Greenwich Superintendent of Schools Betty Sternberg in her office at the Havemeyer Building in August. Sternberg has announced her intention to step down at the end of the school year.
(Greenwich Time file photo)
Sternberg to step down
file photoSuperintendent of Schools Betty Sternberg will step down as chief administrator of the town's public school system when her contract expires next summer, she said, citing a desire to be "responsive to the interests of the community.
With a Board of Education vote looming next week on whether to renew her contract with the school system, Sternberg said she decided on Monday night to not seek renewal of her employment agreement, which expires June 30, 2009.
"I wanted the district to know sooner rather than later," she said of her decision to announce her resignation prior to the board's vote on Oct. 23.
Sternberg's decision comes nearly two weeks after the board voted to give her a $3,500 salary bonus - out of a potential $15,000 for which she was eligible - based on its evaluation of her management of the district last school year....
....Several school board members described Sternberg's decision Wednesday night as a surprise, and said the superintendent had not faced internal pressure from individual members to step down....
..."This was her own decision," said Board Chairwoman Nancy Weissler, who was on the four-person search committee that recommended Sternberg for the position in 2006. The others were current member Steven Anderson and two former members, Ginny Gwynn and Bill Kelly.
Weissler said she will begin selecting members for a new search committee to find Sternberg's successor following the body's Oct. 23 meeting.....
...Alex Capozza, a vice president of the Hamilton Avenue School PTA Executive Board, said Sternberg had big shoes to fill in and inherited a number of complex issues.
"She came into very tough territory," Capozza said.
Sternberg's departure, Capozza said, creates an opening for the next superintendent to improve academics across the school district.
COMMENT:
Betty Sternberg seem to have a better sense of the community than the lackluster and out of touch school board and some PTA members.
Betty Sternberg had BIG SHOES to fill?
What does this mean?
Is
Alex
"I Should Put Children Before Board Members And Superintendents"
Capozza
saying that previous superintendent did such a great job that Dr. Betty Sternberg couldn't fill his shoes?
PTA members have been to afraid to confront failed school administrators and board members and this has hurt the progress of Greenwich Students in General and Western Greenwich students in particular.
The Children Should Always Come First.
PTA members should not limit children by telling their families to drink lemonade. PTA should me encouraging and supporting families that want their and every child in town to drink in all that the Greenwich School System.
The PTA members should fight to ensure that every child gets a fair portion, without worrying if a school board chairwoman or some over paid and failed school administrator is going to like them or not.
Please See:
Our topic today is Betty Sternberg, of course. A scant few days before the Board of Ed was to meet to review her contract, Betty has bailed. The Board raises its hands in professed surprise. "We had no idea," is the gist of their comments.
If so, they are even more mentally challenged than your scribe has previously supposed. Practically since the day she came, Betty has been receiving negative reviews from parents, teachers, and the community at large. These were recently codified in the Harris Survey in which Betty received a failing grade in every single category from every single constituency.
And so she has jumped before she was pushed. And the Board of Education is taken by surprise? Spare me.
The real problem, of course, is that she will continue to be around to plague us and drain our Town treasury dry right up to the middle of next year. Why the Board of Ed doesn't just buy out her contract and give her the boot is one of life's great mysteries. Perhaps they're curious to see just how much more havoc she can wreak before the door finally hits her in the rear end next June 30.
Your scribe predicts that she will do considerably more damage to our already-reeling school system before then. She is like* the pilot of a burning airplane who has no parachute. She is certain to crash and burn. Will she head for an empty field, or, more likely, yet another school full of young children?
She has already all but destroyed Hamilton Avenue, and Glenville School exists in name only. That's two down in two years. But she still has almost a year to go, so she has time to target one more school here in Town.
Will it be New Lebanon? Parkway? North Street? Julian Curtiss? Cos Cob? North Mianus? Dundee? Riverside? Old Greenwich? How about the middle schools? Or perhaps even Greenwich High School itself?
How many more talented faculty members and administrators can she drive away in the next nine months? How many more falling test scores can we expect to see between now and then?
Since Betty is unable to do the honorable thing and just resign immediately, the Board should simply bite the bullet and fire her. By any standards of job performance, she has been and continues to be a miserable failure.
Why should she stay on the job even one more day?
