Howard County Education Association President's Email Access Cut Off
Account was closed at the direction of Superintendent Sydney Cousin, according to an email.
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Howard County Education Association President Paul Lemle, an outspoken opponent of proposed middle school changes, has been locked out of his Howard County Public School System email account at the direction of Superintendent Sydney Cousin, according to the school system's IT department.
"It's like the school system's leadership has crawled into a bunker on this," Lemle said Friday of the middle school proposal that calls for changes to middle schools' schedule and instructional content. "They feel like they're being attacked on this and that couldn't be further from the truth."
On Thursday, before a Board of Education meeting and public hearing on the middle school proposal, Lemle sent out an email to the elected school board that contained prepared testimony he planned to deliver at the hearing.
The meeting was packed with teachers, parents and students, all of whom spoke out against the middle school proposal, according to Lemle.
Because of the timing of that email coinciding with his access to the school system's email account being shut down, Lemle said he believes the email was the reason.
"So with the bunker mentality of the school system's leadership, they cut off my email this morning so I can't communicate with my members," Lemle said.
There is an explicit email policy that forbids users from disagreeing with school system policy via the system, known as CLC, Lemle said.
"But this isn't policy," he said. "This is a proposal being presented to the Board of Education for its consideration."
Lemle said he informed school board members of his exclusion from the email system.
Board member Allen Dyer sent an email to Michael Borkoski in the school system's IT department, asking for "an expedited effort to resolve the communication problem between HCEA and CLC."
In his response to Dyer Friday, Borkoski wrote, "Mr. Lemle's CLC account was disabled yesterday per the direction of the superintendent."
Lemle provided Patch with copies of the emails.
Cousin is out of the office until Wednesday, according to school officials.
Deputy Superintendent Mamie Perkins, asked about the email issue, said, "No comment."
Lemle said the closed account won't cripple the association's efforts.
"We're working on a different communication system right now," Lemle said. "It will interfere for a while, but I'll get out and pound the pavement, get the private email addresses I need and we'll be back in business next week."
Lemle said the decision to cut off his email will just make things worse for the school system's administration.
The organization will build an external email system and stop using the internal system, he said.
"Building our own system isn't an 'if,' it's a 'when,'" Lemle said. "Then they will never know what we're talking about."
Students are taught to make their best arguments and challenge ideas when they need to be challenged, Lemle said.
School system leaders need to do the same, he said.
"They're in a bunker," he said. "They need to crawl out and talk to me."
HCEA is a membership organization that represents more than 5,000 certificated educators and paraprofessionals, according to its website.
Lemle, a teacher, is the elected president. He receives released time from the classroom to lead the organization on a full-time basis.
Pammy Ann
12:26 am on Saturday, January 14, 2012
It is long past a reasonable time to remove Mr. Cousin from his position. His continued actions demonstrate both incompetence and negligence. The posibility he is not in charge of his personal facilities lmplements those below him. A complete investigation of the senior administration of the hcpss is waranted as well as a review of all decisions made under Cousin's tenure. There is enough evidence to indicate the hcpss repeatedly fails to provide truthful, accurate information to the BOE as well as prevents relevant information from being presented and altering information to suit the agenda of the hcpss. This atmosphere is widespread, self serving and by no means in the best interest of the public. The idea individuals can come to work at the hcpss and hang their morals at the door, embracihg deception and lies as though they are entitled to protection from such behavior is reprehensible. Each member of the BOE has a responsibility to the citizens of Howard county and can not sit blindly by while such blatant disregard for the public is openly practiced.
I commend both Mr. Lemle and Mr. Dyer for their actions.
Jack
amy
10:04 am on Saturday, January 14, 2012
How sad for Howard County. This use to be the go to county for education. The schools were the best and the teachers enjoyed working for such a great school system. For years the the Board of Education has been making bad hiring decisions and now it seems like those bad hires have made even more bad hiring decisions and the Board of Education is filled with a bunch of bad apples.
Ann Delacy
6:28 pm on Saturday, January 14, 2012
Huge egos have led to the the departure of the current Superintendent of St. Mary's County as well as the departure of the current Superintendent of Frederick County. Associate Superintendent Linda Wise is also not without blame.
Robert R
4:06 pm on Wednesday, January 18, 2012
"Huge egos have led to the the departure of the current Superintendent of St. Mary's County as well as the departure of the current Superintendent of Frederick County."
Ann Delacy, do you mean Dr. Michael Martirano, Superintendent of St. Mary's County Public Schools and Dr. Terry Alban, Superintendent of Frederick County Public Schools? Last time I checked, both of these leaders were still gainfully employed in their aforementioned districts. What do you know that the rest of us do not?
Robert R
4:09 pm on Wednesday, January 18, 2012
PS - LInda Wise's title is Chief Academic Officer, a title she has held at least during your last stint as HCEA President. One would think that someone who desires to be a member of the HC Board of Education would know these things.
anthrogirl
3:19 pm on Saturday, January 14, 2012
My kids attend middle and elementary schools in BC. We used to look at HC schools as models. Now the system is the subject of so many jokes. I feel sorry for the teachers and students of the school. They deserve admins who care about education and kids and less about power and control.
Sue
7:19 pm on Saturday, January 14, 2012
This is a very disturbing turn of events. As a Howard County citizen, I am embarrassed, to say the least. Hopefully, this is some kind of communication error and not a direct attempt to silence free speech on a topic which is not the policy of HCPSS, at this time. History tells us that efforts to squelch the free flow of ideas and opinions rarely ends well.
HoCoTeacher
7:35 pm on Saturday, January 14, 2012
It IS a direct attempt to silence the teachers of Howard County Public School system. It is the Howard County Board of Education's way of keeping us in our places. We won't be silenced and will continue to speak out for the benefit of the children that we teach every day. This change is not to the benefit of our students...period and they know it. This is about what is right for our students. We are passionate about what we do in our classrooms and won't accept anything less than what's best for our kids.
Howard county teacher
5:26 pm on Sunday, January 15, 2012
This is an embarrassment to our system. Sidney Cousins has not been in charge for quite a while. There are a select few in charge at central office. When hiring a new superintendent, I hope the BOE considers how the few in charge have been doing business. As a teacher, I used to feel like we worked in partnership with central office. It is apparent that those in charge are not interested in a partnership with parents or teachers. Look at the Aspen debacle. Aspen works great for central office, but not the parents and the teachers. Does anyone care? Who are the customers? So much for the Baldridge model of continuous improvement. We not only need a new superintendent, but we need to clean house.
Ann Delacy
8:13 pm on Sunday, January 15, 2012
Where is the ELECTED BOE when oversight is needed?
JD Smith
9:41 am on Monday, January 16, 2012
We need former teachers or union members on the board.
Marcelino Bedolla
8:44 pm on Monday, January 16, 2012
The addition of Cindy and Brain was a move in the right direction. Now we need to replace two more.
mb
Thomas Diller
10:03 pm on Monday, January 16, 2012
It really irritates me to read comments like this! How have Cindy and Brian changed anything? The votes used to be 6-1 against Dyer BEFORE they were elected. And guess what the voting is now? ...still 6-1. If any of you who make these bizarre comments ever bothered to watch the meetings (even randomly) you'd see that Cindy and Brian vote with Aquino, French, Janet S., and Giles WAY more than they vote with Dyer. Were you talking about some other way of measuring their performance?
Ann Delacy
1:01 am on Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Thomas, why are you so irritated with Marcelino's comments? Cindy and Brian have been excellent additions to the current BOE. Now, we need to replace the two current members who are rubber stamps and apologists for the upper-level and over paid Central Office staff.
If each year the goal of the budget is to protect the classroom, then why is it that the opinions of classroom teachers are either marginalized or ignored? The Middle School reading and schedule proposals are only two recent examples. Dissension is punished; just look at what happened to the HCEA President's email account.
Do me a favor, look on any website and try to find the salaries and auto allowances of the Superintendent and the members of his cabinet...good luck in your search! The salaries of most school-based staff can easily be determined by reading their respective contracts which ARE posted on-line.
In order to have a viable community, we must have a viable education system. Any system needs checks and balances.
Thomas Diller
10:54 am on Tuesday, January 17, 2012
"Rubber stamp"? What does this say about Cindy and Brian who almost consistently vote WITH the other four and against Dyer? And I'm still looking for examples of what Cindy and Brian specifically did that shows that they were a move in the right direction. Nothing in you post points to that. You bring up the middle school reading and scheduling. But to my knowledge (and I could be wrong) there has only been a proposal by staff and a public hearing. Has any voting occurred? You talk about the opinions of the classroom teachers being "marginalized" and "ignored". But in the recent issue with elementary redistricting, Cindy voted AGAINST the teachers (and the inconvenience of some of them being relocated) and FOR the students (as she should have).
This upcoming operating budget voting will be Dyer's fourth time voting on the Operating Budget and Cindy's and Brian's second. Why are Dyer (who is usually clueless when it comes to most of the programs in the budget), Cindy, and Brian exempt from criticism about salaries, but the other two incumbents aren't?
