03/13/08 - Just How Much Are The Taxpayers Of Greenwich Paying Superintendent Betty Sternberg And Her Failed Administrators To Lie To The Public?

Betty "Pinocchio" Sternberg

HEADLINE:

An environmental consultant hired by the school district has said the ceiling of one of the classrooms affected by the roof leaks had mold growth.

LIE OF THE DAY:

Sternberg and other officials said design and construction flaws rather than maintenance shortcomings caused the mold problems at the modulars. They said roof leaks reported months earlier at the modulars were properly addressed and not connected to the mold found inside the walls and in the roof eaves.

STORY:

Schools didn't follow mold policy

By Hoa Nguyen
Greenwich Time - Staff Writer

Five years ago, when mold problems began surfacing at the old Hamilton Avenue School and other buildings, school district officials implemented a program to help identify and prevent similar problems from occurring in the future.

But now they admit the program was not uniformly put into practice across the district....

Greenwich Roundup says.... But, school officials did identify the mold in the modular classrooms over one year ago. The problem is that they hid the mold from Glenville and Hamilton Avenue School parents.

Please read....

03/09/08 - Town Employees: Sternberg's Crew Knew - Mold Covered Tiles Replaced Over One Year Ago.

Soon school district Officials will admit they knew about the mold in the contaminated modular classrooms over one year ago. After that school district officials will admit that they replaced molded cieling tiles at the contaminated modular classroom. Then the school district officials will admit they hid the contamination from Glenville and Hamilton Avenue parents.

.... "Everyone was trained," Superintendent of Schools Betty Sternberg said of the program called Tools for Schools. "It was variably implemented from school to school."....

Greenwich Roundup says...... Obviously. But didn't Superintendent Betty Sternberg say, "I'll hold the staff accountable." Please read....

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

... Tools for Schools is a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency program designed to raise awareness about air quality issues, including assembling committees of teachers, administrators, parents and custodians who work together to identify early indicators of mold and other problems.

School officials came under fire on Tuesday night from the Board of Estimate and Taxation Budget Committee, which questioned why mold problems discovered at the Hamilton Avenue School modular buildings were identified only a couple of weeks ago. They should have been more aggressive in scrutinizing possible mold situations, committee members said, because it was mold that forced the rebuilding of the old Hamilton Avenue School and the purchase of the $3 million modular buildings several years ago.....

Greenwich Roundup says.... The Board of Estimate and Taxation has a long history of suffering incompetent school district fools who are destroying the public schools and increasing the taxes on the single family home owner.

.... "I was frankly surprised," BET member Robert Stone said yesterday. "This is a lesson that clearly should have been learned four years ago."....

Greenwich Roundup says.... Why is Robert Stone "frankly surprised". Was he awake at the BET meetings when school district officials have repeatedly came asking for more and more tax money to pay for all the screw ups at Hamilton Avenue School.

.... Stone is calling on the district to implement a program to visually inspect classrooms and school space on a regular basis to ensure potential problems are caught early....

Greenwich Roundup says.... "Good Job Bob"

... BET members said that because taxpayers are going to have to shoulder the cost associated with this latest Hamilton Avenue School mold problem, the district must have a better prevention plan...

Greenwich Roupup says... If Betty Sternberg and her failed school administrators don't come clean the school district is going to need one hell of a litigation plan.

Eventually, this Board Of Education cover up is going to be exposed, when failed school administrators, architects, contractors, engineers and testing companies start getting sued by parents whose children were allowed to sit in a contaminated modular classroom for over one year.

A lot of school administrators and others knew about the contamination for more than a year.

Now these architects, contractors, engineers and testing companies had better make sure that Hamilton Avenue parents are getting full disclosure or they may find their butts in court face claims of substantial liability.

... "This is going to be something that we're going to have to prevent going forward," said Michael Mason, head of the BET budget committee....

JOKE OF THE DAY:

"People walked away with a general sense that progress is being made," said Mike Bodson, the Board of Education liaison for the school's building committee, as he spoke about a Hamilton Avenue School Building Tour led by the ever so efficient contractor, Worth Construction.

Shame on



Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.
- President Ronald Regan

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

Why Did School Maintenance Workers Need To Use Resporators And Tyveck Suits To Remove Plywood From The Walls Of The Modular Classrooms?

