Hire friends, hire family, it’s the way we roll in Dayton Public Schools

Dr. Elizabeth Lolli never has to worry about HR, because no one on the board cares what she does. Lawsuits galore coming out of HR because, well, there is no one in HR that knows what they are doing… because she hired some friends of Dr. Burton to be consultants- without any kind of oversight. Back in May, she hired 2 folks working out of their homes to take charge of a 2000 employee organization with no track record of ever having done anything similar. ConnexHR has been wreaking havoc in the halls, with Chandra Atticken coming in and saying things like “I feel like firing someone today.” Word is, she’s out, but the other half of ConnexHR, Michael Sagert gets to stay on.

Despite having a half million dollar contract, they were coming to the district pulling $5k draws, that didn’t appear to be connected to the contract draw. Why $5K. Because that was the amount that the superintendent could spend without needing board approval. But, oh, wait, going to fix that too- Lolli is asking the board to up it to $25K per instance now.

The number of employment issue lawsuits just since these two came on board has skyrocketed. Star teachers who were terminated improperly are winning their lawsuits and without any help from the Dayton Education Association who are now fully in bed with the administration.

Just last week, 4 teacher resignations. This is getting to be a regular thing, with people even leaving the “good schools” because things are falling apart. A fifteen page memo detailing lack of documentation of HR issues was leaked to esrati.com. Others have contacted me with stories of unqualified people hired into jobs that are putting students at risk of injury- without anyone in the administration caring one iota. It’s all working out really well for Frost Todd Brown, the law firm that Lolli hired after eliminating the inhouse counsel that could have prevented some of these disasters- and saved the district a bunch in legal fees and future embarrassment.

But, wait, it gets better. It’s been a while since DPS has had a business operations person under contract. Supposedly, they’ve been interviewing for the job for months. Well, they haven’t announced their perfect candidate that they “Found”- but they are laying out the salary groundwork this week:

Years on Schedule
Position Title 0?3 4?6 7?10 11 or more
Business Manager $111,625.00 $114,416.00 $117,276.00 $120,208.00

And the winner is? Dayton City Manager Shelly Dickstein’s husband- Dr. Gary Dickstein who has been an “Interim Vice Provost of Student Affairs” at Wright State for 4 years and counting. Dickstein has told the folks at WSU that’s he’s going, despite having to take a paycut. Isn’t it amazing how this all works, and the insiders keep hiring their friends and family?

Speaking of family, I’m not a genealogy expert, nor do I have anyway to confirm this, but rumor has it that one of the most hated hires in DPS HQ, Dr. Angela Nichols, who took over for Dr. Roberson to run the office of exceptional children, is Libby Lolli’s cousin.

Stories from the front lines continue to pour in- but, can’t be told because of the vindictive nature of Dr. Lolli and her crew. Dress codes are causing qualified teachers to be sent home for 3 days without pay, swearing can also get you sent packing for 3 days, but actually putting students in danger- well, that’s also three days.

But, do something to bring shame to the district like LaMark Baker did- and, well, you get promoted from truancy guy to assistant principal at Ponitz- without having an administrators permit.

Too bad the state got out of the business of actually demanding accountability from school districts. When you start spending more on outside legal help to solve HR problems caused by gross incompetence, it should set off warning flags. Or not.

Congrats to Dr. Gary Dickstein for his move from one swamp to another. One really has to wonder…

 

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