I must congratulate the concerned parents of the Chamberlain School for calling in the New Britain Police department to investigate the alleged acts by a special education teacher regarding autistic children.
I must also admonish the members of the Board of Education for their not demanding that their Superintendant of schools to immediately place this individual on leave rather then giving her other duties while the matter was being investigated internally.
Now that the Police Department has made an arrest,following the parents complaints,it would therefore make any further comments by me inappropriate since a person is innocent until proven otherwise.
34 comments:
Why wasn't Jim Sanders on top of this issue?
How about Paul Carver too?
good question, why didn't Carver and Sanders do anything to protect these poor children from further harm?
SHAME SHAME SHAME Mr. Sanders and Mr. Carver.
These 2 guys (Carver and Sanders) claim to care so much about the welfare of our school children, but then they turn their back on handicapped children. How hypocritical!
Did anyone think about the fact that thanks to the union, this teacher will be getting paid full salary to stay home until the trial? Ask Mr. Carver or Mr. Sanders about that.
So if I am right, you will not only pay the teacher for months and months to stay home, you, the taxpayers will have to pay someone else to teach those students for all that time. Only in America.
NEW BRITAIN - During the public Participation period of the city council’s meeting held on October 22, 2008 Mr. Benny Davis of the attorney general's office spoke along with Major Newton of the Salvation Army announcing their support for the temporary food pantry at the Osgood Park facility.
Another speaker from the Spanish Speaking center cited 3,500 individuals are being feed representing 1,500 families and 5% of the city’s population.
After much discussion and public hearing time at the committee level, the Common Council approved the creation of the Osgood Food Pantry, one of two new food pantries to be built in the city of New Britain in order to assuage a growing hunger problem.
The October 22, 2008 Common Council 13-1 decision comes on the heels of a decision by the Zoning Board of Appeals last Thursday on October 16, 2008 in favor of creating a more expensive, permanent food pantry with a refrigeration unit in back of Salvation Army headquarters on Franklin Square in downtown New Britain.
NEW BRITAIN - In 2003, when Mayor Timothy Stewart took office, he promised to make city government more open and accessible to the people of New Britain. He says this week he took another positive step in this direction.
Last Wednesday, October 15, 2008 Mayor Stewart premiered his new television show, "Around New Britain With Mayor Tim Stewart."
The half-hour, prerecorded TV show is aired on Comcast Channel 21 at 7 p.m. on the government access channel. The previous week's program is repeated the following Wednesday at 6 p.m.
The biweekly program focuses on aspects of city government the mayor believes will interest New Britain residents.
These horrific acts against our most vulnerable children can only be blamed on one monster, Michele Campbell!
I am all for holding accountable those who are responsible for committing these despicable acts to these defenseless children but why attempt to place blame on Jim Sanders or Paul Carver? Why not the BOE President, Peter Kochol or the Vice President Fran Wolski or Sharon Beloin-Saavedra? Is it because to blame them doesn’t fit your childish game of blame the republicans?
I have a suggestion, why not grow up and help be the solution to the many issues New Britain faces today rather than an instigator of your immature rhetoric.
We expect the liberal democrats to tow the union line, it is the republicans we normally count on to oppose their liberal socialist tactics, and by the way, if the teacher is the only one to blame, who was it that allowed the teacher to keep having access to these students long after the problems were brought to light? I have no doubt that if the parents hadn't gone to the police on their own, this nonsense would still be continuing! Where was the board of ed to protect these students?
Were the Board of Ed members present in the classroom when the teacher abused the children? How can any of us put the blame on Jim Sanders, Paul Carver or any other Board of Ed member, when they weren't there to observe the abuse? The teacher in question should be fired, plus arrested for child abuse...
I am all for holding accountable those who are responsible for committing these despicable acts to these defenseless children but why attempt to place blame on Jim Sanders or Paul Carver? Why not the BOE President, Peter Kochol or the Vice President Fran Wolski or Sharon Beloin-Saavedra? Is it because to blame them doesn’t fit your childish game of blame the republicans?
I think we have a post of the year nominee. Well done!
Anonymous comments are apparently correct and unfortunately, I stand corrected for my not including the rest of the board members that are incidentally, Democrats.
But I thought my title “BOE members admonished” included all and didn’t mean to omit members of the board as the title implies.
I did mentioned two Republicans due to the fact that they are most quoted by the media.
Sorry for not including all.
Hey Board Members of the school board just don't just seat on your butts think with your minds for a change.
While we are talking BOE:
NEW BRITAIN - Mayor Timothy Stewart blasted Democrats Thursday in response to the Common Council's vote to table a resolution that would allow Republican Jamie Giantonio to replace Marilyn Kraczkowsky on the school board.
