Fox's Rigorous Process That You Should Trust for the Latest New Hires!

Nikki McClain, a parent in the Fox C-6 School District and the administrator of the Facebook page NO MORE MONEY OR RESOURCES For the Fox C-6 Superintendent recently received a Sunshine Request response from acting superintendent Tim Crutchley regarding the hiring of administrators that were recently announced at the March 17, 2015 Fox C-6 Board of Education meeting.

Thank you to Nikki McClain for sharing with me the response she received from the district.

I had emailed all of the current Fox C-6 school board members early Tuesday morning March 17, 2015 asking for the same information but never received a response from a single board member.

I had also emailed incoming superintendent Dr. Jim Wipke and Fox C-6 board president John Laughlin on Monday March 16, 2015 asking how Dan Baker was even considered as a candidate for the Seckman Elementary School principal position.

I did not receive an email response from Dr. Wipke or Mr. Laughlin. I did receive a Read Receipt message from Mr. Laughlin's email software at 12:18AM on Monday March 16, 2015. I did not receive a Read Receipt message from Dr. Wipke. However, Dr. Wipke told me he received my email when I spoke to him immediately following the March 17 BOE meeting.

Mrs. McClain submitted a Sunshine Request for the list of candidates for the recent new hires for the Seckman Elementary School, Fox Senior High School and Seckman Senior High School principal positions as well as the new Food Nutrition Director. I believe the district did an excellent job in choosing the new Fox Senior High School principal and the new Food Nutrition Director. I haven't dealt with Todd Scott on any school matters other than the time he stood up for Dan Baker and Dianne Critchlow when I asked Dan Baker about the USDA's August 2011 Final Agency Decision that found the Fox C-6 School District Non-Compliant with Section 504 law and the ADA AA. That conversation occurred after the December 2011 Fox C-6 BOE meeting.

I would think that a rigorous hiring process would do a much better job at filtering out potential candidates who have been linked to online bullying of parents in our district as well as not being able to bring our district into compliance with federal law after more than 5 years. Dan Baker signed a Resolution Agreement to do so with ED OCR on May 1, 2009.

After you read Tim Crutchley's response as to who screened the applications and who served on the committees, you may understand why those concerns were overlooked.

Is the Ms. Kriese that is listed on the Seckman Elementary School principal selection committee related to 2015 board candidate Drew Kriese?

A friend of mine told me that the Kriese's attend Oak Bridge Community Church with Tim Crutchley and Kristen Pelster. This person told me that Drew Kriese was speaking with Tim Crutchley at church the Sunday before the announcement of the new hires. Did that perhaps have any influence on the candidate screening as well? I was told that they are also all friends on Facebook as well. Interesting!

March 2015 BOE Meeting Audio
Some of the Fox C-6 BOE members talked about the new rigorous process that was used to hire our new administrators at the March 2015 BOE meeting. Click on the names to listen to the comments from BOE members Dan Kroupa, Dawn Mullins and John Laughlin about the new process from Fox's YouTube recording of the 2015 BOE meeting.

It was stated during the BOE meeting that the Seckman Elementary School teachers heavily influenced the board's decision to hire Dan Baker as the principal at Seckman Elementary. Mr. Baker was surrounded by his cheering teachers at the March 2015 BOE meeting as you can hear in the audio of the meeting.

Yesterday, I posted some tweets linking to the comments from the March 2015 BOE meeting but they appear to have been deleted by Twitter at someone's request.

I also received another Copyright Infringement notice this morning for the same public records report of the 2004-2010 legal bills paid that was paid with taxpayer money to the district's former law firm.

It's difficult to understand how a printed report from your school district for legal fee payments is a violation of copyright infringement. It just gives the impression that someone doesn't want you to know what Fox has been paying in legal fees.

Mr. Baker may have skills and credentials to be a principal in our district. However, it doesn't negate the black cloud that has been hanging and will be hanging over our school district since his "home" (and cell phone) was linked to online posts.

According to the district's response, the district is also keeping the list of candidates for the positions from the public since Missouri Sunshine Law ALLOWS them to do so but does not require them to do so. You can read about Missouri Sunshine Law that is referenced in Tim Crutchley's email response by using the links below.

Top 10 Things You Should Know About Sunshine Law

Revised Missouri Statutes Section 610.021

The following email was sent to Nikki McClain by acting superintendent Tim Crutchley in response to her Sunshine Request regarding the recent administrative hires that were announced at the March 17, 2015 Fox C-6 BOE meeting:

From: Crutchley, Tim - CO Admin.
Date: March 24, 2015 at 2:44:13 PM CDT
To: Nikki McClain
Subject: response to request 

We are in receipt of your March 19, 2015 email request for records. 

Please be advised the identity of candidates considered for employment is a closed record pursuant to Section 610.021(13) R.S.Mo.  As a result, we are unable to provide names of job applicants. 

The District does not have a list of committee members used in the hiring process for the Assistant Superintendent HR, the SHS, FHS or SES principals or the Director of Nutrition Services to provide in response to your request. Although the District is not obligated to do so, it will provide the following narrative in response to your request. 

