The next time I spoke at a Fox C-6 school board meeting was at the April 2011 meeting. Since then I've spoken at several meetings. The defamatory and derogatory comments directed at me continued on the Topix website from early 2011 until early this year when it was announced that we were working on obtaining the IP addresses for the defamatory posts.
I found it amazing that defamatory remarks were written on Topix about me only hours after I spoke during Public Comments at the January 15, 2013 board meeting. In fact, I mentioned during my Public Comments that night that I hoped that there wouldn't be any defamatory or derogatory posts made about me or others that spoke at the meeting that night. However, just hours after that board meeting, defamatory comments were posted on Topix by
thread that were linked back to Dan Baker's residence. I was very surprised when I learned that posts were linked to his residence. But, Dan has been having to deal with ED OCR since 2008 and USDA OCR since 2009 along with Superintendent Critchlow. It certainly doesn't justify his comments. But, when you think you're anonymous, I guess you might say things that you wouldn't normally say to someone in person.
Hopefully, our school board members recognize that this type of behavior isn't acceptable to the general public and that it violates our district policies.
The District is currently undergoing a District Wide Compliance Review by the Department of Education Office of Civil Rights. The District was notified in March 2010 that they would be undergoing a Compliance Review. The school district attorney wrote to Russlynn Ali, the Department of Education's Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights trying to get out of the Compliance Review. Russlynn Ali responded back stating that OCR will be conducting the Compliance Review.
This information has not been made public by the Superintendent or the School Board for more than 7 months. However, Senator Bond, Senator McCaskill and Congressman Carnahan were all sent letters by Russlynn Ali in March 2010 informing them that the Fox C-6 School District would be undergoing a District Wide Compliance Review by the Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights.
It would seem that the patrons of the district should be made aware of this as it is a public entity and by not informing them that this is occurring gives the appearance that there is not that much transparency in the district.
Does the School Board or the Superintendent not want the patrons to know what's going on behind closed doors?
The School Board meeting minutes were not posted online for the April through September meetings until October 11, 2010. However, none of the board minutes make a reference to the District Wide Compliance Review. The Office of Civil Rights initiated a total of 8 Compliance Reviews in the entire country this year as of a few months ago. Arne Duncan, the Secretary of the Department of Education mentioned that these Compliance Reviews would be coming in his March 2010 press release earlier this year.
Here is the Press Release:
The audio recording of the speech and question and answer session:
It seems that maybe the monthly keywords posted by the District should be Reviewed and Followed by the Administrators and School Board Members and not just published for the kids in the District. Like someone else posted before, Administrators should lead by example. If leaders do not conduct themselves ethically, honorably or honestly, it makes it difficult for the patrons and parents of the district to respect them.
Superintendent Salary
Apparently, the moderators keep removing a post with Public Information regarding Superintendent Salary. The school board is responsible for determining what the salary is for the superintendent. Since 2006 when Brown became superintendent, her salary has increased from $137,859 which ranked 42nd in the state to 2010 at $207,393 which now ranks 7th in the state.
What is not known is that her contract contains an additional $13,000 for the 2010-2011 school year for
a Commitment Fee and an additional $15,000 for Family Health Insurance Cost and a $200,000 Term Life Insurance. The additional $28,000 in addition to her salary is not reported to Missouri DESE. So, without reading her contract which is public information, the patrons of the district would not know about the additional money being paid out.
KMOV recently did a story about Superintendent pay in the state asking the question why superintendent pay was so high and also looked at why some school districts with so few students had such high salaries. Fox has roughly half the number of students of Rockwood, Francis Howell and Fort Zumwalt but is ranked higher in Salary than those district superintendents.
You can find a ranking of all of the superintendents in the state from MO DESE as well as from a nice report from the ShowMeInstitute,org. The ShowMeInstitute,org has also compiled many of the Employment Contracts from most of the superintendents in the state. An earlier post asked about the morality clause in Brown's contract and there is not one.
Fox C-6 Superintendent Pay and Rank in State
2006 -$137,859 - 42nd in State
2007 -$152,068 - 35th in State
2008 -$164,428 - 33rd in State
2009 -$192,586 - 16th in State
2010 -$207,393 - 7th in State
School Board Ethics
Gospel of Matthew wrote: If you are looking for ethical problems those don't stop at the administration. Those ethical problems go all the way to the school board. There isn't a single member of that School Board that hasn't used their position to benefit their family. EVERY ONE of them has at least one member of their family feeding off of the public trough that they control. Or how about using your position to make sure your own employer gets big time contracts with the school district and then puts you in charge of that contract. Must be nice.
