Centennial Issues Response to Media Coverage of Lawsuits
Lawyers representing Centennial School District issued a statement in response to recent coverage of impending litigation against the district Thursday afternoon.
The following press release was sent to local newspapers by Levin Legal Group, P.C. on behalf of Centennial School District, in response to recent reporting on lawsuits involving the district:
CENTENNIAL SCHOOL DISTRICT STATEMENT IN RESPONSE TO RECENT PRESS COVERAGE OF PENDING LITIGATION
The Centennial School District today released the following statement in response to a spate of recent articles regarding currently pending litigation:
Although it is not appropriate for the School District or any member of the School Board to comment on pending litigation, the School District strongly disagrees with the claims made in the pending litigation that the press has reported on. The School District has directed its attorneys to vigorously defend it in court. Specific questions about the litigation can be directed to the School District’s attorney.
It is disappointing that, as the School Board struggles to address one of the worst economic and budgetary climates in public education in decades, it has to spend precious time and resources defending meritless lawsuits. The School Board is comprised of nine individuals with various backgrounds and experiences who work tirelessly with the School District’s dedicated administrators to ensure that School District students receive a high quality public education. Everyone may not always agree on the best way to serve our students, but such disagreements do not mean that anyone has done anything wrong or that there is a basis for a lawsuit. What we all agree on is that the best interests of our students should always remain the focus of our work.
With the advent of the Internet, people have the ability to comment on the information reported the press. Many comments have clearly assumed that the reported information is true. However, those assumptions were made without hearing the School District’s side of the story – and that is simply not fair. For example, the press inaccurately reported that former School District Superintendent Thomas “Turnbaugh’s employment contract...prohibited the public school district from disclosing any wrongdoing discovered." That is not true. There is no such provision in the contract and such a provision would be wrong.
Investigations – not the results of investigations – are required to be conducted in private, not in secret. That is how investigations are generally conducted. It is the public policy of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, as expressed in the Right-to-Know Law, that investigations should not be conducted in public, as documents related to investigations are not public records. In fact, the Right-to-Know law expressly states that records relating to investigations – including complaints, investigative materials, notes, correspondence and reports – are not public records. Turnbaugh’s employment contract required nothing more than the Right-to-Know Law by requiring that any investigation be conducted in private. However, if the results of any investigation showed that wrongdoing occurred, nothing in the contract required the School District to keep results confidential or secret. The report by the media to the contrary was simply wrong.
The School District is confident that it will prevail in the litigation and the School Board only asks that the community be patient as these disputes are resolved in the courts.
Tired of Hypocrisy
6:44 am on Friday, September 2, 2011
"..address one of the worst economic and budgetary climates in public education in decades". Are the attorneys serious? The School Board has wasted millions in taxpayer money building schools that are not needed. More prudent to update the schools but that was not part of the Board's grandiose plans. Cost over-runs, students displaced, bus stops ended, etc., shows how the District & Board have no grasp on reality. However; lawsuit(s) are filed and suddenly they become concerned with taxpayers money & the economy. How convenient! They should be ashamed of themselves but they cannot see past their noses. The Adminstration is being decimated & the School Board will follow, all to the detriment of the students, the ones that they are supposed to represent & care about. Disgusting, shame on them all.
Tired of Hypocrisy
6:51 am on Friday, September 2, 2011
Would also be interested in an investigation into Willow Dale. The 'Building Tour' scheduled for the evening of 8/31/2011 was cancelled due to "Unsafe conditions". There were parents in the building that morning & commenting on the dirt, dust & construction material all over. Unsafe for a tour yet it will be safe a week later for the students return? With a long holiday weekend in between, unless they have a magician on staff it will not be safe for the students. Construction is not conducive to students learning yet it seems CSD & the Board could care less about the students being inconvenienced, exposed to dust and dirt particles and uncomfortable. Why would they care as long as they profit from the mess they have created in a once wonderful school district. No calls could be made to the Administration regarding the concerns by parents, the Administration switched phone lines & none were working. How convenient once again. Hope all the parents begin attending Board meetings and voice their concerns & displeasure with the group of lackey's sitting behind the table.
