Dr. Tharp sent out an email to all parents last night after the board meeting. There was immediate communication.

I totally agree. It is sad that our schools are losing two of its best and brightest. Happy trails and good luck to Mindy and Leni!

Agreed.

Bill Hughes and Bill Atwell- stop hiding behind all these noms de plume postings.

BH, word is out that you are actively recruiting for your organization. Do you figure that you can cause enough damage at Greendale that you can scoop up the disaffected? Why do you need to contact teachers and administrators by their school email to recruit?.

As for exiting administrators, it is a well-known fact that you are sowing dissent to help you recruit Greendale administrators. Several years ago, 4 principals of the five at the time, left in one year. Rome wasn’t burning then, nor is it now.

Please, move on with your life so we can too. Greendale remains, and as you used to say is, still “best in class.”

IwasPuck: How do you know that Dr. Hughes was using school email to recruit? That would mean that you (or someone close to you) has access to Greendale teacher and staff emails. No one should expect their work email to be private. However, knowing that higher ups are actively searching and monitoring email in this manner is at best disconcerting and never helps morale.

Fred- Greendale teachers do have friends and associates outside of the bubble. Some current Greendale employees even talk to outsiders. Look to the recipients for information. I rather doubt administrators have the time or interest in staff email. Most of the email where I work would bore the bark off a tree.

My guess is that what is said privately and publicly are two completely different things. Pay and benefits doesn't appear to be a step up. So, that leaves the obvious reason why.

Maybe she just wanted a change and this was a good opportunity? Maybe she didn't want to manage a building anymore? Maybe her talents were better served elsewhere? We have plenty of talent within our current staff in the district to fill her shoes. Highland View won't fall apart either.

She was a Spanish teacher who taught at a very high level in high school even leading tours to Spain. The less you speak a foreign language, the tougher it is to keep it up. St. Anthony's is heavily Hispanic. I'm sure the change in career had a lot to do with her ability to get back into Spanish. It's a passion for her, I'm sure. Perhaps someone can ask her instead of all the speculation.

Wouldn't it be nice if you get an answer from the board members and Tharp on teacher pay? They are union supporters no doubt about it.

Because they know Johnny Tharp is not up to the job?

I have gone to meetings and have sent email. It is frustrating when our elected officials like Joe Crapitto fail to respond to emails. It is concerning when elected officials like Joe Crapitto won't even acknowledge parent concerns and simply turns over critical emails to the Superintendent who then conducts one of his witch hunts.

So, I read that Concerned Parent is trying to blame the Superintendent who left last June for today's problems in our schools. That is classic bait and switch. It is really hard to spin the truth about Tharp as a positive. As they say, you can put lipstick on a pig, but it is still a pig.

Bravo and well said, Concerned Parent!!!!
Ms Herman, perhaps the pig on whom the lipstick was applied is the former super. Look at what organizations support Ms Dietrich's new school. Why, (surprise) it is Schools That Can. Know who left Greendale last summer to work for that group?

Blaming Hughes, where he went, or why he left is a distraction. What is important is the kid's education and with inept leadership and bad decisions being made week after week by Tharp and Amidzich, our kids are suffering.

4 top ranked? Get real. At best maybe one. One you may include was an outside contractor, not a board employee. You are too kind.

Sounds like Puck the Administrator is great at devaluing his/her former co-workers. If they decide to leave, suddenly they were never of value to the District. Keep snooping on those staff emails. Great way to spend our tax dollars.

No, Fred, people talk about their work situations to friends. I don't work in Greendale and I did not devalue those who left. Others have simply overvalued some. Just keep in mind that being good does not always equate with 'top.' Also, I only know about the emails because they were offered me by staff laughing at these posts.

So District managers are sharing what would be considered simi private emails to staff to non employee IPUCK?

That is what Greendale management does - talking about staff issues to the public. Staff members beware: Administration is sharing your emails and laughing about them. As he says, they offered them.

Surprised- Don't go twisting what I wrote. No administrator has shared ANY emails with me. What I heard was from a Greendale staff member claiming to be approached though his/her Greendale school email. Let's be really clear about that. Get your facts straight.