Democrats on the council hinted that there might be another Republican vying for the position, but Stewart insisted Thursday in the aftermath of Wednesday's meeting "it's just another example of their petty politics."
"It's all games," the mayor said. "By not accepting the recommendation of the [Republican] town committee - the party has always made the decision - it shows the pettiness in their political will."
Stewart charged that Majority Leader Michael Trueworthy was still angry about the Republicans voting for Ed Kirejczyk to fill a Democratic seat on the Common Council when the Democratic Town Committee had clearly wanted former alderman Rick Lopes to take the position.
As a result, Stewart believes the Democrats are involved in a game of tit-for-tat.
"They pulled this s--- on us before," Stewart said.
Trueworthy denied having any such ulterior motive, and said "Whatever conspiracy theory Tim wants to have, he can have."
He said the reason the council voted to table the Board of Education appointment was because it was late in the night at the end of a five-hour meeting with a busy agenda.
"There were numerous vacancies to be filled at the council's next meeting," Trueworthy said, adding that "there are Republicans who have contacted the council who said they wanted to be considered for the [school board] spot."
Stewart insists, however, that by not going along with the GOP's choice to fill the slot on the school board, the majority party was breaking with tradition.
"The custom is," Stewart said, "the party decides."
The Republican Town Committee voted unanimously Oct. 7 to have Giantonio fill the shoes of Marilyn Kraczkowsky on the Board of Education.
In addition to the vacancy on the board, he said there is an open Democratic seat on the council, as well as three seats on Mattabassett District Board of Directors and a constable spot, Trueworthy said, adding, "Rather than doing it piecemeal, we want to do it all at once."
If this was tabled due to "time" and "not doing the appointments piecemeal" vs. Political payback, why was there another appointment done RIGHT AFTER THIS WAS TABLED?
The Board didn't act properly, lets hope they will the next time the same type of issue appears.
Everyone seems to be missing the point. They let the teacher keep teaching even after the accusations were known. It took the parents going to the police on their own to prompt the police action that was taken. Where was the Board of Education, or even the Superintendent of Schools to report this information to the police. Why did it take the parents of other students to make such a report?
In reply to "while we are talking BOE" it is great to hear from the Mayor's office even though the comments are all one sided.
Why is the Mayor complaining about Truworthy? Why didn't he have his buddy Lou Salvio reign in Trueworthy, doesn't Trueworthy work for Salvio?
Sorry to disappoint you Frank, I am not from the mayors ofice, just found the article interesting. I was just suprised the reporter didn't know about the appointment right after the tabled one, and never asked Alderman Trueworthy about it.
Sorry to disappoint you Frank, I am not from the mayors ofice, just found the article interesting. I was just suprised the reporter didn't know about the appointment right after the tabled one, and never asked Alderman Trueworthy about it.
If you want to talk to someone with real "juice" to solve your problems, try talking to Lou Salvio!
During The common council meeting of the twelfth the Majority Leader Michael Trueworhty along with his aid, Alderman Phil Sherwood, has chosen to ignore the well chosen words, regarding the appointment to the board of Education vacancy, by many concerned parents, three board members or former board members and a current Vice Chairman of the New Britain Housing Authority.
It is truly sad that the school children of New Britain were ping ponged by the political leaders who should be there to protect them.
The Democratic Aldermen and Alderwomen should be ashamed of their ignoring actions against accepting an individual submitted by the Republican Town Committee, who holds a degree in education for an individual, whose past performance on the very same board of education was less than adequate, as indicated by the aforementioned speakers.
The past tradition was always to accept the wishes of the Town Committee’s recommendation for filling the existing vacancy.
I guess the selection was for one who will provide the yes vote for the leadership without any concerns of the needs of the children.
Loyalty to the leadership is more important then selecting a person who will protect the interest of the children and will not turn the Board of Education in to a political identity.
Mayor Stewart:
I was delighted to hear of your plans to veto the council’s recent appointment of Leslie Jacobs to the Board of Education and I commend you for your plan to do the right thing for the children of this city.
The Republican Party worked hard to find a suitable appointee for this vacancy and they found what they believed was the right person in Jamie Giantonio. Mr. Giantonio has a background in teaching and is the parent of two young children, so he has a vested interest in the well being of our educational system.
Filling of this vacancy, being a Republican seat on the Board, should be left up to the leadership of the Republican Party, free from interference of Democratic Aldermen who appear to have other interests besides the welfare of the children in mind.
The public and more specifically, the parents, agree. I have heard from a number of parents who are simply outraged over this entire process. A long line of public members, mostly parents, spoke against this appointment at the council meeting last Wednesday, but the council simply chose to ignore them. I urge you to listen to the people of this city and do what is right for our children.
