03/23/08 - What No Heartfelt Thank - You For Betty "You Can Trust Me Sternberg?

WHY HAVE DAWN AND ROSE
STOP SPEAKING OUT THE
ABOUT THE FAILED
SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS
THAT KNOWINGLY LET
THEIR CHILDREN STAY IN CONTAMINATED CLASSROOMS
FOR OVER ONE YEAR.

Letters from readers

Via The Greenwich Time

To the editor:

On behalf of the Hamilton Avenue PTA, we thank the many individuals and organizations that helped with our relocation to schools throughout town this month. Although it was and continues to be a difficult and stressful transition and there remain many unresolved issues, we witnessed a remarkable outpouring of support from the community, for which we are eternally grateful.

Our parents and children were greeted with enthusiasm and warmth by the teachers, principals, support staff and PTAs of our host schools: Cos Cob, Glenville, North Street, Old Greenwich, Parkway elementary schools, and Western Middle School. We thank them all for re-arranging furniture and schedules to accommodate our students and teachers.

A heartfelt thank-you goes to parents from sister schools Julian Curtis, the International School at Dundee and North Mianus elementary schools who came to our aid by contributing much-needed school supplies. Thank you to the Greenwich PTA Council, especially Julie Faryniarz, for their compassion in helping us succeed as a PTA with the support of all the Greenwich public schools. Thank you to the Boys & Girls Club's Bob D'Angelo, Family Centers' Robert Arnold and especially Robert Short, and Children's Day School's Mary Ann O'Rourke, each of whom worked diligently to reconfigure their programs to accommodate our students who needed day care during the week our school was closed.

A special thank-you goes to the Greenwich Organization Supervisors and Administrators, for the $5,000 contribution to assist our teachers through this transition phase.

We commend the Board of Education and the administration for working around the clock in making sure our concerns are addressed. This is not an easy situation for anyone of us, but communication is key, and we as a team will strive to make sure our school will be back in full-functioning mode once again.

We thank our Principal Damaris Rau, Assistant Principal Deborah Cline, administrative staffers Susan Marino and Anita Gianchetta, and the many wonderful and caring teachers of Hamilton Avenue School for all that they have done and will do to ensure the safety and continuing education of our children.

Finally, special heartfelt gratitude goes to our executive board: you are all amazing and continually impress us with all of your talents and accomplishments.

Rose Furano

Dawn Giorgi-Nethercott

Greenwich

The writers are Hamilton Avenue School PTA co-presidents.

Maybe Rose And Dawn Should Collect Money From The Hamilton Avenue Parents, So That They Can Give Betty "You Can Trust Me" Sternberg An Award For Allowing The Hamilton Avenue School To Fail No Child Left Behind.


Please read how schools like Hamilton Avenue are being designated "Blue Ribbon Schools" by the Department Of Education, because they are exceeding No Child Left Behind Standards........

03/22/08 - Now Betty "You Can Trust Me" Sternberg wants to blame President And Laura Bush for her failures in one of the richest towns in America.

03/19/08 - May God Bless The Children Of Hamilton Avenue School Who Never Get To Compete On A Level Playing Field.

Rose And Dawn Really Did Not Have To Give A Heart Felt Thank You To Failed Administrators Involved In Hamilton Avenue Fiasco, Because Betty "You Can Trust Me" Sternberg Is Giving Them Each A Bonus For All They Did During The Hamilton Avenue Fiasco.


Please read this article to learn about the bonus.....

03/20/08 - Why Won't Betty "You Can Trust Me" Sternberg Let Hamilton Avenue Parents Independently Test The Contaminated Modular Classrooms?

If Mrs. Nancy Weissler's Board Of Board Of Education approved a mold policy and the ...

03/13/08 Schools didn't follow mold policy (Greenwich Time)

You Would Think that Nancy Weissler would be looking to fire Betty "You Can Trust Me" Sternberg instead of saying things about the parents whose children were KNOWINGLY allowed to sit in contaminated classroom for over one year.

The Hamilton Avenue School parents did nothing wrong. Betty "You Can Trust Me" Sternberg was the one who failed to see that the Board Of Education's mold policy was followed.

