The Plymouth-Canton school board will decide on their next superintendent early next week, and Mr. Kadri is still among the finalists. You can read the latest by clicking here.
How many of you out there are hoping he doesn't get that job? Unfortunately no matter what happens out in Michigan, the elements making life difficult for him here in Neshaminy still remain. Under the circumstances, I can't imagine any person wanting to be a superintendent in this district.
Someone recently pointed out to me that the PA School Board Association (PSBA) website contains a voluntary Code of Conduct that includes "We should respect that the superintendent of schools and his or her staff are responsible and accountable for the delivery of the educational programs and the conduct of school operations." On that same site is a list of school districts which have agreed to honor this code - notice who hasn't signed on. Coincidence?
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36 comments:
Obviously some board members are bent on controlling the district rather than guiding it. Don't worry though because eventually we will have peace when they put in their handpicked puppet. Requirements are: weak will, acceptance of status quo, lack of creativity, and putting monetary concerns ahead of our children. Candidates with vision, independence and spine need not apply.
We all know who the next Superintendent will be. He already showed his true colors by caving in and giving an Assistant Principal job to the daughter of the person who will broker his 5 votes to be hired. Paul was so disguted with this situation he didn't even bother participating in the interviews. This is all a bad dream. Bill, you have little over a week to get your thoughts together. Don't let us down.
"weak will, acceptance of status quo, lack of creativity..." there are a bunch of them to choose from.
Bad decision after bad decision, no accountability, and the same mistakes over and over expecting a different result each time the same mistakes are made.
Neshaminy’s Board of School Directors should be ashamed, and embarrassed of their leadership, or their lack of the same. Their denials of politically influenced decisions at the expense our children’s education; not to mention the financial burdens placed on the taxpayers.
We elect these officials to represent the best interest of the students and community; and this is the best this community can do for elected representation?
When Kadri leaves, I think the public deserves an answer to a simple question that everyone is asking.
Did he do anything wrong? If he didn't, then who asked him to leave and why was he forced out ?
As long as morality and ethics is not a prerequisite for the Superintendent’s job….he should do fine.
Question: Do you believe that no morals in one’s personal life equal no morals in one’s professional life?
I guess he answered that question already.
To the person addressing morals:
Are you talking about the current or future Superintendent? Is there something we don't know about going on?
Let's face it, Mr. Kadri is a "lame duck". Would you want to keep a job where you are not wanted by the controlling majority of the board? It's my understanding that the staff are already ignoring him regarding decisions that need to be made. It's like he doesn't exist.
I would not like to see him leave but under the circumstances who could blame him.
How do certain people that post blogs know so much. For instance how does the person that said:
"We all know who the next Superintendent will be. He already showed his true colors by caving in and giving an Assistant Principal job to the daughter of the person who will broker his 5 votes to be hired. Paul was so disguted with this situation he didn't even bother participating in the interviews."
How does this person have knowledge of the interview process and are you on a first name basis with Mr. Kadri???
It is also not appropriate to discuss what you believe the morals or the current super or whomever you believe will be the next super are. I doubt you really know any of these people that well.
To the person who brought up morals:
What does Mr. Kadri's personal life have to do with the future of Neshaminy? Why did you bring that up?
I read where Mr. Kadri's interviews in Michigan were open to the public. We should begin this policy in Neshaminy -- there would be alot less nonsense and politics.
"Mr. Kadri is so good, he is bad".
I think our school board has created a new Yogiism.
When it comes to morality we cannot judge what is in someone's soul, but we can judge their actions. The behavior of some board members and wannabe superintendents absolutely should be questioned when their actions don't appear to be in the best interests of our district. Since there are 2 sides to every coin, I assume Mr. Kadri contributed to this current situation in some way. But to all of us who know or observe him, clearly his interest is in our children. Supposedly the guy has already got one foot out the door and no reason to give 100% and yet I've seen him at an after hours elementary school event and the high school play in the past 2 weeks. Imagine what the guy could be doing if our board actually supported him.
Our district will be suffering a huge loss if Mr. Kadri leaves. Why doesn't the public, the PARENTS of this district attend meetings instead of sitting at home thinking someone else is going to take care of the problems?
It is a matter of priorities...
If we were paying closer attention to who we were voting for last November, we might have been able to keep Kadri. I agree with anonymous above that parents should start storming public meetings to demand change (and for lots of meetings, not just one or two). Even if we can't keep Kadri, we can clean things up for our next superintendent.
It's too bad Pennsylvania doesn't have a recall vote for its public officials. There's at least one board member who would be sweating if we did.
The morality comment was addressing the future Superintendent (the person many believe to be the future super), NOT Mr. Kadri.
Morality is not an opinion. Some employees have been around a long time, so yes, there is knowledge that some have while others do not.
Yes, many individuals are on a first name basis with Mr. Kadri because he made himself accessible, wanted to know our opinions and valued our input.
Loosing Mr. Kadri is a major loss to the Neshaminy community.
