Thank You for the highest amount of votes in the least amount of time! In a 4 day span, there were 82 votes.
Results are as follows for people you would like to see run for the Board:
(Only the top 4 are listed)
Darlene Neidlinger: 17 Votes
Steve Hageman: 14 Votes
Lou Giannunzio: 14 Votes
Someone Else: 13 Votes
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83 comments:
Mike Rio confirmed with me that he will not be running this year. He feels he has a conflict of time and maybe interest with his job teaching at Harper Creek High School. Too bad, but now we need to focus on other potential candidates.
Though I do not know them I have been hearing good things about Steve Hageman and Stan Wolk. I hope one or both decide to run.
The outlook for Mrs. Phillips is quite good. Her contract has been extended until 2009 guaranteeing big raises with no accountablity. The current school board is highly supportive of her. John is nice, maybe too nice and not likely to stand up or speak out publicly. Dan could if he wants to but so far has not done much publicly to hold Mrs. Phillips accountable for anything. Also Dan had previously been a big supporter of Phillips so I do not see him truly turning against her, though it would be great if he did. Paul and Janice are largely disconnected from what is really going on in the schools, I doubt they read this web site too. Nice people but totally supportive of Phillips. We had a huge blow losing BOTH Bob and Sam last summer. They both knew the schools very well and were not afraid to at least try to hold Phillips accountable and to speak out publily when it was needed. This loss was a big win for Phillips. Ali is a strong supporter and John is neutral at best so far. Not sure about Chris. He is largely unknown and is assumed to be a Phillips supporter. I heard he is quite sharp and could be a great leader, along with Dan, if he wanted to. So far no strong candidates have announced that we know of on this site. We need two at least as sharp and courageous as Sam and Bob to make a difference. We need people to get to Chris, Dan and John and encourage them to take the lead towards holding Mrs. Phillips accountable. The reputation of the Marshall schools under Phillips' leadership has been damaged immeasurably. It will keep declining until there is new leadership at the top. This will affect the future for all of Marshall! Yes, a bad rep for the schools will hurt the property values and keep businesses away. That is how bad the "Philips reign" has been for Marshall. We are in a crisis and the ONLY way out is to remove Phillips and get a new and much better Superintendent. The millage needs to be defeated or Phillips will claim credit. We can vote on another bigger and better millage after Phillips is gone. We need letters to the editor and people speaking out at school board meetiings. I have done this and now I encourage others to do the same. Depending on what happens, 2007 can be a great turnaround year for the Marshall schools or another year of decline and big problems. Fellow citizens and staff, please take a stand. If you stay out or stay silent you are only helping Phillips. Our future is at stake here!
You are right, we are being hurt economically by the problems caused by Supt. Phillips. Word has spread all over the area that the Marshall schools are experiencing many problems and has bad leadership at the top. Harper Creek and Lakeview have moved far ahead in overall desirablity. It is hurting our real estate values and our ability to attract business and investment. I know the hopsital leaders and doctors are quite mad at the school board for allowing so many problems. We cannot afford to allow this to go on much longer, Dr. Phillips has to go!
One of the school board members is affiliated with the hospital...maybe he should step up the pressure?
So I ask all the board members one question. Why are you discarding the valued opinions of 152 school employees? These people all have families and have a vested interest in MPS. The employees at MPS have always referred to themselves as "the marshall school family". I assure you this does not include Joyce, Amy or Brian. The three at the top with the assistance of a couple of our school board members have caused uncomprehendable damage to many of our 'marshall school family members'. The behavior that has gone on by the top 3 at this district is inexcusable. I do hope the old saying is true: WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND! They should be looking forward to having a turn feeling like alot of the 'marshall school family members' have been made to feel due to their direct actions. INTIMIDATION, HARRASSMENT AND RIDICULE MANGEMANGE IS NOT WELCOME HERE. Watching and waiting for your turns.
sincerely
'the marshall school family'
The Marshall teachers and building Principals, AD, other admins, support staff, etc have tremendous power in this community that in my opinion they have not even begun to use. The survey was a start. Then they were very nice to NOT go public with it and to give it to the board. Then they were patient for results. So far nothing but a little lip service (with a few insults thrown in). Now it is time for real action! Imagine if every MPS staffer got just one friend or neighbor to contact thte board AND send a letter to the Chronicle and/or the Enquirer? Imagine if people started coming to board meetings and asked tough questions and made strong statements. The power exists to remove Phillips! The support in the community for the kids adn the MPS staff is very very strong. Phillips is a paper tiger that can easily be defeated! It will take effort and action. If you care about the kids, the Marshall schools and the community you will have to take action for good changes to occur. If we all do little or nothing, then expect things to keep getting worse. Start today and if you cannot do something yourself (because you are an MPS staffer) then get your friends, neighbors or relatives to take action in your place. Six to eight weeks of massive publicity from letters and board meetings can have an awesome effect! Letters to the Enquirer will put even more pressure than the Chronicle on the Marshall School Board to take action. Don't be afraid to speak the truth!
