It was a short but very important meeting tonight. On the agenda:
- State Aid Note begins at 0:42 in the video
- Citizen Participation begins at 2:48
- Lawyer Ann VanderLaan presentation concerning the status of Superintendent Thomas Hill begins at 5:32
- Board Member and Superintendent Comments begin at 8:23
Board members Martha Sageman and Robert Lange were absent from tonight's meeting.
So it is now official that Thomas Hill is no longer the Superintendent of the Bridgeport Schools. I don't know what the "settlement agreement and release of claims" involves, hopefully it does not involve a large amount of money. Looking forward to the school system being able to finally move on concerning this matter and make plans for the future.
Andre Jackson addressed a serious matter during the citizen participation segment of the meeting. The boys track coach, Bill Walters, was fired on Monday. There has been no official reason stated publicly for the termination and now the rumors are running rampant throughout Bridgeport concerning Mr. Walters. I don't know if the school system can publicly address this issue. If they can, they need to and soon.
Andre Jackson also made a good point about the difference in how the firing of Coach Anwar Jackson was handled compared to the firing of Mr. Walters. One of the great things about our country is that you are supposedly "Innocent Until Proven Guilty". In the case of Coach Jackson, it appears that he was "Guilty Until Proven Innocent" with no chance given to prove himself innocent, and all based on the "accusations" from one man, Fred Townsend. I don't know how or if any investigation was handled by the Bridgeport Schools concerning Coach Jackson. Anyone that you talk to concerning Coach Jackson will tell you that he is a great guy and that Bridgeport should never have let him go.
Now as far as Mr. Walters, the only thing I have heard are a lot of rumors, and they are growing by the hour. Andre Jackson says that the school was notified of the issue concerning Mr. Walters last week but that he was allowed to continue coaching up through the weekend. I won't repeat the rumors here that I have heard and I don't know that any of them are true. He is "Innocent Until Proven Guilty", but, considering the severity of the accusations and rumors, I would think that it would have been better to immediately remove him until a full investigation was completed. In this case it sounds like I am judging him as guilty, but when the rumors involve possibly inappropriate conduct towards minors, it is better to be safe than sorry.
- State Aid Note begins at 0:42 in the video
- Citizen Participation begins at 2:48
- Lawyer Ann VanderLaan presentation concerning the status of Superintendent Thomas Hill begins at 5:32
- Board Member and Superintendent Comments begin at 8:23
Board members Martha Sageman and Robert Lange were absent from tonight's meeting.
So it is now official that Thomas Hill is no longer the Superintendent of the Bridgeport Schools. I don't know what the "settlement agreement and release of claims" involves, hopefully it does not involve a large amount of money. Looking forward to the school system being able to finally move on concerning this matter and make plans for the future.
Andre Jackson addressed a serious matter during the citizen participation segment of the meeting. The boys track coach, Bill Walters, was fired on Monday. There has been no official reason stated publicly for the termination and now the rumors are running rampant throughout Bridgeport concerning Mr. Walters. I don't know if the school system can publicly address this issue. If they can, they need to and soon.
Andre Jackson also made a good point about the difference in how the firing of Coach Anwar Jackson was handled compared to the firing of Mr. Walters. One of the great things about our country is that you are supposedly "Innocent Until Proven Guilty". In the case of Coach Jackson, it appears that he was "Guilty Until Proven Innocent" with no chance given to prove himself innocent, and all based on the "accusations" from one man, Fred Townsend. I don't know how or if any investigation was handled by the Bridgeport Schools concerning Coach Jackson. Anyone that you talk to concerning Coach Jackson will tell you that he is a great guy and that Bridgeport should never have let him go.
Now as far as Mr. Walters, the only thing I have heard are a lot of rumors, and they are growing by the hour. Andre Jackson says that the school was notified of the issue concerning Mr. Walters last week but that he was allowed to continue coaching up through the weekend. I won't repeat the rumors here that I have heard and I don't know that any of them are true. He is "Innocent Until Proven Guilty", but, considering the severity of the accusations and rumors, I would think that it would have been better to immediately remove him until a full investigation was completed. In this case it sounds like I am judging him as guilty, but when the rumors involve possibly inappropriate conduct towards minors, it is better to be safe than sorry.
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