Searching the School Board minutes you will find that Ms. Gee Palmer was appointed as the Director of Nursing for the school district while her husband David Palmer was the PRESIDENT OF THE SCHOOL BOARD in 2006. The announcement can be found in the May 16, 2006 Board Meeting Minutes:
As the Director of Nursing, Gee Palmer receives quite a bit more pay than the other school nurses. It is approximately another $30,000 above and beyond all of the other nurses' pay in the district.
STLTODAY has a couple of pages that make it very easy to search for the pay for ALL Educators in the state of Missouri from the MO DESE information for the 2009 and 2010 school years. You can search by name and/or job position. There are other nurses in the district that have many more years experience than Gee Palmer and makes a person question why one of the other nurses with more
experience was not chosen for the position of Director of Nursing.
You can use the following link on STLTODAY to search the 2010 Missouri Educators Salaries for all the districts in Missouri.
Searching the 2010 Missouri Educators Salaries for the Fox C-6 District, you will find that there are 10 nurses with more years of Public School Experience than Ms. Gee Palmer in the district and that the average nurses salary is between $41,381 to $42,881 while the Director of Nursing is getting paid $72,247.
Ms. Palmer is listed as having 10 years Public School experience. The Fox District has 3 nurses listed with more than 20 years of Public School experience in the district (28 years, 24 years, 21 years, 19 years, 17 years, 13 years, 12 years, 11 years, 11 years, 11 years). I have been told that the nurse with 28 years experience applied for the job for Director of Nursing but was overlooked and the job was given to Gee Palmer while her husband was the President of the School Board. These types of decisions truly make you question the Ethics and Morals of the School Board.
So, for the person asking what the patrons of the District would like to see in a school board member, I would say that it would be a person who would not be making or allowing decisions like this in the district. It's up to the patrons of the district to start demanding some answers and taking action in restoring Morals and Ethics in the District.
DOE OCR Investigation
Report wrote:
Interesting, perhaps this needs to be reported to the Education Department back in Washington D.C.
Well unrelated to Ms. Brown's personal issues, the Department of Education Office of Civil Rights is already investigating the Fox C-6 School District. Ms. Brown was informed of the investigation in March 2010. However, the School Board nor the administration has informed the public about the investigation. It has not been reported in any School Board Meeting Minutes. Maybe Dianne or Dan Baker has not told the school board or maybe the School Board does not want the Public to know about it. The SD Attorney tried to get the School District out of the investigation by writing a letter to Russlynn Ali, the U.S. Department of Education Assistant Secretary of Civil Rights. The DOE's office wrote back and informed the school district that the investigation would be forthcoming.
All of this happened right around the time the administrators decided to forgo their raises for the year. I think the Fox Community should start asking questions of the School Board members about what's going on to see if they are getting the full story. I've been told by a board member that Dianne let's them know what they need to know to keep them informed. Well, maybe Ms. Brown is not informing the board. I don't know. I can only speculate. I think a lot of people over the years have gotten fed up and gave up when confronting the system. However, when people are very knowledgeable about the law and the school board, the administrators and the staff are not, it costs the district a great deal of
taxpayer dollars and a makes a great opportunity for school district attorneys to take advantage of the administrators lack of education and knowledge. So, you are paying for the administrators and for the attorneys to do the administrator's job.
So, a lot of taxpayer dollars are wasted on attorneys! I guess that's just the cost of doing business.
DIVORCE NOTICE IN LEADER
Please wrote:
The proof will be there when you see her name printed in the paper in the divorce section! Ask any teacher they will tell you what administrator is sleeping with who. It is ridiculous. They should be fired for wrecking families.
DIVORCE NOTICE IN LEADER NEWSPAPER
"Dianne P Brown, Arnold v Harley B Brown, Arnold" was posted in the Leader newspaper today.
There isn't a morality clause in Ms Brown's current contract, unlike that in the Rockwood School District Superintendent's contract.