GAM- you might care to read this-
Schools close doors to voters for safety
USA Today
"Local election officials are moving polling places out of schools as the shootings in Newtown, Conn., have intensified concern about opening school doors on Election Day. In New York, Rockland County officials will relocate polls this year away from 10 schools at the request of the local school district in Clarkstown and Nyack. "In the wake of what happened in Connecticut, it's definitely taken on more urgency," says Kristen Stavisky, a county election commissioner. "Voters in these schools will have to move. They won't be going to the polling sites that they've been going to — for some of them, since they were eligible and registered to vote." Sounds familiar. Greendale is being pro-active.

because he is money-hungry and incredibly egotistical.

Wow, the endorsement of GAM has got to be about the most damaging thing that could happen for Ms. Mevis' candidacy.

I feel bad for Mrs. Mevis that you're supporting her publicly.

GAM - I have a couple questions for you and I am not speaking rhetorically: first do you think removing public voting from the schools is a bad idea (because it sounds like you do)? If so, why? Your username states you are a mom in this community - well so am I and I am all for removing voting from our schools. It is a security issue to have the school doors unlocked all day long, especially when there are other public venues in the community where voting can just as easily be held and there aren't numerous small defenseless potential victims. SECONDLY, let me point out that I can tell from your posts that you feel strongly about what you are stating, which is fine and good, but is it that hard to do so in a respectful manner? We are all residents in this little village and calling people names, such as "tool" is really uncalled for. Kim Amidzich is a mom too - her kids go to school here as well. Why would she not want the very best for our schools and our (and her) kids? I certainly am not privy to the inside story of the district admin, but perhaps the role she is currently playing is just to help as best she can while the district struggles to find some calm at this time and figure out the best way to move forward?

I have had a good laugh, today. From a realistic standpoint, Ms Dietrich is the only administrator that has chosen to leave, arguably moving up in the education food chain. You decry what you see as future doom and gloom, but won't permit the consideration of past performance as a predictor of future. Using your logic, the loss of three elementary principals and a high school principal under Dr Hughes' watch is unimportant- but gosh those good ol' times were really great. Same logic extends to the situation, now. Greendale survived those losses and flourished. Where were you, then? Can you get back there...... oh, and understand there is life after Dr Hughes?

So where is the drop in the quality of the schools in terms of test scores? Why are there literally 100s of people outside of Greendale trying to open enroll their kids here? Should Dr. Hughes have been superintendent for life? If you've studied or examined how long most stay in a district, his tenure was one of the longest. Change is necessary and inevitable in a school district. Why is it that he gets a pass for the people that left when he was there and Dr. Tharp gets villified for his action or inaction? Lots of complainers out there but little suggestions in way of solutions.

I have read all these posts. I don't think this issue is about Dr. Hughes wanting to be Superintendent forever. He left as I recall. Also, when the three elementary principals left four or five years ago, I believe they "retired" and were properly thanked for their years of service to our schools. I remember Michelle Kloth used to be principal at Canterbury and she was really great. So that just seems like trying to create something out of nothing. I do really wish Dr. Tharp would put these issues to rest.

Jane Patterman -
The administrators that left 5 years ago are not all retired.
Ms. Siewert (College Park) went on to be a principal at the Ben Franklin Elementary school in Franklin.

All this negativity goes back to the poor communication and disrespect by the board and Tharp of parents questioning the extension of Tharp's contract based on the track record so far. Andersen and Deitrich are abandoning ship because of the Captain. Ask them. They will tell you.

So Leni and Mindy told you "Mary" that they "abandoned ship" because of the "Captain". Sorry Mary, I don't believe you. Vague comments like "disrespect" and not answering questions lack credibility. Have you or any other Greendale resident come to a board meeting to ask these questions? Neither the board nor Dr. Tharp can nor should comment on why someone left. Unless the former employee comes out and specifically says why they left, neither board nor Dr. Tharp can say anything publicly without violating federal and state employment law. It's confidential information. And why would either Leni or Mindy want to say anything anyway? It's their private decision whether it's a career move or personal. Just because they work for a school district makes it no more your business than theirs. This isn't an inquisition.

Not an employee, not even a contractor.

Even if someone was an employee, they have as much right to comment on the bashing of the leadership as anyone else.

Moving the polls out of the schools is a security issue.

