Sunday, November 7, 2010

Different Strokes for Different Folks...?

We've been reading up on CORI background checks and what the law and/or DESE requires of school officials in regards to conducting CORI checks on both current and prospective employees. Per the DESE website (http://www.doe.mass.edu/lawsregs/advisory/cori.html):

M.G.L. c. 71, § 38R requires all schools to conduct criminal background checks on current and prospective employees and volunteers, including those who regularly provide school related transportation to students, who may have direct and unmonitored contact with children. CORI must be obtained from the CHSB at least every three years during an individual's term of employment or service.
Unfortunately, laws nor guidance are in place in regards to what would or would not prohibit a school from hiring an individual based on their CORI check:
Neither the Department nor the CHSB can provide legal advice about how CORI information should affect a hiring, employment, or contracting decision. Decisions as to whether to dismiss an employee or volunteer, not to hire an applicant, or not to work with a particular contractor, based on an individual's criminal record information, should be made by the school or district in consultation with its legal counsel. 
and further:


The law requires certified agencies to adopt and maintain a CORI policy that is consistent with the CORI law. Your policy also must include the requirements described in the CORI regulations that took effect on June 30, 2005.
While the policy adopted must contain a number of factors and indicators, it must also include, "7.process and standard of review for determining an individual's eligibility for employment or service based on the CORI record, including whether any criminal offenses may disqualify an individual.

This is where, if our sources are correct, we have an issue. While it seems (as per the 'wicked local' link listed above) Greg Kinnon was arrested several years ago (and while employed at the school), his employment never came into question as a result of this arrest. While we would imagine that his legal issues would not have gone much further, the fact remains that the school currently has an individual on their payroll (although we're not sure we want to say actually 'working' there), who has access to both campuses and hence all of our children, who has a propensity towards violence.
At the same time, the school has employed another individual, Martin Gately who has had his own legal issues (which we do not believe resulted in criminal charges, although we're not sure why not) that involve helping himself to funds that do not belong to him. While these issues may not be uncovered during the obligatory CORI check, it is a well known fact that Mr. Gately was hired as a result of his business and personal relationships with Neil Kinnon and Mayor Howard. Mr. Gately works out of the business office and as such, has access to the individuals and materials responsible for the finances of the school.While the past independent audit did not identify any instances of wrong-doing and or the possibility of such, it did state that that was also not the purpose of the audit and so not much attention was given to determining the security or vulnerability of the same. YET, the school has allowed someone who (regardless of how well known to his friends and family), has felt entitled to help himself to funds that were not his. In some ways this comes as no surprise considering that Mayor Howard has recently refused to terminate the employment of one of his staff members who was recently indicted as a result of his actions and associations.

Now to our issue, we have heard that a teacher at the school recently encountered legal issues of their own. Since we have not confirmed this information, we will not be including any identifying details but suffice to say, the school administration proceeded to challenge the employment of this individual and they were close to being terminating. We must state that the allegations that were involved did not include violence nor theft and that we do not know if they were charged with actual criminal charges or if the issue was dismissed. We are more upset that this individual was held to very different standards than other individuals within the school. While none of the charges or allegations for these 3 individuals included violent felonies or charges involving the endangerment of a child, the fact that the 'Kinnected' or 'Konnected' individuals were either treated differently or hired after their 'issue' is our concern. We know that the Board and Administration have been allowing their friends, family, and/or associates to be held to very different standards and expectations as everyone else, then we must ask, what else are they permitted to get away with that we DON'T know about?

BTW, we apologize to the individuals we have identified within this post as we do not enjoy airing others issues out in public but feel that they and the school have placed themselves above the laws and expectations of their counterparts. We do feel for these individuals for the troubles they have experienced and hardship they have brought upon their family members.

References:
DESE CORI Laws:  http://www.doe.mass.edu/lawsregs/advisory/cori.html
Greg Kinnon:     http://www.wickedlocal.com/malden/homepage/x1010437226

Martin Gately:    http://www.mass.gov/obcbbo/bd07-102.htm

38 comments:

  1. This just in.....
    Another reader posted this on a page and we thought it worth sharing...
    "Lottery issue 15 - 17 siblings incoming kindergaten year 2010- 2011 weren't assigned a number for the lottery."