From the Rockwood School District contract:
==========
"12. This Agreement may be terminated prior to expiration of the term hereof or any extension hereof as follows:
...
b. For Cause. This agreement may be terminated by the School District at any time during the term of this Agreement or any extension hereof by giving notice in writing to Superintendent by certified mail, for one or more of the following causes:
i. Failure to comply with the terms and conditions of this Agreement;
ii. Immoral conduct or conduct unbecoming of the position of the Superintendent of the Rockwood R- VI School District, as the same may reasonably be determined by the Board of Education consistent with the state statute and judicial interpretation thereof; or"
==========
The C-6 School Board should be asked why this type of language IS NOT in the superintendent's current contract.
A School District Superintendent should demonstrate High Morals and should be held to a higher standard as they are Public Figures and represent Our School District and Our Community! It is up to the community to bring change by speaking with your School Board Members. Well, that is if Ms. Brown will allow you to speak with them.
MORALITY CLAUSES
#88 - Nov 5, 2010
It Is OUR Business wrote: BEAUTIFUL and dead on. Cheater is a cheater period. Do these clauses exist in all school districts? What about city officials and elected officials?
You can review the contracts of most of the school superintendents in the State of Missouri that were compiled by the
ShowMeInstitute.org.
The ShowMeInstitute studied the salaries and contracts of the superintendents in the State of Missouri in an effort to see how much of their pay is disclosed to the public and how much additional pay is "hidden" in their contracts such as annuities, bonuses, vehicle allowance, health benefits, etc. that is not reported to Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE). Educator salaries are public information and are available from MO DESE and can also be found on the
STLTODAY.COM website. But, you have to make a Freedom of Information Act request from your School District in order to obtain employment contracts and other documents that are available to the public. This is what transparency in government is all about.
By following the link above to the ShowMeInstitute.org website, you will be able to review the contracts from the majority of the superintendents in the state. You will find that many of the superintendent contracts have morality clauses and termination language in them.
What Are Proper Channels
Mr. Vinson, I attempted to go through the 'proper channels' and address the school board. However, Ms. Brown blocked me from exercising my rights by telling me that the school board had decided that they would not speak to me on a matter. It is very strange that she told me this at a school board meeting while the school board president himself was speaking to me and the board secretary about putting me onto the schedule for next month's board meeting. The board president told me that he had forgotten to put me onto the schedule for that evening's meeting after I had already spoken to him on the phone earlier about meeting with the board on an issue. There were other board members present at the head table that heard Ms. Brown tell me that the board had already met and decided not to speak to me. I asked Ms. Brown how the board president was unaware of the board's decision not to speak to me. I was told that they had already decided not to speak to me. So, if this is how Ms. Brown conducts business, then I can see how others would have problems going through the 'proper channels' as well.
So, if Ms. Brown decides that she does not want an issue to be heard by the school board, she simply tells the parent(s) or citizens that the school board has decided not to speak with them making it quite easy for her to cover up any issues that may not be favorable for her or for the district that may reflect badly on her. So, if the board does not get to hear about negative issues, how will they know one exists? From what I understand, it has been known for many years about this type of behavior and that
people have feared for their jobs and that parents have been met with resistance and/or retaliation when attempting to communicate through the 'proper channels'. So, I then wrote to each of the board members. From that attempt, I received a letter from the school district attorney informing me that all communications needed to go through them. So then I called a few school board members that I knew and they told me that the school district attorney had informed them not to speak with me regarding my issue.
So, how open is our school district to discuss matters when your own school board is blocked by the superintendent and then by the attorneys? Writing to the school district then resulted in a letter from the school district attorney stating that "The school district did not wish to engage in a letter writing campaign.".
So, Mr. Vinson how do you propose that you engage your school board who is elected by the community to represent the community if they are told not to speak with the patrons of the school district? I believe that I followed the proper channels but got nowhere and I know of others that have met the same resistance.
So, does this seem like a healthy and friendly environment for teachers and staff to work in and where parents feel that their voices are heard?
What Are Proper Channels
#129 - Nov 16, 2010
Bullwinkle wrote: The school board president is a female and has been president since early last spring you dip stick. Again...more lies to harm others. Mr Critchlow, I will call you and we can start our own campaign against these crazy parents..LOL Perhaps we can find them something to do at your school...hahahaaa
So Bullwinkle you instantly resort to name calling without knowing all of the facts.
It is ashame that you have no first hand knowledge about the situations at the school district. The board meeting I was referring to took place two years ago. That school board president is no longer on the school board.
