080602 Article on Giardina complaint against BCSD board short on facts

SCHOOLS

BHES

BVES

FOX LANE HIGH SCHOOL

FLMS

MKES

PRES

SCANDALS

The Public Schools of Westchester County New York

080602 Article on Giardina complaint against BCSD board short on facts

To the Editor: I Your article on the (Joe) Giardina complaint against the Bedford Central Board of Education falls short on facts from the actual petition. Instead, it has the credibility and tone of a gossip column. To read original relevant documents your readers can type in "bcsd.freeservers.com" in any Web browser.

Look, the case before the commissioner in the Giardina petition is plain: Is Robyn Lane, appointed "teacher in charge" at West Patent, in fact, an uncertified principal? And, was her position of "principal" renamed to "teacher in charge" precisely because Robyn Lane lacks the required administrative certification?

If so, then Giardina correctly alleges that the board of ed is illegally spending tax dollars with her $97,500 salary.

The case has nothing personally to do neither with Ms. Lane nor with Dr. (Bruce) Dennis. 1, for one, think the certification process, by and large, keeps lots of good, qualified professionals out of the public education industry. In a perfect world, I think a board of education should appoint whoever it feels is qualified in any position from a superintendent on down. For all I know, Ms. Lane is up to the job.

But the record is clear and the law unambiguous. The district's behavior creating the phony job title, calling her salary a "stipend" and now the reactive and defensive appointment of (Dr.) Dennis as part-time principal is appalling.

This charade is reminiscent of the district verbal embroidery to dress up blatant fraud when it called the illegal taxpayer-funded European vacations during spring break "field trips."

Let's hope the commissioner correctly calls this one like it is.

Phil Christe