Pamela
7:48 am on Friday, September 2, 2011
First they get hit with a lawsuit by Delware Valley for non payment, then Sandy Hornel files a lawsuit, now Dr. Dunar files a lawsuit. They are 6 weeks behind on the Davis project(they are going to approve another adjustment for overtime to make up their filing papers wrong), they still haven't finished the High School, and Willow Dale is a mess. Can we all say GROSS INCOMPETENCE. This board has has put us $300 MILLION in debt and climbing. They still want to buy new buses, build a new bus depot and admin building. Does anyone see the light at the end of the tunnel?!
southampton parent
9:04 am on Friday, September 2, 2011
lawyers will say anything, give us a break we are not stupid. I know of other lawsuits from parent that was paid real quick without anyone knowing. So give me a break. Are schools, kids and teachers are struggling in this district and it just isn't fair
Dolly Beecher
9:44 am on Friday, September 2, 2011
recieved thi email the ther day concerning phone numbers.... Effective this morning, August 31, the District implemented a new telephone system that resulted in changes to all District extension numbers.
The main numbers to each building (215-441-6000 Admin, 215-364-5980 Stackpole, etc.) have not changed.
When dialing into the District, press 1 to enter the new extension number, or to obtain the new number via the dial-by-name feature.
We are in the process of updating the extension numbers on the District website.
Steve G
10:15 am on Friday, September 2, 2011
The School Board members need a reality check. They approve budgets, build schools not wanted by the taxpayers and approve contracts giving raises (that the district does not have the money to pay) to some of the highest paid teachers in Bucks County.
The Board does not care to hear what the taxpayers want. Time and time again they have proven this by their arrogance and disrespect shown to taxpayers who care enough to attend school board meetings and express their thoughts.
concerned123
10:56 am on Friday, September 2, 2011
"Tired"
I totally agree with you.
This board is the most ill responsible set of people I have ever seen, Except for a few . They have totally wasted taxpayers money. New schools, Look at the last contract. They gave the teachers everything they wanted. It is a total joke. The district said they have no idea how it would be paid for and the board still approved it.
I emailed Dr. Pollack before the vote on the contract and asked why the board does not share(TRANSPARENT) the contract information with the people that pay for it, Us!
His response was no districts share that information. I let him know that he was wrong and districts such as Neshaminy and Morrisvile do share such information with the taxpayers. Of course I got no repsonse. He was pushing for this new contract which will raise are taxes everyear. Then I see in the paper he is saying that his concern is to keep costs and benifits in control. The guy is a joke and a total lair. We all need to stand up to this board and make them realize they are suppose to be acting in are best interest , the taxpayer! Not the greedy teachers !
logicalperson
11:26 am on Friday, September 2, 2011
Dear concerned123:
"Greedy teachers?" are you kidding me? If you have kids in school I would think that you would be on the side of the teacher, they are with your kids more than you are during the school year. They have such an influence on your child, care so deeply for them and you think that they are greedy people? Let me tell you a greedy person would never become a teacher. I am so sick of people giving teachers a bad rap when all they care about is the kids and the education that they can give them. What the board does is out of their hands so give them a break. I wish our society would stop blaming teacherss for all the bad in the world and realize that teachers are some of the brightest, most hard working, caring, and responsible people. And by the way, Warminster is one of the lowest tax bases around so give me a break...you are greedy!
Tired of Hypocrisy
5:44 am on Saturday, September 3, 2011
With all due respect to the teachers that do care, there are many that do not. They are there for their own being. At one time most teachers taught because they loved educating children, watching the 'light bulbs go off in their heads' Unfortunately in CSD there are few of those teachers left. I heard of one instance this week alone that a Kindergarten teacher did not show up to meet her new students & show them their room because the teacher was stuck in the hurricane.Unless the teacher was in Vermont, that is a poor excuse, not to mention,the hurricane was predicted long before & it was selfish, irresponsible & ignorant of the teacher to put themself first. The teachers students & parents received no notice the teacher would not be there. All the other kindergarten students met their teachers,saw their room,received packets informing the parents what was to be taught during the year and expected of the children.The students that did not meet their teacher now have an added anxiety on their first day of school all because their teacher was selfish.If the Superintendant who was there that day would have attempted to speak with the parents of the students whose teacher was absent it may have helped,instead,it was a quick 'Hell-o' and out the door.The Principal did not know what to say as he became principal only a few days prior.Many were on vacation, cruises,out of the Country during the hurricane & made it home by Tuesday.Nice introduction to Kindergarten kids to the school.
concerned123
12:10 pm on Friday, September 2, 2011
"Logic"
You sound like your a teacher.hmmm.