I agree with SK that we should have a recall vote. I made the mistake of listening to neighbors who told me who to vote for. My eyes are open now and I'll never make that mistake again. It sickens me to think my uneducated vote helped to push Mr. Kadri out the door. We parents really do have to start paying closer attention to what happens at board meetings and make sure we know who we're voting for.
Someone earlier posted that we should do what Michigan does and allow the public to observe superintendent interviews. It is my sincerest hope we can keep Kadri, but if not let's be absolutely sure that he's not replaced by a board puppet. It sounds like we can't trust the intentions of some board members and apparently others won't stand up for integrity. At the risk of sounding cliche, we the people have to take our school district back from the politicians.
First of all, I would like to thank Dr. Spitz and Mr. O'Connor for being two board members that we can trust to bring us facts without pushing an agenda, grinding an ax or fulfilling a campaign promise. But what of the other seven? Where do they stand on Mr. Kadri's imminent departure? I teach in this district and I'd be willing to bet, as someone said earlier, that there are two sides to this story. However, I am about 10 years into my career here at Neshaminy and Paul Kadri is the real thing. From his opening day presentations (which in former years were dull and uninspiring) to his appearances at school functions both big and small, I, as a teacher and a Neshaminy taxpayer, couldn't be more impressed. If anyone in this community thinks for one minute that they will be getting someone in his place that even approaches his skill set you are deluded. I am deeply saddened by the condition of our board and the current state of this district. I hope this tight community from Levittown to Langhorne will unite and organize in an effort to have yourselves truly and responsibly represented by people who care about your children first and themselves last. Thanks again Mr. O'Connor. Keep them honest as you have always done.
(Editor’s Note – portions of this comment were edited for content)
I posted last night about how I voted last November based on what my neighbors told me. I was so angry at myself just thinking about that again that I called one of them this morning to see if she knew what was going on with our superintendent. She admitted that she followed the advice of another soccer mom and didn't really know much about either Levittown candidate. If she could do it all over again, she definitely would vote differently. A recall vote is sounding better and better. If you can get a marriage anulled because your spouse was dishonest about themselves, why can't we remove a school board member?
Bad Decisions:
We renovate for MORE than it cost to build new. Who's Accountable for this mess???
At the same time we inconvenience and hamper the high school teachers and students.Who's Accountable for this mess???
With this decision we hurt our property values .Who's Accountable for this mess???
Tell me what this "Band-aid " on the school is costing us . Just the dollars and cents .Not counting opportuniy cost or what the district will need to spend in the future to fix this problem.Who's Accountable for this mess???
We drive Mr. Kadri out of the district. How do you replace him ??Who's Accountable for this mess???
We are the laughing stock of the County. Who's Accountable for this mess???
Next -I am waiting for a proposal from a retirement community that we bus our students to another school district.Who's Accountable for this mess???
Parents and other concerned citizens should definately attend board meetings; however, (and in my opinon this is a big however) the affected board members have shown they are NOT swayed by groups who attend the meetings. It's business as usual as far as they are concerned. Makes me ask "WHY IS THAT"?
We in Levittown need to make sure our neighbors get more educated before the next election and vote them OUT. And before that we need to (IMHO) come to board meetings and ask them questions such as "When are you going to sign the PSBA standards and why haven't you yet?" and "I'd like to see an individual vote of confidence from the board members for Mr. Kadri" Those who won't give this "vote" will be saying much with their silence.
Let's start writing letters to newspapers and asking hard questions of the board at meetings.
To "K": Good to hear from another Levittowner. I don't know how you voted last November, but it sounds like we (Levittown) made a mistake. I didn't realize untill recently that the board president Eccels only won election by around 50 votes. The soccer mom network around here has to get better informed because word-of-mouth from our MAA contacts has led to the forcing out of a very good superintendent, and that's a mistake we'll be paying for for many years.
When I heard on the news this morning that an overbearing dictator has resigned after years of oppression and mismanagement, I got excited because I thought they might be talking about our school board. Unfortunately they were only talking about Fidel Castro. Cuba has lost their dictator, but we still have ours.
"K" said something that really piqued my interest and maybe Mr. O'Connor can clarify the point. Can we have a role call on Feb. 26th which will reveal a vote of confidence or no confidence in Mr. Kadri? This only seems fair. I hope that this will not be impossible based on some convenient "personnel" rule. The Neshaminy community has been stewing on this since the last board meeting and the most information that we have gotten has been from a news source in Michigan! Our board members need to go on record with this one!
To: Anonymous (Bad Decisions)
You raise very good points in your post including the one that is never discussed concerning inconveniences at the high school caused by the renovation. Most of that is swept under the rug because it is so embarassing. But it is not the fault of the administration since they were not responsible for the "Great Renovation Plan". This ridiculous renovation has affected not only the teaching but it has really hampered extra curricular activiites including sports.
Don't forget, NMS would have been closed and 9th graders would now be at the high school if we built new.
But everything is fine because they told me I am saving money and my taxes are going down !
I don't think there is anything that would prevent us from having a confidence vote for Mr. Kadri. It would be helpful for the public to see where people stand regarding our embattled superintendent. But there is no guarantee that each board member will go on record with their true feelings.
