Claims, Claims and More Claims First, I'd like to thank the School Board and the Teachers' Union leaders for settling the long-overdue teachers' contract. Perhaps now school officials can concentrate on the number one priority, educating our children. They are our most valuable assets and it is up to us to be sure they receive the best education possible.
Keeping My Word Consistent with my pledge to continue to help keep the books of the Saugerties Central School System open to the public, I'd like to share some information relating to all the "Notice of Claim" lawsuits filed against the Saugerties Central School District over the past five years. What drew my interest to this was the 2005 Civil Rights lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court by former school teacher Linda Price who accused Superintendent Rhau and High School Principal Tim Price (no relation to Linda) of violating her rights under the First Amendment (Freedom of Speech). Ultimately, District Court Judge Lawrence E. Kahn ruled in her favor citing that Rhau and Price had indeed violated her rights as she had alleged. Since neither Rhau nor Price have done anything to correct the District's policy regarding the respect of teachers' First Amendment Rights in order to bring policy in line with the Court's decision and directive, their arrogance, disobedience, and lack of leadership could and more likely will lead to another costly federal lawsuit against the District.
Claims Against the District The following information was taken from official documents supplied to me by the Administration via the FOIL process. All expenditures were likely paid by the District's insurance carrier.
Grand Total Paid---$453,912.09 Surely a good question would be, "Are insurance premiums based ultimately upon cost of claims that have been paid or filed"?
Finally, Lanny Walter I received a very interesting letter on November 11, 2006 from local activist Lanny Walter. The letter reads:
"Dear Mr. Heidcamp, I immediately became curious. Why should Lanny Walter be so interested in Tim Price? But then, it dawned on me—I believe he was the one who had hired him! Back in the mid-90s either Walter or former board member Flo Hyatt, together with former Superintendent Hong visited the New Lebanon High School to monitor Mr Price's performance. At the time, according to New Lebanon newspaper reports (which are posted on the watchdog web site), Price had been under fire for at least 18-months after members of the school board reform team undertook a campaign to oust him from his job. According to the newspaper reports, more than 700 individuals had signed a petition calling for Tim Price's resignation. This obviously didn't seem to disturb Lanny Walter nor, according to the newspaper article, did it faze New Lebanon school teacher Gabriel Buono (son of Saugerties school board member Vince Buono) who appears to have given Price a "thumbs-up." Walter claims he does not read The Heidcamp Report (yea, right). The watchdog Internet poll reflects the responses of those who participate. It is an unscientific poll. Our polls provide the public with a way to gauge their sentiments. So, I will recap here the results of the Opinion Poll, "How would you rate principal Tim Price's Performance." Here are the results of the poll: 6%- Excellent; 6%- Good; 8%- Fair; 24%- Poor; 56%-Very Poor. Stay tuned...... George D. Heidcamp, Sr. November 29, 2006 |