To add to the above, take it as a challenge from Vic. He keeps telling everyone that he rarely hears from anyone about any complaints or problems with Phillips. He thinks it is just a few whiners who should be happy ot have a job (to paraphrase an alleged statement of his).
I hope the school issues get fixed soon. Marshall has had way too many problems, first the city and now the schools.
I would like to respond to the post a few above about the teachers and support staff using their power. Starting with Marsha Haring (now Franke) and continuing with her good friend Joyce Phillips, there has been an ongoing targeted attack on the MPS union leaders. It started with the unjustified attacks on Terry Lambert. The teachers and support staff know the rest of the story. I am sure this is not a coincidence. Something sinister has been going on for some years. I am relieved that many of these issues are now finally coming to light to the general public. Now Hulkow and the building Principals and other administrators, who have no protection, are under attack too. Look out for March when Joyce starts taking her revenge in a big way with bad performance reviews. Who knows what else she has up her sleaves. I am sure she is not up to anything good for the Marshall schools.
There may be some behind the scenes things going on with the school board. Since most of the "powers that be" in town have now come to the conclusion that JP is a major liability and embarrassment to the schools her days may be numbered. Also she is a clear threat toward passing the much-needed school improvement bonds that our community leaders feel are needed for the Marshall Schools to catch up with Harper Creek and Lakeview. I know there is something going on. I hope it is something positive!
I find it hilarious that Vic tells each and every employee that brings concerns to him that "he hasn't heard from other employees". My interpretation is this: if people are told he has heard nothing that would rationalize the fact that VIC DOES NOTHING TO TRY TO FIX THE PROBLEM...LIP SERVICE. Of course we do know, from experience, that whatever he does hear he bee-lines the confidential information straight to his friend jp. What will you do Vic when jp moves away and you are just another Marshall citizen? LET'S GET SOMEONE ON THE BOARD THAT WANTS TO DO SOMETHING OTHER THAN DOUBLE TALK!
Vic has been a disaster on the school board and needs to be replaced. Janice is not any better. As long as two people are willing to run against them I am quite confident they will be defeated. But will their replacements be much better? Can they work with the others to get much accomplsihed? They can't be much worse?
I agree that working with the others is important for a new school board candidate, unless the others are intent on covering for JP. If they continue to do this then we need new school board members who will be willing to do what they can to hold the Supt. accountable, along with others in the district. Sam and Bob did a good job but unfortunately left when they were needed the most. We need women or men of courage who are willing to put the "kids first" even if they are treated in a hostile manner by some other school board members for not putting "Joyce first."
Has anyone asked Fred Hayes or Matt Davis? They were very good on the city council. I would guess they could be quite good on the school board. Maybe Mike Kinter too? Can he do both the school board and city council?
I agree to above. You should phone both of them and encourage them. That is a start.
It is sad that hundreds of citizens voiced opinions publicly, attended school board meetings and wrote letters to the editor over the "Redskin" issue. Several school board members were also recalled.
BUT, by comparison... hardly anyone seems to be interested in actually doing any of these things in regards to the current crisis in the Marshall schools.
In many ways the current situation involving problems, scandals and "failures in leadership" at the top is far more serious, and causing much more harm, to both the schools and the community. Our schools are full of problems caused by the current "Phillips regime" and our property values are in decline. What will it take to get the general community interested enough to write letters, make phone calls, attend school board meetings, and maybe even recall school board members who are "Joyce first" instead of "Kids first"?
Are you implying that the school board does not work for Superintendent Phillips? As Borat would say, wow wow we wow! Borat also makes the claim that back in his home country his mentally disabled brother is kept in a cage. Phillips is more sophisticated, she uses a box. Should we keep our "Borats" on the school board? ;-)
Yes, they can "make benefit to the glorious nation of Joyceistan!" ;-)
What are the requirements for a school board member? Live in the district? Not an MPS employee? What about criminal background or arrests?
A shady background is not a hinderance to being on the school board in Marshall.
Hey, you teachers have no right bringing up the background of school board members, even if they may have been arrested or convicted of a crime!
Yeah - this board believes in double standards all the way...even for board members. Ethics...heck no. Confidentiality...heck no. Standards above reproach...heck no. Talk is all that is needed...facts...heck no.
