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Wednesday, June 5, 2019

WHO IS MAKING HPD UNSAFE NOW?

A lot has been made recently of the Hartford Police Department "not being a safe" work environment. This was partially due to the uproar over the Officer Kelly Baerga incident and her discrimination and harassment complaints.

Baerga was also the department's liaison to the LGBTQ community. Baerga apparently went out on EAP due to the stress from her incident.

An interim LGBTQ liaison, Officer Jessica Stroud, was put in place to take over building relationships between the LGBTQ community and HPD.

Sadly the person who is supposed to be on the forefront of  combating discrimination and building a sense of acceptance is now caught in the middle of an HPD Internal Affairs investigation questioning her own alleged discriminatory behavior.

HPD Officer Jessica Stroud is accused of publicly calling a new Probationary Police Officer (PPO) a "Retard" in front of his co-workers.

It is sad because Stroud as the LGBTQ liaison should understand the hurt and the harm that words can due and she seems to be incapable of  treating all people with respect. It really makes me wonder how someone that could use the term retard, for whatever reason, to address a co-worker what kind of language she would use on the streets in dealing with residents?

I don't think you can demand respect for yourself  and then not be afraid to engage in hateful, hurtful speech of your own

Civility and courtesy need to be extended to all people and not just specific groups you align yourself with. I think that is an example that needs to be shown to all new officers by the senior officers training them and  Officer Stroud failed miserably in that aspect.
Stroud Complaint on Scribd
UPDATE : THE DOCUMENTS BELOW WERE RECEIVED PURSUANT TO AN FOI REQUEST, AFTER MY ORIGINAL POSTING. THEY SHOW THAT CITY HALL HR PUNTED THIS HOT POTATO BACK TO HPD SO THAT HR WOULDN'T HAVE TO GET INVOLVED FOR WHATEVER REASON

Thursday, May 30, 2019

ENDANGERING STUDENTS AND COMMUNITY AT CLASSICAL MAGNET SCHOOL

Nothing coming out of the Hartford Schools lately surprises me. It would almost be comical if it wasn't so serious.

Last Thursday, Classical magnet School at 85 Woodland Street was put into a "CODE RED" security lock down. A Code Red is usually for the most serious security issues at schools. If nothing else, this Code Red will hopefully identify and correct some serious policy issues within the Hartford Schools.

According to sources, the Principal at Classical Magnet was not in the school building at the time of the lock down. The vice principal was attempting to keep the "senior prank" from happening that day. As a result, she came up with the brilliant idea of calling a "Code Red" lock down to keep the students in their classrooms and under strict control.

Apparently that plan backfired with serious repercussions. The School Administration never notified anyone they were instituting a Code Red. After it backfired there were numerous excuses made. Students were told it was a lock down because someone had climbed onto the roof. Eventually an e-mail was sent to parents that it was a planned "drill" and no one was notified because they wanted it to be as realistic as possible. Good cover story.

The problem was that students inside the school began calling and texting their parents by cell phones that something was wrong in the school and they were in lock down. Concerned parents began calling the school to find out what was going on. For some reason, no one in the school office were answering the phones.

 Concerned parents then began calling the Hartford Police telling them that something was wrong and they couldn't contact the school. Hartford 911 Dispatchers tried calling the school and no one answered. A simple phone call from the school to the Dispatch Center advising them of the drill initially seems like it would have been a wise move first. Actually it seems like that should be a basic policy  before any drill, fire security or otherwise.

In this day and age, the worst was in every one's mind and numerous Hartford Police Officers were immediately dispatched to the school for the unknown reason for the Code Red.. One HPD source told me that at least 8 patrol cars were dispatched to the school and at least 8 to 10 officers.

Anytime you have armed Police Officers being dispatched to a possible active shooter situation and responding at high speeds with lights and sirens going, the potential is there for disaster. All of which could have been avoided with a little common sense planning.

Add to that the fact of armed police officers were then searching the school with weapons drawn thinking they are looking for an armed suspect. This has to be traumatic to students seeing this activity as well as the the danger to someone who might come around a corner quickly and be mistaken for an intruder.

