06/05/08 Lying Glenville Principal Will Be Suspended WITHOUT Pay Until The End Of June And Is Placed On A One Year Probation

Breaking News

Ethically Challenged Principal Marc D'Amico Will Probably Lose About $10,000 in pay.

Quote:

"This my friends is not about cupcakes. It is not about cupcakes." said Greenwich School Superintendent Dr. Betty Sternberg.

Headline:

It's Confirmed Principal Marc D'Amico Is A Liar. Multiple Times Over Multiple Days!

Principal D'Amico Signs Legal Documents Admitting To Being A Liar

On July 1st, Principal Mark D'Amico will be allowed to return to Glenville under certain terms and conditions, including one year of probation.

By agreeing to the loss of pay and the one year of probation, Principal D'Amico avoids any possibility of having his confidential record aired at a public Greenwich Board of Education meeting.

Dr. Sternberg said D'Amico lied several times when asked about manipulating the public document.

The Devious Principal D'Amico had better keep his nose clean and get those Glenville test scores up during his one year probation, or the public document manipulator will be permanatly WITHOUT a big fast Greenwich public school pay check.

Hopefully, the principal will finally do the right thing and apologize to the Carbino family and ALL of the Glenville School community for all of the divisions he caused at the elementary school.

Marc D'amico released a public statement saying that he was looking forward to working hard to once again gain trust in the community.

As long as Glenville parents are happt with their school principal lying - then by all means bring him and his track record of low test scores back.

For the parents going into into those contaminated modulars you are going to need a lot of lies to make the situation okay.

Unfortunately, the Glenville PTA are a little too close to Principal D'Amico. The PTA should represented the needs of patents and not letting this get out of hand.

The Glenville PTA leaders knew what was going on way before the parents.

It was disgusting how the Glenville PTA leaders were very involved in rallying up the Glenville parents that ended up attacking dissenting parents who said "Character counts".

The Glenville PTA leadership seems to be doing just what their principal did - single out a parent who spoke against moving into the contaminated modular classrooms.

Now that the facts have come out and everyone understands that this has nothing to do with parties or cupcakes. It is up to the Glenville PTA leadership to help closely monitor Principal D'Amico's behaviour.

The Glenville PTA leaders need to understand that if Principal D'Amico was willing to do this over a little problem, what happens when something big comes along?

The Glenville PTA leaders should be asking questions about the children who are struggling with low test scores.

The Glenville PTA leaders should be asking why their parents have not been informed that the Hamilton Avenue Modular contamination clean up is going to be re-bid?

Please see:

06/05/08 Are Glenville Parents Going To Be Screwed By The Board Of Education? Parents Better Start Connecting The Dots

Please also see:

06/03/08 One can't help, but to feel sorry for those defending Principal D"Amico - The confessed liar should be ashamed of what he did to Glenville

06/03/08 - Poor Dorothy Gets So Confused By Misleading Greenwich Time Headlines

06/02/08 - Marc D'Amico Has A Very Serious Integrity Issue - Can He Be Trusted With The Care Of Children Who Are Headed To The Modular Classrooms?

06/02/08 Greenwich Citizen Continues To Ignore The Fact That Principal Marc D'Amico Was Suspended For Unethically Minipulating Public Documents

06/01/08 One Of Principal Marc D'amico's Supporters Is Keith Crocco Who Posted On The Topix / Greenwich Message Board 26 Times In Less Than 24 Hours.

UPDATE:

FROM FROM THE GREENWICH BOARD OF EDUCATION WEBSITE


"Setting the Standard for Excellence in Public Education”

Mrs. Nancy Weissler, Board of Education Chairman
Dr. Betty J. Sternberg, Superintendent of Schools

SUMMARY STATEMENTS REGARDING GLENVILLE SCHOOL PRINCIPAL

(For immediate release: Greenwich, CT – June 5, 2008)

Summary of Findings:

Investigation of Glenville School Principal, Marc D’Amico:

The District concludes that Mr. D’Amico

* created a new section in the School Handbook related to birthday
celebrations in order to corroborate his
assertion to a parent regarding a birthday celebration practice followed
by the school;

* made false statements and knowingly misrepresented facts multiple times
to multiple people over a nine day
period including his superiors and various members of the school
community; and

* confronted with the allegation regarding the creation of the section,
and given multiple opportunities to
correct these falsehoods over a nine day period, failed to admit to the
allegation until he believed that the timing
and content of his actions could be verified.

The failure to be truthful is extremely serious given his responsibilities
as a school leader and a role model for
the school community and his responsibility to uphold the Code of Ethics
for School Administrators as set out in
Connecticut State Regulations, 10-145d-400b.

Mr. D’Amico has accepted certain terms and conditions in order to be
reinstated as the Principal of Glenville
School on July 1, 2008.

