Tuesday July 15, 2014 was a big news day for Superintendent Critchlow and the Fox C-6 school district! Dianne Critchlow emailed a statement to news outlets announcing her early retirement. In her statement she said that her early retirement had nothing to do with accusations that she and other district employees harassed parents on internet message boards as reported in the KSDK news story.
I found her comments humorous knowing all that I know about the online postings on Topix and documenting and analyzing them over the past 4 years. People aren't as anonymous as they think they are and that's why it's not very smart to post things online that you wouldn't say in public.
That's why I also found it funny as to how friendly Dianne Critchlow and Dan Baker were at the May 2014 Fox C-6 school board meeting. I already knew before the May 2014 school board meeting that some of the defamatory posts on Topix had been traced to their residences.
They had been contacted by their ISP's weeks before the May 2014 meeting and were asked if they could release their names after the ISP's had been subpoenaed for their account information related to comments posted on Topix. That's why the attorney had to file a motion to compel on April 14, 2014 because the owners of the accounts refused to release their information. So, stating that she was retiring early had nothing to do with accusations about the internet scandal was really funny to hear.
I guess that knowing that your name has been released due to a subpoena request related to your internet account changes how you act around those that you know must know as well. It doesn't mean that those involved aren't going to deny doing anything wrong. But, it definitely changes how they behave!
I laughed when I heard Superintendent Critchlow's statement on KSDK saying that the recent internet scandal had nothing to do with her early retirement. I also found it funny when I read in the Post Dispatch that her statement said that she had approached the board in May before the board was made aware of the allegations in the lawsuit.
The Fox C-6 school board probably didn't know about the internet allegations in mid May. But, Dianne Critchlow certainly knew that something was coming down the pike. In fact, I let the cat out of the bag when I commented on my Twitter account on March 15, 2014 that we had obtained IP addresses from Topix. I deleted my post a couple of days later so we wouldn't tip anyone off. But, I think I already had.
In March, we didn't have the account names to go along with the Topix posts. Critchlow's statement said she told the board that she was retiring early because of health issues. I could see that it might be stressful knowing that your internet account and home address had been traced to online defamatory comments. That's why I found her comments funny. For her to not know about any comments being posted online is just laughable considering my efforts to get our school board to do the right thing for the last 6 years.
Superintendent Critchlow's statement about her retirement reminds me of the time when she told KSDK that the district has enough books for all of its students. However, if you talk to parents, teachers and some principals in the district you'll find out that the district doesn't have enough books for all of our students. It just sums up all of what's been going on for a very long time in our school district. It's a very sad ending to what could have been a good career had things been handled differently.
Anyone can deny being involved in nefarious behavior. Embattled leaders do it all the time. It doesn't make their statements true. But, it looks good in print and that's what you'll be able to Google for a very long time just like the comments that were made on Topix.
I believe that the majority of the community now realizes that they haven't been getting what they've been paying for over the last 9 years. They definitely haven't witnessed behavior that suggests that our district leadership represents a National District of Character that has been so heavily promoted by Superintendent Brown-Critchlow during her tenure.
Here are some of the recent news media stories related to Dianne Critchlow's retirement announcement:
I found her comments humorous knowing all that I know about the online postings on Topix and documenting and analyzing them over the past 4 years. People aren't as anonymous as they think they are and that's why it's not very smart to post things online that you wouldn't say in public.
That's why I also found it funny as to how friendly Dianne Critchlow and Dan Baker were at the May 2014 Fox C-6 school board meeting. I already knew before the May 2014 school board meeting that some of the defamatory posts on Topix had been traced to their residences.
They had been contacted by their ISP's weeks before the May 2014 meeting and were asked if they could release their names after the ISP's had been subpoenaed for their account information related to comments posted on Topix. That's why the attorney had to file a motion to compel on April 14, 2014 because the owners of the accounts refused to release their information. So, stating that she was retiring early had nothing to do with accusations about the internet scandal was really funny to hear.
I guess that knowing that your name has been released due to a subpoena request related to your internet account changes how you act around those that you know must know as well. It doesn't mean that those involved aren't going to deny doing anything wrong. But, it definitely changes how they behave!
I laughed when I heard Superintendent Critchlow's statement on KSDK saying that the recent internet scandal had nothing to do with her early retirement. I also found it funny when I read in the Post Dispatch that her statement said that she had approached the board in May before the board was made aware of the allegations in the lawsuit.
The Fox C-6 school board probably didn't know about the internet allegations in mid May. But, Dianne Critchlow certainly knew that something was coming down the pike. In fact, I let the cat out of the bag when I commented on my Twitter account on March 15, 2014 that we had obtained IP addresses from Topix. I deleted my post a couple of days later so we wouldn't tip anyone off. But, I think I already had.
In March, we didn't have the account names to go along with the Topix posts. Critchlow's statement said she told the board that she was retiring early because of health issues. I could see that it might be stressful knowing that your internet account and home address had been traced to online defamatory comments. That's why I found her comments funny. For her to not know about any comments being posted online is just laughable considering my efforts to get our school board to do the right thing for the last 6 years.
Superintendent Critchlow's statement about her retirement reminds me of the time when she told KSDK that the district has enough books for all of its students. However, if you talk to parents, teachers and some principals in the district you'll find out that the district doesn't have enough books for all of our students. It just sums up all of what's been going on for a very long time in our school district. It's a very sad ending to what could have been a good career had things been handled differently.
Anyone can deny being involved in nefarious behavior. Embattled leaders do it all the time. It doesn't make their statements true. But, it looks good in print and that's what you'll be able to Google for a very long time just like the comments that were made on Topix.
I believe that the majority of the community now realizes that they haven't been getting what they've been paying for over the last 9 years. They definitely haven't witnessed behavior that suggests that our district leadership represents a National District of Character that has been so heavily promoted by Superintendent Brown-Critchlow during her tenure.
Here are some of the recent news media stories related to Dianne Critchlow's retirement announcement: