Has Ms. Nieves and the BOE learned nothing from the way they handled the communication issues with the Martinez case? I just noticed that Joseph Jordano is listed as Jefferson’s new AP. An Internet search of Mr. Jordano revealed that he was the long time principal of a highly succesful Westchester elementary school prior to his retirement.
It would have been very nice of the school to send home a small notice explaining that Mr. Jordano was now serving as the AP along with his credentials. Considering the recent issues with personnel, you would think that the school would have sent home this letter to give parents some sort of insight into who this person is. Now, it is possible that the bookbag monster ate the letter that may have explained this, but our child assures us that no letter was sent home. Apparently, some type of introduction did take place to the students as our child knew that Mr. Jordano was retired.
So, New Rochelle Board of Education, here we go again. Can someone please explain under what circumstances has Mr. Jordano been hired? I am assuming he is temporary/interim acting since no public search appears to have taken place. If this is the case, how much is this hire costing us (by us, I mean NR tax payers)? Generally, retired administrators who come back to work on a temporary basis cost school districts substantially more than promoting a teacher from within on an interim basis. To hire a former principal with over 20+ years of experience, must be expensive. Is this really a necessary expense for the last two months of school, when the District is bleeding money? While I agree an AP needed to be hired to finish the year , it could have been done much cheaper with someone from within the district who holds an administrator’s certification (this only helps build administrative capacity within the District but that’s another issue).
We need answers once again. Why the low-key approach to this hire? Who was consulted regarding this hire (even if on a temporary basis)? How much is this person getting paid? This is why we need transparency in this school system. This is why we need change on the Board of Education.
VOTE COX!
Re: ccmarzullo
Thank you for that update. As I mentioned, it’s possible the bookbag monster ate our child’s paper or the letter did not get to our child for one reason or another (we’ll do a bit more investigating with our kid on this). I’m not sure why you thought Mr. Cox wrote this as I implied that we ARE Jefferson parents. I’m happy to hear they did send home this letter and make the appropriate accomodations for parents to meet the interim AP. Just so we’re clear here, my reaction to this is based on the fact of previous issues regarding communication over a variety of items, the most outstanding of which was the bungling of the Martinez information. There is no mention of this hiring on the website, though every possible event that is taking place at the school is mentioned. Again, I would hope that when hiring for a high profile position as this, there would be more than just a one shot letter going home so EVERYONE gets the message (do the robo-call, do the letter, post on the website, etc.), especially in light of the events that led to this opening.
A 2nd part of my blog entry that you did not refer to in your comment dealt with the fact that this person is probably being paid a lot of money to due what is basically a caretaker job for two months. As a parent and tax payer, I would like to know what went into his hiring and how the search was conducted (i.e. did they look for any internal candidates first?).
I think your genuine in your statement that you review the stories posted here in an objective manner. However, when critizing Mr. Cox, first, you need to make sure that you are distinguishing between what Mr. Cox reports as a factual story and someone else’s opinion/story in a blog. Mr. Cox’s stories regarding the school system and other New Rochelle issues have pretty much been on the money (hence, no officials from New Roc have refuted anything other than the famous “consider the source” line you get). No one is trying to fan the flames here–we only want the best for our kids and clearly this school system is not operating in an optimal manner to serve our kids. This website has been invaluable in providing us information that we otherwise were not privy to (if this were NYC, the POST and DAILY News would have been all over these stories that have been published here). As a proud Jefferson parent myself, I will be voting Mr. Cox as he promises to ensure transperancy in BOE operations and listen to us, the taxpayers and parents as to the needs of our schools. I hope, as a proud Jefferson parent yourself, you will consider voting for Mr. Cox as well.
You’d think that
You’d think that w/unemployment where it is today, especially amongst educators, that the district would NOT have had to shell out that much, but I bet we’re paying top dollar.
How many were interviewed for the position or was this fast tracked to someone’s friend?
Re: You’d think that
Unfortunately, I think you hit the nail on the head Fifth Ave Guy. Now, Mr. Cox brought up on excellent point, perhaps because of Mr. Jordano’s impressive resume, he was brought in to provide some mentoring support for the current principal. If that was the case, kudos to the district. But, considering the history of previous business in this district and the lack of publicity around the hiring, I doubt that is the case. Hopefully, the money spent here will have positive effects on our school.
