Showing posts with label MarzanoGate. Show all posts
Showing posts with label MarzanoGate. Show all posts

Thursday, October 30, 2014

It's Time for the Palmers to Step Down!

It's time for current Fox C-6 school board vice-president Dave Palmer to step down from his position on the Fox C-6 school board.

At the October 21, 2014 Fox C-6 school board meeting Mr. Palmer stopped parent and taxpayer Jim Osia from asking Fox's "acting" superintendent Tim Crutchley a question about his recent interview on Fox 2 News with Elliot Davis on a You Paid For It segment regarding the MarzanoGate hotel fiasco.

Fox C-6 taxpayers have the right to ask the superintendent that they "hire" or "fire" questions about their actions in public. Forcing questions into Closed Session is simply a way of hiding things from the public or sweeping them under the rug.

For years the practice has been to tell anyone making Public Comments at a Fox C-6 school board meeting that they needed to "refrain from using individual's names and positions" during their Public Comments.

You can listen to how Public Comments used to be handled at Fox C-6 board meetings prior to Dianne Brown-Critchlow's "paid leave" by clicking on the link below. You will hear former superintendent Dianne Critchlow tell everyone that now is a good time to leave the school board meeting followed by Dr. Rizzi reciting what he was told to say regarding making Public Comments. It was quite convenient for Critchlow to have people leave the board meeting prior to my asking questions of the board.

By not allowing taxpayers to question what their superintendent was doing or others in the Central Office gave the public and the board the impression that things were going as well as Dianne Brown-Critchlow said they were. And, if you questioned things in an email, you would receive responses like I've documented in past articles.


Those on the board that were too naive to believe that former superintendent Dianne Brown-Critchlow could do no wrong never got the chance to hear a Public Comment complaint about her or others because no one was allowed to mention names or positions. No one working for the district was going to speak up at a board meeting due to fear of losing their job. Everyone should know by now what happened to those of us that did speak up at school board meetings over the last several years.

Mr. Palmer is the last of the "old" Fox C-6 school board members. He has served on the Fox C-6 school board since 2002. There was only one year in the last 12 years that Mr. Palmer didn't serve on the board.

Mr. Palmer's actions at the October 2014 Fox C-6 school board meeting of stopping Mr. Osia from asking Mr. Crutchley a question is one of many reasons as to why he should step down.

The Fox C-6 taxpayers are the ones that hire or fire the superintendent. The Fox C-6 board members represent the taxpayers. If a taxpayer has a question regarding what our superintendent or acting superintendent did, then they should be allowed to ask those questions in a public session. The board openly discussed and fired Cheryl Hermann's daughter at a Fox C-6 school board meeting during open session the month before. Therefore Mr. Osia should not have been stopped during his Public Comments.

When you listen to the following introduction to Public Comments by Dr. Rizzi at the October 2014 Fox C-6 school board meeting you will notice that Dr. Rizzi DOES NOT mention that you must "refrain from using individual's names and positions" during your Public Comment. Dr. Rizzi stopped reciting that after Dianne Critchlow began her "paid leave".


Did Mr. Palmer stop Mr. Osia in order to protect the enrichment that his family has received and continues to receive while he has served on the board?

Mr. Palmer was the Fox C-6 school board president in 2006 when then superintendent Dianne Brown promoted Dave Palmer's wife Gee Palmer to the position of director of nursing. Instead of just receiving a stipend for the director of nursing position, Gee Palmer was given a 2 month contract extension and a 75% pay increase!

You will notice on the district's Board of Education page that Mr. Palmer did not serve on the board during the next term following that fiasco. In fact, you need to read the following article that was published on March 13, 2007 in the Jefferson County Suburban Journal on STLTODAY.COM related to Nepotism. Please note that Mr. Palmer could not be reached for comment. This goes along with his November 5, 2013 board workshop comments about not talking to people as a board member because he didn't want to be misquoted.