The screening of applications for the principals and human resources position were done by a committee of district administrators, specifically Dr. Wipke, Mr. Crutchley, Dr. Rizzi and Mr. Brazeal.  The same committee interviewed first round candidates.  Screening and the first round of interviews for the Dir of Nutrition Services was performed by Mr. Scott and Mr. Brazeal. 

Second round interviews  were conducted by the following committees: Fox High School: Ms. Wucher, Mr. Williams, Ms. Schwalbe, Ms. Seliga, Ms. Greene, Ms. Hoeltzer, Mr. Reese, Mr. Sansoucie, Mr. Meadows, Ms. Weisemann, Ms. Rissi plus two students; Seckman High School:  Ms. Adkins, Mr. Prezzavento, Ms. Scott, Ms. Montegomery, Ms. Hildebrand, Ms. Kraus, Ms. Fritz, Ms. Thompson, Ms. Labelle, Ms. Hill, Ms. Rissi plus two students; Seckman Elementary School consisted of Ms. Randolph, Mr. Werner, Ms. Fisher, Ms. Callahan, Ms. McFerran and Ms. Kriese. 

Second round interviews for the human resources position were conducted by Ms. Werkmeister, Ms. Ferranto, Ms. Bambini, Ms. Fritz, Ms. Waller, Ms. Missey, Mr. Wilken and Ms. Mijangos.

Second and final round interviews for the food service director were conducted by a committee that included Mr. Scott, Mr. Brazeal, Dr. Cardona, Dr. Reese, Dr. Schwalbe and Ms. West plus one student. 

Third and final round interviews of high school principal finalists were interviewed by the Assistant Superintendent for Secondary Education (Dr. Rizzi) and incoming Superintendent (Dr. Wipke). 

Third and final round interviews of elementary school principal finalists were interviewed by the Interim Superintendent (Mr. Crutchley) and incoming Superintendent (Dr. Wipke). 

Third and final round interviews of the human resources finalists were interviewed by Interim Superintendent (Mr. Crutchley), incoming Superintendent (Dr. Wipke), Assistant Superintendent for Secondary Education (Dr. Rizzi) and the Chief Financial Officer (Mr. Brazeal).

Tim Crutchley 

Acting Superintendent 

745 Jeffco Blvd 

Arnold, Mo 63010 

636-296-8000 

636-282-5170 fax

Achievement - Character - Excellence
National District of Character

Fox C-6 Will be Paying More than $2.72 Million in Voluntary Separation Incentive Plan Payouts

According to the most recent revision of the February 24, 2015 Fox C-6 school board packet on the district website, the amount of Voluntary Separation Incentive Plan payout so far will be more than $2.72 Million dollars.

Three different versions of the Voluntary Separation Incentive Plan payout have been posted on the district website.

One of the notable names on the VSIP plan is Fox's Director of Curriculum Kristen Pelster. Her name was not on the original VSIP report that was available prior to the February 24, 2015 Fox C-6 BOE meeting.

The late materials that were added to the February 24, 2015 board meeting packet after the BOE meeting also includes an updated listing of the Employment of Classified Staff report. The updated list includes a new Superintendent Secretary / School Board Secretary with an annual salary of $59,991.00.

I assembled all 3 versions of the Voluntary Separation Incentive Plan listings into a single document along with the two versions of the Classified Employment for review.

February 24, 2015 Board Packet

Voluntary Separation Incentive Plan Payouts and Employment of Classified Staff Reports

Many Notable Items! Fox C-6's December 16, 2014 Board Packet Review

Fox posted the December 16, 2014 board meeting agenda and board packet on the district website on Wednesday December 10, 2014. The agenda may state that it was posted on December 9, 2014. But I looked for it on Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning and it wasn't there. Plus, the PDF document wasn't created until Wednesday December 10, 2014 at 4:05pm despite the fact that the agenda states that it was posted on Tuesday December 9, 2010. Don't always trust the documentation. Read but verify!

It took several years of asking and prodding the Fox C-6 school board to get the board packets published on our district website. It then took quite a while to get them published on the district website ahead of school board meetings as they should be. That's how the public stays informed of what's going on in their school district. That allows taxpayers to find out what's going on ahead of time so they can ask their 7 board members questions before they make decisions for the taxpayers without public input or concerns.

Currently, the Fox C-6 school board only has 6 members after the resignation of former long time board member Cheryl Hermann due to a spat with the un-hiring of her daughter by the board.

Daniel Jones and Associates Annual Audit Report
The December board meeting typically has quite a few important items on the agenda. For one, Daniel Jones and Associates usually presents their annual audit of the Fox C-6 school district for the preceding school year. They will be presenting again at the December 2014 board meeting. However, this is the first time that they are presenting their report after the infamous uncovering of the huge credit card debacle and extravagant vacations professional development trips that some of our top district administrators attended throughout the year.

The board packet notice for the annual audit report has some CYA language from Daniel Jones & Associates documenting some of the things that went on in the district that's finally been uncovered and brought to the public's attention. 

Make sure you read this page of the board packet!