    This would fall under the job description (we believe) of the very overpaid but well connected office manager, Daniella Ferrara. Would be interesting in knowing how they resolved THAT one as 15-17 kids could not be squeezed into the 5 classrooms. It would mean 3-4 more kids in the typical Kindergarten class size of 25.

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  2. CORI would have nothing to do with the two individuals you single out in this post. One does not seem to have any record and a simple arrest might not even show up. It usually takes a felony conviction to disqualify someone for a position. If you want to judge someone for something that happened in their marriage that's up to you.

    Let me see if I can play this game of writing a narrative of someone's life with Very limited info. To protect the innocent we'll call this person ......Manny. You see Manny works at the Garden, which seems tame enough to the average guy until we take a closer look. First Manny helps his boss steal money from the average Joe by charging three weeks salary to go watch a basketball game with his family. Then while they're trapped in the building it's another weeks salary for dirnks and snacks. Then, if Manny's lucky, there are a couple hundred over served drunks dumping money into his tip jar before sending them merrily onto our highways to play chicken with the rest of us. To top Manny's night off she, I mean he, reaches into the tip jar to slip a couple hundred bucks into his pocket........TAX FREE. Making Manny a serial criminal tax evader!

    Nice story don't you think? Of course we all know Manny's not a bad guy but I hope you get the point

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  3. Andrew -
    Yes, and isn't grand larceny a felony? That would be the theft of over 10,000.00, correct? As for judging someone for something that happened in their marriage, the school attempted to judge someone for something that happened during their personal time, it had nothing to do with the school. If a person feels that violence is an acceptable means of resolving a dispute, regardless of relative or not, yes, we take issue with that.
    I guess you'd better hope it isn't your kid who runs a rock down the side of his truck (cause you know those cameras see EVERYTHING). Then we'll see how you think we shouldn't judge people for using violence with a loved one.

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  4. No, it's a theft of over 250.00. I guess you missed the point of the post.

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  5. I don't get the this just in post. Why would a sibling need a lottery number?

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  6. When they draw the lottery for the incoming Kindergarten class, they have 3 columns - one is for siblings, one for the other 125 kids that get in (so if they have 25 incoming siblings, they have 100 open slots they fill) and the 3rd is the kids that are waitlisted.
    When Daniella F. created the slots for the sibling column, she left off 15-17 siblings and therefore slotted 15-17 kids too many for acceptance. So technically the last 15-17 non-sibling kids who were selected should have been waitlisted but instead where put on the 'selected' list. For a school bursting at the seams AND limited in the number of kids it can take, not good! Hope this helps.

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  7. BTW, got the point of the post BUT unlike the parents of MVRCS and the citizens of the communities who pay into the school, individuals CHOOSE to go to the game and spend the money. Parents don't have that choice about the school their children go to or how the money is spent. As for the serial criminal tax evader, if they were hired to work at the school but didn't have to show up, they wouldn't be a criminal, just KIN!
    And as for sending the drunks out onto the road, you must also want to sue Hershey's for the extra weight you gained after Halloween.

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  8. Andy: Seriously dude, the koolaid is making you not only delious but more idiotic than usual. Ok, I see where you're trying to use me to make some kind of comparison to what I do for a living and what the Kinnected do. How lame can you get??? Let's get a few things straight here. No one is making you spend 3 weeks salary to go to a game. No one is making you spend anything on food and drinks. No one makes you tip anyone there. There are no tip cups on a counter anywhere. We make 11% commission on sales. Yes, I am taxed on that. I do not set ticket or concession pricing. We do follow the LAW and I am certified every 3 years in alcohol compliance. We have very strict policies on the serving of alcohol and can be fired for non-compliance of these policies. Our staff has two separate training sessions before the start of each season in addition to the re-certification training. Liquor is shut off at the end of the 3rd quarter in basketball and at the 10 min. mark of the 3rd period. Like I tell people, just as you're starting to get a buzz, it's over. I take my responsibility very seriously as I could lose my house if someone I overserved hurt themselves or anyone else. I am not shy over telling someone I think they've had enough. You, sir, have had enough.