Gee Palmer only possesses a nursing diploma even though she is the director of nursing. She does not have a bachelors or masters degree in nursing. This makes me question how she can do reviews of nurses in the district that possess more education than she has. It seems very similar to the same issue that we have with Kelly Nash who is our Food Nutrition Director.

When Gee Palmer was promoted to the director of nursing in 2006 there were at least 10 other nurses in the district that had seniority over Gee. So, it makes you question why she was chosen for the job of director of nursing. I have written about the issue of receiving unjust enrichment before about being related to school board members in the following article:


Both Dave Palmer and Gee Palmer need to step down from their positions in the district. I encourage every parent and taxpayer in the district to email the board and Mr. Palmer asking them to step down.

Hopefully the Palmer's will pay back the Fox C-6 taxpayers for the last 8+ years of undeserved income that Gee Palmer earned while she was "Director of Nursing".

As a nurse, Gee Palmer is supposed to advocate for students in the district but that has not been the case. I'd like to know how the opinion of an arrogant nurse who only possesses a nursing diploma could outweigh the opinion of a 20+ year board certified medical doctor. Perhaps the Missouri Association of School Nurses could explain that one for Mrs. Palmer. Or, you may wish to ask assistant superintendent Dan Baker who was Fox's former 504 coordinator since he was ultimately responsible in the decision making process.

Gee Palmer supported the whims of former Fox C-6 superintendent Dianne Brown-Critchlow and the former law firm in their stance against providing students with medical related disabilitiesl with Section 504 plans. Gee Palmer participated with Dan Baker in recording a phone call with a doctor and used the recording during a Due Process Hearing to try and discredit another doctor. I plan to cover more about that in a future article now that students have recently been provided Section 504 plans in the district under the new law firm. The U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights was involved in making that change in an Early Complaint Resolution meeting held in August 2014.

It took more than 6 years for the district to 'understand' that they weren't properly following Section 504 law as conveyed to them many times over the last several years by the USDA's Office for Civil Rights and the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights. Now that things are finally being made public as to what's been going on in the district for years, perhaps the Kansas City Office for Civil Rights will begin working on their District Wide Compliance Review again that was opened in March 2010 and has been sitting idle for the last 4+ years. I'm sure there is a lot that could be discovered now that the district is being more open with their records.

Again, don't forget to email Mr. Palmer and the Fox C-6 school board and ask the Palmers to step down from their positions in the Fox C-6 school district.

Email addresses for the Fox C-6 board members and director of nursing can be found on the district website using the links below:


Friday, October 17, 2014

Seckman Pom Squad Asks To Stay at Hard Rock Hotel in 2015

The Seckman High School Pom Squad is asking the Fox C-6 school board for permission to attend the 2015 National Dance Competition in Orland Florida and stay at the Hard Rock Hotel. Yes. It's the same hotel that our administrators stayed at in June 2013 during the MarzanoGate Conference. At least the pom squad asked for permission to do so.

Please download and review the October 2014 Fox C-6 School Board Meeting Packet from the district website ahead of next week's meeting on Tuesday October 21, 2014.

The board packet is the same information that is provided to the school board members to review each month prior to school board meetings. Nowadays, the board packets are made available to the board a week before the meeting. The board packets used to be provided to the board members on the Friday before the meeting.

Some information is still provided to the board the night of the meeting in their Late Materials.

One item you'll notice in this month's board packet is a request for permission from the school board to allow the Seckman Pom Squad to attend the National Dance Competition at the Hard Rock Hotel in Orlanda Florida.

In 2013, former Fox C-6 Superintendent Dianne Critchlow told then Assistant Superintendent Tim Crutchley that if the pom squad could stay at the Hard Rock Hotel then the staff could stay there too. That's why they upgraded from the $99 per night DoubleTree Hotel to the $350 to $550 per night Hard Rock Hotel for the June 2013 Marzano Conference in Orlando Florida.


