Irresponsible leadership
by David Chess
We are headed for town bankruptcy. Not only are our schools bankrupting our children’s education, the choices being made by the Board of Education will bankrupt our town.
Dr. Uyi Osunde, our Superintendent of Schools, has been found innocent of charges. The charges were dropped, and the court apologized to Dr. Osunde, saying that the charges should never have been made.
Now our school board is investigating if he used too many pencils and if he left the office early.
This is a persecution that will cost the town dearly. If Dr. Osunde is not reinstated, he will surely sue the town and win. The damage to his reputation and loss of future income will amount to many millions of dollars. We can’t pay our school bills now. How will we pay a $10,000,000 lawsuit? This will not be covered by Insurance if we are found to be at fault. We will also be liable for all attorney costs.
We are already spending many thousands of dollars a month on his investigation. We are paying the attorneys $30,000 per month or more now, as we take away our Math Tutors.
HOW on earth does this make sense?
I call on all citizens of our town to reach out to their councilperson, the mayor and the Board of Education leadership.
We have to fix this.
Please reach out to your Councilperson, BOE and Mayor. They are all responsible for the choices made regarding our budget and our priorities.
As a 37 year retired teacher/administrator in CT I am appalled with the decisions being made. Why is the BOE Chair and the majority of the board potentially decimating the school system with its current proposed cuts? Why are they recklessly going after the Superintendent? Schools without librarians…pretty much unheard of in Ct. I have friends all over the state who are talking about Stratford right now. Stratford IS in the news, but NOT in a good way! The proposed cuts will directly negatively affect student learning outcomes. It is shocking that these proposals are even being considered. Let Dr. Osunde get back to work. Stratford will never recover from a potential lawsuit and it certainly will not be able to attract quality leadership to this town after such a debacle. Why is the BOE not fighting for more funds from the town budget? Leave the necessary cut recommendations to the educators, not the politicians. Reverse the course before it is too late. Without strong schools, our town will fail. Mayor Hoydick, where are you?
Cheryl Dwyer you for your input.
The Stratford Crier is also seeking answers to the points that you have raised.
Barbara Heimlich
Editor