Did the maintenance workers use the same spacesuits to remove the childrens desks and chairs from the modular classrooms?

Why Isn't The Greenwich Time Speaking To Anyone Who Is Questioning Why Dumpsters Of Plywood Were Removed From The Modular Classrooms And Carted Away In Less Than
72 Hours?

Why is only Nancy Weissler, (Chairman of the Board of Education), Kim Eves, (Director of communication), Sue Wallerstein, (Assistant superintendent of business services), Damaris Rau (Hamilton Avenue School Principal) and the Greenwich Public School Website cited in today's Greenwich Time News Story?

Why arn't officials from the Greenwich Department of Health quoted in this story?

Could It Be That The Wet Contaminated Plywood's Glue Was Emitting Formaldehyde?

Like Some Town Employees Have Suggested.

Headline:

No mold hazard found at Ham Ave. modulars

Quote:

"We're talking about additional tests that need to be done," said Nancy Weissler, chairman of the Board of Education, adding that the testing will delay remediation by another week.

Story:

.... Because more testing is needed before items from the school can be safely removed from the contaminated site, that will delay when architects and engineers who are to investigate the cause of the mold can enter the structure and do their work. Until that happens, officials won't know the full extent of the mold problem and the type of remediation that will be necessary, school district officials told the Board of Estimate and Taxation's budget committee last night during a Town Hall meeting....

This whole thing about incomplete and misleading tests is just a dog and pony show.

Non of these tests are independently performed.

Why Is The Board Of Education Is Hiring And Paying The Test Takers?

Why aren't the proffessionals at the Greenwich Department of Health hirring, paying and evaluating independent test results?

How can Glenville and Hamilton Avenue School parents can trust this failed school administration?

Do you really trust Greenwich School Superintendent Betty Sternberg?

You are just as silly as you look if you really think the School Superintendent is going to remediate the contaminated modular classrooms that were KNOWINGLY used by little children for over one year.

The rest of the contamination evidence must be destroyed.

Here is what's really going to happen...

The school district has also asked Turner Construction Co. to provide cost estimates to demolish the modular structures and acquire other ones, said Sue Wallerstein, assistant superintendent of business services.

Parents should not worry one bit about the school administrators who take care of their little children, because every thing is going just fine.....

... "The kids are so happy," Rau said. Fourth- and fifth-graders relocated to Western Middle School are reaping the benefits of a larger cafeteria, she said.

"They are in awe of all the selections they have. They're holding up the lines just so they can look at everything."

Maybe, the little children "are in awe" of what healthy food tastes like when its not exposed to a "...higher level of nontoxic mold spores, but not high enough to be a health hazard...".

Eventually, this Board Of Education coverup is going to be exposed, when failed school administrators, architects, contractors, engineers and testing companies start getting sued by parents whose children were allowed to sit in a contaminated modular classroom for over one year.

A lot of school administrators and others knew about the contamination for more than a year.

Now these architects, contractors, engineers and testing companies had better make sure that Hamilton Avenue parents are getting full disclosure or they may find their butts in court face claims of substantial liability.

More Information From Sources Other Than
School Officials And Their Official Website:

03/09/08 - Town Employees: Sternberg's Crew Knew - Mold Covered Tiles Replaced Over One Year Ago.

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

Shame on


Removed And Destroyed Within 72 Hours.

This Police Officer Also Spoke About How Members Of His Union (The Teamsters) Were Concerned About Formaldehyde.

Further, This Greenwich Police Officer Was Very knowledgeable About The Contaminated Modular Classrooms And His Presention Was About 15 minutes Long.

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

Many Troubling Questions Remain About How School Superintendent Betty Sternberg Has Handled The Contaminated Modular Classrooms.

Why didn't Betty wait for testing before ripping out destroying plywood walls, but had to wait for multiple tests before allowing desks and chairs to be taken to relocation sites?

03/11/08 - Board of Education Chairwoman Nancy Weissler: Taxpayers Had Better Get Ready To Pay For School Board Mismanagement

Incompetent School Administrative Snakes
Are Going To Make
Greenwich Single Family Home Owners
Pay Through The Nose

At the opening of last night's Greenwich, the Representative Town Meeting, Board of Education Chairwoman Nancy Weissler told the RTM that school officials will make an interim appropriation request in April for the costs incurred from the recent relocation of Hamilton Avenue School students.