Jack
1:22 am on Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Thomas, you have asked both BOE membersVaillancourt and Meshkin about their votes and they both replied to you publicly at Howardpubliced. Mr. Dyer both responded to you as well as defended your right to speak. The other four members are consistantly silent. It is wrong to silence the parents and deny us access. It is equally wrong to silence Mr. Lemle and deny access to those he represents. We all have a right to speak at the table. If central office and a few members of the BOE think our voices should not be heard then they will have to dig themselves a pretty deep hole to hide in. These are our children and we as parents will never relinquish our right to be part of every aspect of their lives. We will have these discussions openly and publicly. In this discussion we need both parents and teachers if we are to provide an education in our children's best interest. It is time to hire a new superintendent and this person needs to be vetted publicly by all of us. There are in fact people seeking this position who wish to have the process completely open. We need to elect a BOE who will embrace the public and set a standard by setting precedent for the whole state to follow. We need a new direction. We need to hear from the candidates for BOE, hear their vision.
Jack
Ann Delacy
4:28 pm on Wednesday, January 18, 2012
The People Who Earn the Highest Salaries with Vehicle Allowances at the Howard County Board of Education
2011-2012 School Year
Name Position Salary Vehicle
Sydney Cousin Superintendent $265,000 $700 @ month
Mamie Perkins Deputy Superintendent $194,765 $560 @ month
Linda Wise Chief Academic Officer $176,680 $400 @ month
Raymond Brown CFO $174,630 $400 @ month
Mark Blom General Council $171,046 $400 @ month
Ken Roey Executive Director $168,177 $400 @ month
Mike Johnson Director $167,187 NA
Clarissa Evans Curriculum Cordinator $156,191 $140 @ month
Sue Mascaro Chief of Staff $156,549 $400 @ month
Dave Bruzga Director $150,313 $230 @ month
Arlene Harrison Director $150,313 $230 @ month
Dan Michaels Director $150,313 $230 @ month
Marion Miller Director $150,313 $230 @ month
Bill Ryan Director $150,313 $230 @ month
Mary Klatko Director (Food Service) $147,247 $125 @ month
Jack
11:05 pm on Friday, January 20, 2012
The only thing worse then what we pay them is their classroom experience. Cousin boasts 3 years. Can he say apprentice? He went on to spend much of his time in the construction area of the school system. 2 years ago with the back to back blizards and as much as 100 pounds per sq foot of snow on hcpss roofs which are designed to hold about 30 pounds per sq foot he decided to play Russian Roulette with the lives of 50 thousand children and our staff by opening the schools with no expert advice on the safety. Can he say negligence.
Jack
11:14 pm on Friday, January 20, 2012
Dave Bruzga Director $150,313 $230 @ month
Another favorite of mine. He has an 8 inch and growing file on me which is one of many and not the largest which he compiled on parents who took issue with the system. I believe mine begins when a teacher hit my son in the head, That represents about 3 weeks work and when I asked for a copy he at the advice of Mr. Blom edited it down to 2 and a half inches with a bout half of that being unatainable without a law suit to retrieve it. So my file costs us about 18 thousand dollars and growing as I type. Keep in mind it is one of many in his collection and his counterpart Dan Michaels Director $150,313 $230 @ month may have a similar collection. Can he say waste?
Jack
11:17 pm on Friday, January 20, 2012
Mamie Perkins Deputy Superintendent $194,765 $560 @ month This is a great one. She filled a position which was vacant for about a year and served no purpose. We should have done away with this position alas Mr. Cousin couldn't continue to perform in his and we need someone to hold his hand.
Jack
11:22 pm on Friday, January 20, 2012
Linda Wise Chief Academic Officer $176,680 $400 @ month Ask her a simple percentage problem, what a joke. Maybe she is why we have SRO's in our high schools. I wonder if she ever figured out if you call 911 the police will come or if she still calls parents and says she fears for their childrens lives and refuses to call the police.
Jack
11:29 pm on Friday, January 20, 2012
Clarissa Evans Curriculum Cordinator $156,191 $140 @ month You know the Ombudsman publicly outed every person who spole to her confidentially. We never got an honest answer and then she outed us again.
Jack
11:31 pm on Friday, January 20, 2012
Mary Klatko Director (Food Service) $147,247 $125 @ month The food service people are afraid to speak out because of retaliation to them and their children.
Jack
11:40 pm on Friday, January 20, 2012
Mark Blom General Council $171,046 $400 @ month We actually pay to defend the hcpss when they commit a crime against our children. This one is unbelieveable. For another $171,046 plus $400@month we could hire another lawyer to advise the parents and children of their rights and how to deal with the hcpss. Yes, this one is unbelieveable.
Jack
11:42 pm on Friday, January 20, 2012
Ken Roey Executive Director $168,177 $400 @ month Here is one I like, an honest stand up guy if he was allowed and had a competent boss.
Candace Taylor
9:17 am on Thursday, January 19, 2012
Wow, the car allowance for those employees would easily pay the yearly salary for an experienced teacher. Why are these stipends needed? Are these employees constantly driving around the county in order to do their jobs? Is there any other county agency with as many employees who get this type of stipend? I would love to see documentation that shows the necessity for these stipends. Do teachers/coaches also get stipends for driving everyday to/from school and extra curricular activities?