit that they broke with district
policy by not keeping the money in the school safe when it
wasn’t being counted.
"Mistakes were made," said Heights Principal Wendy Wardlow.
"There should have been better oversight."
The errors were magnified by a news story about the missing
money appeared in The San Diego Union-Tribune. In a short
Feb. 8 piece, Wardlow was quoted as being regretful and
Superintendent Tom Bishop as disappointed -- with him also
noting the amount of the loss as unprecedented.
United States v. Richard King
Everyone acknowledges that losing track of over $8,000 is a
pretty big bungle.
But the appearance of a story about the missing funds in the
Union-Tribune has raised the suspicions of many in the Del
Mar Heights community, who wonder if the story was pushed to
the Union-Tribune by someone in the district who might not
mind seeing the school embarrassed in the region’s biggest
paper.
True or not, such paranoia is commonplace in the district these
days. While schools in Del Mar manage to produce some of the
highest test scores in San Diego County -- and absolute
adoration from many parents -- the politics of education in this
affluent and successful community are frequently vicious,
vindictive and sometimes nearly violent.
The U-T story raised eyebrows partly because the paper writes
barely at all about mid-coastal elementary schools. Besides
fluffy features, the only hard news that makes it to print is truly
major: bond measures, board elections and major curricular
crisis.
Moreover, the story was published before many in the district --
even many of those on staff at Del Mar Heights School -- had
heard about the missing money, leaving a very limited pool of
potential leakers.
After Superintendent Tom Bishop was informed of the missing
funds on Jan. 24, he issued a gag order for everyone who knew
of the incident, including staff and the school board.
Two weeks later, the story appeared.
Burglaries, thefts, narcotics violations, vandalism and other
crimes are regularly reported at schools in the area, so it’s hard
to see why this report would stand out. According to the crime-
mapping website Arjis.org, at least five similar crimes were
reported at DMUSD schools between November and January.
Does the U-T check them all out, or did something else draw
the paper’s attention to that January incident at Del Mar
Heights?
School board member Katherine White said the circumstances
-- the leak of an embarrassing story when only a few knew
about it -- "are something."
"I didn’t read about it in the paper when there was a principal
drunk in a school event," White said. "And I didn’t read in the
paper when a school employee was using drugs on campus.
And I don’t read about the principal that screams at his
employees. And I don’t read about the other thefts that have
happened in the schools this year ... I don’t understand what
makes this such a reportable event when those other things I’
ve never even been officially told about."
The view of the Heights School as a target of the district
administration -- specifically Superintendent Tom Bishop -- is
widely (though not universally) held among the school’s
parents and staff.
None that I contacted would speak for attribution on the subject,
but the story they tell is the same. Critics from all over the
district have long said that Bishop does not tolerate
disagreement from employees. And Wardlow, the Heights
principal, has earned a reputation as a straight-talker.
"He hates Wendy and he hates the Heights and he’s been
trying to get rid of her for years," one parent said. "And why is
that? Because Wendy speaks what she thinks. She’s not
diplomatic."
Bishop told me he was "disappointed" about the missing
money. He did not return calls Friday seeking further comment.
The spat between Bishop at the Heights has old origins,
according to those who describe it, but the conflict has
heightened recently. In 2006, a brand new, three-person school
board majority was elected on a message of reform, implicitly
criticizing the superintendent and a school board that they said
had long given him everything he wanted. Their election came
amid a mass evaporation of faith in various divisions of the
district, especially in the nonprofit foundation that supports Del
Mar classes with private money. Many of the most vocal
supporters of the "slate of three" reformers were Heights
parents. Two of the new school board members sent their kids
to the school.
Since the election, the Superintendent’s professional life has
been significantly less predictable. Board meetings are no
longer smile-a-thons held to ratify Bishop’s desires. When
oddities occur -- and there have been too many to list here --
Bishop is brought into line by his board.
Last year, parents from another DMUSD school nearly erupted
into a fistfight over the district’s plan to start a pilot Spanish
immersion program, partly because the district didn’t bother to
tell parents of its plans until after the decision to go ahead was
made. The principal of the school herself learned of the
immersion program minutes before the school board voted to
approve it. But after parents revolted -- complaining that no one
told them what was going on -- the plan had to be canceled.
Two months later, Heights Principal Wardlow appeared in front
of the school board asking to start a different Spanish language
program at the school. Her proposal for a smaller program was
developed entirely by the school staff and had its support.
Despite that adding foreign language education has been a
longtime stated goal of the district -- and that the Heights
curriculum was an obvious chance to atone for the blundering
of the earlier immersion program -- Bishop and an ally on the
board rode Wardlow through a two-hour hearing on the
proposal, bringing to bear their full arsenal of nitpicking on the
principal.
The message was clear: the district can do what it wants, and it
might mess things up horribly. But even an obviously
competent and heavily supported proposal from the Heights is
going to get the toughest scrutiny from the district.
One wound between the Heights and the district goes to the
very existence of the school itself. Rumors have persisted for
years -- heard by teachers and school board members -- that
Bishop has plans to close the Heights, sell the extremely
valuable land it sits on, and use the money to build a new
district office.
The superintendent always denies this. Of course, Heights
parents and staff still find such talk incredibly disturbing. And in
other matters, not a lot of love rains down from the district to
dissuade parents and staff of the notion that their school is
looked upon less than favorably by it.