It's certainly worth reading considering the fact that they never noticed any of the credit card issues or professional development meal purchases in their previous audits of our school district for years.

Cheryl Hermann stated at a board meeting that she couldn't understand how these things could have been going on while she was still on the school board since the district was audited every year. That's because the annual audit is MUCH different than the State Audit that's currently being conducted by the Missouri State Auditor's office.

Ignorance Is Bliss!
Not reviewing reports and asking for credit card statements can cause your school district and community a lot of embarrassment like what's occurred in our school district this year.

You can talk to your school board members until your blue in the face about issues during your 3 minutes each month and in numerous emails and letters sent to board members as well as lengthy phone conversations and face to face conversations for years and the board still did nothing. Perhaps they didn't want to hear it. Or, was it because they trusted those in charge and they believed what they were being told? 

Everyone now know what happens when your school board members don't want to hear or listen to what's truly going on and do something about it.

Missing Names on Annual Admin Contract Renewal Report
It's unusual to see a report with a list of administrator names of who's contract is getting renewed for next year in the Fox C-6 School District public board packet . In the past, I had to make a Sunshine Request to get that type of information.

Previous year's reports sent to me contained a listing of administrator names with XXXX's where their salary amounts would be listed rather than an actual salary amount. This year at least there's a report and rather than publishing XXXX's for salary amounts they just left that part off. At least we have a list of names without having to ask. 

So Who's Missing From the Report?

• Assistant Superintendent Dan Baker
• Assistant Superintendent Todd Scott
• Assistant Superintendent Andy Arbeitman

Other notable people missing from the list are former Ridgewood Middle School principal Kristen Pelster and Seckman Elementary principal Christine Simokaitis.

Dan Baker and Todd Scott shouldn't have been listed on the annual contract renewal for obvious reasons. It will be interesting to learn why Kristen Pelster and Chris Simokaitis aren't on the list. Hopefully the community will learn why. But, with as much sweeping of things under the rug that's gone on for years, we may never learn the truth.

2014-2015 Budget Amendment
Take a look at the proposed budget amendment that is intended to more properly fund each school building in the district with Instructional Supplies and Textbooks as well as Copier Paper. 

Fox's former superintendent insisted many times over that our district had enough books for our students. But, everyone in the know and even parents and students knew that her statements weren't true! So, I'm definitely glad to see that our district's budget is being amended to help alleviate this problem.

Other Notable Items
One other notable item missing from this month's board packet was a letter that I sent to the Fox C-6 school board regarding the changes made to the Voluntary Early Retirement Incentive Program that is now known as the Voluntary Separation Incentive Program (VSIP) that I specifically asked the board to include in this months packet so the community could read what I asked our school board members. My email to the board was sent as a letter to the board.

This isn't the first time that the district left out one of my letters from the board packet or meeting minutes. This has simply been their standard mode of operation for nearly a decade in keeping information and issues from the public. Of course, letters of praise typically made it in the board packet. But letters of concern just don't seem to make it to the public. This will need to change in order for the community to trust our district administrators and our school board.

I certainly hope that Mr. Arbeitman decides to VOLUNTARILY forego taking ANY Voluntary Separation Incentive Payout from the Fox C-6 taxpayers as he departs our school district. It certainly be the honorable thing to do considering that the changes made to the VSIP program were made to benefit those that didn't deserve the incentive. Plus, the $66,737.50 could be used toward purchasing much needed books for our students that the district hasn't had for years.


Looking Forward To New Leadership
I have very high hopes for Dr. Jim Wipke who was chosen as the next Fox C-6 School District Superintendent. I have had numerous emails, phone calls and conversations with people who have worked with him or have had children attend schools where he was principal. 

Our school district deserves to have a person with high integrity leading our district after enduring the last decade of deception and lack of transparency.

Download and Read the Board Packet
Since the community is able to download and read the Fox C-6 board packets ahead of the school board meetings now, I highly encourage everyone to go to the district website and download the board packet for the December 16, 2014 Fox C-6 school board meeting.

There's a link below that will get you to the folder that contains the file on the district website. Since board packets usually get updated each month which generates a new hyperlink, I am only providing you a link to the folder.

NOTE: I updated links to BoardDocs where the Annual Audit Reports are now stored on 03/17/2023.

Use the links below to download the 2013-2014 Fox C-6 Annual Audit Report and compare it to the 2012-2013 Fox C-6 Annual Audit Report.

The 2013-2014 Annual Audit Report states on Page 60 that: 

"Effect: Prior management of the District did not review or question credit card purchases made by the District employees. This can cause personal expenditures to be paid by the District."

2013-2014 Fox C-6 Annual Audit Report BoardDocs Page

2013-2014 Fox C-6 Annual Audit Report (PDF) Document from BoardDocs

December 16, 2014 Board Meeting Minutes on BoardDocs

2012-2013 Fox C-6 Annual Audit Report BoardDocs Page

2012-2013 Fox C-6 Annual Audit Report (PDF) Document from BoardDocs

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:

Restaurant spending, trip to Orlando
part of probe into Fox spending

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:

MarzanoGate - TRULY The Luxury Conference
for Fox C-6 Administrators!

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!