When Ms. Brown calls the district attorneys into the mix to get around the issue, they can drag things out for a really long time. Then you have to contend with not only the rewriting of history by the attorneys but also attorneys making false statements about the law thinking the parents don't know the law.
You have your right to express your opinion albeit not an informed one since you were not involved in the events that occurred. I am just providing facts from personal experience.
What Are Proper Channels
Bullwinkle wrote:
Channel person. You must be the disgruntled parents over the OCR case. get over it! you lost.
Bullwinkle, if you are referring to the OCR Case, then you are incorrect in stating that we lost the case. The Office of Civil Rights is still monitoring the school district from the original complaint that was filed in August 2008 from which the district signed an Agreement but has not yet fulfilled the requirements of that Agreement. Independent of that, the district is currently undergoing a District Wide Compliance Review by OCR to address whether the District provides Individualized Health Plans to students that do not comply with the requirements of Section 504 and Title II. There has never been any ruling made by the Office of Civil Rights stating that the District "won".
Good Role Models Needed
Very Concerned wrote: I agree with you 100%. When you take a position like this, you should AT LEAST follow the character traits you are trying to promote to the fox school district children. Affairs happen all the time in the workplace. However, when you take on a job in education, you have to uphold certain standards. That is a choice you make when choosing this career. Partying and screwing around and wrecking families is NOT part of it and is NOT a good example.
If you think about all of the different people that influenced your life the most while you were growing up (outside of your parents), I would bet that your first memory would be of some teacher, principal, coach, counselor or someone that worked at your school. Children ARE VERY IMPRESSIONABLE and it is VERY IMPORTANT for our children to have Excellent Role Models in their lives. Educators should be held to a higher standard and I believe that most of them do hold themselves to that higher standard. However, when an Educator does something that is not what you would expect from someone in their position or profession, it is a very big let down for both the students and the community alike. It also creates friction within the school workplace as well. And, I would also bet that it is something and someone you will easily remember for the rest of your life. This is why parents are so passionate about wanting their children to be educated by people that they can Trust and Respect. We need Positive Role Models for our children that will last them the rest of their lives!
To Parents Involved
START BY ASKING THE SCHOOL BOARD SOME QUESTIONS AT THE NEXT BOARD
MEETING!
Here are few questions:
Is the school superintendent expected to be a role model for the school district?
Is the school board interested in protecting the school community from anything that would distract it
from its purpose of educating each child that attends its schools?
What types of behavior does the school board consider to be inappropriate behavior for that of a school superintendent?
Are school district administrators expected to be held to the same high standards of moral conduct that the teachers and other staff members are held to?
Have teachers been fired in the past for engaging in similar conduct?
If so, then why would that rule not apply to administrators as well?
Was a person promoted to a principal position within the school district that did not possess the appropriate credentials required for that position? If so, then why did the school board approve that promotion?
Why did the school board renew Brown's contract in February 2010 when her previous contract was not due to expire until June 30, 2011?
Does the superintendent's contract contain a morality clause or any other type of termination clauses?
Coaching Qualifications
You are an idiot wrote: Do you even know the qualifications of said person: Second team All-Pac10 center at Oregon State Offensive Coordinator at Texas A&M-Commerce Head Coach Tyler Community College, Tyler (TX) I'm sure if he gets the position, it will be solely because of personal relationships (eyes rolling).
Those are good qualifications!
However, while trying to find out who everyone was talking about with those qualifications, I was very disappointed to find out WHY he was no longer the Head Coach at Tyler Community College. "Said person" was relieved of his duties in January 2007 after being arrested for a DWI after crashing his car into a fence in South Tyler. I understand that people make mistakes. Since he was in a "role model" position as the Head Coach at Tyler Community College, the college gave him 24 hours to submit his resignation. Since he did not respond by the deadline, the college fired their head football coach.
Now, as long as he disclosed this information on his employment application and it was OK with the school board, then it should not be an issue. Right?
Coach First Year Pay
According to MO DESE Salary data from the STLTODAY site, Coach was paid quite well in his FIRST YEAR of Public School Experience in the Fox C-6 School District where he was paid $98,589. His job title has him listed as a "Supervisor".
What did he Supervise?
For starting pay within any school district where funding is paid for by public funds, I consider $98,589 to be a very high starting pay. Especially since the records show that he has not worked in a Public School before. That salary is nearly as much pay as a principal who has been there for over 10 years in the district. I can see how this would be a morale issue for other staff within the district that have been there for many more years.