These terms and conditions include:

* confirmation in writing that he has not previously made
misrepresentations concerning his actions or other
issues concerning his professional responsibilities and that the
investigation report is accurate as written;

* suspension without pay from work beginning on May 28, 2008 through June
30, 2008;

* an apology to the Glenville School Community and the individual parent
in question at a time and in a manner
agreed to with Superintendent of Schools Dr. Betty J. Sternberg and Deputy
Superintendent Kathy Greider;

* his return to work as Principal of Glenville School on July 1, 2008 on
probationary status for the 2008-09
school year;

* a requirement that he will attend regular meetings with the Deputy
Superintendent, identify a mentor from the
GPS leadership to serve as a sounding board and guide, and will attend
regular sessions with a consultant
regarding workplace ethics and responsibilities, during the probationary
period;

* acceptance that this is a “last chance” agreement and an understanding
that any future incident in which he is
untruthful, either through commission or omission, will result in
immediate termination.

I am deeply disappointed
that a key member of my leadership team was not honest with me
and others and knowingly altered an official document. I am encouraged
that Mr. D’Amico has accepted
responsibility for his actions and I know he will work hard to regain our
confidence.

I hope that his future
actions will justify the trust I am placing in him and that he will
promptly put this unfortunate matter behind him
and resume his role as an effective leader at Glenville School.

Mr. Strange and Ms. McCullough will visit each of the classes on Friday, June 6th to provide the students with a brief update to let them know that Mr. D'Amico will return as their school principal for the next school year.

We will continue to work with Mr. Strange and Ms. McCullough in supporting Glenville School through the end of the school year and in planning for a smooth transition into the modulars at Western Middle School.

Finally, I recognize that this was a very difficult time for the Glenville community. I appreciate greatly your patience while we investigated this matter thoroughly. Knowing the strong community spirit in Glenville, I am hopeful that you will join me in ensuring a smooth transition for Mr. D'Amico's return in July.

Sincerely,
Dr. Betty J. Sternberg

www.greenwichschools.org

Mr. D’Amico said,“I have made a major mistake and I do take full
responsibility for it. This has been a very
difficult time for me. I look forward to working hard to regain the trust
of the school community and to restore
confidence in my leadership.”

####

UPDATE #2:

FROM THE GRENWICH POST
(1:30 PM)

Glenville principal keeps job, remains on suspension

By Ken Borsuk

Glenville Principal Mark D’Amico will keep his job, but Superintendent of Schools Betty Sternberg said he is down to his “last chance” after an investigation determined he lied to district officials.

Mr. D’Amico had been on a paid suspension since May 28, but now that suspension, which will remain in effect until July 1, will be unpaid. In addition, he will be on probation with the district from July 1 until next June 30, at which time his status will be re-evaluated. Ms. Sternberg said there will be “more regular oversight” of Mr. D’Amico when he returns and he will be required to meet regularly with an outside consultant to focus on ethics and job responsibility issues. Riverside School Principal John Grasso will also serve as Mr. D’Amico’s mentor now.

At issue is Mr. D’Amico changing the school’s online handbook to corroborate a decision he had made preventing parent Frank Carbino from going to his daughter’s classroom for her birthday party. Mr. D’Amico told Mr. Carbino there was a policy preventing it, but there was no written policy. Mr. D’Amico added the section to the handbook subsequent to the incident and then told Assistant Superintendent Kathy Greider that it had been there the entire time.

“[Mr. D’Amico] made false statements and knowingly misrepresented facts multiple times to multiple people over a nine-day period, including his superiors and members of the school community,” Ms. Sternberg said at a Thursday press conference.

She added he was given “multiple opportunities to correct these falsehoods” over the course of the nine days....

....Mr. Carbino said he considered the matter to be closed and was ready to move on.

“I’m completely fine with this,” Mr. Carbino told the Post.

Retired Western Middle School Principal Don Strange, who was named as Mr. D’Amico’s interim replacement, will remain in that position at the school until July 1.

To avoid future confusion about the policy of parents bringing birthday treats to their child’s classroom, Ms. Greider said a district-wide policy is being developed.

More details will be available in the June 12 edition of the Post.

Read The Full Greenwich Post Website Article Here

UPDATE #3:

FROM THE GREENWICH TIME
(3:00 PM)

One month suspension without pay for Glenville principal

...Sternberg said today that D'Amico, who agreed to the penalty, will have his pay withheld for the month's suspension. He can return to work on July 1 but will be placed on probation for a year. During his probation, he will meet twice a month with Deputy Superintendent Kathy Greider to review his performance. D'Amico also is to meet with a mentor, John Grasso, principal of Riverside School, who will serve as a sounding board, and have regular sessions with a consultant to discuss workplace ethics and responsibilities...

...Sternberg said she met with D'Amico on Tuesday, when he apologized for his actions and reassured them he had not made misrepresentations in other situations. She said it was at that meeting that D'Amico first apologized for his actions. She disputed a statement made by D'Amico's attorney in a Greenwich Time article in which he said his client had apologized during a Monday meeting.

Hamden attorney John Gesmonde told Greenwich Time that D'Amico "did a mea culpa all over the place" during that meeting, but Sternberg said that was incorrect.

Gesmonde disputed Sternberg's characterization of his statements.

"I stand by my statements," he said.

Read The Entire Greenwich Time Story Here.

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