What planet do you live on? do you read the paper or go to the school board meetings like I do. So let me read this right, In your opinion they should just get blank checks and fill in the amount. Top 20% in are disctrict are making $104,000 plus and that's for about 9 1\2 months work. They are basically paying a small small percentage into their healthcare. And you think that's okay. Well i don't! I am in the private sector and pay 100% of my healthcare and work 12 months.I have'nt had a raise in years. Everytime there is a new contract they want more and more and want to give nothing back. Not to mention they refuse paid on performance.
And let me expalin one more thing to you. Teachers do not have the most influence on are children, PARENTS DO!
Centennial used to be the lowest taxes, Give it a few years when we have a projected school disctrict debt of 12 million dollars from are present 1.7 million from this new contract. If you were at the contract meeting you would know this. Or wait you might have been with on the teachers on the left side. Wake up ! and get some financial sense.
Carmen
9:30 pm on Saturday, September 3, 2011
Do you happen to know the median teacher salary? How many years have the top 20% been teaching?
I'm also curious as to what ideas you have to measure teacher performance. Would those measures extend to all teachers, including specials?
Michelle Hazlett
12:20 pm on Friday, September 2, 2011
logical, I agree with you and I think that Centennial has some of the most wonderful teachers (at least from what I have seen). Our focus should not be on the teachers but this "so called board". They are a joke. They DO NOT care about the students. 3 lawsuits against them. Their backs are against the wall and they know that they have been busted. My son is suppose to attend Willow Dale next week and the school is a mess. We as parents and a community need to go to the board meeting on 9/13 and express our feelings abou them. They ask the community to be patient..well I for one have been patient long enough!!!
fubar
1:22 pm on Friday, September 2, 2011
All I know is the school board will always be a mess, no matter who is in office. People will complain about this and about that, it never ends. When the next batch of school board is elected they will inherit this mess and will say it was the previous board that caused all the problems. I’ve seen this happen again and again with new school boards. If you feel that you can solve these problems, please run and help fix them.
Tired of Hypocrisy
5:53 am on Saturday, September 3, 2011
I beg to differ fubar. Centennial School Board in the past had many wonderful, caring, fiscally responsible members for years. The recent groups have been the ones that overspend, overtalk and overexpand without any regard to the students they represent. I attended CSD meetings for many years & I never saw any members that did not understand finances, students, buildings, etc., until this recent batch of ignorant people. They are ill-informed and if you need proof, look at the economy, it hasn't just tanked in the past year, it has been going down for years now. Would you build and spend and over-spend the amount of money this current board has done? I doubt it, any person with common sense would sit tight and wait for a break in the economy. They do not have a grasp on reality. How many of the parents/taxpayers in CSD have lost their jobs or had their hours cut and are barely making ends meet? I'm sure there are many, probably your own neighbors. That does not matter to the CSD, they jumped into something that they cannot wiggle out of and the taxpayers will pay for it and the students are the ones that are harmed in all this mess they created. Take a walk around Willow Dale, the conditions are disgusting. How about Leary? We were told at a board meeting it was "Unsafe", yet the CSD entered into a contract with BARC, a daycare center & moving the Parks Dept into the building. Can you explain how suddenly Leary is safe for those children & not for students?
MW
1:48 pm on Friday, September 2, 2011
They are upset that this hit the media? Seriously?! I think you are all just upset that you have been caught. Hopefully an investigation will be brought up with how money has been spent also. I'm sure there are a few that would be caught with their hand in the cookie jar. The entire district has no concern for their students whatsoever. They are just worried that they will have brand new schools that the can brag about. They don't care that Willow dale is an absolute mess and that will affect the children learning, if the building will even be allowed to be opened to the students. They don't care that students will start William Tennent and have the demolition of the old school containing hazardous materials going on right next to them. They don't care that students of Davis will be displaced for who knows how many years until their school is completed. And now they are centralizing bus stops so that they can save money? Now children from ages 5-18 will have to walk blocks to get to their stop. The transportation guys response was pretty much oh well, you are out of luck cause we don't care. This is supposed to be a happy time of year, especially since this will be my child's first year going to school ever. This district has completely ruined that for pretty much everyone in this community. It is time for this community to step up and show them that we want our say in how this district is run. Enough is enough!