Phillips and her clique has turned school board meetings into propaganda showpieces with NO real discussion or debate of any problems or differences. Bob Lyng said it best last June at a board meeting that he was opposed to the pressure from Joyce to keep all real board discussion private and to cover up issues and problems. He said it was ok to discuss school issues openly and honestly and to share opinions, ideas and even differences. That is good and healthy, we can all share and learn what everyone's opinion or viewpoint is. A good school board meeting is one where real issues are discussed, debated and the public is made to feel welcome to ask questions and join in. Postponing public comment to the end of the meeting is certainly hostile toward the Marshall people! Many times public comment is not until 10 or 11 pm at night, no wonder why no one bothers to say much. Also watching the current school board and Joyce give their pre-planned public display of smiles, rubber stamp votes and no real discussion or debate, is actually quite creepy and not healthy for our schools. It looks like something you might see in North Korea or Cuba, not in the US! We need a Superintendent and school board that puts the kids first, holds the leaders accountable and discusses issues and problems openly and honestly.
Hey, a Joyce supporter, now that's a good one. Thank you for coming on here. Please do us a favor and try to explain some of the great things that she is responsible for in our school district. It shouldn't take you very long, not much on the list is there? Also, how do you know if any of the posters are "you teachers"? I'm not a teacher, nor do I work for the school system. I own a business in town and I have had some experience working with Dr. Phil and it was similar to getting my teeth pulled without Novocaine. It's mentioned that "you teachers" have no right bringing up the background of board members, I ask you this, why should't we? Ms. Indiana scrounges up witch hunts all the time, what is good for the goose shoud be good for the gander. Also, I think that I sooner let my car sit in the ditch and rust to nothing before I call a certain towing business in this town and I know a lot of others that are feeling that way.
Joyce has done many good things for the Marshall Pubic Schools! First, she is making sure that everyone does thier jobs, as Vic has said! Yes, I heard from my friend Vic that many teachers and Principles did not do their jobs and with Joyce on board to go after them they are runnin' scared now. Second, she got the teachers to get sooooo skared that they accepted crappy contracts with low pay and benifits. This allows more mony for other important areas such as Joyce's much deserved pay raise and retirement benifits. We would not want to lose such a wonderful Superintendant! Also Paul said hisself that Joyce also solved the Redskin issue that split us and built up the fund equerty by firing or pressuring staff to leave. Now looky at this, if more people are fired or forced out at the top of the pay scale, we can hire youngins out of college for much less. Now you understand, this is Joyce's leedership in action! Who cares if she visits classrooms or tries to be nice with teachers? That means more money in the bank! Janice tells me that Joyce is a hoot! She should have her own private-eye show on TV. If thats not "kids first" I don't knows what is! I am ready for a big debate, keep'm comin'!
Background checks: Is Domestic Violence an indication of the type of person someone is? Is it an indication of someone who may not have great ethics? Violence of any kind should prohibit someone from working in a capacity or building where students are. We are all about protecting each and every student. No one should be above background checks who is in contact with any students - or is able to frequent the buildings where our students are learning. PS: Of course jp has put the kids off limits in the MS main foyer -
FYI: It is my feeling that ms. phillips has caused alot more division during her superintendentship that the Redskin issue. At least with the Redskin issue ALL PEOPLE felt they could have an opinion without retribution. Now, employees cannot exercise their right to freedom of speech without being targeted, harrassed and/or run off. Debate all you want. jp knows that the employees have the truth on her and she is loving spinning her stories and watching some in the community believe in her. This is not a debate item. It is a fact. There have and are many things that have caused a wasted of school funds and now she is looking to cover those mistakes up with budget cuts...hey people...do you hear me...budget cuts that will affect our child's education. Do you balance your checkbook based on what you hope your employer pays you or what you know they are going to pay you? Should the district have set their budget on actual dollars or those proposed student increases by the state? This is not sound fund equity. Now, how will you feel when this board makes their cuts and in a couple months tried to quietyly give phillips her 9% increase? (probably just after the proposed bond is voted on) Makes you ask yourself a question or two hopefully!
The school board must share responsibility with Mrs. Phillips. When your child's classes, sports and other school programs are cut just remember that there is over $500,000 in wasteful spending that is known (more maybe covered up) in the past year alone. That includes the huge insurance scandal, the unjust and unecessary tenure charges, the undeserved massive pay increase and controversial retirement perks package, allowing Metcalf to make about $100,000 a year AND pay him to go get his PhD on school time and money. These are just a few examples. Now a huge amount of money has been spent on bond preparation when the current "crisis of confidence" (crisis of competance?) will likely sink any bond proposals until new trusted leadership is found to replace the current failed leaders. This entire situation is a massive fiasco for the Marshall schools! It is such an embarrassment to our community.
I agree! What upset me most aboout the "Metcalf scandal" was not that he took a few grad classes that were reimbursed per his contract. The scandal is about how he went full-time to MSU to work on his PhD on school time with the district paying for a whopping 24 grad credits! At the grad level this is huge and basically impossible to do a 50+ hour $90,000 per year job for the Marshall schools at the same time. From what many teachers told me, he did not do very much at all last year for the Marshall schools while he was a full-time PhD student. So in effect we paid him $90,000 plus school tuition to be a full-time grad student with Dr. Phillips full permission. Why would she approve something so outrageous? For loyalty?Again, more corruption at the top.
What about the "Jones scandal", the "spending money to prosecute Foreman scandal", the air conditioning scandal",the "hiring scandal", the "Boley scandal", the "survey scandal",
the "unscheduled evaluation scandal", the salary scandal"....it goes on and on!
The biggest scandal is the total loss of support, trust and respect from the MPS staff in Dr. Phillips. Any well-run organization whose top leader(s) have completely failed in their roles would promptly replace them. Also the community is fast losing trust, faith and respect in the top MPS leaders too. What's taking so long with making the important changes that need to be done?
Why has joyce and amy not been replaced?
Any "normal" school district would have replaced Phillips and Jones a long time ago. One school board member told me that the first mistake was hiring a Superintendent in the middle of the school year. The pool was very shallow with all weak candidates. He said that Joyce interviewed well but it turned out that all she said was not true. The expectations were not very high for her from the beginning, but she turned out much worse than expected and now we are stuck with her and Amy.
Phillips was quickly befriended by Marsha Haring who married into the Franke family and may be using their clout and money to build support for Phillips in return for carrying out her school agenda. Similar connections exist to at least Janice, Vic, Paul and Ali. Does something smell rotten? Who are Phillips biggest supporters on the school board? Who may soon get a new school foundation for PR value? That is what more and more people in Marshall are thinking as the pieces of the mystery have fallen into place. I have not heard any other logical answers to these questions. If this is not true, then I will expect Phillips to either be fired or demoted soon.
I keep hearing about these connections too. It does not appear to be coincidental.
It is the bad perfromance of Dr. Phillips that is tarnishing the reputation of Marshall citizens who have befriended her or support her. I sense that support is dissipating fast as more people learn the truth of her disasterous leadership.The Frankes are good people and I hope they intervene and use their influence with the school board to help remove Dr. Phillips from her job. We all need to unite to solve the many problems afflicting the Marshall Public Schools.
Is it true that Dr. Phillips has hired an attorney and is threatening to sue the teachers because of the critical surveys?
Yes, just ask the school board members and union leaders. Not sure if she has filed yet. Her goal is to shut up any criticism in a very crude and brutal way. So far it seems to be working.
Has anyone heard how Mrs. Phillips' evaluation went with the school board in December? Was it the board letting her know their concerns about all of the problems she has caused? Or was it a PR ruse to make it appear they were starting to hold her accountable, or worse, showing their support no matter what she does?
I think the board wimped out again. Joyce is as arrogant and unpleasant as ever around MMS. No efforts whatsover have been started to resolve any of the problems she has caused. Nothing has improved!
If no one in Marshall who cares about the "Kids First" is willing to run against Vic and Janice, then I guess we get what we deserve. We have lousy leadership at the top. Excuse me, I meant corrupt leadership at the top.
There is a lot I know that I cannot share on this forum that is very bad. This forum has exposed only the tip of the iceburg of the bad things that have happened involving the Superintendent and the school board. I think a criminal investigation should be launched. Do the people of Marshall realize the major crisis in the Marshall Public Schools right now? Look at the bond poll on this web site? When have you ever seen so much opposition to such a small bond?
When I talk to people around town I get the same results, about 90 percent against. The ten percent for it are also disgusted with Joyce and the school board but still support the bond anyway. Things are very very bad right now with no hope for improvement.
you have 117 no votes on the poll and how many people voted more than once...admit it folks, I just added 2 yes votes and 2 no votes to the poll just to see if it allowed you to vote only once. This poll allows anyone to vote any amount of times, it is hogwash. If it makes you feel good about the bond fine, but I doubt that is a good sampling of "joe or jane voter." If you people really want to make a difference, suck it up and run for school board. Put yourselves out there publicly, see what its like to get hammered, instead of sitting here bitching behind the cozy confines of a website like all of us are doing now. But then again, teachers can't run for school board can they?
