Greenwich Roundup: Friday, June 6, 2008

Friday, June 6, 2008

06/06/08 Greenwich Time News Links For Friday (Updated)

Superintendent of Schools Betty Sternberg announces the formal suspension of Glenville School Principal Marc D'Amico during a press conference at the Board of Education yesterday. At right is Human Resources Director Ellen Flanagan. (Bob Luckey Jr./Greenwich Time Photo)

Today's Top Story Headline:

Glenville principal to return

Quote:

"He made false statements and knowingly misrepresented facts multiple times to multiple people during a nine-day period," Superintendent of Schools Betty Sternberg said at yesterday's press conference. "This, my friends, is not about cupcakes. This is not about cupcakes."

Story:

...Sternberg said yesterday that D'Amico, who agreed to the penalty, will have his pay withheld for the month's suspension. During his probation, he will meet twice a month with Deputy Superintendent Kathy Greider to review his performance....

...Later D'Amico told his supervisors that the practice was a long-standing one that could be found in the handbook, though he neglected to say he added the section only after the run-in with the parent, according to the district. He also later failed to correct officials, including Sternberg, when they talked to him and appeared under the impression that the section had been in the handbook the entire time, according to the district's account. D'Amico, on another occasion, was untruthful to officials about when he added the section, the district said....

....D'Amico has been principal since 2005 and made a salary of $132,000 last year.

Please Read The Full Greenwich Time Story Here

Some Comments On The
Grenwich Time Top Story

There Are So Many Unanswered Questions
In The Greenwich Time Story

A day after the news of Principal Marc D'Amico's continued suspension and punishment broke the Greenwich Time reporting is horribly incomplete. So many issues are left uncovered and so many questions are left unanswered. For example....

Will the Glenville School community respect this man now that he has been branded "LIAR" in public?

Will every decision he makes will be second guessed and scrutinized?

Will Principal D'Amico be able to improve the low test scores at Glenville school?

How do the people who signed a petition supporting a now admitted liar feel?

Do the teachers' have a union? If so, what is their position in all this?

Could the Glenville PTA leadership have helped in not letting this get out of hand? ...they knew what was going on way before the community as a whole...they were very involved in dividing the Glenville community by strongly support of an admitted liar.

Is it the Parent Teachers Association or the Principal Teachers Association?

Did Principal D'Amico ever have a similar situation like this when he was in Wallingford?

Will Principal D'Amico apologize to the Carbino family?

Don't think for a second that the students don't know about all this friction in the community.

What did they think or learn from this situation? What did they think of their parents arguing in public with each other over an admitted liar?

Will Glenville parents be able to fully trust their principal as they move into the contaminated modular classrooms?

The Greenwich Time article fails to get at the heart of a story that has so may interesting angles?

Please Click On Related Links:

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

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

06/05/08 Are Hamilton Avenue School Parents Getting Screwed By The Board Of Education? It's Time For Parents To Connect The Dots

06/05/08 Reader Submitted Comments -When Is The Greenwich Board Of Education Going To Start Getting Rid Of High Paid And Failed Administrators

More Local News Links
From The Greenwich Time

Barn gets new life as GEMS center

Empty and in a state of disrepair, an 18th-century backcountry barn once used as an art studio will have a new life as an ambulance dispatch center.

Lighting the way for exchanging bulbs
Mayann Weinberg is looking forward to getting her hands on some light bulbs. The Greenwich artist is one of several who have volunteered to become part of a light bulb exchange being coordinated by Engel & Volkers, an international real estate office that opened in January at 335 Greenwich Avenue.

More charges expected in backcountry slaying

Prosecutors say they will bring more charges against a Bridgeport man accused of plotting to kill a 49-year-old Bronx resident found shot to death on a backcountry road in January.

Building a path brick by brick
Mary Putrino, 98, walks every day, rain or shine, around the grounds of Parsonage Cottage and to the neighboring Nathaniel Witherell nursing home.

Update:

Boys tennis: Cardinals, Wong repeat as state champs

WEST HARTFORD - Opponents competing for a state title don't usually travel to and from the site of the championship showdown together.

Third time not the charm for GHS boys lacrosse team
NORWALK - For the Greenwich High School boys lacrosse team, the third time was not the charm. Once again the Cardinals could not solve Ridgefield High School, losing in the Division L semifinals to their FCIAC nemesis 7-5 at Brien McMahon High School.