How did the school board justify his starting pay? Does anyone else see this as an issue?
Fox Board Responsibility
Concerned Arnold Citizen wrote: Somehow I don't think the board was aware of that fact. Similarly they are apparently unaware of many facts. Would they have allowed the hiring of staff not qualified? Do they even question what is going on? Or do they follow blindly because of the awards and somewhat skewed numbers that are given to them? The board has not done their job and there are those that have been given free reign to do whatever they choose to do and hire whomever they choose-regardless of their credentials or lack there of. It is time to wake up and see what is going on around there.
I agree that the School Board needs a BIG WAKE UP CALL!!
The School Board is responsible for overseeing the district and I would agree that the school board members have looked the other way far too long or have been blocked from seeing things by Ms. Brown. It is their responsibility to ensure that things are being done properly. By not verifying things themselves is simply Irresponsible and a Dereliction of Duty and violates the Trust of the Community that voted them into their positions.
It truly is disappointing to discover everything that has been going on.
For all Concerned Citizens of the Fox C-6 School District, the next School Board Meeting is Tuesday December 14. I hope to see many of you there looking for answers!
Fox Alcohol Abuse Grant
In 2007, Fox was one of only 16 districts in the country that was awarded a grant of $1 Million dollars for Alcohol Abuse Education. It was published in the Leader back in 2007. The name of the program was "Project Toward No Drug Abuse".
I would think that hiring a coach with a DWI Arrest would have been somewhat of an issue for the district if it truly is trying to educate the kids about Alcohol Abuse. This just seems quite hypocritical of the schools efforts towards battling Alcohol Abuse.
Uh Hmmmmm
Hmmmmm wrote:
I won't give my name cause I'm a well liked employee of the district for the past twelve years. I only made my comment because I grew up in a house where I learned loyalty and commitment to my employer. Believe you me moving from private industry to education was the best move I ever made but it annoys me there's people on here who claim to be teachers in the district that show none of these attributes. My father always told me to be loyal to who signs my checks because when grandpappy went through the depression the ink ran dry for the disloyal guy.
You would have to be a well liked employee of the district when you are the wife of a school board member and former school board president! Your comments sound like you are threatening any employee of the district with losing their job if they make any negative comments about the district.
So, thank you for confirming what others have already stated is a common practice within the district to hide the truth!
School Awards Perspective
TNT stated that Lone Dell is Blue Ribbon School. The award touting needs to be put into perspective. Missouri DESE has a PDF document listing all of the Gold Star and Blue Ribbon Schools that have been recognized by the program between 1982 and 2009. The document also explains the criteria for qualifying for the program and the changes in the criteria over the years. The last time that Lone Dell was recognized as a Blue Ribbon school was for the 2002-2003 school year.
MO DESE Gold Star / Blue Ribbon Program
Historical Awards Document
Here is a sampling of school districts compiled from this document that have had schools recognized as either a Gold Star or a Blue Ribbon School between 1982 and 2009 and how many times a school within each of those districts was recognized and the most recent school year a school was recognized:
Rockwood - 35 (2008-2009)
Parkway - 25 (1998-1999)
St. Louis City - 23 (2008-2009)
Blue Springs - 17 (2007-2008)
Kansas City - 13 (2007-2008)
Farmington - 11 (2008-2009)
Brentwood - 8 (2008-2009)
Lindbergh - 8 (2008-2009)
Kirkwood - 7 (2006-2007)
Festus - 6 (2001-2002)
Northwest - 4 (2008-2009)
Fox (Lone Dell)- 3 (2002-2003)
Normandy - 2 (2004-2005)
Meramec Valley - 1 (2006-2007)
LinkedIn Profile
Since people seem to be concerned about Mr. Critchlow's credentials, he has a LinkedIn profile that
shows he is in Education Management.
He doesn't list any K-12 Teaching or Education Management related work experience in his profile but he does list that he received a BS degree in Interdisciplinary Studies from Oregon State University in 1996 and an MA degree in Interdisciplinary Studies from The University of Texas-Tyler in 2000.
The University of Texas-Tyler Intercom Online Newsletter has him listed as a Master's Degree Candidate in Art in 2001.
What type of education, work experience or credentials does someone need before they can be a High School Teacher or a School Administrator in Missouri?