The town was forced to move the students to six other schools after mold was discovered in the modular units housing them while their own building is renovated.

What Board of Education Chairwoman Nancy Weissler faiiled to tell the RTM was that this relocation and tax increase might have been avoided if the Board Of Education had not covered up the modular school classroom mold problem over one year ago.

03/09/08 - Town Employees: Sternberg's Crew Knew - Mold Covered Tiles Replaced Over One Year Ago.

Shame on

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.

Hamilton Avenue Children Know All About Mold
And How It Effects There Little Bodies.

Rau: We'll do well on CMT's

By Andrew Shaw
Greenwich Time - Staff Writer

... When {Hamilton Avenue School Principal Damaris Rau} started, the school building was plagued by mold, and students and staff soon were forced to move to a temporary building so their school could be renovated. Since then, her school has been cited by the state for being racially imbalanced, and rising enrollment has created crowded classrooms. In the meantime, their original building, which was supposed to be ready last September, has had major construction delays and won't be ready until this fall.

To top it off, mold was discovered in the temporary building on Feb. 29, which led officials to cancel classes all last week, close the building for the rest of the school year and disperse Hamilton Avenue students to six schools around the district.....

Correction:

Molded Cieling Tiles were discovered over one year ago and Hamilton Avenue School parents were never told there children were in danger.

03/09/08 - Town Employees: Sternberg's Crew Knew - Mold Covered Tiles Replaced Over One Year Ago.

...some parents are worried. At recent public meetings with school officials, they have said the unexpected weeklong break may cause students to lose their readiness to take the test.

"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."

All Greenwich public schools begin the CMT testing at the start of March and must finish by the end of the month, as in the rest of the state. The tests are used to gauge a school's progress under the federal No Child Left Behind law, which determines if a school should be taken over by the state if it does not show adequate progress over time.

Like others, Hamilton Avenue School teachers began heavy test preparation in late February, only to have classes canceled this week....

"The last thing they wanted was a week off," said Cathy Delehanty, president of the teachers' union.

Quote Of The Day: "I think the kids will do the best they can. That's a pretty tough group," John Curtin, assistant school superintendent of research and evaluation said. "If there's any school in the district that's prepared to deal with adversity, it's Hamilton Avenue."

That's right John, "they are a pretty tough group". It is not easy to learn when you have headaches, prolonged sinus infections and your teacher is complaining of about headaches, nausea, and respiratory problems.

I am sure that the Glenville Students will also be
a "pretty tough group" too.

Shame on

03/09/08 - Town Employees: Sternberg's Crew Knew - Mold Covered Tiles Replaced Over One Year Ago.

School Officials And Politician's Face The Parents Of Hamilton Avenue School.

Hamilton Avenue Parents And Greenwich Media Outlets Are Being Lied To By Betty Sternberg's Administrators.

School Employees Replaced Molded Cieling Tiles From The Modular Classrooms Over One Year Ago.

That's Right Greenwich School Official's Knew About The Mold Over One Year Ago.

Town employees say Hamilton Avenue School Principal Damaris Rau knows that mold covered ceiling tiles were discovered and replaced over one year ago in the temporary modular classroom buildings

It appears that Principal Damaris Rau in a Greenwich Public School decision to replace the contaminated tiles and not tell parents about the mold over one year ago.

The reason that 90% the modular classroom buildings eaves, or soffits, were covered in mold is that Principal Darius Rau did not demand that the children placed in her care be protected.

If Principal Rau had demanded that the mold had been properly remediated when it was first discovered over one year ago, then the mold would not have spread so extensively through the temporary modular classroom.

This was definitely a school maintenance problem that was improperly handled by Greenwich School Facilities Director Tony Byrne and Principal Rau, because the mold was discovered and then hidden from the school parents and taxpayers.

Maintenance and proper remediation were delayed out of fear of how Hamilton Avenue and Glenville school parents would react to the contamination in the modular school classrooms.