First of all, I do not live in Marshall or work for the Marshall Public Schools. I am a teacher, however, and I have been following the situation in Marshall. I have relatives who live in the Marshall School District who have been saying about Dr. Phillips since her second summer in town "everyone hates her". So this blog is not only disgruntled teachers, which is what it appears from the posting above the supporters of Dr. Phillips would like the community to believe.
But to specifically respond to the comment above, teachers can run for school boards. They just cannot run for the board that employs them. An area superintendent for one of the smaller districts in the county was a teacher in a neighboring district, and served on the board of the district in which he lived. So teachers who live in Marshall, but who teach elsewhere can run. So can any teacher, or other employee, who currently works for the Marshall Public Schools. However, if that person ran and was elected, they would then have to resign or retire from their position. One of the current members of the Harper Creek Board of Education did just that a couple of years ago.
Lastly, I agree that if no one steps up to run for the board, maybe you don't deserve any change. I cannot quite believe that so many people came out of the woodwork to oppose the change of an athletic mascot, which in the scheme of things really has very little to do with the overall quality of education in a school district; but it appears that no one is willing to be brave enough to take on the current mess. For the sake of this district, I hope there are a couple of stealth candidates out there who are just waiting to announce at the very last minute. I can tell you this, if the district I lived in were in such a mess ( I teach in a different district than I live) I would not hesitate to run. The teachers who live in Marshall, are raising there famiies there and have children in the Marshall schools are the biggest disappointment to me.
You are right...I forgot the support people too. Maybe I should have said "employees can't run for school board."
PS. Not "everyone" in town hates Phillips, in fact many of us like the very professional and demanding way she is running the district. Some of these problems needed to be dealt with and taken head on. She is taking crap for cleaning up long time problems and addressing long time lazy work habits and ways of doing business by many employees. Thanks for really making the most of my tax dollar Dr. Phillips.....
To the above poster:
I would love for you to work at the school instead of sitting on the outside looking in. I've busted my tail in this district and truly love to people and kids that I work with. Joyce has been a huge "divide and conquor" person since she's been here. I have personnally been on the receiving end or her lies and deception. Very, unprofessional is more the truth of the matter. You my friend either own a tow truck company and are out of touch, or you are somehow closely tied to the bad dr. Have you been to any of our buildings and talked one on one to any of our staffs? Do some investigating and see where some of your tax dollars are really going. We'd all like a vehicle allowance for local mileage after being over paid for the jobs that we do. Please buy my years so that I can draw 2 retirements from 2 different states. Let me run off some good employees because they disagree with my opinion. I'm getting carried away as I get angry here so I'll stop. Again, please visit our buildings and see if it is only a few disgruntled employees who are really lucky to have a job.
Believe me, I have visited your buildings many many times. I have had interactions with the teachers and principals and support staff. I don't base my opinons on thin air, I wouldn't write about them if I didn't see firsthand how poorly some of the teachers work habits are, how bad they treat our kids, and how awfully some of the principals handle disicipline and problems. Not to mention how little effort many in the custodial staff put into their jobs. I don't think all employees are poor, many of them of course are not. But there are bad apples and they need to be cleaned up. This whole website should follow the golden rule. I am treating you as many of you treat administration--not very nicely and you don't like it. I'm not one of admin or a tow truck driver or a business owner, but I recognize when people are being treated unfairly--and before you tell me about how bad "they" treat you, why don't you think about cleaning up your own backyard before trashing the backyards of others.
Truly thanks for visiting our buildings and quickly passing your opinion on about all of us. (remember ther are approx. 300 employees) As inaccurate and entertaining your opinion was - in my 20 years at MPS I can say, (alittle more than a few visits) that your opinion was about as nice as our salary increases....so I give your opinion a 1/2% of value for a little while then I will give it 1% value for a little more. In the end - do you know what that ends up at? 1 1/2% of what you said is accurate enough to have merit and value to me - IN MY OPINION of course. (to 4 posts above - what needed to be dealt with? This is certainly the big sercet mystery to the employees.
I love your entitlement mentality. You have the best benefits of anyone. Have summers off and are complainig that you have only got a 1 1/2% pay increase. That's 1 1/2 % more than most of the working world. I don't mind if you don't value my opinon, I wouldn't expect you to, however I'd be willing to bet your 1 1/2% that a large majority of the public (who pays for your salary and benes in case you forgot)don't feel as sorry for you as you do for yourself. Be glad you have a job, a lot of people don't, and you really should quit acting like someone who is owed something from the public. Teach our kids, staff our schools. Do your job, then you'll get the respect you so passionatly advocate for. In the mean time, as I continue to go to the schools and see the problems, and hear from my kids about what happens there, I will continue to be critical of those employees who do not deserve to be empolyed by Marshall PUBLIC Schools.