The difference here is that I don't recall seeing any requests in board packets from former superintendent Dianne Critchlow asking the school board for their permission to take trips to their training conferences like each of the school teams and groups are required to do.

Use the link below to review the October 2014 Fox C-6 board meeting packet. On page 208 you will find the Seckman pom squad asking for permission to travel to the 2015 National Dance Competition to be held in Orlando Florida in March 2015.

If the direct link to the board packet below doesn't work then use the link to the Board Packet folder for 2014-2015 and click on the October 21, 2014 board packet document.




Perhaps it was much easier to take luxurious trips to conferences and hope that no one found out rather than ask the board for permission ahead of time. When your district has $600,000 in training funds to use, you have to spend it somewhere.

And if your high school pom squad can stay at the more expensive hotel then so can your staff. Let's not forget the fact that the conference hotel at the DoubleTree was only $99 a night and was first booked for the 2013 Marzano Conference. It's just that the DoubleTree Hotel didn't advertise that you could Live Like a Rock Star!

Attend the Next Board Meeting
Plan to attend the Tuesday October 21, 2014 Fox C-6 school board meeting so you can ask your school board questions about what's been happening in our school district.

You might want to ask them about the recent statements in the Letters to the Editor section of this week's Leader newspaper. Several people wanted to know why former Fox C-6 superintendent Dianne Critchlow hasn't already been arrested for stealing and fraud.


You may also want to read Patrick Martin's Editorial page as well comparing former Fox C-6 superintendent Dianne Critchlow's departure to former Fox C-6 superintendent Diane Bourisaw's departure from the district.

It's somewhat strange how the Leader has turned from supporting Diane Brown-Critchlow to finally noticing and publishing that there was a problem with the leadership in the Fox C-6 district. Some of my Letters to the Editor never got published in the past regarding my "concerns in the district" as Dianne Critchlow liked to document them in the board meeting minutes.

I sent an email to Patrick Martin and Kim Robertson in February 2011 regarding the online posts that were being made on Topix. My email was brushed off in an editorial as online name calling. It was much more than simple name calling that was linked back to the Critchlow's home.


Wednesday, October 15, 2014

The Paper Trail Keeps Growing!

It's evident from the small amount of information that's been uncovered so far that every single credit card purchase made by several of Fox C-6's administrators on their district credit cards will have to be reviewed and scrutinized. The charges placed on the Discover card of other district employees will have to be reviewed as well. It's well documented that Dianne Critchlow used other district cards for purchase as well.

It's not just enough to look at a single charge from a hotel. Each of the charges on the hotel bill itself must be scrutinized as well. The Hard Rock Hotel invoices have charges for restaurants, ice cream, hot dogs and parking charged to their rooms.

You can review the charges from the Hard Rock Hotel invoices from the June 2013 Marzano Conference in Orlando using the link below. None of the meal charges and parking fees were documented in the Leader or on the recent You Paid For It! news story:



Federal Dollars For Professional Development
Title II Professional Development Funds can be used as "incentives" to train and recruit high quality teachers and principals. Fox used the "incentive" funds for fun getaways and everyday meals. Those seem like great incentives.

Professional development is how many of the charges were explained and we've been told there are explanations for every charge!

Just because there are explanations doesn't necessarily make them valid. I've been searching and reading documents concerning allowable and unallowable uses of Title II Professional Development funds. Food could be an incentive. But, I'm not sure that it truly qualifies as Professional Development when eating at McDonald's.

You can read more about Title II and Professional Development subgrants from the U.S Department of Education here:



More Demands for Repayment
Last Friday I was emailed a copies of more Demand for Repayment letters that were sent to former Fox C-6 superintendent Dianne Critchlow. One of them had a copy of a receipt from McDonald's for lunch that was purchased on Saturday April 5, 2014 while she was on Family Medical Leave. The McDonald's receipt was documented as Professional Development.

