Independent Hill’s vote of confidence in Dr. Walts when confronted with this latest cloud of allegations means next to nothing to me as an active parent of 4 public school students. I have tried REPEATEDLY to share my concerns regarding Dr. Walts and many of his decisions and dealings here in PWC with School Board members and senior Admin staff….the Board circled their wagons in defense of their (Hasty?)decision to hire Walts within the first two months of his tenure, when problems IMMEDIATELY arose. Ironically, we have elected the majority of these folks again, so I have very little hope that they (the board) will suddenly open their eyes and their ears to the numerous independent sources of information they are increasingly bombarded with regarding our current Superintendent. As a long time resident of PWC, and a product of our public schools, I find it telling that there were mass retirements and/or exits of large numbers of staff on the Hill and in the schools after the first year under Walts. Even those who butted heads with Ed Kelly didn’t flee in mass numbers…our ES alone had a 27% turnover of teachers and staff in one year, directly attributable to Walts’ assumption of office, and these were professionals and master teachers with over 20 years experience in our schools!

My second grader is identified as gifted but struggles with Math Investigations. Heck! I struggle with MAth Investigations! As an enrichment tool or SUPPLEMENT to a conventional math curriculum, MI can be a fantastic classroom addition…but in my opinion, it doesn’t get the job done when it IS the primary curriculum. When reviewing the information that PWCS sent home to ES parents regarding the first year’s evaluation of MI, the amount that the students “enjoyed” math was given the same amount of weight as the comparisons to the Stanford Norms. The real chickens won’t come home to roost with MI until these same students have difficulty passing the extremely low bar set by the SOLs in 5th, 7th, 8th and the HS grades. By then, it will be too late for a generation unless prudent parents and educators look beyond preliminary PWC scores and look at what MI did to scores in California, Illinios, NY, Texas, etc. …and remain vocal in their demand for a HIGH QUALITY education…..not necessarily world class.

Don’t even let me get started on Walts’ “CLASSY AWARDS” which cost about 40,000 a year (lowball estimate pulled from financial reports) where students are “strongly urged” to attend (by HS and MS under duress in many cases) and are only allowed 1 “guest.” At the same time, the High Schools County wide are being required to raise the student teacher ratio each year and cut staff positions (consistently over the past 3 years.) What happened to sending the money and supplies to the trenches and the front lines? That stopped when Walts came to town. I have a horrible feeling that Ed Kelly is spinning in his grave over the new Admin building being built in his name….he spent his first 10 years in PW insituting site based management to get the money off the Hill and into the classrooms again.

Even if this Superintendent didn’t constantly have clouds of allegations and legal trouble surrounding him, I would still question why the School Board continues to express confidence in his ability to shepherd PWC Schools. I have always been a supporter of public education, but home schooling is looking more attractive if Walts re-ups for another 5 years without a second look at both his effect on PWC and his past record of service elsewhere.

So glad you are all ready to believe he is innocent. When all the dust settles, you may too learn of just how many laws this man circumvented. He knew the audit was coming, and coincidently decided to apply elsewhere to get out of Dodge after just dispelling “rumors” to the entire District staff in a speech that he was applying for positions outside of the District. Not two months later, he miraculously is leaving for a position in Virginia.

He left Baltimore under dubious circumstances prior to Greece. But, don’t take my word for it…do a little digging and listen to what happens with depositions and the final audit draft in the months to come. It will all come to light.

This was a regular audit by the State Comtroller’s office that audits every district in NY. This had nothing to do with the locals that hate him.

The money was misspent, policies and rules were broken and he and his cronies were responsible. So I’m guessing you believe the man could break multiple rules up there with his buddies, then come down here with his buddies and suddenly be an upstanding employees and not try to circumvent our school system’s rules.

Sorry but I’m not buying that.

http://www.10news.com/news/15274005/detail.html

One Voice, I have made up an ad. Let’s see who applies.

I agree, except I would not have an issue unless he were found guilty of charges. I keep clinging to that American tradition of innocent until proven guilty…..especially on ‘foreign soil.’

We will see….. guess we need a new victim for today to howl about.

Do we seriously think this will put the squealing, howling and gnashing of teeth to rest for a while. I am all for slicing him off at the knees if Walts does something wrong here in Prince William County. Greece,NY? Not so concerned.

Date: 2/11/2008
Contact: Ken Blackstone
Director, Communications Services
703.791.8015

School Board Expresses Confidence in Superintendent

Following the closed session of tonight’s Prince William County School Board meeting, Chairman At-Large Milt Johns issued the following statement:

The Prince William County School Board has been briefed tonight by Dr. Walts and legal counsel concerning reported allegations involving Dr. Walts’ tenure in New York. The School Board is satisfied with this information and will continue to monitor any ongoing developments.

Dr. Walts continues to have the confidence of the Prince William County School Board. The Prince William County community can rest assured that the School Board has long-standing and transparent policies and audit procedures assuring integrity and effectiveness of all Division operations.

The Prince William County School Board and Superintendent Walts remain focused on the business of educating the children of Prince William County.

Medic 64, just when you thought it was safe to go back on the beach….geeez!

Medic -

As for Medic, go back to the rock you crawled out from under. Your a racist and a jerk who likes to pile on. What a wimp!

I am not responding to this thread anymore, so don’t try to goad me into commenting. I won’t. Just remember though that Dolph and her little clique are a bunch of blowhards that like to spout info and feel important, but in the end they really don’t know anything.

BTW, don’t try getting my email address; I have no interest in talking off-line.

You never want to take on wet hens, thats for darn sure. I wonder why wet hens have such a bad reputation? I think wet cats are far more lethal and dangerous. They can make hamburger out of your arms in under 10 seconds.

Glad you are on the chill pad for once. Aren’t those neat little gizmos? I have one for every laptop.

~~splash~~

I was glad to be out of the hot seat for once

Right, it was ALL “hens” and not a “cock” in site.
That reminds me there are no more chickens in West Gate/Sudley that I’ve heard of. There were several houses with them last year. Perhaps, they flew the coop with the illegals.

I was glad to be out of the hot seat for once