Gorgeous gardens
Benefits go over the hedge for a peek at summer plantings
Time to follow the flowers! Among the joys of June are the garden tours with their invitation to peek behind our neighbors' houses and hedges.

Bikes should be part of transit efforts

The signals are a little mixed. We need to stay off the roads, as most people would agree, what with $50-plus fill-ups looking like the norm for at least a while.

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06/06/08 Greenwich Citizen News Links For Friday

The Greenwich Citizen Finally Reports On The Glenville Principal Being Suspended.

Please See Last Weeks Post
About The Greenwich Citizen's
Failure to report on school news:

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

05/30/08 Friday's News Headlines From The Greenwich Citizen

Greenwich Citizen Top Story

Headline:

Much-Beloved Glenville Principal's Position in Limbo

Quote:

"It's a bizarre feeling," said a Glenville parent

Reporter:

Anne W. Semmes

Story:

There is "a somber quietness" at Glenville Elementary School at arrival time. "It's a bizarre feeling," said a Glenville parent of two...

... What was only a spoken policy sometimes disregarded by parents and teachers alike reported an anonymous parent, became, after Carbino's visit, a written policy....

..."They gave him a week to resign," said the Glenville parent, who wished to be anonymous. "He chose to fight it," she said, and on Tuesday last week, "he left the school at three o'clock when the union representatives came to tell the teachers."...

..."Some people were in disbelief that perhaps there could be some heinous sexual thing," said Gesmonde.

His words were echoed by the Glenville mother. "Parents were in disbelief. No way could he lose a job over this. It wasn't the greatest thing he did but look, it's about the bigger picture. He made a mistake, but it's a forgivable mistake."

What happened next was remarkable for this Glenville mother. When told by the PTA they could not form a group to support D'Amico, she e-mailed 30 friends "in hopes it would inspire other support."

In ten minutes, I got an overwhelming response," she said. Soon the 30 brought 100...

Comments

First of all reporter Anne Semme primary source seems to an anonymous parent that was just hanging out in front of Glenville School.

Second reporter Anne Semmes of the Greenwich Citizen must have not gotten the Greenwich Public School's press release that said....

Principal Marc D'Amico made false statements and knowingly misrepresented facts multiple times to multiple people during a nine-day period.

The press release even included Superintendent of Schools Dr. Betty Sternberg's press conference quote...

"This, my friends, is not about cupcakes. This is not about cupcakes."

Maybe this is not a classic textbook case of bad reporting by Anne Semmes.

Maybe it's not Anne's fault.

Maybe she is not be on the Greenwich School's press distribution list and no one told her the facts of the case.

Why else would she have ignorantly written the following....

"It was in conversations with school administrators over the next weeks that D'Amico erred in the retelling of his subsequent handbook revisions. First questioned whether he did have the policy written in the handbook, he said, truthfully, yes."

Third of all it's great to see that Anne Semmes finally admits that the Greenwich Time / Topix Message Boards are a primary source of her reporting when she says...

"On the Web site of the Greenwich Time over 200 comments have been listed..."

Why are the Greenwich Citizen repoters getting it's information from the Greenwich Time website?

Do Greenwich Time reporters have to get their information from
the Greenwich Citizen website?

Just what did Anne find on the Greenwich Time / Topix message boards?

Threats against the Carbino children?

or ignorant statements like...

"Heres an idea: everyone just feed the cupcakes to the cackling group of large mothers in their walmart clothes at pickup.. everyones happy! ...and you wonder why Glenville District home prices are cheaper?"

Please see:

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

No wonder the Greenwich Citizen has
the weakest reporting in Greenwich?

However, Anne Semmes did show that Mark D'Amico's slick little lawyer has been less than truthful with the press and public.

School Superintendent Dr. Betty Sternberg had 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 yesterday disputed Sternberg's characterization by smugly saying, "I stand by my statements," he said.

But the attorney tells the Greenwich Citizen this....

In the final analysis, said Gesmonde, "If he hadn't changed the handbook, we wouldn't be here."

"He's (D'Amico) sorry that the administrators were misled. But he's not admitting he misled anyone except in those 5-10 minutes.