The demand letter from Fox's CFO had the following comment regarding the McDonald's receipt:

District records indicate that you were on FMLA during that timeframe. So, on a Saturday while you were on FMLA you supposedly engaged in a professional development activity that justified the purchase of food from McDonald's at District expense. Frankly, there is nothing believable about that scenario.

The above comment sums up a lot of what's been done and said by Dianne Critchlow while she was superintendent of Fox C-6. Many things were not believable. There is plenty of documentation to back that up.


Every Credit Card Charge Must Be Reviewed
Because Critchlow shattered the trust of the taxpayers, we must look at each and every purchase to determine how much taxpayer dollars were used for her own personal use. Just looking at the April 2014 VISA statement included in the demand letter above, there are multiple charges that are questionable.

Why would Critchlow be shopping at Hobby Lobby with her District credit card while on FMLA?

I don't have the exact dates for her FMLA but it was only 2 days before the McDonald's meal which was documented as being purchased while she was on FMLA.

Critchlow went shopping at the South County Wireless Freedom store the day before she ate at McDonald's. What did she purchase there? Was it more cellular phone cases or spare batteries? We'll need to see that receipt as well.

Then you have to wonder what she purchased at Hobby Lobby and Walmart for more than $240+ dollars that were used for school. What are on those receipts?

Those purchases are similar to the ones at Target in December 2011 when she purchased the Nikon 1 digital camera, spare lens, battery and memory cards right before her daughter's wedding. There's really no telling as to how much taxpayer dollars were spent on personal use items.

The charges listed below are the charges that were listed on Dianne Critchlow's April 21, 2014 VISA card statement:
  • 04/03/2014 - Hobby Lobby        - $89.14 (For what?)
  • 04/04/2014 - Wireless Freedom - $79.19 (cell phone cases/batteries?)
  • 04/05/2014 - Shell Oil                - $85.06  (Yukon has a 31 gallontank)
  • 04/05/2014 - McDonald's           - $11.79 (Professional Development?)
  • 04/11/2014 - Walmart                - $152.00 (Gift cards?)
  • 04/14/2014 - Panera Bread        - $31.19 (More PDC?)
  • 04/17/2014 - Shell Oil               - $45.37
Critchlow didn't make that many purchases on her district VISA card in April 2014 compared to other months. But, every receipt must be reviewed and scrutinized because trust has been lost and everything must be questioned.

Critchlow was quoted as saying that she welcomed an audit. Perhaps she thought a State Audit would be similar to a Dan Jones & Associates audit which just samples some data to see if things look OK. This State Audit report should be an eye opener compared to the 2002 audit.

Critchlow had already been informed by her Internet Service Provider in April 2014 that her name and address was being provided due to a law suit for libelous and derogatory comments that had been linked to computers in her home.

Everyone seems to be amazed as to how bold Critchlow was in her spending of taxpayer dollars for personal use. You get the impression that she thought that no one would ever see or review the credit card statements. She certainly wasn't supplying the credit card statements to the school board as required by District policy. She tried to charge me $170 to get copies of them per my April 2014 Sunshine Request knowing that I wouldn't pay for data that should have already been provided to the school board for free.

Have you found yourself shaking your head side to side lately in disbelief?

I think almost everyone has. Just watch someone when they start reading an article in the paper or on this blog or on the news to see if they do what so many have been doing lately of shaking their head in disbelief.

For more unbelievable information, check out Dianne Critchlow's Amazon.com orders that she had shipped directly to her house. The receipts are listed in the demand letter below:


Below is a copy of the Demand for Repayment Letter sent to Dianne Critchlow for the After Football Game Party she threw for Administrators and charged to Professional Development:


It's going to take a long time to go through all of the receipts and recoup taxpayer money. What a waste of time!

Friday, October 10, 2014

Fox C-6 On You Paid For It! Again - New Sunshine Request Sent to Fox C-6 - Updated 10/14/14!

