When I first heard that Jill Cutler-Hodgman was leaving the Hartford Schools, a song immediately came to my mind along with the images above "Ding-dong the Wicked Witch..." I'll save you the rest of the song , but you get my point
Jill Cutler- Hodgman is an obstructionist performing her dirty deeds in the Office of Hartford's Superintendent of Schools. You would think that being in the Superintendent's Office, Cutler -Hodgman would have been an advocate for the children, but my experiences with her were the total opposite.
Cutler- Hodgman, along with her former henchman, Melinda Kaufmann from the Corporation Counsel's Office, were the Chief document shredders(since they are both attorney's let me insert the obligatory "allegedly" here for legal reasons) at 960 Main Street, responsible for running the cover-ups to withhold documents from the public for anything that would prove an embarrassment to the Hartford School system.
Their latest attempt, at least that we know of, was the coverup for a School predator , Eduardo Genao. When I became aware of the Genao incident, I immediately made a written request under Connecticut's Freedom of Information Act for documents and investigations related to Genao's employment.
Not surprisingly, I was told that no documents pertinent to my request existed. Other sources in the Superintendent's office told me that documents existed and Jill Cutler -Hodgman allegedly had gathered all of Genao's files and they were in her office. The source also claimed that allegedly Cutler Hodgman and her staff had shredded documents that would implicate the Superintendent's Office in covering up Genao's activity.
I filed a complaint with the FOI commission and amazingly a large amount of documents, including several that I obtained on my own from various sources, painted a clear picture of a coverup of activities by Genao dating back almost a decade and which the Hartford School ignored his behavior.
That was an interesting moment at the FOI hearing when I produced documents they claimed didn't exist and they had to back pedal quickly to cover their lies.
Below is just an example of over 80 pages that Jill Cutler- Hodgman claimed never existed, and there are more that they have not released yet, in violation of the FOI Commission order.
Jill Cutler- Hodgman was paid over $180,000 per year in salary, apparently to support the education of children. Far from it. If Cutler -Hodgman was evaluated by her dirty deeds and the damage she did by supporting predatory behavior and cover-ups , she clearly earned very penny of her salary.
Hopefully there will be a thorough house cleaning by the next incoming Superintendent. There goes that song in my head again "Ding- dong the wicked witch". Good riddance Jill, hopefully your next job will not involve caring for the safety and welfare of children.
Docket_FIC2016-0382; Kevin Brookman v. Superintendant of Schools on Scribd
KEVIN!!!!!
ReplyDeleteThat has to be one of your best posts this year. Those pictures are worth a thousand words. Yes, the "house" came down on Cutler-Hodgman. Poppiiiieeeesss!
And kudos to the Acting Superintendent for not allowing the Shredder-in-Chief to return to her job. At last month's BOE meeting, I asked for a review of the role played by Cutler-Hodgman, Attorney Tom Mooney from Shipman & Goodwin, and the current CT Education Commissioner, Diana Wenzell, relative to Genao. Their roles were NOT discussed in the Child Advocate's report but should have been.
Based upon the recent CT Supreme Court case decided against CRRA, we now know that attorney's emails are not privileged when they are acting as consultants or in other roles like a Human Resource Director. I'm hoping the media will dive into what these 3 knew and when, and what role they played. What a colossal failure of judgment.
Karma has finally paid a long awaited visit to JCH. Great job Kevin!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDelete3 Hartford Students awarded full rides to college, but no one writes about that... this is the lets trash Hartford and anything that has to do with Hartford blog site.
ReplyDeleteThe entire office of OTM needs to be purged. Fire them all and replace the over paid clerks who are the tail that wags the dog with effective and professional Human Resources staff. The swamp that allowed JCH to feed still has many of the same parasites and vermin. They will all go silent like a disease while there is a change in leadership, but for the health and well-being of the Hartford Public Schools and the children they serve, they must be irradiated and hit with a good dose of chemotherapy so organization can grow.
ReplyDeleteThanks again Kevin for being a watchdog for truth
Ok, let's just ignore the bad things happening as long as we continue to prop up the highly paid adults preying on children.
ReplyDeleteThe OCA report and Genao arrest began because of this " lets trash Hartford and anything that has to do with Hartford blog site" and that was noted in the OCA report on page 6, if you took the time to read it , I have no apologies or regrets. and I think if you get your head out of the sand and take a look at the main stream media, there was plenty of coverage of the three students and Trinity's exceptional offer.
To 11:12 AM
ReplyDeleteYour comment is unfair, Jill. Or whomever you or other Jill-fans are.
First of all, post your name coward. Second, if you read the content of Kevin's post, it is a well-written description of the tedious process he slogged through to get his FOI request addressed by the BOE. Do you know that he's still waiting how many months later for the rest of the materials??
To have to request an in-camera review by the commission was also ridiculous. Just look at the examples Kevin posted. See how little was redacted. It was a false attempt by Cutler-Hodgman and other too-highly paid BOE managers to keep the public away from information that was never exempt. The Hartford Courant did a very nice write up and posted great pics of the students who received Trinity scholarships. Why not simply enjoy that? This is a serious blog that more often than not, posts its supporting documents and I'd like to keep it that way.
The biggest Hartford Schools money suck is the OTM office! high paid Portfolio Directors and Finance Directors all making 6 figures but NEVER stepping foot in the school buildings. Yet the OTM office and finance Directors are the ones overseeing the budgets now, continuously telling Principals to cut more and more teachers and taking more and more money out of school budgets to save salaries at the BOE.
ReplyDeleteKevin: I find it amazing that a non disclosure clause can be included in a tax payer funded settlement.Where are the trade secrets at risk of disclosure. I was shocked when I read that clause be included.
ReplyDelete2:27PM
ReplyDeleteJust because they put it in there, that doesn't mean it is legal or would survive an FOI challenge. Be patient and more layers of this corrupt onion will be peeled away
Thank You Kevin!!! If only the Courant told the whole story (the truth) like you do!
ReplyDeleteThere is a striking resemblance between the two.
ReplyDeleteKevin reports that Ms. C.-H. made $180,000. Sounds like a waste. But, the State is complaining that the District isn't spending enough. There doesn't seem to be a law requiring that the money be productively spent. Presumably even the cash paid in bonuses at the Fraudulent Betances School satisfies Malloy's bureaucratic demands.
ReplyDelete============================================
The State Department of Education has notified Hartford school officials that their budget for the current school year, which slashed local school spending, is in violation of state law that prohibits low-performing school districts from reducing spending.
“Hartford is currently in noncompliance by $1,207,043,” Kathy Demsey, the state education department’s chief financial officer wrote the district at the end of September.
During an interview last week, Demsey said there has been no resolution since she sent the letter. “We are still working with them,” she said.
https://ctmirror.org/2017/01/18/state-tells-hartford-it-must-increase-spending-on-schools/
Peter,
ReplyDeleteIt gets worse. I obtained (not from the Board, my FOI request is still pending) a copy of the separation agreement this weekend as well as her contract. The BOE was paying her a car allowance of $2700.00 per month in adition to her salary. I will post the contract and separation agreement later today
This is truly disturbing
Delete