VETO THE APPOINTMENT OF LESLIE JACOBS!
I have received from the Board of Education Candidat the following statement:
Jamie Giantonio said...
Frank-
I appreciate all the support. It is refreshing to see that someone I have never even met or talked to, can see through the political BS and recongize that I was the logical candidate for this appointment.
I just want to clear up one thing, not sure how this started. I am a parent of a child in the school system, and I do have another on the way, but I do not have a teaching degree, nor was I ever a teacher. That does not change anything. I am still very committed to making sure our schools are the best they can be. I also understand the need to be fiscally responsible- there needs to be some balance there. I have been involved with the schools in NB. I was very involved in the St. Francis community prior to it's closing, I served on the PJP2school board for a period, and my wife and I are active in the Lincoln PTO.
I was very disappointed in the outcome of the council meeting last Wednesday. I found it interesting that the council referred to the show of support for the golf course when voting against that, but other than the Republican Council members mentioning the people who showed up for me, you would have never known anyone did.
I was even more disappointed after the meeting when I spoke to three members of the council,and was informed of a few things (which they will deny as they told me they would):
1. I did not get the appointment because I did not have enough friends on the board.
2. I never had a chance. Some members of the board committed to Ms. Jacobs before my recommendation from the RTC and never even considered me.
Also very interesting to see that the Herald was not there, nor have they mentioned it at all. When I spoke to mr Guinness on Monday, i expected to see him Wednesday, or at least hear from him. Now talk of the meeting being trimmed for TV? I wonder what will get trimmed?
Very interesting stuff going on in NB. Good to see since the papers aren't covering it, there are blogs like this to at least keep people informed.
Thanks again
Jamie Giantonio
November 17, 2008 12:00 PM
At the New Britain Board of Education meeting held on November 17, 2008 the election of officers was held for the ensuing year as follows:
President; Board Member Sharon Beloin Saavedra
Vice President; Board Member Brian Riley
Secretary of the Board; Board Member Pat Coyle
When a Board Member serves as a board officer he or she spend many extra long hours of devotion to the task as officers and should be commended for their willingness to serve our community in their new capacities.
From: The Thorn
Subject: [Frank Smith Says NB] New comment on Open Forum Number Four.
The Thorn has left a new comment on your post:
ATTENTION NEW BRITAIN PARENTS:
For obvious reasons, A number of you spoke in opposition to the appointment of Leslie Jacobs to the Republican vacancy on the Board of Education at last Wednesday night's Council meeting.
The Democratic majority chose to ignore your will, and appointed their own puppet, even though the appointment was for a Republican candidate. It has since become public that this is something the Democrats had planned and orchestrated weeks ago, and that they never even considered the candidate put forward by the Republican Town Committee for a Republican vacancy.
The DIRTY DOZEN that was responsible for this miscarriage of justice is listed below. All twelve of these people voted to ignore the will of the Republican party and the parents and citizens who supported the nomination of Jamie Giantonio. If you are not happy with this sleight of hand perpetrated by the council, contact them and let them know about it:
THE DIRTY DOZEN:
Mayor Pro Tem Suzanne Bielinski
225-5151
Majority Leader Michael Trueworthy
827-8816
Asst Majority Leader Paul Catanzaro
224-4707
Asst Majority Leader Adam Platosz
225-9258
Majority Whip Tonilynn Collins
348-0062
Alderman Shirley Black
826-8244
Alderman Roy Centeneo
223-1852
Alderman Gregory J. Gerratana
826-0723
Alderman Larry Hermanowski
225-9540
Alderman Eva Megnuszewski
805-7131
Alderman Lori A. Rocha
223-6289
Alderman Phil Sherwood
770-6740
Mayor vetoes school board appointment
Saturday, November 22, 2008 10:57 PM EST
By RICK GUINNESS
Herald Press staff
NEW BRITAIN — Mayor Timothy Stewart has vetoed the school board’s appointment of Leslie Jacobs to fill a Republican vacancy left by Marilyn Kraczkowsky.
The Democratically controlled common Council at its regular meeting Wednesday had picked Jacobs by a vote of 13-2, even though the Republican Town Committee had nominated Jamie Giantonio, whom Stewart refers to in his statement as “a young professional who stepped up to take time away from his career and family to serve on the Board of Education.”
The way the mayor sees it, Giantonio “certainly deserved a better explanation than the poor excuse from Alderman Phil Sherwood — that he picked the person who called him on the phone rather than Mr. Giantonio, who only sent him a letter. This absurdity would be laughable if it were not being carried out at the expense of the education of the city’s children,” the statement said.
“Miss Jacobs did nothing to hide the arrogant, flippant attitude that earned her a reputation as an ineffective member during her earlier time on the board,” Stewart said. “I cannot stand by and let this appointment go through without giving the council the opportunity to rethink this action and put aside partisanship in favor of doing what is right for this community’s children.”