I'm still not seeing hard evidence of what the "crises" are. The only problem I am seeing are a lot of people causing more problems and not helping to come up with any solutions. Greendale has a problem alright, but it does not lie solely in Dr. Tharp and the school board's hands. It lies within the culture of our community and how we treat people. I see people complaining about "pro" teacher. And to be honest, why shouldn't we be behind the professionals that take care of and see our children more than we do on any given day? With how people are speaking on here (in these comments), I find it hard to believe that any teacher that is worthwhile will want to come to a district where people and the leadership are not pro-teacher, at least to some extent. I'm disappointed in the lack of support for our leaders and willingness to encourage and help our new superintendent grow.

The same could be said for anyone on here.

Bren - no one is advocating removing easy access to public voting. There are plenty of alternate locations in the village besides the public schools. The 'traditional way' is not always the best way. Changes in society and common sense sometimes call for a reevaluation of how to do things. In this case, why wait until some tragedy happens to make it harder for the bad guys to get into our schools? I am guessing you do not have children in the Greendale schools. If you attended any recent PTO meetings where this topic had come up, you would know that the majority of parents in attendance are all for removing voting from our schools so they can remain locked during the day.

This is true but a news source will likely get a more prompt response for the obvious reason. Patch, will you request this information on behalf of Greendale?

And what does "it is what it is" mean? So the "Greendale Way" involves reading of employee mails? What's the problem? You must have never worked in the private sector GSD teach. Most sane employers have email policies in place that monitor email and internet traffic. It would be crazy not to do so. It doesn't matter if someone's using a personal email address if they are using a school computer. Where I work my company has an email/internet policy. We have no access to live media, for example, like live radio or internet TV. Any questionable internet site is blocked and to enable you to see it if you need it for doing your job, the IT person has to approve it. I know from friends that so a lot of work with Asian companies that this is typically a problem because of all the spam and hacking originating from there. An employer has every right to review emails and internet histories if it's the employer's computer. If you want to gossip and rag on the school district amongst your fellow teachers, don't do it on the job or anything else you wouldn't want to have read by "big brother".

@GSD teach ...and if you have nothing to hide it should not bother you that administration is reading employee emails a bit. I am not sure of one district, including the one I work for, who has not put out a technology usage protocal...you sounded really ignorant just now making that statement. It is not the new Greendale Way it is the way it should be. I am amazed as an educator you should be teaching students how to properly engage in conversations in social networking sites/internet etc...and teach them how to interact with technology in a way that is ethically appropriate and you as an educator are on here "airing" all your business out as well as backstabbing people...man I certainly hope whoever you are you don't have any contact with my children at any point in their time at GSD. What a poor example you are. It is people like you that make it even harder for the rest of us teachers to make a good name for ourselves.

I am not concerned that the district administration is reading and checking emails. That is the way of the world. Buck up GSD teach. Join the real world. If you are writing something you don't want read, why are you writing it?

Haha! We know how the private sector works! Higher starting salaries and much higher pay for performance incentives.

And, BTW, every organization has email/Internet policies. No one is complaining about that. But insinuating that individual emails are being read? That alarms me a bit, if it is true.

The de facto superintendent is reading email. Teachers are using their own accounts. Once burned.

I'm in the private sector, and of course it's not my real name. You haven't seen Anchorman, I take it, the movie from which Will Ferrel stars as the Anchorman. Raunchy but funny as heck. I think 3% is pretty measly, but they haven't had any raise in several years. My salary is based on my performance and I can earn bonuses based on measureables that my company puts out there that are quantifiable. I'm not in sales, but if you sell more (and they pay for what you sell) many in sales can earn a ton by meeting their sales quotas and if they exceed them, many sales people can make bonuses that can be more than their salaries. Other private sector jobs are similar. That's really hard to do in public education because how does one measure performance for individual teachers compared to other teachers who teach at different levels with different students and in different schools. Maybe there's someone out there in the country that does it, but I've never heard of it. Colleges do it, but many professors out there do research and are paid by corporations as well as their schools. By the way, the increase in salary here will not raise the tax levy. If you've been following the board meetings, the school tax levy has decreased significantly. So they've been fiscally responsible. Thanks for the question. It's nice to have a conversation without vague accusations!

Why are people using their own accounts on school computers to do personal emailing? GSD teach, you must have a lot of free time on your hands if your using personal email at school.