Dear Mr. Cox,
I have read
Dear Mr. Cox,
I have read your posts and blog for a while now and have always read them with an open mind. I think at times you have made good points. However more times then not I find that you report without getting your facts straight. I am a kindergarten parent at Jefferson school and believe that if anyone has the right to speak on this topic it would be Jefferson parents. We DID receive a letter that was sent home on Friday stating that Mr. Joe Jordano was starting as an interim VP on Monday. It stated his credentials and said that he would be in the lunch room everyday starting at 7:30 am the following week to meet parents or he would be outside during dismissal. I went and introduced both my son and myself to him on Monday and was very happy with having him join the team at Jefferson. He has been nothing but wonderful to the kids, staff and parents since he started.
I think you need to step back and take a look at what you are trying to do to New Rochelle. If you are reporting these stories to make people aware for the good of New Rochelle then you need to get your facts straight. If you are doing it to get an uproar, then shame on you. I want the best for New Rochelle and think we need to work together and not against each other.
Sincerely,
A proud Jefferson parent,
Cathleen Marzullo
I am requesting you post my letter on Talk of the Sound so your readers do get all the facts.
Ms Marzullo
Please be aware
Ms Marzullo
Please be aware that the post that you reference was not added by Robert Cox. The blog post was added by number 13. Please direct your comment to number 13.
Thank you for bringing that
Thank you for bringing that to my attention. I stand by what i wrote but apologize for misdirecting it.
Thank you
Ms. Marzullo,
I gather you now realize that I did not publish any information about Mr. Jordano’s hiring as the new AP at Jefferson until this afternoon when I received an email from Paul Costoglio the PR person for the district, informing me that someone had posted incorrect information on the site. He asked me to post a letter from Kim Nieves announcing Mr. Jordano’s hiring and welcoming parents to come meet with him.
You can read that post here.
As you demonstrated by registering and adding a comment, anyone is welcome to add their two cents to this web site (so long as they keep it clean refrain from using ALL CAPS and keep the focus to New Rochelle topics). It is kinda the whole point!
You made an unfounded and derogatory remark about me and my reporting. I go to great lengths to gather information, develop sources and obtain public records to support information they provide. I am sure you realize there is a very big difference between whether a story is true or not and whether the focus of the story admits the story is true. I have been running this site for several years now and readers have voted with their feet (or keyboards, as the case may be). They have come to know when I go with a story it is because I have done my homework. When I ran my story on Jose Martinez on March 18th, I got quite a few nastygrams from parents at Isaac and Jefferson about my supposedly impugning the integrity of Mr. Martinez. Of all those emails, only one parent wrote back to apologize for her harsh words after Martinez was arrested on March 25th, in some part due my reporting his disappearance.
I recognize that many new readers are now familiar with the nature of a web site like Talk of the Sound. It is not a traditional form of media outlet like a newspaper. It shares elements of print and talk radio where the commenters are like callers to the show. Sometimes folks make mistakes. That’s a problem inherent in this sort of media. You have demonstrated the solution to that problem — you saw an error, pointed it out and it was addressed both by me and the original commenter.
All in all, this is a good thing as we as a group were able to sort out the facts. From the sounds of it, Mr. Jordano is not only an experienced educator but has dealt with significant crisis management in his previous position. He appears to be the sort of steady hand that can support Kim Nieves, a woman dealing with a major crisis not of her making, in her first year on the job as principal while trying to contend with an infant born earlier in the school year.
I have known Kim since she was my now college-age son’s guidance counselor at Albert Leonard Middle School. I wish her nothing but the best in dealign with a terrible situation.
Keep reading and keep commenting Ms. Marzullo!
We need concerned readers like yourself.
Thanks!
Would They Have Done This to the Northend Schools?
This proves once again that the superintendent and Bd of Ed does not care about the south end schools. I doubt very much the parents in Davis and Ward would have stood for this.
When are people going to wake up? Please ask the candidates if they feel this is proper procedure.
Why hasn’t the PTA taken a stand?
City School District of New Rochelle: The Secret Society
Thank you for letting us know. Once again, it is up the the community to take the lead when it comes to finding out about administrators in New Rochelle. The fact is that whatever Richard Organisciak and the Board of Education know, shall remain a secret from the public.
The people of New Rochelle have a real opportunity to push back here:
VOTE COX!
http://mountvernontoday.com/education/140-retired-principals.html
http://jukebox.lohud.com/photos/popup/index.php?gallery=Mount%20Vernon%20homicide%2001-08-10&offset=18