But the mayor goes beyond what most Democrats are able to accomplish with their buzz-word-laced press releases. By invoking “the children” not once but twice, the reader is prepared to accept his harangue of Jacobs, a former Republican school-board member the Democrats pulled out of retirement.
Just by showing up, she was able to bump Giantonio, the Republican’s choice for replacing Kraczkowsky.
Kraczkowsky is a tough act to follow, having been one of the few voices on the school board to stand up to superintendent of schools Doris Kurtz.
In his statement, Stewart invoked the “Founding Fathers” and the “U.S. Constitution,” and said if the framers were “somehow magically transported to 2008 New Britain, they would recoil at how far we have strayed from their vision and how petty, bitter and partisan our local government has become.”
Stewart said state statutes “specifically delineate minority [party] representation on school boards in an attempt to achieve that balance of power as envisioned by the Constitution.”
Aside from Pat Coyle, Paul Carver and Jim Sanders, there is no conservative contingent on the school board.
Giantonio would have been more moderate a Republican than Jacobs.
In a press release to counter the mayor’s statement, Democratic Alderman Phil Sherwood this weekend said the mayor’s veto made his disdain for Jacobs and others in the Republican Party (he didn’t say who) clear.
“Leslie is a Republican in the Tony Tercyak tradition,” Peter Tercyak said, referring to his father, D-26th District state representative, in Sherwood’s statement.
“When it comes down to it, both were qualified candidates, but Leslie had served on the committee,” Sherwood said, adding the most difficult part of being on the council is making appointments.
Sherwood noted the charter says the Council chooses the person to be appointed.
“But the party bosses for many years were the ones who filled the vacancy,” Sherwood said. “If we are breaking with that, it’s a good thing.”
The Republicans are divided, he added, saying that the Democrats didn’t want to get involved in Republican infighting and drama — “but in the end we had to pick one.”
To override the mayor’s veto, the council would have to produce 10 votes.
“None of us were surprised by the mayor’s veto,” Sherwood said Saturday. “I am supporting Leslie because she is the only person who asked me for my support and personally called me on the phone.”
URL: http://www.newbritainherald.com/articles/2008/11/22/news/doc4928d14684824761511429.prt
© 2008 newbritainherald.com, a Journal Register Property
Alderman Sherwood, did the Mayor’s veto message make you look like the fool you really are in the eyes of the parents? I am sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but you are the laughing stock of this community.
In retrospect, the Mayor is absolutely correct in his initiating his veto power against this atrophic choice that you and your fellow members of the democratic membership of the city council made.
You refer to a phone you claim you received versus the letter you received from another candidate vying for the same position as your reason.
Yes, Alderman Sherwood you are, along with your fellow democrats who are facing HUD sanctions for conflicts of interest, all the topic of the public comments at coffee breaks.
The more you speak, the more the rest of New Britain laughs!
11/23/08
The late, former Connecticut State Representative, Anthony (“Tony”) Tercyak (R 26), was a respected and revered public servant and a former public school educator. He was a gentle, well-mannered person. I don’t know or wish to know of anyone who had a contrary opinion of Tony.
Leslie Jacobs, the person nominated by New Britain Common Council Democrats to fill the New Britain Board of Ed. vacancy created by the resignation of BOE member Marilyn Kraczkowsky, is, in my opinion, the exact antithesis of Anthony Tercyak.
NB Council Democrats, led by Mike Trueworthy and Phil Sherwood, overrode the nomination of Jamie Giantonio, the person who had been endorsed unanimously by the New Britain Republican Town Committee to fill the BOE vacancy. This was a childish power play, a tool of NB Council Democrats that has become characteristic and expected of every vote they take on anything that has the potential of dissing Republicans.
To imply that Leslie Jacobs is, “ … a Republican in the Tony Tercyak tradition” is a revolting implication. It is also denigrating, despicable and disgusting to the memory of Tony Tercyak. But this is what people in NB have come to expect from Alderman Phil Sherwood, the person who made that statement at the 11/12/08 Council meeting - contrary to what was reported in today’s Herald.
As one speaker – name being withheld here - stated in public participation, it’s time for Democrats on the Council to stop this foolishness. The lady specifically addressed her remarks to Mike Trueworthy.
Lou Salvio, Republican Alderman, NB
New Britain Common Council
The Question asked by Anonymous:
Speaking of out of control spending. Several people have in passing informed me that the BOE
offices on West Main Street are privileged to enjoy extravagant
catered lunches on a regular basis.
Who is approving this spending?
The answer is simple:
The Board of Education Board Members so they can eat well prior to their Board of Education meetings.
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