If I were a betting person, and I am, I’d say the odds favored Superintendent “con man” Corda on this showdown and the diversity corral. His opponent is the ever omniscient, except when it comes to actually doing his job, con man Bruce Morris. At issue:
When recent principalship positions were filled at Norwalk High School and Brien McMahon High School, the board allowed for Superintendent Salvatore Corda to bypass the process, in order to hire principals more quickly, Board of Education members said.
Board member Bruce Kimmel said the change was made to allow Corda more influence early on in the hiring process.
“They didn’t want candidates to be nixed by low level committees, organizations, and parents without a higher level (official looking at it),” he said.
Whether or not the temporary change will become permanent will likely be debated this month by the Minority Recruitment Task Force, which will then make a recommendation to the Board of Education.According to a July board packet, the plan was to be reviewed by June 30, but housemaster vacancies slowed proceedings.
The city’s human relations officer, State Rep. Bruce Morris, D-140, is slated to convene the task force — made up of educators, administrators and community representatives — to consider plan changes this month, according to the packet.
“I don’t know what will come of it,” Board Chairwoman Jody Bishop-Pullan said. “That’s for the committee to decide and present to the board.”
An administrative assistant at Morris’s office said he was on vacation and could not be reached for comment.
Bruce Le Vine Mellion, a task force committee member and President of Norwalk Federation of Teachers, said he felt Corda and the board “unilaterally changed” the diversity plan, without consulting the committee.
“I think it was arrogant on the part of Corda, recommending adjustments to be made,” he said, calling the effort “discourteous” to those who worked on the task force.
Though an August meeting is noted in the board packet, Mellion said he hasn’t been notified of any new efforts to meet.
“I haven’t gotten one word about anything we’re going to do or anywhere we’re going to go with it,” he said.
Corda said Morris is working to replace task force members who have retired since the group last convened “years ago.”
So, we have Corda decreeing a bypass of something, check, and Bruce Morris in charge of a committee that hasn’t met in months, check, and no one is telling anyone what is going on, check, why its business as usual for the Norwalk Public Schools.
Ya know, this smells of careful orchestration. Something to do with, hrrmmm, maybe demonstrating that Bruce Morris is actually doing something? Well, this sure is a funny way of doing that. Will the BOE get bamboozled by the Corda/Morris dog and pony show? Stay tuned ….
source The Hour, Review of ed diversity plan changes likely by Amanda Pinto, August 8, 2007