Joyce, is this next week's column?
Joyce brags in her current column about new technology that has been around in other area school districts for years. Yawn!!! My friends at Lakeview have demonstrated to me the much superior Powerschool software that they and other BC schools have migrated too. The Zangle software we use in Marshall is pricey, buggy and outdated. We can do much better!
Dr. Phillips may fool some of the people some of the time, but not all of the people all of the time. Her knowledge and experience with most school issues is very limited at best. She was unqualified to be a Superintendent when she was hired, as she did not even have any experience as a Principal. Now she promotes things that are not very good as if they are something new and exciting. The fact is the Marshall Schools are behind and have made many bad administrative decisions during the last five years. Now we have to compete with much better-managed schools nearby.
I intended to responds to anonymous about eight above
" PS. Not "everyone" in town hates Phillips, in fact many of us like the very professional and demanding way she is running the district. Some of these problems needed to be dealt with and taken head on. She is taking crap for cleaning up long time problems and addressing long time lazy work habits and ways of doing business by many employees. Thanks for really making the most of my tax dollar Dr. Phillips"
sooner but I was out of town for a day and I see that probably that same poster had elaborated on what I was going to ask, but his/her posts about the "poor teacher work habits" etc. still did not really tell me what I want to know, which is this:
You talk about Dr. Phillips cleaning up long time problems, and "lazy work habits", I was wondering if you could be more specific. You see I have been a teacher in this county for nearly four decades, and I was not really aware that the Marshall schools had gone so far down hill. What exactly has gone on?
Have standardized tests scores such as the ACT and MEAP gone way down? In my district we are compared every year on how our performance on these tests compares with Lakeview, Marshall, Pennfield and Battle Creek Public. The positions shift between HC, Marshall, Pennfield and Lakeview from year to year, depending upon the subject etc; but for the most part, I have always felt that all four districts were pretty close in overall performance. If the Marshall teachers are doing such a bad job, shouldn't there be some concrete evidence of that in student performance?
Has the dropout rate increased significantly in Marshall to reflect the dismal state of the schools? Are less Marshall grads going on to college and being successful. You say in one of your later posts that you have observed "how bad they treat our kids". What do you mean by that? Most Marshall teachers I know seem to be well liked and respected by their students. You painted the Marshall teacher with a pretty broad brush, and yet I did not see any specifics in your criticism. Please delineate exactly what are these "lazy work habits" and bad treatment of kids so that people will know what Dr. Phillips is saving the community from.
Likewise, what do you mean by "how awfully some of the principals handle discipline and problems"? I was also not aware that the Marshall school were out of control when Dr. Phillips arrived.
All districts have challenges, and when Dr. Phillips arrived one of the biggest for Marshall was its financial stability, and I give Dr. Phillips credit for presenting balanced budgets. But what has she done specifically to improve the Marshall Schools. Has instituted new programs or policies that have demonstrated improvement? Have test scores shot up, the percentage of kids going to college increased significantly? If you really want to defend Dr. Phillips, then give some specific evidence of what she has done.
In one of your later posts, you accuse the poster to this site of not following the golden rule. What do you mean, they have used this website to express their frustration because they have no other outlet.
I have worked for eight different superintendents. None of them were universally loved, but none were universally hated either. (well maybe one, but only after he left, the people discovered the horrible financial mess he created.) All of them knew me and spoke to me by my first name when they were in my building, which was at a minimum several times a year. I would not have hesitated to contact any of them with a concern or complaint, with no fear of retribution. Can Marshall teachers say that about Dr. Phillips?
I have not read all of her weekly columns in the Chronicle, but I believe each one starts with "Leadership is about…" Has she written anything about leadership is about relationships? Where, except maybe in the military, is there any evidence that people are best motivated by fear and intimidation? The best superintendents I have worked for worked to have very positive open relationship with all school employees because they knew the best way to motivate people to go above and beyond was to treat them as partners and with respect. In fact, isn't that one of the lessons that the Japanese have tired to teach American manufacturers, that workers have to be treated as "associates" not as employees; to feel that they are part of a total team.
A true leader has to inspire people to follow them. Low employee morale cannot be ignored. You say these people should be glad they have a job. Some of the employees of the Marshall Public Schools have devoted their lives to this community. So they should just suck it up and take it and be glad they are getting a paycheck, and sit by and watch the district they love go down the tubes? I have never known of any other district doing an extensive survey of staff concerns like the one done last June, and then to just have it ignored! I would think that a community that takes such pride in its Native American heritage would understand the concept, "where there's smoke, there's fire."
