The Ruggerio Report: An Inside Job

The Ruggiero report!!! It’s long awaited release was issued this week. There were claims that it was fed to a Norwich newspaper before posted for the people who paid for it to see, a bizarre move but it would take too long to understand the rationale for that. I’ve reviewed the report, and this was an exercise at taxpayer expense to slander a former employee. It’s that simple.

A few takeaways:

1. If the Union and the interim Super could sit down in one day and amend the list of affected employees and notices sent, then this is done, finished, concluded. According to the report that’s what happened on Day 1 of Interim Super Hicks’ taking the role.

An Investigation? Into what I’m still unclear and at what taxpayer cost, I’m still unclear. Slandering a former employee is all I can come up with.

2. As indicated in Atty Henneous’ interview (the Atty hired at the Black Friday mtg in November at the Unions urging) regarding action around repealing of a PAT policy based on performance to one based on seniority should concern everybody. He worked directly with the NEA, clearly at the direction of the union elected S.C. to adopt a new seniority based PAT without the involvement or knowledge of Superintendent Stringfellow, who clearly was purposefully left out of that process. So, we have a S.C. of non educators asking a union friendly attorney to work with the union on the single most fundamental policy impacting student learning without the Educational Leader of the district even being aware it is happening. Clearly an inside job and these are the new people you elected to care for your children.

This report provides not a, and I’ll use the authors word, “modicum” of information that is of value to the people and families who funded it. If it started with a union grievance it should have been Union funded. What was the cost? As a public expenditure, a wasteful one at that, the public should know. The Union now controls our board, our budget and who will teach your children. We are down over 200 elementary students in the last 5 years and we will continue to decline. The only thing this report points out is the influence of the NEA on the S.C., the atty and the author of the report. It should be titled SK:The Inside Job.

I attended the Friday afternoon 2pm School Committee meeting where Mr Ruggiero was appointed to investigate, with no discussion or rationale as to why him. Appointed I’m sure at the urging of the NEA.

Coming this week, the appointment of a new Super. I called it a done deal weeks ago when Ms Savastano came from Middletown. I guess we shall see. But I like my odds of being right.

Our children and our taxpayers deserve a voice, currently they don’t have one.

-Former School Committee member Rick Angeli