Now Nancy Weissler and the Board Of Education are the ones failing to hold Betty "You Can Trust Me" Sternberg accountable to the single family home owners and taxpayers of Greenwich.

Will The Real Dawn Nethercott Please Stand Up

Did Some One In The School Administration Or On The Board Of Education Get To Dawn. Do you remember when she said....

"I'm not happy about the CMT (delay). The kids were all very well prepared," said Dawn Nethercott, co-president of the school PTA. "It's an unfortunate situation."

Please see....

03/10/08 - Hamilton Avenue School Students Will Excell On The CMT's If The Biology Questions Are About How Mold Effects Children In A Small Classroom.

Or Do You Remember when Dawn Said.....

... Hamilton Avenue parents are upset that their lives and their children's lives are in disarray, said Dawn Nethercott, school PTA co-president.

"We definitely want accountability. I want to know where the system failed," Nethercott said.

Please see....

03/05/08 - The Joke Of The Day - "I'll hold the staff accountable," Superintendent of Schools Betty Sternberg promised. - Yeah Right.

Or Do You Remember this statement....

Current PTA co-chair Dawn Nethercott says, "I'm appalled!"

Please See This Article....

03/02/08 - Another Administrative Screw Up - "They let it happen again. Shame on them. They should be fired," said Laura Dibella past PTA president.

Maybe Dawn Read This Link And Decided To Praise The Failed Administrators That KNOWINGLY left her children in a contaminated Classroom modular for over one year.....

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Please read....


03/12/08 - Why Was It Ok To Remove Dumpsters Of Contaminated Plywood, But Not OK To Remove School Desks And Chairs?

=================================================

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03/23/08 - Happy Easter - Today The Quotes At The End Of Articles Will Be About Jesus

Jesus Speaks About
Equality & Social Programs

But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. You will be repaid at the resurrection of the just. [Luke 14:13 &14.]

Quotes About Jesus

"Jesus Christ is to me the outstanding personality of all time, all history, both as Son of God and as Son of Man. Everything he ever said or did has value for us today and that is something you can say of no other man, dead or alive. There is no easy middle ground to stroll upon. You either accept Jesus or reject him."

Sholem Asch,
Jewish author (1880-1957)

"He might be described as an underprivileged, working-class victim of political and religious persecution."

Prince Phillip (born 1921)

03/19/08 - Peter Tesei said having the committee in place before the budget vote will help the project because the RTM will know who is overseeing it

First The Good News....

Selectmen give OK Greenwich High auditorium committee gets approval
Greenwich Post - Greenwich,CT

The Board of Selectmen unanimously approved Wednesday morning the creation of a building committee to oversee the renovation of Greenwich High School’s .

he committee so far includes eight voting members, including Board of Education Vice Chairman Leslie Moriarty and Board of Estimate and Taxation member William Kelly, a former school board member and supporter of the project. Genny Krob, co-president of the Friends of High School Performing Arts group and one of the leading advocates for the project, is also a voting member, along with GHS PTA co-president Leslie Cooper, Representative Town Meeting Education Committee Chairman Robert Bray, local engineer Joseph Ross, attorney Frank Napolitano and contractor Steven LoParco, also a former Board of Education member.

The creation of the committee is seen as a major step for the project before the RTM considers the 2008-09 municipal budget in May. The budget includes $2 million for architecture and engineering work related to the project, which had a feasibility study done this past year. Construction is tentatively set to start in 2009-10.

First Selectman Peter Tesei said having the committee in place before the budget vote will help the project because now the RTM will know who is overseeing it.

Having a set committee also allows the project to officially move forward.....

Now The Bad News...

Betty Sternberg Is Involved

... The committee contains two non voting, ex-officio members — Superintendent of Schools Betty Sternberg and Mr. Tesei.

MORE SCHOOL NEWS...

03/19/08 - Stop Punishing The Children - If The BET Should Save Money By Getting Rid Of Betty Sternberg And Her Failed Administrators

03/19/08 - May God Bless The Children Of Hamilton Avenue School Who Never Get To Compete On A Level Playing Field.