That survey was not done by a small, disgruntled minority of the staff. So anonymous, when you say "I will continue to be critical of those employees who do not deserve to be employed by the Marshall Public Schools" I can only assume you mean the majority of those who were critical of Dr. Phillips and her team on that survey.
As an MMS teacher we know the 2-3 "squeaky wheels" who are a part of Phillips tiny clique of supporters and are highly critical of the teachers. One is the wife of a school board member. My guess is the post about 8 or so above that is critical of the teachers is by one of them, or someone similar associated with one of the other buildings.
I know the clique you are talking about. I do not mind that occasioanlly some parent has a legitimate disagreement or problem with a teacher, we are not perfect. But there are a few parents who seem to have run-ins with just about everyone. Several are Phillips biggest supporters than I know of.
To put it simply to 5 posts above. You now have shown how limited your fact finding is. I do not get the summers off - nor do about 50 other school employees. We work 12 months getting the building, the schedule, the teaching supplies, etc...everything ready for our children to return to school in the fall. NOT ALL SCHOOL EMPLOYEES GET SUMMERS OFF. In fact, I work 12 months and my wage is $28,000. Of course - just an FYI - approximately 1/4 of school employees get no benefits either. Just thought you should have a few actual FACTS before you post again.
I am addressing this to several postings above. When you talk of lazy employees - (I know already you have no clue what you are talking about) - unless you are referring to Amy Jones....who arrives late for most appointments and usually begins her day around 10 am. Sometimes during the summer months she dresses for the beach - obviously trying to save time for her after work time. (halter tops over swim suit tops). You see - I know this is true - I have seen it. Evidently she is allowed to come in way after the business office opens (7:30 am) and work her 8 hours until....? Which does not make sense - why would business office hours be posted if someone is allowed to work outside those hours. I am sure there are alot of employees that would love to have flexible working hours...but it doesn't serve the community that we work for.
Has anyone heard the story of when Amy was representing Marshall Schools at a 4 day workshop and couldn't make it from the bar to her own room....and then missed the entire morning of the workshop the next am? (hangover) I am not sure we would like to remember how Marshall is sometimes represented by some of our top ad. In fact, lots of employees had already heard from outside sources - a day before the workshop was over. And someone is concerned because they saw a couple employees at the Pub...and they weren't representing Marshall Schools, and they had drivers waiting to come pick them up. Raspberries to the accuser of that one! Facts really are important! Let me know if you need facts to confirm this posting.
To the posting above at 5:32 pm....shame on you. Did you know that the retro on my check for July - Dec. is $101.00 before taxes. And, we pay towards our medical. Yes, happy to have some pay increase as I am sure you know, there have been at least 2 years in the past 6 that we have foregone raises in order to help this district attain a balance budget. Which is very unlike what Vic, Janice, Paul, Dan and Chris rubber stamped for Joyce...9-10% based on (approx. $120,000 salary) for 3 years. When Lou was here everyone received the same percentage. If MTA, ESP, OE bargained for 2% that is what administration and non-union alike received. FAIRNESS....that is one of the things we miss now! thanks Lou - you always negioated contracts that this district could live with soundly!
The more damage Joyce does to the Marshall schools, and to our property values, the more she is rewarded.
Amy sounds like someone they should make a movie about from all the stories I have heard. Maybe something like "Business Manager Gone Wild." ;-)
The March performance evaluation will be out soon. Will Joyce take revenge on any admins? Will the board hold Joyce accountable and give her a bad performance review? Who will prevail?
Looky here, with no real opposition, it is time for revenge against the "Kids First" admins, teachers and parents! I says "Dr. J First!" Beware, we are coming for you!
Come after us hah, it's been going on since she's been here. Nothing new to us. Beware though, you'll go down with her. The kids are already being effected by her and those like her.
I graduated from MHS this past year and I can say with confidence that the students can't stand Phillips. She is awful and hurting our schools and reputation. She has to go!
I agree to 2 posts above. The question is who hasn't been gone after yet? It seems to be a random targeting - no rhyme nor reason to it. So - I find the posting 3 above not just immature but rather hysterical!!!!
Phillips engages in tyranny to cover her own lack of experience and incompetence. She was not even a Principal! She was hired for "who knows what" reasons and is clearly in over her head. Now she is trying to fire administrators she did not hire. She clearly feels threatened by the superior administrators she supervises. If the board allows her, she will likely fire one or more building Principals in March. She has threatened to sue the teachers, Chronicle and even a former student who complained about her dishonesty. She also must be doing something that Vic, Janice, etc want done or they would not likely keep supporting her, if in fact, they still do.