After watching last night's Fox 2 News You Paid For It story about the MarzanoGate Conference from June 2013 I emailed a new request to the district requesting electronic copies of all receipts as well as any letters sent out and invoices sent to Dianne Critchlow that were associated with the Marzano Conference. The You Paid For It! news story hasn't been posted to the website yet but I will link to it when it becomes available.

It appeared from the news story that Dianne Critchlow is blaming Tim Crutchley and the school board for allowing Tim Crutchley to book the expensive rooms at the Hard Rock Hotel in June 2013 at the Marzano Conference.

It was stated during the news story by Critchlow's attorney that the board was blindly approving charges. Dianne Critchlow should know that it's difficult to approve individual credit card charges if the credit card statements aren't provided to the school board members in their board packets each month.

When asked to provide the credit charges in the board packets, my request was ignored. It would appear that Critchlow didn't want to provide the credit card statements to the board since they weren't provided to them while she was superintendent.

Critchlow also asked that I be charged $170 to obtain the credit card statements for the 2013-2014 school year when I made a Sunshine request for them in April 2013. The credit card statement should have been public record and should have already been provided to the school board each month but they weren't.

Pausing the video from the news story showed an email from Fox CFO John Brazeal dated October 3, 2014 that was addressed to: To Whom It May Concern. While reading the letter on the TV I noticed there was a comment from Dianne Critchlow to Tim Crutchley about booking the rooms at the Hard Rock Hotel. Below you'll find a copy of the email that was displayed during the news story that I typed in from the video on Friday October 10, 2014.

After I posted this article and made another Sunshine Request for the letter below I received a copy of the letter and documents from Fox's CFO Friday morning October 10, 2014. The "To Whom It May Concern" letter contained Marzano Conference related lodging receipts and hotel reservations. It did not contain any receipts for any of the non-room related meals or the car rental receipts.

The Fox 2 News You Paid For It story and the October 9, 2014 Leader article didn't point out the charges for Value Parking, Self Parking and Meals that were charged to the hotel rooms during the conference as documented below.

To Whom It May Concern Letter
In reviewing the To Whom It May Concern letter and receipts, you will notice the following:

  • The original reservations for 7 people at the DoubleTree conference hotel for $99 per night made on January 11, 2013 (Exhibits A-1 & A-2).
  • Registration confirmation for the Marzano conference ($4100) Jan 11, 2013. (A-3)
  • The reservations for the Hard Rock Hotel made on February 26, 2013. (B-1, B-2, C-1 & C-2)
  • The Hard Rock Hotel Orlando Invoices (Exhibits D-1 through D-6)
  • Dianne and Jamie Critchlow paid for meals and Valet Parking on their room tab (D-1)
    • Valet Parkin - $25 / day
    • Emack & Bolio - $26.52
    • Beach Club - $145.78
    • The Kitchen - $49.54
    • Beach Club - $162.12
  • Tim Crutchley and Kristen Pelster paid for a meal on their room tab. (D-2)
    • The Kitchen - $99.07
    • Self Parking Fees of $18 / day
  • Dan and Angie Baker had charges for a meal and the Minibar on their room tab. (D-3)
    • The Kitchen - $95.07
    • Minibar - $16.90
  • Stacy Dockery and her spouse charged food to their room tab. (D-4)
    • Expo Hot Dog - $6.05
    • NASCAR Sports Grille - $41.78
  • Andy Arbeitman and his spouse charged self parking to their room tab. (D-5)
    • Self Parking - $18 / day
  • Jeremy Donald and his wife charged a meal to their room tab. (D-6)
    • The Kitchen - $45.54