School officials and administrators were afraid of how active Hamilton Avenue Parents, like Lauren DiBella, Mina Bibeault, Rose Furano and Dawn Nethercott would react if it was disclosed that mold was found in the temporary modular classroom building.

There tremendous fear about how the parents and the media would react if it was disclosed that the Hamilton Avenue Children had been once again exposed to mold in the new school building.

Further there was a fear that the very vocal parents of Glenville School would refuse to send their children to the contaminated modular classrooms, when the Hamilton Avenue students moved out.

For over five years Hamilton Avenue parent Lauren DiBella has been right about Greenwich Public School Administrators.

She and other parents were stonewalled by school officials five years ago , when students and staff complained about headaches, nausea, and respiratory problems at the Old Hamilton Avenue School.

When Ms. DiBella complained during the last year that children were suffered from headaches, prolonged sinus infections in the temporary modular classrooms, she was again ignored by school administrators.

Further more, Town Employees are also saying that Principal Rau and other school administrators agreed to hide the mold from Hamilton Avenue Parents for over one year, because they feared they could not handle the displacement of hundreds of Hamilton Avenue School students.

Principal Rau knew that there is a good chance that removing the molded tiles filled the classroom air with airborne mold spores, but she did no care that her students and teachers would be exposed to airborne mold particles and spores.

Rau was only worried about her job, so she went along with administrators who wanted to hide the contamination in the modular classrooms from parents from both Hamilton Avenue School and Glenville School.

But eventually, the cover up was exposed, because leaks got so bad that water routinely poured into a fifth-grade classroom.

This caused enraged parents to reach out to Greenwich Roundup and other media outlets in town.

If Rau was as smart as, she thinks she is, she would have never got involved in the school administration cover-up to hide the mold that developing in the modular building.

It appears that Rau has not learned her lesson, because she is in on the new cover up to protect incompetent school administrators for being punished for hiding the mold contamination from parents.

Is Principal Rau going to take the fall for Facilities Director Tony Byrn, Superintendent for Business Services Sue Wallerstein or Greenwich School board member Michael Bodson (Who serves as a liaison on town facilities committees) ?

Moreover, Principal Rau and the other lying administrators have no credible back-up plan is for the fall, even though she and they know that Hamilton Avenue School's renovation will most likely not be ready for students.

Building construction has already been delayed by a year because of repeated school administration foul ups.

Almost everyone, is waiting to see if Principal Rau is going to be the fall gal for Greenwich School Superintendent Betty Sternberg's administrators who were planning to move Glenville Students in the mold plagued building once Hamilton Avenue School was finished.

Worse yet, Principal Rau and Superintendent Betty Sternberg's administrators have put the building's warranty into jeopardy or other issues about who is responsible for paying for the remediation of the modular building, Carp Building Structures lawyers and Miller Building Systems lawyers are going to argue that they are not responsible for any remediation costs, because school administrators hid the mold problem from them for over a year.

Yet, Greenwich Taxpayers are repeatedly being assurred that the board is investigating who is responsible and that Betty Sternberg is going to hold them accountable.

Principal Rau has repeatedly told parents that formaldehyde and other possible contamination has not been looked at closely, because she and other school administrators are soooooooooo concerned about current well being of the displaced children who he let spend over a year in a contaminated classroom.

Rau and other school administrators wont even disclose what type of mold was discovered in the modular classroom buildings.

Soon, building contractors lawyers, parents, reporters are all going to be filing freedom of information requests for ceiling tile purchase orders, tyveck suit purchase orders, respirator and filter purchase orders, installation work orders, work schedules, overtime pay requests,correspondence, emails and photos about the molded tiles that were removed from the modular classroom, over a year ago.

Hopefully Superintendent of Schools Betty Sternberg, Sue Wallerstein, assistant superintendent for business services and Facilities Director Tony Byrne will not hide or shread any documents about the molded tiles that were replaced over one year ago.

It Is Time For This School Cover Up

To Come To An End.

One Town employee has said that documents about the mold covered ceiling tiles that were replaced over a year ago has been given to a school official that is closely associated with the Board of Education special committee that includes board member Michael Bodson, who serves as a liaison on town facilities committees, School Board Member Steve Anderson, Leslie Moriarty, School Board President Nancy Weissler, Superintendent of Schools Betty Sternberg and Board of Estimate and Taxation member Jim Campbell.