Phillips should be fired for threatening to sue her own teachers and community members who criticize her long list of failures and lies.
Why the hell does anyone want D. Neidlinger on the school board. She was recalled once.
Either way she chose not to run.
The problems in the marshall schools are not helping our declining property values.
What happens to Phase 3 of the school bond plan if the other phases do not pass first? I do not trust Dr. Phillips at all, as do many others, so I do not think the bonds will pass.
Was I mistaken last fall when I thought the Board had agreed to get an MSU survey going in Marshall - their own survey 0 which could be trusted. Since they choose to discredit the union survey of the issues in Marshall - I had thought they were going to do their own survey. Are they waiting until they give the 10% again this April? Was I mistaken or has the board just said this and not followed through? I would love to be a part of a survey again. I believe the results would be similar but even more critical especially now that the major jp PR campaign has proven to be full of inaccurate, misleading smoke screens.
I do not think the survey from MSU is for this purpose. Many have told the board that if they do not trust the teacher MTA survey that they should do their own confidential survey. The MSU one is a general communication survey for an MSU study, from what I heard at a board meeting. It is not because of the problems as far as I know, nor is it meant to cover anything other than communications. This is in NO WAY a step toward a solution, just a coincidental survey that MSU wants the Marshall schools to be a part of. Personally I am waiting for the school board members to either get out and talk to many staff members personally or do their own confidential survey using a third party that is trusted by all. So far they have not done either.
Thank you for clearing up the MSU survey issue. It is my hope that the board will decide to do a similar survey regarding the issues expressed by the staff at Marshall Schools. Perhaps the teachers would consider doing the survey again this summer. I would bet the results would be quite similar or worse as it seems the board has done nothing to acknowledge the survey of the summer of 06 - possibly a followup survey would make them take some action. ????
Everyone (Board, teachers, phillips, many parents) knows what the issues and the problems are. The root causes are known too (Phillips bad leadership, poor board accountablity of top leaders, etc). So since the same people who are the causes of most of the problems are the same ones that would need to take action, expect nothing to happen! The board is divided by people who make matters worse and those unwilling or unable to do much about it. A recall of at least 4 board members may be the only solution unless the current board turns around real soon.
We should stop setting for talk and demand action by this board. They are supposed to be in place to balance the administration. Keep the top administration (jp, amy and brian) on task. Make them stand accountable. Instead we seem to have a board that appears more like a social gathering. They should not be rewarding bad behavior, compensating the worst employees, allowing wonderful employees to be attacked, enabling a poor superintendent to impede the progress of the community of Marshall by further damage to our school system. Talk is cheap. How about an employee improvement plan for the good doctor? If she doesn't improve by the end of the semester....demotion.
The board is where much of the problems originate. The Marshall Schools are a kind of "bizzarro world" where the good are ignored or punished and the bad are rewarded and praised. It is all about how you are loyal to a bad Superintendent and her personal friends on the board (Vic, Janice, Paul? Ali? others?).
Then it is time to look into removing board members that are not effective in their jobs. Once that task is complete we can and will have persons that actually care about the school system and have put their personal agendas aside that will get involved and straighten out the mess the current board has let this superintendent cause for our once wonderful school system. WAKE UP - IT IS TIME FOR ACTION> NO ROOM FOR PASSIVE BEHAVIOR> IF WE PUT THIS OFF ANY LONGER IT IS GOING TO BE TOO LATE VERY SOON TO STOP THIS DAMAGE! Losing even one top building adminstrator is too much. Remove/demote the good doctor - remove possibly 4 board members for rubber stamping - then we will have accomplished the mission of saving a school system that we are letting go to ruin. Our children's futures, property values, and alot of personal well beings are at stake -
Fire Joyce, then we can pass the bonds! NO bond for Joyce to take credit for! Vic can use Joyce's raises and the money he spends buying her flowers to fix the schools.
I keep hearing about how Vic bought flowers for Joyce the day the teacher surveys were being turned into the school board to "cheer her up." If that is not a one-fingered salute to the staff, I don't know what is!
Don't fire her, we would then have to pay her severance pay. We'd have to buy out the remainder of her contract. Demote her to a lesser job and make her life as half as miserable as she's made others' lives. She wouldn't be able to handle the pressure and would resign thus giving up her contract.
There is plenty of valid reasons to fire her immediately! She lies constantly abut almost everything. What more do we need?
The Marshall school board is very aware of all the problems, controversies and angry staff, parents and community members. Almost nobody supports keeping Dr. Phillips. They have no excuses this year and cannot plead ignorance again. Now they must decide "what is truly best for the Marshall schools." Using this criteria, their decision should be simple- Phillips needs to be replaced ASAP!
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