DATE:  October 3, 2014
TO:       To Whom It May Concern 
FROM: John Brazeal, CFO 
RE:       Lodging costs at Marzano Conference - Orlando, Florida - June 2013
Public school districts are issued federal program Title II money for the purpose of providing professional development for educators. Unspent Title II money typically rolls over from one fiscal year to the next. Apparently by December 2012, Fox School District had an accumulation of unspent Title II money in excess of $600,00. In early 2013, an effort began to spend down the accumulation of professional development funds. 
In response to this situation, then superintendent Dianne Critchlow apparently identified several school related conferences scheduled to take place during 2013 and also identified various staff to attend the conferences. One of these conferences was the Marzano conference scheduled during June 2013 in Orlando, Florida. 
Requests for information about the conference have been received with a focus on the lodging costs. The remainder of this memo will outline the sequence of events, trip participants and lodging costs for the conference. 
On or about 1/11/2013, it appears 7 hotel rooms were reserved at the DoubleTree by Hilton hotel at the entrance to Universal Orlando. See Exhibit A. The reservations were made for 4 nights each (6/18/2103 - 6/22/2013) at a nightly rate of $99 per night plus taxes. The names on the reservation were: 
Apparently, the DoubleTree reservations were later cancelled, because in February 2013 new reservations are made at the Hard Rock Hotel in Orlando.

According to Tim Crutchley, Dianne Critchlow requested that he make reservations at the Hard Rock Hotel. Upon researching the cost and informing Dianne Critchlow, he was told that if the Pom squad could stay at the hotel, so could staff. He was instructed to make the reservations.

On 2/26/2013, 4 rooms were reserved at the Loews Hotels Hard Rock. The rooms were reserved for 4 nights each, arriving 6/18/2013, departing 6/22/2013. A one night deposit (rate plus tax) was charged to Discover credit card assign to Deborah Davis. The hotel weekday rate applied to the first three nights, while the higher weekend rate applied to the fourth night. The tax rate is 12.5%.

The room reserved for Dianne is listed as a "King Suite with Garden 2 Queen and Garden King". The before tax room rate for the first 3 nights was $1,095.30 per night, and the rate for the fourth night was $1,162.80. A room deposit of $1,232.21 was charged to the credit card representing 1 night at $1,095.30 plus tax of $136.91. See Exhibit B. (Note: Apparently this reservation...

Below is a link to the Fox 2 News You Paid For It news story:



The saga continues....

Thursday, October 9, 2014

More Fox C-6 Credit Card Data! 2012-2013 DISCOVER Card Statements

I've been waiting weeks for the 2012-2013 DISCOVER card statements and prior years. I was especially looking forward to reviewing the June 2013 statement. It had the hotel charges for the MarzanoGate Conference. You know, the conference that was more like an all expenses paid luxury vacation for 6 couples from the Fox C-6 school district rather than a Professional Development Conference!

The MarzanoGate Conference was the one that Dianne Critchlow offered to pay for meals for spouses even though they weren't employed by the district. Fox's newest but not yet employed Assistant Superintendent Andy J Arbeitman was invited to go to the conference by Dianne Critchlow even though he hadn't officially started working for the district yet.

The DISCOVER card statements were scanned in color at high resolution and sent to me the other day so the file size is over 70MB at the moment. I then scanned them using PDF-XChange Viewer to run Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software built into PDF-XChange viewer in order to make them text searchable in a PDF viewer. I will work on exporting the pages to black and white at a lower resolution to shrink the file for slower internet connections. To make the statements easier to read, I assembled the individual statements into a single file and posted them online.

After I received the statements I noticed a few unusual charges and asked Fox's CFO about them. One of them was for a BALANCE TRANSFER of -$502.50 on 04/05/2013 and a $502.50 charge to MACY'S EAST #0054 LANGHOME PA on 03/25/2013 which appeared to be related. At first glance this appeared to me a charge had mistakenly been made on a school DISCOVER card for a purchase at MACY'S and the amount was later corrected using a BALANCE TRANSFER.

It was explained to me in an email from Fox's CFO that Jerome K's credit card had been compromised and that a new card was issued and a BALANCE TRANSFER was done to correct the charge. Brazeal said it seemed odd to him as to how it was corrected.