A confidence vote is an interesting idea, especially if we have a packed house next week full of citizens demanding it.
I plan on going to the meeting on February 26th and asking for the board to express whether they support Mr. Kadri or not. Who else out there is willing to demand answers? I hope that if "certain" board members decide not to be honest, that those who witnessed the behind the scenes antics will call them out. I also hope that the auditorium is standing room only. Notice that I said the auditorium. Let's hope Mr. Eccles doesn't make the same irresponsible decision that he did for the last meeting by not moving it there. And then he had the nerve to comment that he didn't think there would be such a large turnout. Please! There is no reason that a couple of cameras couldn't be set up to record the meeting for it to be televised. Of course, I'm sure Mr. Eccles liked that the last meeting wasn't televised. He may be hoping for the same at the next meeting. Since Mr. Eccles hasn’t given the public a way to communicate with him, I’ll be calling the Superintendent’s office to request that the meeting take place in the auditorium. His number is 215-809-6500. Thank you Mr. O’Connor for making yourself available to us.
The problem with public comment at the board meetings is that you may as well be talking to the wall sometimes. As "K said" said, some of the board members are not swayed by audience members at the meeting. And you don't get any answers to any of the questions you may ask! So frustrating!! Here's a way to approach board members directly: email the superintendent's office at: dspadaccino@neshaminy.k12.pa.us and request to have your message forwarded to specific board members or to the enitire board. In your message to the board, request for them to ADDRESS THESE ISSUES IN PUBLIC, AT A BOARD MEETING. There may be a little bit better chance of getting some answers instead of blank stares.
I just sent this to the super's office and plan on reading it at the board meeting if I can make it. For those who aren't as "vocal" as me...please feel free to cut and paste my email and send it along...and ask about it at public comment..let them know you are one who emailed it before the school board meeting.
Feel free to pass it to your friends who may be just now opening their eyes to what is going on...
=============================
Good evening,
Please address the following at the school board meeting Feb. 26th:
1. Please explain why the board has not signed on to the PSBA Codes of Conduct. When can the
the Neshaminy community expect the board to sign on to this important code? As you know, all of our local school districts have signed on. Failure to address this issue at the upcoming board
meeting will only raise more questions.
2. I realize that personnel issues shouldn't be discussed with the community. However, a "vote of
confidence" in regards to Mr. Kadri (whether he is leaving or not) would be beneficial to the community without getting into privileged information. Failure to address this issue will only raise more questions.
I, for one ,want to have faith in my school board as we head into the volatile process of closing schools. I can have no confidence until the above questions are answered.
Thank you for your time,
I don't know all the different personalities on the board, but this is why we should have term limits. I know it's tough just finding candidates for school board elections much less qualified ones, but too much time in one place leads to comfort and corruption. Maybe part of the answer can be found in a 2 term limit with no more than one as board president.
Thank you Mr O'Connor for allowing the taxpayers of Neshaminy to have a voice. These problems are for real and they have been here for a long time. Mr Eccles is in power because he has used scare tactics on our senior taxpayers for years. First was the tactic of not building a new school over the poor rehab job we are getting for the same price. Now it is with heavy hand old boy networking he will try and force out the best super we have had in years. Kadri was hired, 8 to 0, by this board for the future of the school not for the whims of the mighty dollar zealots (webb,kozil) that dominate the board at the peril of our children. Webb and Kozil both are within the Bristol School district and are trying to model the mismanagement that has hurt that school district. The school board has also showed their hand in the matters of hiring. Against the recommendations of the professional administration the board has made a mess of hiring a new AD but had the ability to hire one of their political supporters daughter. Why are there no female admin at the high school? The other school board members need to grow some nerve, take note Mrs Cummings, and start listening to the people that put you in there to help our children.
I couldn't agree more that there are board members who just sit there and don't say a word. We voted them in to give us a voice and just keep quiet. They tell us there are deals going on behind the scenes so they don't say anything to keep peace and get what they want. Ridiculous. They need to grow a spine and stand up for us. We put them there and we can vote them out! Too bad we have 3 1/2 years to wait.
Maybe instead of just asking the board for a vote of confidence, we ask the board to extend Kadri's contract for another 4 years. Force the problem board members to put their (really ours) money where their mouths are. The board has lied so many times their feet have to be held to the fire. If the boards direction change why can't we go back and fix the mistakes they have created, like the hiring mistakes.
what hiring mistakes? Fill the rest of us in on the inside info.
I strongly support Mr. Kadri and I am saddened by his leaving. The changes he has already done in the short time he has been here have been more positive and significant for students than anything in at least the last 10 years. i wish he would have been here when the board and public were voting on the high school issue. Maybe there would have been less confusion on the impact this decision would have. Mr. Kadri communicates factually, objectively and looks to the future. Though some may not agree with the hiring of the AD lets move on and support him. Think how difficult it must be to hear this constant backlash that he had no part in. I think our students would benefit more by getting behind him and supporting him. In the future hopefully we have learned from this hiring experience on all sides.
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