The matter is currently being handled Administratively by both HPD and the Hartford Schools

Maybe the senior prank would have been the better and less dangerous outcome

The e-mail explanation sent to parents is below
SCN_0019  on Scribd
Luckily , HPD trains their officers to respond properly to active shooter situations and the situation was resolved without any accidents or mishaps but it could have potentially been much worse.

The fact that there have been several explanation from the school administration, and none of them being the truth so far, is disheartening. The administration even went so far Monday as blaming the students since it was their fault because they advised their parents of the situation and the parents over-reacted.

Maybe the senior prank would have been the better, less dangerous outcome.

Friday, May 17, 2019

JOSE COLON-RIVAS INVESTIGATION REPORT

Jose Colon-Rivas, Thief or justmisunderstood?


I originally requested this report after Jose Colon-Rivas was terminated by the Hartford Schools on April 24, 2019. After numerous requests and weeks of run around by the Superintendent's Office and City Hall, today I filed an FOI complaint with the FOI Commission for a violation. Minutes later, the report arrived in my e-mail, isn't it funny how that works?

It is some interesting, but if Jose Colon-Rivas is such a thief as the report seems to portray, why would they fight so hard not to release the report?

There were some shady things going on but it obviously seems to point to a much larger problem with incompetence and management  that this behavior goes on in the Hartford Schools.

Sunday, May 12, 2019

HPD INVESTIGATING ALLEGED SEXUAL ASSAULT AT P.A.L. PROGRAM

FROM HPD:

The Hartford Police Department is currently investigating an incident involving two fourteen year-old participants in the Hartford PAL program.
On Tuesday, May 7th, members of the Hartford Police Department responded to the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center on a report of a sexual assault.  During the course of the preliminary investigation, it was determined that the location of incident was at the PAL program located at 50 Williams St. Initial investigation revealed that a juvenile male lured a juvenile  female to an unsupervised area of the building.  The victim alleges that the suspect performed a lewd sexual act, at which point they then both returned to the program.  The incident was reported to the police the following day, at which point appropriate action was taken, and an immediate investigation was launched.  The suspect in this incident has been suspended from the program pending the outcome of the investigation.  DCF has been notified, and are conducting a parallel investigation into the matter.
A forensic interview was conducted with the victim by the Klingberg Family Centers in Hartford. These interviews are conducted by independent organizations by qualified personnel. This  is done to preserve the integrity of the investigation and also to provide services to the victim and their family members. Klingberg works with the courts, police and DCF to provide and coordinate services.
The PAL program is operated by a board of directors from various organizations throughout the city and provide services to youth, between the ages of 6 to 18, with alternatives to violence, gang membership, truancy and substance abuse.  The programs instill the importance of integrity, respect, discipline, self-esteem, leadership, teamwork and other valuable life skills that increase individual self-worth and breed success.  The overall PAL program offers a variety of programs which serves 60-90 kids per weeknight as well as weekends when field trips, competitive athletics and other programs are conducted. There are currently over 1,500 youth in the newly formed database.
The PAL program is a not for profit 501 (c)(3) compliant to  the portion of the US Internal Revenue Code that allows for federal tax exemption of nonprofit organizations, specifically those that are considered public charities, private foundations or private operating foundations.
The criminal investigation is being conducted by the Special Investigations Division (SID) of the Hartford Police Department.
Further information regarding the incident will be provided at the conclusion of the investigation.
LT. Paul C. Cicero
Major Crimes Division & Media Relations

Saturday, May 11, 2019

LESLIE, YOU NEED TO DO MORE THAN JUST COLLECT A PAYCHECK



If you have been following the blog the last few weeks, the floodgates have been opened and people are stepping up to speak out about problems in Hartford's Schools.

Some of it may be personality issues, but clearly something is wrong. The common theme seems to be a lack of leadership by the people at the top. Leadership can not be obtained with a college degree, in many cases it needs to be taught by those willing to mentor the next generation to follow them.

That is not happening in the Hartford Schools, despite the numerous high price, overinflated salaries being paid out for the Superintendent and her  minions. That failure is compounded by a Board of Education comprised of puppets who have no idea why they are there.  These "so called" education experts should start every day off by asking themselves "are we doing the most we can and the best we can do for the children in our care". They would be lying to themselves if they said yes.

