Patrick Miller Brainwashes His Fire Company Cult Followers

The Jim Jones of Delaware fraud is at it again.  What did the infamous Patrick Miller do now?  He only lied to the entire membership of the Indian River Volunteer Fire Company at their monthly meeting.

**UPDATED** Please Read: Gateway, Great Oaks, & Kuumba

A week and a half ago, I sent a Freedom of Information Act request to ALL Delaware school districts and charter schools.  The districts and charters in the title of this post are those who have not sent anything back including an acknowledgment you received my FOIA request.  This is not meant to call you out but rather to inform you of the deadline in 8-9 days (March 20th or March 21st) based on when I sent the requests.

If you did NOT receive the request either in email or from the online form provided on your website, please reach out to me at kevino3670@yahoo.com

For the rest of our districts and charter schools in Delaware, I am very appreciative of your official FOIA response or your acknowledgement you got my request.  Thank you!

Updated, 3/13/2018: As the folks named in the title respond, I am taking them out of the title!

The Behind The Scene Plans To Save DAPSS & What The DOE Isn’t Telling Us

On the surface, Delaware Academy of Public Safety & Security is toast.  But many key players in the Delaware education world are busy making plans to make sure that outcome does not happen.  How do you get a school way below enrollment to survive?  You partner up and you do it fast!

Letter Sent To Christina-Pulaski Parents About Mold Issues

On the Pulaski Elementary School website, a letter from Assistant to the Superintendent Ed Mayfield from yesterday fully states what the Christina School District is doing in regards to the mold issue at the school.  Meanwhile, I submitted a FOIA request to the Christina School District for the BATTA reports for all of their schools for FY2015, 2016, and 2017.

October 11, 2016

Dear Pulaski Elementary School Parents/Guardians:

Christina School District officials and facilities staff are in the process of addressing an issue of mold being present in three school classrooms. These classrooms, Room 10, Room 11, and the computer room, are not being used by students or staff, and will be off-limits until the issue has been thoroughly addressed.

Between Friday, October 7 and Sunday, October 9, the three rooms were isolated and all exposed surfaces were vacuumed using special filters that trap harmful particles, and were wiped down using an antibacterial solution. Filtration devices were also placed in the rooms and were left in place for a period of 72 hours.

An environmental company will be conducting air-quality tests of the entire building beginning on Wednesday, October 12 and continuing on Thursday, October 13, and Friday, October 14. A representative of the Department of Public Health will also do a walk-through of the building on Friday, October 14. The test results will help us determine if problems exist in any other part of the building. If air-quality issues are identified in other parts of our building, district protocols will continue to be implemented, and, if necessary, we will put additional action plans in place.

We will communicate any updates to you as soon as they are available. If you have questions or need additional information, please direct them to Mr. Ed Mayfield, Assistant to the Superintendent, edward.mayfield@christina.k12.de.us; 552-2601.

Sincerely,

Ed Mayfield

Assistant to the Superintendent Christina School District

Governor Markell Gets The “Hilary Clinton Personal Email” FOIA Letter

Delaware Governor Jack Markell’s office received a letter today with a FOIA request regarding use of other email independent of his official state email.  Speaking from experience with a FOIA request to the Governor’s office, I was shocked when I received my FOIA back for emails between Markell and four individuals.  It was next to nothing, which I found VERY hard to believe given the relationship between Markell and Rodel’s Paul Herdman.  This should be interesting to see what comes out of this.

Shocking Response To Citizen’s Federal FOIA Request Concerning Priority Schools

A Delaware citizen forwarded me this information.  They wished to remain anonymous.  What they received from the US Department of Education was very perplexing.

If this is to be believed, there was no communication between the US Department of Education and DE Secretary of Education Mark Murphy or Governor Markell between January 1st, 2014 and December 23rd, 2014.  Not even one.  Hmmm…

Will Red Clay Throw Their Priority School Teachers Under The Bus?

 

In reading Matthew Albright’s News Journal article on the Priority Schools from Thanksgiving, it’s very clear there are some “read between the lines” parts of the article.  The most glaring is the parts by Deputy Superintendent Hugh Broomall:

“We’ve been able to work collaboratively with the Department of Education and our school communities to come up with a plan that we think is in the best interest of these schools and their students,” Deputy Superintendent Hugh Broomall said.

This sounds good, right?  The key words are “school communities”.  This does not show the overall community.  Part of the whole reason for needing more time was to work with the overall community.  Something Christina School District has done.  But Albright goes on to say this:

Broomall encouraged anyone in the affected schools’ communities to read the plan and reach out to the district if they have concerns.

So Red Clay is going to write their plan without any input from parents and members of the community?  This sounds absurd!  It tells me they are going to comply with the Delaware DOE as much as humanly possible.  I think Markell would relax a bit on the $160,000 requirement for a school leader but I highly doubt he is going to allow these schools to keep their complete staff.  It is my opinion that unless these schools comply with the original Memorandum of Understanding, Markell is going to take all six schools as soon as possible after December 31st.

If I were a teacher at any single one of these priority schools, especially in Red Clay, I would be very worried.  I have to believe Red Clay Educators Association President Mike Matthews would absolutely refuse to sign onto anything that would involve teachers losing their jobs or even reapplying for their jobs.  But are Markell’s demands, based on Federal ESEA regulations, a union-busting move?  Markell, despite what I think of him, is a very shrewd and calculating man.  I doubt he would go into this without thinking he has all his bases covered.  Adding to that notion is something else Albright wrote based on Broomall’s words:

Broomall said the district needs to iron out an agreement with the union that would determine what happens if a teacher wants to stay at one of the Priority Schools but the school leader or district doesn’t think they would be a good fit.

No matter what Red Clay decides, it sounds like authority would be given primarily to the school leader.  Depending on who this leader is, if they are like most of the DOE “leaders”, it will be someone from the charter school industry or the fast-track teacher companies the DOE is obsessed with these days.  If Red Clay’s agreement agrees to cede all the power to this school leader, it will be very harmful to the existing teachers.

We will find out in the next month what the fates of these schools might be.  I sincerely hope something happens in the meantime that prevents any action Markell may take.  Mike Matthews did a public FOIA request for any email containing the names of the priority schools, turnaround school, parternership zone school, and more a couple weeks ago at the DOE State Board of Education meeting.  He received a response from the DOE indicating an overwhelming amount of money to comply, with a $300 start-up fee.  Matthews is looking at another source to help cover funding for this.

Should the DOE, Markell, and Murphy take all six priority schools AND Gateway Lab School, expect a public outcry like this administration has never seen.  Other school districts in the state will be even more untrusting of this cabal of terror.  Parents will know without any doubt no school is safe, and it is all a power grab.