Wednesday, September 24, 2014

MarzanoGate Update in the Post Dispatch and More News Stories About Fox C-6!

Today's article in the Post Dispatch uncovers more of just how much the June 2013 Marzano Conference cost the Fox C-6 taxpayers that I previously wrote about. There was also a story posted Monday September 22, 2014 on STLTODAY.COM about Cheryl Hermann's resignation from the Fox C-6 School District after her daughter was unhired. KSDK also aired a story on Tuesday September 23, 2014 about Cheryl Hermann and her daughter Sophia who lost her job after the Fox C-6 school board voted to rescind their decision to hire Cheryl's daughter at a Special School Board Meeting on September 9, 2014.

3 Day Conference Hotel Bill for Orlando - $9,042
Leah Thorsen of the St. Louis Post Dispatch contacted the Fox C-6 District and obtained more information from Fox's new CFO John Brazeal. She obtained all of the hotel expenses at the Hard Rock Hotel from the June 2013 conference in Orlando. It turns out that Dianne's four-night hotel bill was $2,208. According to Mr. Brazeal, the five other rooms cost a total of $6,834.

Wow!! The total hotel cost for the 3 day conference in Orlando totaled $9,042 for 6 hotel rooms. I thought it was luxurious but didn't realize it was that luxurious when I wrote my first article. However, it's too bad that District policy only allows for $110 per night for hotel expenses to be reimbursed for conferences. So, some Fox educators have quite a bit to repay to the district / Fox C-6 taxpayers. According to the article some of them have already reimbursed the district.

Baker, Crutchley, Scott and Pelster Credit Card Spending
Not Mentioned in Article
Not all of the assistant superintendents were mentioned in the article regarding their credit card spending. Missing from the article is Dan Baker, Todd Scott, Tim Crutchley and Kristen Pelster who all used their credit cards extensively during the 2013-2014 school year. Dan Baker and Todd Scott made numerous purchases for meals on their credit cards for several years which I have written about in previous articles. Tim Crutchley didn't use his credit card near as much as Dan Baker and Todd Scott did in previous years but he used it quite often during the 2013-2014 school year. Mr. Crutchley's wife Kristen Pelster used her district VISA card in 2013-2014 quite often as well. None of that was mentioned in the today's article on STLTODAY.COM.

The PD article also failed to mention the rental car expenses that were charged to Dianne Critchlow and Tim Crutchley's credit cards during the Marzano Conference in Orlando. Rental car charges for the 3 day conference were $1,757.20. That's a lot of money for rental cars for a 3 day conference!!

Today's STLTODAY.COM article also mentioned the Limited Liability Company named CASH LANDING that Dianne and Jamie set up on April 22, 2014 which I wrote about the other day.

I'm still waiting on Discover card data which most likely had the credit card payments on them for the infamous Orlando trip that was covered by Leah Thorsen in her article today. I'm also waiting for quite a few other items from my Sunshine requests.

Leah Thorsen obtained the email exchanges between Dianne Critchlow and Tim Crutchley looking for the digital cameras that former superintendent Dianne Critchlow returned to the district. Leah also had a response from Chet Pleban who is representing Dianne Critchlow.

Critchlow and the Missing Digital Cameras
When I read Critchlow's comment regarding the digital cameras in today's article I laughed since I saw Dianne using a Nikon D5000 at last year's middle school intramural basketball game at Seckman High School. According to the PD article, district officials knew that cameras were missing. The article states that Tim Crutchley emailed Dianne Critchlow on September 4 about the camera that was purchased right before her daughter's wedding in December 2011. Dianne Critchlow responded via email and asked if anyone had looked in district cabinets but said she would look in her personal camcorder bag.

Critchlow's responses to the district regarding the cameras are quite humorous. She eventually emailed back to Tim Crutchley and said she found the cameras at her home. She said they were in a back hall closet and that she had no idea they were there since she hadn't used them.

I'll have to review my video and photos from district events to see if those cameras appear in any of my photos or video. I know I've seen the Nikon D5000. Perhaps other parents who took photos or video at last year's intramural basketball tournament has photos of Critchlow using one of Nikon camera. I'll post any photos or video frames I find.

Critchlow's responses never cease to amaze me. Credibility is something you earn over time and can be easily lost in an instant.

If you're a Fox C-6 taxpayer or parent in the Fox C-6 School District, you'll probably need to do some relaxation breathing while reading Leah Thorsen's article on STLTODAY.COM. You'll have to log in to read the article online. However, if you have the St. Louis Post Dispatch app on your smartphone or tablet, you can read today's story without having to register and login.

Below is a link to today's article about the latest from Fox C-6 on STLTODAY.COM:

Below is a link to my first article about the trip to Orlando Florida or the Marzano Conference that 12 people attended from the district and 3 of which were spouses that were not employed by the district:

If you have information that you think the state auditors need to look into please contact them and let them know. They are looking for input from the community and district employees to help guide their audit. We don't want to leave any stone unturned!