I would hope they were asking that, but they are probably more concerned about what to pack for their next junket to Orlando, or Dallas or wherever the next taxpayer funded trip  is being held. And if they aren't planning for travel, they are probably planning the menu for the caterer's for their next meeting, again paid for by the taxpayers..

If Leslie Torres-Rodriguez was really interested in turning around Hartford's Schools, she wouldn't be waiting for them to implode  with the excuses to "restructure and rebuild". But that would require leadership, something sadly missing in the Torres-Rodriguez circle.

If one tenth of what is being said about Hartford High being a "powder keg" ready to explode is true, I would think that would stir a genuine leader to action before, God forbid, the blood is on her hands. I would think that a real leader would have been forming an action plan long ago to restore order and education back to the halls of 55 Forest Street.

I would think that the orders would have come down from the golden towers of the Hartford Schools to "FIX IT". Some of those high priced salaries should have taken up residence in Hartford High School long before now and the Principal should be mentored to do the job properly. Hartford High is probably not the best  spot for "on the job training" for a principal, but it is what it is, make it work.

Anyone with a sense of smell should be able to identify the unmistakable smell of marijuana as soon as they enter the building. There are more students wandering the hallways when they should be in class than there are commuters  during rush hour in a New York subway.

What is going on in the Parkville School is a travesty. The only ones suffering from this mess will be the children. I have received a lot of calls and information about the bad things happening there. I have also received phone calls from people that personally know the principal, and tell me she is a good person. Now there is a big jump from gym teacher to principal running an elementary school, but it is not impossible. A true leader would recognize that and set the gym teacher/principal  up to succeed rather than dooming her to failure.

Failure will mean that the students fail also. Maybe some proper mentoring and support and a little leadership on the part of Leslie Torres-Rodriguez could begin to heal the Parkville School community and pave the way to success rather than failure

I really wonder when the last time was that Leslie Torres-Rodriguez made an unannounced visit, without Security Officers accompanying her, to Hartford High or to meet with teachers at the Parkville School. When was the last time a Board of Education member took a walk though Hartford High to observe the conditions themselves.

What are they waiting for? That is what leaders do if they really care.

We have a lot of great teachers and employees in the Hartford Schools who really want to do the right things to benefit the students. If only we had some leaders ready to bring it all together

Leslie, you are being paid very well to do a job, please start doing it

Thursday, May 9, 2019

MORE OBSCENITY FROM THE HARTFORD SUPERINTENDENTS OFFICE

The more I look at the Hartford Schools, the more I realize that it is not about educating children. It is about the adults pimping and living off the system.

Recently there was a post on Facebook by someone attempting to raise money for locks on lockers when the Milner School  moves to Tower Avenue.

The person attempting to raise the funds for the locks is Patrick Williams, the Academic Support Co-Ordinator at the Thirman Milner School. Now I think it is commendable that Mr. Williams  took it upon himself to try to provide locks for the students, but in a system that pays its Superintendent in the area  of $276.000 a year in salary (not including benefits) and funds over $17,million for staff in the Central Office and Administrators it is beyond comprehension.























Should we really have to resort to Facebook fundraisers and bake sales to support the infrastructure of a school?

Even more disgusting is the total disregard for academics as opposed to once again taking care of the adults.

I went through Superintendent Leslie Torres-Rodriguez's proposed budget last night, line by line and it is just amazing to me the waste on things that have nothing to do with education. As an example, In the Superintendents Office under the Office of Academics, Teaching and Learning. What could be more important than Teaching and Learning? You would think that is the reason the Hartford Schools exist, to teach and for students to learn.
.

Imagine my surprise, no one in the Superintendents Office could find $1,000.00 to buy locks but the budget for travel in the Office of Academics, Teaching and Learning more than tripled for next year. This years budget in the Office of Academics , Teaching and learning alone is $7825.00, for just one office. That budget is proposed to more than triple next year to $24,045.00 an increase of over 300%  for just one office.

I keep hearing the horror stories from teachers who can't get teaching supplies for their classrooms and bathrooms without handsoap or paper products, but $24,000 to travel?

An yes, it is obscene that children are not receiving the educations they are entitled to because very well paid staff members want to hop on airplanes for their junkets and stay in the best hotels

And the rubber stamp puppets on the Board of Education will just skim right over this budget.

Standby for the  next car wash or bake sale to keep the Hartford Schools afloat.