I found it odd as well that a BALANCE TRANSFER was made by DISCOVER to correct a compromised card rather than issuing a CREDIT as was done by VISA when Dan Baker's VISA card was compromised and charges were made at a Colorado WALMART store. Ultimately the MACY'S charge for $502.50 was corrected and the school did not have to pay for the charge.

There was also a mistaken charge made by former Fox C-6 CFO Jim Berblinger for $20 on 05/16/2013 to MERCY CLINIC SURG SPEC CREVE COEUR MO which was repaid to the district by Mr. Berblinger.



Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Taxpayer Money Used to Pay For After Football Game Party! - Updated 10/14/2014!

It's going to take quite a while for the district and the auditors to dig through all of the credit card payments and check payments that were spent on things as an after football game party for administrators at Dianne Critchlow's home and order $606 worth of food from Qdoba Mexican Grill. Then there's still the ongoing research into the luxurious vacations conferences where Fox C-6 administrators and some of their spouses went for Professional Development. We still don't know if anyone actually attended the conference or if registrations fees were paid. We know that 4 of them played golf on the first day of the conference.


We've now learned that Critchlow is being asked to reimburse the district for a meal she purchased on a Saturday at McDonald's while she was on Family Medical Leave on April 5, 2014.


Hopefully it doesn't bother you that your tax dollars were being used to pay for some of these parties, trips and meals. Surely, Critchlow was thinking about our kids while she was working on her Professional Development during these parties and conferences.

And then there was the infamous charges for the logging tongs and other logging equipment. Please notice that Dianne Critchlow had those items shipped directly to her home.

The demand letter from Fox's CFO has the following language which most will find quite humorous:
The District is aware that some of the items in the Amazon.com order have recently been transferred to District possession. Upon receipt of your payment those items will be returned for your personal use and enjoyment.
Below is a copy of the October 3, 2014 Demand for Repayment letter to Dianne Critchlow for the Amazon.com items.


Former Fox superintendent Dianne Brown always told me that "we put our money in the classroom". I guess that would be whatever money might be left over after paying $550 a night for a room at an educational conference at the Hard Rock Hotel in Orlando Florida. She could have gotten the conference rate of $99 per night at the DoubleTree Universal Hotel that hosted the conference and where they were originally booked to stay.

However, Dianne had so much professional development money left over that she opted to pay for the more expensive rooms where she and other Fox admins  and their spouses could "Live Like a Rock Star" as they say at the Hard Rock Hotel.

I wonder how many books she could have purchased for our kids in the district for each night that was doled out at the Hard Rock Hotel?

Speaking of books, Dianne and all of the other Fox admins that attended the Marzano Conference could have purchased the book I purchased a couple of years ago for less than $15. It was written by Richard Dufour and Robert J. Marzano. I bought it to learn a little more about what our administrators are supposed to be doing. The Marzano name probably looks familiar.

Every educator in the district could have purchased a copy with Professional Development funds for less than it cost to send 12 people to the golf outing Marzano conference in Orlando.


Many parents and taxpayers are probably starting to doubt Dianne's comments about "putting our money in the classroom" or that she was doing it "for the kids". It seems more like she was living the life of royalty in a district that has more than 30% of our students receiving FREE or REDUCED lunch. It's no wonder kids want to be school superintendents when they grow up. They see how much money our superintendent makes and how she gets to use taxpayer dollars to fund business startups and parties at her home. Who wouldn't want to be a school superintendent!

It turns out that Dianne even submitted a request for reimbursement for a golf tournament that she allegedly didn't even pay for. Fox's Chief Financial Officer states that doing so is fraud.

Perhaps Dianne never found the time to read the two 3 inch binders she told me she had in her office that held Fox's Policies and Regulations. There's a section about Fraud and Fraud Prevention in our district Policies and Regulations.

You can read all about this week's financial discoveries surrounding Dianne Critchlow and the Fox C-6 School District in the this weeks Arnold-Imperial Leader.


The article states that Dianne Critchlow couldn't be reached for comment.

Surely Dianne has explanations for all of the charges and would want to share them with the community!

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!