03/19/08 - "I can tell from the questions that were given to me that you're very curious about me," Charles Smith, 50, of Stamford

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GreenwichRoundup@gmail.com

To choose a good book, look in an inquisitor’s prohibited list.
~John Aikin

03/19/08 - "I can tell from the questions that were given to me that you're very curious about me," Charles Smith, 50, of Stamford

North Street School PTA members meet with new principal

By Hoa Nguyen
Greenwich Time - Staff Writer

A soft-spoken school district administrator held court with parents and teachers at North Street School yesterday, giving them a run-down of his credentials and why he is qualified to take over as the school's new principal....

...starting out as a reading specialist, then as the director of a school for students with severe disabilities and later at a private for-profit agency where he helped create bilingual programs and develop pre-school programs for military bases.

In 1997, he joined the Greenwich public school system, first working as director of early childhood but when the Board of Education cut that position, Smith took another post providing technical support and training to teachers at Central Middle School and feeder elementary schools.

Most recently, Smith worked as a special education program administrator. He also has participated in committees that have been asked to formulate a new teacher evaluation system for the district....

... Parents, who at times had to ask the soft-spoken administrator to speak louder, had few questions for Smith during his formal presentation...

... Isabelle Filatov, a North Street School parent, said it was important to get a good feeling from their new principal, particularly because her 5-year-old son is just starting kindergarten.

"I'm here for the long haul," she said.

Please Read.....

02/27/08 - Once Again Failed Greenwich School Administrators Take Care Of Thier Own

=================================================

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If you don't have this freedom of the press, then all these little fellows are weaseling around and doing their monkey business and they never get caught.
~Harold R. Medina

03/14/08 - More testing is needed to determine the safety of the classrooms before architects and engineers will go in to investigate the mold

The Little Children Of Hamilton Avenue "Were Never In Danger", But The Big Strong Architects And Engineers Told School Officials That "More Testing Was Needed" Before They "Can Go In And Investigate" The Cause Of The Mold.

Betty "You Can Trust Me" Sternberg Knows What's Best For The Little Children Of Hamilton Avenue And Glenville Schools.

The Insensitive And Patronizing School Superintendent Betty Sternberg Thinks That Hamilton Avenue Parents Are A Bunch Of Silly Little Cry Babies For Standing Up And Protecting Their Children.

Quote:

“I don’t want to minimize the disruption and the hardship, but I also want to say that sometimes I have found that children are more easily adaptable to this kind of thing than our adults,” Betty Sternberg said. “It’s incumbent upon the adults involved in this to make the best of a difficult situation.”

For The Record:

If A Small Child Says No To Betty "You Can Trust Me" Sternberg, Then That Child Would Most Likely Be Suspended From School.

With Return of Mold, Students Are Displaced
New York Times

By SARAH N. LYNCH

FOR nearly three years, students at the Hamilton Avenue School have been reporting to class in temporary buildings while their school was being rebuilt after an outbreak of mold prompted the district...

...long construction delays have continued to wear their patience as their children have had to make due without a gymnasium and other facilities that children in other Greenwich schools take for granted. This month, they received more bad news: The mold is back.

This time, it was discovered in the temporary buildings after the school brought in a consultant in February to fix a leak in the roof...

...The Greenwich Boys and Girls Club offered to take in 75 children for the week to help ease the burden, but none of the children received regular instruction ...

...Furious, parents staged a picket line outside the Board of Education building on March 3. That evening, they returned to the building for an emergency meeting where they were told that all Hamilton Avenue children would be dispersed by grade level and class to six schools throughout the town, possibly for the rest of the year. School officials hope the rebuilt school will be ready by the fall.

The solution did not please many parents.

“I think they are using our children like little pawn pieces in a chess game,” said Mina Bibeault, who has two young children in Hamilton Avenue. “They can just move the kids around without considering anything. They knew there were leaks in the building.”...

...But the series of incidents has revived long-held feelings among some parents that their school gets short shrift because it is in a poorer section of town. When they picketed, some of the parents held signs that read: “Rich town, poor school.”