Does this sound like D'Amico "did a mea culpa all over the place"

No wonder there had to be a second meeting on Tuesday and Dr. Sternberg had to put very strong conditions on Principal D'Amico's one year probation.

That's why Principal D'Amico probation, he will meet twice a month with Deputy Superintendent Kathy Greider to review his performance.

That's why D'Amico also is to meet with John Grasso, principal of Riverside School, who will serve as a mentor and sounding board,

And that's why have regular sessions with a consultant to discuss workplace ethics and responsibilities.

But incompetent reporter Anne Semmes doesn't seem to know about the fact that principal is on probation for one year for lying to multiple people over a nine day period.

Maybe, Anne is so clueless, because her primary source who is an anonymous parent who is spreading "cupcake rumours over the internet and her second primary source is the slander on the Greenwich Time / Topix message boards.

06/06/08 It's Lunchtime And The Greenwich Post Still Has Not Updated It's News Web Site

Why is it so hard for the this free newspaper to keep up with Greenwich news cycles?

We Let You Know If The Greenwich Post Website
Updates Later Today.

Maybe, the Greenwich Post Website web master is on vacation.

Well let's forget about the Greenwich Post and get some real news and insight from Bill Clark's Greenwich Gossip Website

When is a Cupcake Not a Cupcake?

Or perhaps a birthday cake, as first reported? Or merely a "birthday treat", as whatever-it-was is now being called?

Details are murky surrounding the suspension of Glenville Elementary School Principal Marc D'Amico. Apparently a parent tried to deliver "birthday treats" to his daugher's class, by prearrangement with the teacher, as is customary at the school. Principal D'Amico told him he could not do this, citing a "regulation" in the school's student handbook. The parent, taken aback, protested that there was no such regulation. And guess what? The parent was right.

Which did not deter Principal D'Amico from carrying out a little ex-post-facto charade to justify his unjustifiable behavior toward the parent. He cunningly went to his office computer and immediately typed a new regulation into the student handbook banning "birthday treats" from the classrooms at Glenville School. "There," he must have thought to himself, "I sure fixed that guy's wagon."

Oops. Principal D'Amico fixed his own wagon instead. Unaware that his little addition to the handbook was date- and time-stamped by the school's computer, he strutted around loudly proclaiming his own righteousness in the contretemps, and that he had just been doing his job in barring the parent from the classroom birthday celebration. His boss, the Deputy Superintendant of Schools, called to discuss the situation. Was there indeed a regulation in the handbook about "birthday treats"? Oh, yes, Principal D'Amico assured her. How long had it been there? Ages and ages, came the reply.

Well, that little lie has cost Principal D'Amico a month's pay. He was immediately suspended from his duties, and today it was announced that his suspension without pay will be continued until the end of June. Thereafter, he will be reinstated in his job at Glenville School, but will be on probation for the next twelve months.

Should Principal D'Amico's lie have cost him his job? Actually, he apparently lied several times regarding his unauthorized editorial addition to a public document. He has since apologized, but one wonders how sincerely he means it. Would he have owned up to his behavior if the computer had not tripped him up? The pattern of repeated falsehoods suggests, probably not.

Well, it appears that the unprincipled principal will keep his job, albeit with terms and conditions. He has blotted his copybook, and one suspects that further advancement will not be coming his way. In the old days, a severe schoolmarm might have made him wear a sign around his neck for a week or two - "I told a lie" - and made him sit in the corner during recess. Oh, and of course stay after school to clean the blackboard and erasers.

One bets that Principal D'Amico wishes he could have erased those tiny computer telltales that proved his word was meaningless and that he could not be trusted to speak the truth. But it's too late now. He has agreed to his punishment and the sanctions imposed by the administration. He has apologized again to the parent and his supervisors. And so he will keep his job.

We all make mistakes. Principal D'Amico has made a doozy. The question to be asked is whether a mistake is an honest one, or a dishonest one. Your scribe believes there is a large difference between the two, and is not certain whether he agrees with the school administration's leniency. He wishes he could consult with his own kindergarten teacher, the formidable Miss Work (who once washed out the scribal mouth with soap when he protested one of her decisions) on this matter. But she has long since gone to her reward in the great Classroom in the sky. In her absence your scribe turns to you, dear reader.

How do you feel about the case of the unprincipled principal?

More From The Scribe Of Greenwich
At Greenwich Gossip:

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Friday, June 6, 2008