CAT Tracks for March 22, 2011 SSDD

On January 27th in NEXT STOP? and on February 1st in UPDATE...JAMES GIBSON VS. CSD #1, I reported the IELRB's rejection of CSD #1's appeal of an Administrative Law Judge's ruling in favor of James Gibson (Case Decided: January 20, 2011. Decision Issued: January 21, 2011.)

My joy was tempered by a concern that District officials would follow form, refuse to retreat and simply reload...directing (PAYING) it's band of merry lawyers to file yet another appeal, this time to the Illinois Appellate Court.

It was reported in both editions of CAT Tracks that in accordance with the ruling against it, Cairo School District Number One faced a deadline to "stop the madness"...to finally give it up or to file their appeal.

I was unable to give a definite date/deadline for the appeal since the appeal clock started ticking "35 days from the date that a copy of the decision sought to be reviewed was served upon the party affected by the decision." Not being privy to the receipt of such things by District officials, one could only guesstimate...

Well, since CAT received it's second- or third-hand copy on January 31st, surely the District cannot claim a later receipt. So...by my count, today would be at least DAY 50 in that process. As of last week, the IEA reported that it had NOT received notice of any appeal by CSD #1.

So...

The battle begun with the improper dismissal of James Gibson at the end of the 2004-2005 School Year is over! (Well, actually, there is still the matter of working out the details of the ALJ's order that the District make James Gibson "whole", restore to him the salary and benefits he was denied during his "exile".) But, HEY! War is over...give peace a chance!

And...

Speaking of the peace dividend...

No new bills by the District's "Gibson Attorneys"...Robbins, Schwartz, Nicholas et al (aka Robbers All), James Gibson's excellent evaluations as a teacher by the current District administrators, James Gibson's election by the Junior High students as their "Teacher of the Second Quarter"!

How sweet (and deserving) it is!

Oh, Happy Day!

We interrupt this celebration to bring you this bulletin from CNN, the CAT News Network...

You might want to temper your celebration...this IS Cairo School District Number One!

James Gibson is "history", so passé...

Those who toil in the trenches of CSD #1 know that although the players may change, the game plan goes on...

Superintendent Whitledge and Executive Dean Tony Maltbia are gone...their actions costing the District hundreds of thousands of dollars in salary, benefits, and legal bills directly resulting from their actions.

And then, and then...along came Swopes!

Unfortunately, Leotis was no savior (like "Jones" in the old Coasters' song. Nope! Serpent, yes...savior, no!

(CAT Tracks Editor's Note: Man, did The Coasters get it wrong! Their villain...Salty Sam?! Our "Old Salt"...Sam Harbin was one of the few "good guys" CSD #1 ever employed as Superintendent! The District's legal bills dropped to "normal", below normal during his brief tenure in the District. This occurred because Sam treated employees like, well, PEOPLE...instead of the enemy. Sam showed appreciation for a job well done, rather than daily contempt. Oh, well...such is life in the "real world".)

Anyway...

Swopes replaced Whitledge.

A new day! A new attitude?

Hell no!

SSDD. (You will note that I have linked the SSDD. Employees of CSD #1 have no reason to click the link...THEY KNOW! However, if you are a passer-by, you can check it out. BTW: The "correct answer" is definition #3.)

Another CAT Tracks Editor's Note: I found it ironic that the "correct answer" was provided by Stephen King...THE modern master of the horror genre. Hmmm...maybe Stephen passed through CSD #1 at some point. Bet it scared the hell out of him! Stephen did change the title of his book to protect the guilty. Based upon his/our experiences in CSD #1, the original title of the book was "Dreamcrusher". Sigh...)

Back to Swopes...

James Gibson was gone by the time Swopes swaggered into town...had been gone a couple, goin' on three years.

So, Leotis naturally had to find a new target to prove that he be "Da Man". Ya know...it must be Rule #1 in the Superintendent 101 class since (with rare exception - i.e. Salty Sam) they all do it!

And...

Innocently stepping into Leotis's den...De De O'Shea...new CAT President, new CAT "messenger". (It is not lost on my catty mind that our acronym of the day - "SSDD" - with a certain poetic license, identifies the main players in our continuing soap opera..."As the District Churns". Superintendent Swopes and "De De" O'Shea. (Tell me that God does not have a sense of humor. Things like this are just TOO coincidental to be, well, a coincidence. The Lord works in mysterious ways...)

CAT Tracks READER's Note:

Ron...where the hell are you going with this? I gotta get dressed and go to school sometime today!

DAYUM! Speaking of testy CATs...

As I was saying before I was so rudely interupted...

Did you enjoy your weekend?

Awww, Geez. C'mon, Ron!!!

If you did, you are blessed. Madam CAT President and I did NOT!

No rest for (those attacked by) the wicked!!!

Madam CAT President and I spent the weekend going over a "Position Statement" drafted by the District's "other set" of attorneys...the set of attorneys employed to negotiate contracts with the District's four labor unions. (This is just speculation, mind you, but possibly, the latest loss by Robbers All may have been the last straw. Normally, THEY would have drafted the aforementioned "Position Statement", but they didn't. Can I get a chorus of "So long, farewell, Auf Weidersehen, goodbye? Okay, a simple "Amen" will suffice.)

For the uninitiated...you lucky CATS!!!

A "Position Statement" is the legal response by the party accused of wrong-doing (in this case - surprise, surprise, surprise - Superintendent Swopes as representative of CSD #1) against charges brought by the aggrieved (in this case, CAT President "DD" O'Shea.)

I'm not going into a lot of details...like on the TV shows, this is an "active investigation"...an "on-going investigation". In short, a bunch of "SS".

Suffice it to say, Superintendent Swopes (on his way out the door) is stirring the shtuff. Rather than the "powers that be" reigning in his reign of terror, they have evidently given the go ahead for Superintendent Swopes to hire Tueth, Keeney, Cooper et al (the "negotiations" lawyers) to try to explain away his misdeeds.

And...

Trust me on this...they are Swopes' misdeeds, NOT Madam President's!

Can I get a witness?

Well, there be plenty...

When Superintendent Swopes made his written charges of misconduct against Madam President, she didn't pussyfoot around...she went to the Cairo Board of Education and spoke to them in closed session. I was there...the Board Members were there...and it was being audio taped! The BOE called a witness - THEIR WITNESS - who testified in support the version of events as related by "DD", directly disputing the version spun by "SS".

Well, that ended THAT, right?

Bears repeating...

This IS CSD #1.

Thus, the 9-page "Position Statement" (weekend homework assignment) drafted by the District's attorneys!

The attorneys did NOT attend the aforementioned closed session. The attorneys did NOT hear the key witness dispute the "lie" spun by Superintendent Swopes. The attorneys get paid to present a defense based upon what their client tells them. Their job is to please their client. "SS" should be VERY pleased! The attorneys repeated the damned (refuted) lie time after time after time...like saying it a dozen times would make it true...NOT!

In closing...

(Music to your eyes?!)

Below is another page of the supplemental "Accounts Payable List" received by Madam CAT President yesterday morning. ("DD" was so steamed over the golfing, that she didn't even mention the legal bill.) Check out the second item from the bottom..."Tueth, Keeney, Cooper et al":

SSDD