Laura DiBella, the former president of the Hamilton Avenue School Parent Teacher Association, said officials were slow to respond from the beginning of the mold problem. “I’m not saying this particular Board of Education or this particular group of people under the superintendent feels that way, but a lot of people assume that poor people are stupid and that it’s easy to get things by them,” Mrs. DiBella said....

But Betty "You Can Trust Me" Sternberg Says Mima Bibeault And Laura DiBella Are Wrong...

...Sternberg said that in her year and a half as superintendent, she had “looked very carefully at issues of equitable allocation of resources” and that Hamilton Avenue had “received more resources because they have greater needs than other communities.”...

FOR ONCE BETTY "You Can Trust Me" STERNBERG IS RIGHT

FOR EXAMPLE:

Hamilton Avenue Children Got Exposed To More Contamination Than Any Other Greenwich School Child. In fact, They Got So Much More Contamination That School District Architects And Engineers Want More Tests Before They Can "Go In To" Investigate The Cause Of The Contamination.

....The Board of Education set up a committee to investigate the causes of the mold, said Nancy Weissler, the chairwoman of the board. Officials were told last week that more testing is needed to determine the safety of the temporary buildings before architects and engineers can go in to investigate the cause of the mold.

ALSO:

Schools didn't follow mold policy
Greenwich Time, CT - Mar 13, 2008
By Hoa Nguyen

Five years ago, when mold problems began surfacing at the old Hamilton Avenue School and other buildings, school district officials ...

03/05/08 - The Unionized (Teamstewrs) School District Custodial Staff Are Suggesting That There Might Be A School District Coverup At Ham Ave School.

MORE NEWS ABOUT FORMALDEHYDE IN TRAILERS:

Toll of toxic trailers
New Statesman, UK - Mar 13, 2008
Emails from its legal department advised that testing for the toxin "would imply Fema ownership of the issue" and that the agency would have no option but ...
FEMA knew its trailers posed a risk Canon City Daily Record
Documents Feed Debate on FEMA Trailers The Associated Press
Trailers don’t pass muster Helena Independent Record

Formaldehyde Exposure Standards

On December 4, 1987, the U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued a comprehensive regulation covering occupational exposure to formaldehyde at 29 CFR 1910.1048. This rule reduced the permissible exposure limits (PELs) to 0.75 part formaldehyde per million parts of air (ppm) as an 8-hour time-weighted average (TWA), and established a 2 ppm 15-minute short term exposure limit (STEL).

The comprehensive standard also included an "action level" of 0.5 ppm, measured as an 8-hour TWA, and provisions for employee formaldehyde exposure monitoring, medical surveillance, recordkeeping, emergency procedures, preferred methods to control formaldehyde exposure, selection of personal protective equipment, & hazard communication. OSHA's ruling was based upon consideration of new evidence including animal bioassays and epidemiological evidence, and the recognition of formaldehyde as a potential occupational carcinogen and its irritating and sensitizing effects.

Shame on

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Free speech is about as good as cause as the world has ever known. But, like the poor, it is always with us and gets shoved aside in favour of things which seem at some given moment more vital.
- Heywood Brown, The Miracle of Debs, "New York World", October 23, 1926

03/14/08 - Sternberg Received A Report On Air Quality Of The Modular Classrooms That Showed A Higher Level Of Mold Spores Than Previosly Released

Camille Kornberg, a Hamilton Avenue School kindergartner, is having her first full computer lab experience and introduction to Smart Board at her hosting facility, Glenville School.
(GREENWICH CITIZEN photo)

Anne W. Semmes

Ham Ave. Students Settle in, Thanks to Many

...Glenville School. Marianne McCullough, assistant principal, was busily guiding media members and other visitors such as Cathy Delehanty, head of the teachers union, the Greenwich Education Association, who came to check out how her teachers were coping...

...Hamilton Avenue School parents, especially those working moms who were suddenly faced with alternative care for their children...