Tired of Hypocrisy
5:57 am on Saturday, September 3, 2011
A suggestion for all...Contact the Federal Government Department of O.S.H.A. Report the conditions of the schools and request they be inspected. Federal Inspectors will actually look at the conditions and assess whether safe for occupancy, unlike local inspectors who are perhaps 'friends' with board members. The Fed. Gov't has a website and you can find where to enter requests to O.S.H.A. or you can call them. Maybe that would help with those concerned about the schools and their children's well-being.
Irene Lennon
9:23 am on Saturday, September 3, 2011
How about all the money that is spent by our school district educating children of illegal aliens (who are breaking the law by coming into our country illegally). I really object to our taxes being used in that manor. All that needs to be shown to admit these students to our system is an electric bill showing they are a resident of the township.
It's about the children
4:45 pm on Saturday, September 3, 2011
Centennial educates children, no matter where their parents are from and how they made their way to the United States. The district does not discriminate. It is against the law.
Irene Lennon
8:41 pm on Saturday, September 3, 2011
In reply to it's about the children, no it is about obeying the United States law on immigration and upholding the Constitution.
It's about the children
10:09 pm on Saturday, September 3, 2011
This is information taken from a legal website. Like it or not, they aren't doing anything wrong when they admit an illegal student..."A child’s right to be admitted to school may not be conditioned on the child’s immigration status . A school may not inquire regarding the immigration status of a student as part of the admissions process. Plyler v. DOE, a U.S. Supreme Court decision, held that it is unconstitutional to deny free public education to children who are not legally admitted into the United States ."
Irene Lennon
10:31 pm on Saturday, September 3, 2011
Yes I know about Phyler vs Doe, I still say that we are paying our tax money for illegal alien children to use our school system and I object to it. This is not the United States of Mexico, it is the United States of America.
Nicole Pries
6:27 pm on Sunday, September 4, 2011
Received an email yesterday evening about the school possibly not opening on Wednesday due to air quality testing. They have hired a private company to come to Willow Dale for 2 days to test the air quality and if it is safe for the students. The email consisted of them telling us to prepare childcare for your children through Friday because they may not start school until Monday.
Michelle Hazlett
7:11 pm on Sunday, September 4, 2011
We got a recorded voicemail at 8:30pm last night. So if the kids don't start school until next week, what happens to those 3 days. Do they have to make them up? Not our fault the school wasn't ready. I am sure that yet again it will be the kids that suffer!
Nicole Pries
7:39 pm on Sunday, September 4, 2011
Of course! They'll make them up some where. This school district is out of control. I just don't understand how long it can possibly take this has been going on for over a year and it's not even done yet! We were told to pack lunches for the kids because of the cafeteria not being complete. So where do the kids eat?! Unbelievable!
Michelle Hazlett
9:54 pm on Sunday, September 4, 2011
We must have gotten 2 totally different messages because it never said anything about lunches. All our message said was to have childcare back up from 7th-9th just in case. This school is taking all the fun out of going back to school!
Nicole Pries
5:43 am on Monday, September 5, 2011
This was actually awhile ago. I think in a letter they sent home at some point saying for about 2 weeks the children will need packed lunches.
Pamela
8:32 am on Tuesday, September 6, 2011
I never received anything about packed lunches! I called the Admin building this morning and they didn't even know that Willow Dale might nit be opening tomorrow due to the air quality test. I am waiting for a call back on 1) When will the district inform parent if the school passed the air quality test. 2) is the cafeteria completed and do we need to provide lunches. 3) is the building tour still on for today at 3-7pm
Pamela
8:35 am on Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Willow Dale parents may have voted for their children to attend while it was under construction, but as a Leary parent, I NEVER voted for my child to attend ANY school that was in the middle of construction!
MG
12:46 pm on Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Just curious when did the vote take place, I am Willow Dale parent and do not recall this. If it was at School Board meeting, I have to say due to my work schedule I cannot always attend.