That is a rhetorical question, dear reader. Everyone in Town, with the obvious exception of the Board of Ed, knows the answer. She should not.
*N.B. This is what is known as a simile, a literary device that is not to be confused with objective fact. It is meant to help clarify something to the reader, in this case the gravity of the ever-burgeoning train wreck in our Town's educational system. In no way is it meant to suggest that Betty knows how to pilot an airplane, or even how to steer one.
Breaking News ....
The Clueless Greenwich Citizen And Greenwich Post Have Been Totally Unaware Of Betty Sternberg's Resignation For Two Days, Because They Have Posted Nothing About This News Story.
Maybe the Greenwich Citizen and Greenwich Post are AWOL on the latest Board Of Education story is, because editorially they have repeatedly been strong supporters the failed Sternberg administration.
Greenwich School Children Have Suffered, Because The Greenwich Citizen And The Greenwich Post Have Blindly Supported Dr. Betty Sternberg On Their Editorial Pages.
Have Things Gotten This Bad????
Obama holds 22 percent lead over McCain In District 4?
By Jeff Morganteen
Staff Writer
Article Launched: 10/16/2008 02:58:59 PM EDT
A newly released poll of Fourth District voters shows eleven-term incumbent U.S. Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Bridgeport, trailing Democratic challenger Jim Himes of Greenwich by 3 percentage points.
The poll, conducted Monday and Tuesday, reports that Himes leads by 48 percent to 45 percent. His 3-point advantage is within the survey's 4-point margin of error, the poll reported.
Earlier this week, SurveyUSA interviewed 660 registered voters from the Fourth District, among which 602 were determined as likely to vote in November.
The poll also asked respondents about the presidential election between U.S. Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz, and Barack Obama, D-Ill. It found that Obama holds a 22 percent lead leading McCain 59 percent to 37 percent.
The SurveyUSA poll results come about a week after Sacred Heart University released data with Shays holding a 10-point lead over Himes. In that poll, however, 29 percent of likely voters were undecided. In the recent SurveyUSA poll, that number dwindled to 3 percent.
COMMENT:
So Who Is Right
Sacred Heart Or SurveyUSA?
Please Note That.....
Chris Shays Is Leading Jim Himes SIX Videos To ONE Video In The Greenwich Citizen Home Page Campgain 2008 Media Player !!!!!
Please See:
From The Out The Out Town And Corporately Owned
Hearst Newspaper's Greenwich Citizen:
Nothing Nada Zip
Forget About It
No Updates For 5 Days
However, The Unfair Media Player That Presents And Unbalanced Number Of Videos Promoting Chris Shays Over Jim Himes Is Baaaack!!!
Please See:
10/11/08 My Hats Off To The Greenwich Citizen Editor And Webmaster For Following Greenwich Roundup's Lead And Putting Up Himes And Shays Videos, But There Is A Little Problem....
Abused women find strength at vigil
For years, Michelle Johnson said she felt like a wandering woman. "I was stumbling through life unsure of what to do," Johnson told a crowd of several dozen people on hand Thursday night at the YWCA of Greenwich for a candlelight vigil to honor the victims of domestic violence.
Domestic violence rises in townDomestic violence incidents are on the rise in Greenwich this year, police said, an issue gaining attention as residents prepare for a candlelight vigil tonight as part of national Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
Greenwich penalized over wetlands workTipped off by a whistle-blower, the state Department of Environmental Protection has slapped the town of Greenwich with a violation notice for doing what the agency said was unauthorized excavation work in an intertidal wetland at Greenwich Point Park.
Witherell seeking new design firm
The town is looking for a new architect for the $36 million Nathaniel Witherell renovation project after contract discussions with the design firm chosen last summer broke down.
Woman in court on drug chargeSTAMFORD - A Norwalk woman appeared in state Superior Court on Wednesday to face a charge stemming from the February 2007 overdose death of a Greenwich High School student.
Sacred Heart soccer topped by Hopkins in physical battleKeelin Daly/Staff photoOver the last couple of seasons the budding rivalry between Convent of the Sacred Heart and Hopkins soccer programs could be described as a downright physical.
Marriage ruling not logicalGovernment should divorce itself from the marriage business. It is time both to honor the words of the founders and recognize that American society has evolved beyond anything they had envisioned.