...Finding child care and figuring out the maze of transportation and school space availability took extraordinary cooperation of a myriad of community organizations as depicted in Sternberg's thanks on the Greenwich schools Web site. She listed some of them - the Greenwich Police and Fire Departments, the PTAs, the United Way, Family Centers, the Children's Day Center, and the Greenwich Alliance for Education.

A public hearing, update and discussion on the Hamilton Avenue Relocation Plan, plus a discussion and possible action on the Glenville School relocation were new items added to the Thursday evening Board of Education's work session meeting to be held at Central Middle School..

... One Board of Education member, sure to take the floor at the Thursday Board work session, is Marianna Ponns Cohen. Her intention is "to address the issue of accountability for the problems with the modulars and building projects as a positive step forward in restoring faith in the Greenwich Public Schools."

It was Cohen's view that the school administrators have put "too many proverbial balls in the air," which has caused, she said, "clear and severe consequences.

"I am concerned that the school administration is distracted by the sheer number of initiatives it has undertaken," she said. One initiative proposed "as recently as a week ago," she reminded, was the regional interdistrict magnet school to take elementary and middle school students outside of Greenwich.

Cohen believed that the board, "in its oversight capacity, should encourage the superintendent and her administration to prioritize their tasks.

"It is essential," she said, "that the very important issues of student safety, Hamilton Avenue school construction completion and the commencement of the Glenville project move apace."

ALSO PLEASE TAKE A LOOK AT:

03/14/08 First Selectman Peter Tesei: "I'm at the point of frustration. These issues keep recurring."

AND:

03/12/08 - Why Was It Ok To Remove Dumpsters Of Contaminated Plywood, But Not OK To Remove School Desks And Chairs?

==================================================

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GreenwichRoundup@gmail.com

"You need only reflect that one of the best ways to get yourself a reputation as a dangerous citizen these days is to go about repeating the very phrases which our founding fathers used in the struggle for independence."
- Charles Austin Beard

03/05/08 - "I don't think they looked into the water problem," Mina Bibeault said. "We've put up with a lot and they've put our kids at risk."

Hamilton Avenue School student Courtney Roina, 6, joins other students and parents protesting outside the Board of Education in central Greenwich
(Bob Luckey Jr./Staff photo)

Was it maintenance or design flaws?

Greenwich Time, CT

By Martin B. Cassidy

After the sudden closing of Hamilton Avenue School after the discovery of mold throughout temporary classrooms, Mina Bibeault wondered if the Board of Education missed a chance to tackle the contamination with routine maintenance.

Bibeault, who has two children at the school, said there had been complaints earlier in the year about water leaking into the building, well before the investigation of a roof leak in a fifth-grade classroom last week found the mold problem....

... "This is about me getting a call on Saturday that my children will not be able to go to school on Monday," said Hector Ruiz, a former co-president of the school's PTA.

Exposure to toxic allergens produced by mold can trigger respiratory and sinus infections, skin irritation, and more severe respiratory conditions in the young and those with weakened immune systems, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Whether and how soon the modulars on the campus of Western Middle School could be opened again depends on a variety of factors, a town health official and building professionals said.

Mold, which is a fungus, grows faster in warmer temperatures, but also spreads if moisture, oxygen and organic matters are available, they said.

The extent of the mold growth in the school is still unknown, but condensation found within the walls and roof areas of the building this weekend raise serious health questions, said Michael Long, director of Greenwich Department of Health's environmental services division....

MORE:

03/05/08 - The Joke Of The Day - "I'll hold the staff accountable," Superintendent of Schools Betty Sternberg promised. - Yeah Right.

03/04/08 - First Selectman Peter Tesei promised to address the issue of accountability later on.

03/03/08 - Parents Bring Protest To The "Oldie Moldie" School Administrators

03/02/08 - Another Administrative Screw Up - "They let it happen again. Shame on them. They should be fired," said Laura Dibella past PTA president.

02/28/08 - Greenwich Children Left Behind

02/27/08 - Once Again Failed Greenwich School Administrators Take Care Of Thier Own

02/27/08 - Greenwich Taxpayers Pay Through The Nose As Administrators Mismanage The Greenwich Public School System

02/27/08 - School Board Coverup? - Are Displaced Hamilton Avenue Students Getting Rained On?

