Does The District Place Too Many Students Into Individual Student Programs (IEP)?

According to the Learning Disabilities Association of New York (LDA), too many students are placed into IEPs. In their published position statement they write:

. The IEP diploma is rarely if ever an appropriate alternative for a student with a learning disability we agree that it should limited to those who receive alternative assessments or less than 2% of the students receiving special education.

. At the same time, there are a group of students with and without disabilities that are not able to successfully meet the testing requirements for a Regents Diploma. For them, alternative diploma tracts should be developed and available, including a Career-Tech High School Diploma that is at the same level as a Regents Diploma.

The State Education Department also is phasing out IEPs. This position was confirmed in an email sent by Dr. Eastwood on August 17th to the board. All this information is very relevant to the placement of any child into an IEP program. At the August 5th meeting of the Board of Education, Dr. Mauro tried to present this information to the public as part of his discussion of an IEP approval motion. Rather than let him openly discuss this issue, Mrs. Knapp ruled Dr. Mauro out of order, and prevented him from speaking . Later, she, Mr. Estrada, and Dr. Eastwood twisted and politicized this issue and falsely characterized Dr. Mauro as being insensitive to and opposed to the needs of special eduction students. This smoke screen may have been designed to to hid the fact that the district may be assigning too many students to IEP programs, and to keep the public unaware of the value of the IEP Diploma. Namely, the IEP Diploma is a worthless credential for obtaining jobs, further education, and in the military. Hopefully, the district will reassess its criteria for placing students into IEP programs, and use IEPs only for those very few students for whom it may be appropriate.

Board Meetings Used For Propaganda Rather Than as a Democratic Forum

For even the casual viewer of Chanel 20, it is readily apparent how the district uses their televised board meetings to inform the public of the achievements of Dr. Eastwood and his administration. Ever effort is made to project a one-sided messaged to the public. All dissent or challenges to this image are forcibly suppressed. Behind the scenes much effort is directed to orchestrate this image. The president of the board meets with Dr. Eastwood and his administration to construct the meeting agenda. This agenda and its associated materials are send to the board usually the Friday before scheduled Thursday meetings. Board members are instructed to contact Dr. Eastwood before meetings with questions about the agenda or these related materials. They are instructed not to raise any issues or question in public that the superintendent and the board have not been given prior notification. The only thing missing from this scenario is a script for board member to follow. When board member deviate from this format, or opening challenge or disagree with Dr. Eastwood, they are ruled out of order, prohibited from speaking, viciously attacked by Dr. Eastwood and/or his supporters, and often characterized as being against students. By these tactics open unscripted dialog and free speech is suppressed.

Members of the public have also been enlisted to defend and promote Dr. Eastwood's and the district's public image. Contrary to what they would like the general public to believe, their participation at meetings is not random. These individuals routinely come to meeting for the purpose of attacking. insulting, and heckling board members who disagree, question, or challenge Dr. Eastwood, or the public image he has created for the district. No attempt is made by the board leadership to control these individuals. One can observe the same individuals always showing up for meetings. Some of them were members of the political action group (GET) that helped put several current board members into office.

When presiding at meetings, Mr. Geiger and Mrs. Knapp play a special role in promoting Dr. Eastwood, his image, and his agenda. They are charged with keep board member in line. When board members challenge Dr. Eastwood or his agenda, they rule board members out of order, and prohibit them from speaking. They even control criticism from the public. Mr. Geiger prevented Middletown's mayor from presenting his arguments to the board over the current water/sewer problem, and both Mr. Geiger and Dr. Eastwood are currently being sued for prohibited a member from another district from speaking at the district's "Opportunity to Address the Board". Mr. Geiger and Mrs. Knapp also always arrange to give Dr. Eastwood the last word on all discussions. Once, Mr. Geiger even threatened Dr. Mauro with expulsion from a meeting for attempting to challenge Dr. Eastwood's final comments. Unlike board members, Mr. Geiger and Mrs Knapp do not put any restrictions on the length of time or when Dr. Eastwood may speak. They have allowed board meetings to be turned into "superintendent press conferences" for his propaganda.

In part, Webster defines Fascism as: ...autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader,...and forcible suppression of opposition. For this part of the definition, The Middletown School District appears to fit.

Eastwood Claims That Chorley Roof Leaks Have Been Corrected

At the August 5th meeting of the Board of Education, Dr Eastwood claimed that the Chorley's leaking roof had been corrected. For years, Chorley's roof has been plagued with water leaks. His announcement came after the State Health department had been notified of the problem. Miraculously, Chorley's water leak problem was solved and corrected without an expenditure of vast sums of district monies. How? This occurrence happened in face of the very poor condition of the roof as reported by RSA (District Architects) in '09. To date, the correction of Chorley's roof has been only a dream, and we would suggest that the people who take care of the building do not give away their extra water buckets. If you are a betting person, we would suggest that you do not bet that Chorley's roof will not leak again. And with these leaks comes a mold problem. However, the state is aware of this situation and we will keep you informed of when Chorley's roof leaks again.

Exclusive: Chorley conditions ripe for mold, says state health department official

The water leakage problems at Chorley can easily develop into mold. This problem was documented by the district's architects RSA (Robertson Strong Apgar, P.C.) in September '09 and to this date, nothing has been done to fully correct it. Associated with water leaks is the companion problem of mold and mildew which could lead to sickness and other related illnesses for students and staff members. In that same aforementioned document, it states:

"The slopes of the roof direct the water run-off, especially in heavy downpours, to the building walls. Over the years the water has created algae and mildew on the walls and in some cases has eroded through the face of the masonry wall."

It needs to be mentioned that the warm moist environment in Chorley creates the perfect conditions for the growth of mildew, mold, and some harmful microorganisms. Even at low concentrations in the air, some mold species spores can cause respiratory problems and are a serious health risk.

Before one can remove mold and mildew in buildings, the first step is to correct and prevent water leakage. Unfortunately, although the water leakage problems have been identified since September of '09, to our knowledge, these problems have not been fully corrected. Both the state health and education departments have been notified of this situation.

The question is: Will these potential health risks be fully corrected before the opening of Chorley in the fall? Without prompt corrective action, the district may be exposing their students to a potential health risk and increase the district's legal exposure to future litigation.

Bombshell Report: Truman Moon will soon close

Truman Moon is on the chopping block. That's right, folks! We at "Inside Middletown Schools" are prepared to go public and inform you all that the school which holds some 400-500 students will close when the new elementary school (that will replace Chorley) is built.

In documents obtained by "Inside Middletown Schools" - which we'll soon be posting on this blog - is clearly shows that in order to justify the building of the new elementary school to the state education department, Middletown school officials cited the removal of all students that currently exist in Chorley AND Truman Moon.

When recently asked about this piece of information, Dr. Kenneth W. Eastwood flat-out lied and misinformed the public saying that there were no plans to slash Truman Moon. However, documentation submitted by the school district to the state will soon prove otherwise.

Rumor has it that SUNY Orange, which main campus is within walking distance from the school, has expressed interest in the property, although no one was able to confirm or deny in time for this posting. After all is said and done, the question still remains: Why the cover up? Why not left the public at large know that their beloved elementary school will soon be vacated in preparation for the new elementary school? No one knows for sure. But one thing is for sure; we at "Inside Middletown Schools" will be covering this story very closely and will be reporting it here on this blog -- just for you!

YouTube videos expose Eastwood and Geiger