The very thing that allegedly pits Wardlow against Bishop -- her
forthrightness -- is what many parents say they like most about
her.
"Wendy Wardlow has all of my tremendous support, as well as
everybody in the community that I’ve ever talked to," said parent
Ralph DeMarco, who sent five kids through various Del Mar
schools, and says he likes Wardlow the best of any principal.
When DeMarco heard about the missing $8,107.18 in book fair
funds, "I went over there and I said I want to write you a check
right now."
With a tone of suspicion that has become all-too-common
around Del Mar schools lately, he admitted finding the U-T
piece a bit weird.
"Is that somebody’s PR plan there? Why this article like that? Is
somebody feeding that for the purpose of their overall agenda?"
he asked.
It could be nothing. But in Del Mar these days, you just never
know.
| How come stories like this are covered up by the Union Tribune if they happen in Chula Vista? |
| Talking to Kids Homework Book Boondoggle? Phonics Spanking Nat'l Board Certif Ordinary People Writing Sample |
| BLOGS |
| Defamation Suit |
| Board members seem to need scapegoats |
| Del Mar schools chief out; legal war expected McClain’s tenure ends after less than 2 years By Bruce Lieberman, UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER March 31, 2010 DEL MAR — A divided Del Mar school board yesterday fired its district superintendent, Sharon McClain, setting the stage for a protracted legal battle that could cost the school district hundreds of thousands of dollars. McClain, terminated by some of the same board members who hired her less than two years ago, vowed that she would fight her ouster in court. Because the board voted to fire her “with cause,” all pay and benefits cease immediately. The board said McClain had committed a “material breach” of her contract, but the trustees refused to say publicly what those violations were. They would not comment further, citing the threat of a lawsuit. Trustee Katherine White, who for months had tried to build a case for firing McClain, has said the superintendent fell short on several performance measures, chief among them that she failed to keep the board informed on numerous matters. They included hot-button issues such as potentially closing a school and finding space for a new district office, White has said. But McClain always countered those claims, and at Wednesday’s meeting she reiterated previous statements that detailed the lengths to which she kept trustees up to date on school affairs. “I’m going to leave, but they will hear from me,” McClain said moments after the vote. “I felt like I did a good job. … I don’t feel like I did anything I should be fired for.” Yesterday morning before the meeting, McClain was more blunt. “I will sue them because this is not right,” she said. White and trustees Annette Easton and Doug Perkins voted to fire McClain. Trustee Steven McDowell, who has typically sided with his three colleagues on most board matters, abstained. Board President Comischell Rodriguez voted against the dismissal. In a brief statement, Rodriguez said, “After many months of trying to work with Superintendent McClain to resolve a number of serious and material performance violations of her contract, the board of trustees voted to terminate the district’s contract.” Rodriguez said the board wants to move in a “new direction” with a “renewed sense of focus.” But more than 30 people who addressed the board before the vote said firing McClain was a reckless power play that will waste precious dollars at a time when the district is laying off dozens of teachers and cutting back programs. Board critics have argued for years that White, Easton and McDowell — who formed a voting bloc after the school board election in November 2006 — have incessantly micromanaged school district affairs and turned board meetings into marathon sessions that nitpick over minutiae. White, Easton and McDowell all supported hiring McClain in the summer of 2008. The three trustees had ousted former Superintendent Tom Bishop that year in a settlement that has cost the district more than $300,000. By firing McClain, the district could be liable for at least $500,000 in eventual payments to her, some speakers said at yesterday’s board meeting. “I really think this is a matter of you not liking Dr. McClain for whatever reason — jealousy, a power struggle,” said Kate Takahashi, a district parent. “It’s a half-million-dollar hissy fit.” The board has scheduled a meeting for 5 p.m. today to appoint an interim superintendent. |
Education Reform Report
| Del Mar Union School District board of trustees lacking in leadership Dec 31, 2009 Del Mar Times By Corinne Hackbart Resident, Del Mar Well, I must admit I am a bit upset with the Del Mar Union School District board. I feel they have not taken on the leadership that they should have.With the current situation regarding the dismissal of the superintendent, Sharon McClain, they should have let her go a long time ago. There have been a few instances where Sharon has not acted as a sound superintendent. The most recent situation is the recommendation by her to form the 7-11 committee.I feel so bad for all of those parents and volunteers that dedicated so many hours of their family time to try to come to some conclusion about the school attendance numbers and how to handle the redistribution or closure of a school, just to have it sabotaged by Sharon's inaccurate numbers.All that time was for naught. Was it a smoke screen to take the attention away from something? Marsha Sutton got the correct numbers for attendance in 20 minutes and it took Sharon 2 1/2 weeks to confirm what Marsha stated was fact?Come on board members - remember she works for you. You can get her to do what you ask when you ask. Now she has gotten momentum by using the teachers to promise them whatever they want to save her job and the teachers are using her to get whatever they want by having her represent them at the teachers contract meetings.All of this is at the cost of the district. What about us: the community and kids? Who is watching out for us while all of this is going on?I am also upset with the board for not having more control over the boardroom. Never should the behavior of late be allowed to take place in the boardroom. The disrespect is appalling. But then again, there is the same ol' gang that shows up nearly every meeting, using parents to spew their venom since they cannot do it themselves. |