UPDATE
More Greenwich Time Stories
Sunday, the fire company will celebrate their 60th anniversary
Staff Writer
Article Launched: 10/17/2008 07:14:57 AM EDT
Bill Strain still recalls the day he and several other volunteers from the Round Hill Volunteer Fire Co sat anxiously awaiting the arrival of their first new fire engine.
"The truck got lost on the railroad and the freight office was closed on Saturday," said Strain, a founding member of the department, former chief and current treasurer.
"So some of the boys found it, cut open the freight car and drove out the truck themselves," Strain, 77, recalled with laughter. "It was a 1951 GMC."
Sixty years later, the fire department has progressed from a small station with one engine based in a rented barn to an modern fire house with five fully equipped vehicles, according to current Chief Rick Strain.
Expand primary voting rights for younger citizens
To the editor:
I am writing in support of an amendment to the Connecticut Constitution that will be present on the ballot Nov. 4. This amendment, also known as House Joint Resolution 21, would give 17-year-olds the right to vote in primary elections if they will be 18 by Election Day. This resolution was overwhelmingly passed in the Connecticut state House 135-12, in April and thus will be voted upon by the general public.
This amendment is vital for the involvement of young Americans in the political process. It would allow young citizens to get involved in the political process at the earliest point possible, even before they turn 18. That would bring a number of new voters into the political process and continue to force candidates to focus on young voters, the future of the country...
...With a number of extremely competitive and historic races going on in our nation, our state and our town, this amendment could easily be overlooked. I hope it will not be, and am glad to see that it was supported by the three state representatives in town, Lile Gibbons, Dolly Powers and Livvy Floren, who cast affirmative votes.
This is an amendment that Republicans and Democrats alike can agree upon, and I hope all Connecticut voters come together on Election Day to support HJ 21.
Jack Appelbaum
Greenwich
The writer is a member of the Greenwich Young Democrats
Right priorities for serving in the state Senate
To the editor:
Scott Frantz will make an excellent state senator, adding his own exceptional talents and personality while maintaining the strong platforms that Sen. Bill Nickerson established...
...These tough times call for a new breed of politician - one who can make the tough decisions, and has the character to command respect and cooperation from those around him.
Betsy Murphy
Riverside
Action required so arts center can go forward
To the editor:
Greenwich is a place where the lives of all have been enriched through the generosity of its citizens. The partnership of public and private is evident in the Bruce Museum, the YMCA, the YWCA, Binney Park and the Arch Street teen center, to name just some of the jewels that adorn our town.
The proposed Greenwich Center for the Arts is another example of such generosity, with the offer of $35 million of private funds to bring a permanent arts center to Greenwich. The group would do this by renovating the deteriorating Havemeyer Building, once the Board of Education moves to the more appropriate space it seeks......
....It is somewhat encouraging that at a recent meeting, the school board for the first time agreed to consider space off Greenwich Avenue and perhaps away from downtown Greenwich. This should yield more options.
In light of all this, I urge the school board to make a decision. I also hope our fine Board of Selectmen and Representative Town Meeting will be able to facilitate the progress of these projects in an efficient and cost-effective way.
Judy Donahue
Riverside
Gay marriage ruling ought to be reversed
To the editor:
I am strongly against the Connecticut Supreme Court ruling legalizing same-sex marriage in Connecticut....
...I urge the citizens of Connecticut to mobilize in contacting their state legislators demanding of them to repeal this forced ruling.
Richard Day
Old Greenwich
Town needs an opponent of harmful taxes
To the editor:
District 7 members of the Representative Town Meeting enthusiastically support Fred Camillo's candidacy for the 151st District....
....Sixteen percent of Greenwich residents are 65 or older, and many of them are living on fixed incomes. Yet Connecticut is one of only a handful of states that does not provide income-tax relief for pension fund payments, Social Security, and/or retirement account distributions. This should be re-evaluated if the state is to retain its older population.....
....live in the 151st District, as we do, will vote on Nov. 4 for John McCain for president, and Christopher Shays for congressman, and for Scott Franz for state senator, and Fred Camillo for 151st District state representative.
Marianne Gattinella
Winona Mullis
Rob Searle
Leslie Tarkington
Greenwich
================================================
Please send your comments to GreenwichRoundup@gmail.com