Further, this Town employee says that if the committee does not start investigating the molded ceiling tiles that were removed from the modular classroom over a year ago, then he will supply these documents to the local news paper.

For the record if the documents are given to Greenwich Roundup, they will be put up here for all the Hamilton Avenue Parents to see.

It's time to face the facts.

And it is time for Greenwich Taxpayers to stop suffering from the fools who administer our public schools.

It is time for incompetent and lying school administrators to be fired.

The truth is that that the modular building will not be remediated of mold problems before the end of the school year.

Greenwich Taxpayers are going to pay dearly to remediate this modular classroom building that was allowed to rot away for over one year.

Shame on

MORE INFO:

03/06/08 - Do You Trust Betty Sternberg When She Says The Air In The Classroom Modulars Was Safe?

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."

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

Our failed school board should dissolve itself, now.

Is Board member Michael Bodson, Who Serves As A Liaison On Town Facilities Committees, Part Of The Solution Or Part Of The Problem?

Wimpy Board Member Michael Bodson Says. "We're not going to simply point fingers."

Bodson, who serves as a liaison on town facilities committees, wants an expensive investigation and study of what led to the mold problem,

Now after Hamilton Avenue School Children are sent to six different buildings Bodson wants to study how the mold filled trailer was acquired three years ago.

Now that parents are in the streets protesting in front of the Board Of Education Offices Bodson wants to study how maintenance was performed by the district.

The board is hiring its own consultant to investigate if there was gross negligence by the district by ignoring maintenance. If the mold problems could have been prevented by the district.

Maybe, The board should hire a second consultant to investigate if Michael Bodson, who serves as a liaison on town facilities committees, was grossly negligent by by ignoring maintenance.

Virtually everyone in Greenwich is wondering if Board member Michael Bodson, who serves as a liaison on town facilities committees, was a sleep at the switch and the mold problems could have been prevented by the district.

Please call, fax or write to the clueless Bodson and tell him what you think of his expensive study and what you think should be done about

Superintendent of Schools Betty Sternberg and those high paid school administrators that have failed the children of Greenwich.

Michael C. Bodson
19 Holly Way
Cos Cob, CT 06807

Phone: 869-8584

Fax: 661-1933

Email: michaelbodson@yahoo.com


Headline:

Sternberg feels the heat

Reporter:

Andrew Shaw
Greenwich Time - Staff Writer

Quote:

"I'll hold the staff accountable,"

Superintendent of Schools Betty Sternberg promised.

Story:

Superintendent of Schools Betty Sternberg realizes her job could be in jeopardy if the Board of Education decides she did not do enough to prevent the mold problems at the temporary buildings that house the Hamilton Avenue School....

...The Boys and Girls Club of Greenwich opened early yesterday to take in children of parents who were caught off-guard by the closure and did not have child care. The programs, which are to continue through the week, are recreational and do not include academics.

Sternberg said that tutoring is not being offered this week for the students because of the lack of time to set it up....

... 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.

Sternberg said that she also would not be surprised if upset school parents filed a lawsuit over the closure....

Ineffective School Board Members Like Michael Bodson Waste Time Ordering Expensive And Needless Studies Instead Of Taking Decisive Action That Will Protect Our Children.

The Parents Of Hamilton Avenue School Don't Want Long Drawn Out "Cover My Ass" School Board Studies. They want School Board Member Bodson, who serves as a liaison on town facilities committees to take strong and decisive action.

The Taxpayers Of Greenwich Hate Useless And Bogus Consultants And Studies like this one....

11/18/07 - We need a school consultant to do a study on how to get rid of failed school administrators.

By The Way...

Why this March 5, 2008 Board Of Education Meeting Cancelled?

BOE Policy Governance Committee Meeting
This meeting has been CANCELLED
It was supposed to be held 1:00 PM in the
Board Room at the Havemeyer Building.

Right now the Board Of Education should be talking about policy and governance. The policy should be to get rid of failed school administrators.
Governance should consist of Board Members need to "Poop Or Get Off The Pot". School Board Members like Bodson, who serves as a liaison on town facilities committees should step aside and let someone fix the maintenance problems that plague our schools.