03/03/08 - Parents Bring Protest To The "Oldie Moldie" School Administrators

Greenwich Roundup Photo

Headline:

Parents protest school construction delays

Reporter:

Ken Borsuk

Source:

Greenwich Post - Greenwich,CT

Quote:

“The Board of Education and town have failed us as a community,” PTA member Mina Bibeault told the Greenwich Post outside of the Havemeyer Building Monday morning. “They’ve failed us in so many ways. We want answers. Our kids mean something to us. We’re sick and tired of being sick and tired, literally.”

Story:

With the modular classrooms closed for at least a week and the prospect of their children being dispersed to other schools, Hamilton Avenue School parents took to the streets in protest Monday morning.

More than 30 parents and children picked up signs and picketed outside the Board of Education offices in response to the news that the modular classrooms the students have been in since spring 2005 would be closed for at least this week due to mold concerns from a leaky roof. Hamilton Avenue parents and children walked with messages such as “Deja Vu, Shame on You,” “No More Lies,” “Rich Town, Poor School” and “This is Greenwich?”

An emergency school board meeting is scheduled for tonight at 7 p.m. in the Greenwich High School auditorium to discuss plans for the school. Nothing has been announced other than the school closure.

Ms. Sternberg and Board of Education Chairwoman Nancy Weissler could not be reached for comment before the meeting. The relocation plan is expected to be revealed tonight.

Parents have raised the point that the original building was deemed educationally unsound because of mold problems.

Construction problems have plagued the project since its inception and completion, which was originally expected in time to open the school last September, is now not expected until June, leaving parents visibly frustrated. Though the protest was not sanctioned by the school’s PTA, it was organized by PTA member Mina Bibeault. She said the effort was organized starting Sunday morning and a group of six parents made the signs....

....
“This could have all been avoided,” Ms. Bibeault said. “I don’t think we’re being told the truth and we really want the truth and the answers about what’s really happened. We have been in serious violation of fire codes since the beginning of the school year and that has not been addressed... This is being covered up by the mold issue. The mold issue definitely could have been addressed. We’ve had leaky roofs for almost a year now. We were putting band-aids on it because we thought we would be going to the new building. Shame on the Board of Education. Shame for not taking us more seriously and not taking the risk to our children more seriously.”
Ms. DiBella said she felt the board was not listening to the community. She said the community had received no information other than the school was closed and the meeting will be held tonight.

“They’re going to do what they’re going to do and to hell with what everybody else feels,” Ms. DiBella said. “There’s been no consensus. There’s been no discussion. There’s been no agreement. They haven’t even attempted to get us on board with whatever plans they have.”

A special meeting was held Sunday morning to discuss the issue. The meeting was called by Ms. Sternberg and was neither an official board meeting (because of an absence of enough board members to make a quorum) nor an official PTA meeting though Hamilton Avenue Principal Damaris Rau and Glenville Principal Marc D’Amico and PTA members from both schools attended. Press was not permitted to attend.

Greenwich police officers kept a watch on the protest to make sure pedestrian traffic wasn’t impacted. Officers were also deployed to the modulars to make sure all parents dropping off children knew the school was closed. Public Information Officer Lt. Daniel Allen said there were no incidents.

More:

Mold closes CT school for week
7Online.com, NY

(WABC)

-- A school in Connecticut was shut down because of mold. The Hamilton Avenue School will be closed all week while school officials try ...

School officials scramble to put together relocation plan

Board of Education officials said they are furiously working on a relocation plan for Hamilton Avenue School, with the goal of presenting an overview at tonight's public meeting and the details by Wednesday and Thursday. "We've got people working around the clock," district spokeswoman Kim Eves said. "There are so many details to work out in order to be able to logistically pull that off."

What next for Ham Ave.? Board of Ed tries to keep homerooms, grades together

After closing Hamilton Avenue School for the upcoming week because of mold discovered in the walls of temporary classrooms, education officials will reveal a plan tonight to discuss their plans to relocate students to other schools for the remainder of the school year.