    The difference between me and your friends is that no one from the blog is making up stories. It is true about Marty and it is true about Greg. Until you started dumping on me, I haven't ever said a word about what I know about Greg. His truck is home all hours of the day when he should be working. His parents live around the corner from me and I see his truck there and other places around Malden at inappropriate times. Sometimes he parks it in the driveway to hide it. Did you know Neil's parents registered their car in NH for years from their cottage until about 2 years ago after Neil was elected to the Council and people were talking about it? Don't get me started. Why do you and your friends always have to drag me into your drama when you cannot defend your actions?

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  9. Come on folks, you know the answer to the questions you are asking, and its simple. Being arrested is not a finding of guilt. While I don't know the outcome of the Greg Kinnon issue, I can only assume there was no finding of guilt. Now ask yourself, if you were accused of something that the court ultimately found to not be true, would you want to be treated as a convicted criminal? Anyone can call the police and accuse someone of this type of thing, it happens all the time in failing marriages, and its been proven that over 1/2 the time its one spouse trying to get the other in trouble versus actual violence.

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  10. My story is about Manny not Annie. I must say I was pretty happy this morning when I read your post. You actually took the time to defend yourself against claims made by a total stranger, on the internet, based only on the limited information I have about you. You see everything in my post has some truth in it, therefore it has to be explained instead of denied. I also find it ironic that both you and the bloggers best defense is it's all a "choice". I literally laughed out loud when I read it!

    Off subject a little, don't you find it odd to support liberal democrats and then spend countless hours fighting tax increases. It's kinda like punching yourself in the face all day. Don't you think DUDE!?

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  11. To Anonymous @ 7:02AM -
    We agree with you to a point regardless of whether he was guilty or not. Our issue isn't what he did or why he did it, its that different people are treated differently and held to very different standards. We don't know enough about the other employee as far as a finding of guilt but do know that the school came very close to firing them yet we can all be pretty much assured that no such conversations ever took place in regards to Greg.
    We must say that at times we feel badly about constantly drawing Kathy, Greg's and other individuals actions into play and subjecting them to our attacks. The problem is that while many individuals in their position would go above and beyond to prove themselves and protect the reputation of their family members, that doesn't seem to be the case in this situation. Rather than be thankful for their positions, they choose to abuse the situation by taking advantage of the situation. It is unfortunate but it is their actions and attitude that open them up to outings through this blog.

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  12. Andrew -
    I don't think Annie's post had anything to do with choice, did you not read:
    We have very strict policies on the serving of alcohol and can be fired for non-compliance of these policies.
    Our staff has two separate training sessions before the start of each season in addition to the re-certification training.
    Liquor is shut off at the end of the 3rd quarter in basketball and at the 10 min. mark of the 3rd period.
    Like I tell people, just as you're starting to get a buzz, it's over.
    I take my responsibility very seriously as I could lose my house if someone I overserved hurt themselves or anyone else.
    I am not shy over telling someone I think they've had enough.
    You, sir, have had enough.

    Funny though how Annie came on her and defended herself and her actions because she could. I'd welcome Greg Kinnon to come on here and share with us his daily schedule or, more likely why he feels he shouldn't have to be at work during work hours, or why his car is seen all over town and at his parents. No, Greg will come on here anonymous and start his 'haters' attack again. So much more adult like, don't you think?

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  13. You're right. I'll start using her line. No one makes you send your kids to MVRCS. Is that better?

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  14. Andrew -
    I was so hoping you would go there! Yes, no one makes anyone send their child to MVRCS, everyone who does, does so for their own reasons. The difference is....get ready....that our tax dollars are what is being wasted, abused, and used to pay for the individuals who work at MVRCS and either don't work and/or are overpaid. It is the funds that are being taken away from districts who need the funds, who are held accountable for their payroll and expenditures, that are having to make sacrifices because MVRCS is abusing the system.
    You mention the parents who choose to send their kids to MVRCS, what about ALL the OTHER citizens who pay taxes and their tax dollars are being abused on the likes of Greg Kinnon who is being paid more than teachers yet doesn't work nearly as much.....
    Would you like to keep going? It's been a long time bud!

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  15. Let me see if I can make my position any clearer for you. Malden Public had it's chance and failed miserably! If they closed every school in this city I wouldn't so much as bat an eyelash. I also don't want to hear why the schools are terrible. Every kid could speak a different language and have been spoon fed lead paint from birth, sijali mimi. My child is not going to a failing school. Period! Please people, save your phoney outrage for someone else. If I thought for a second my child wasn't getting the services he needed I'd be heading for the door, not arguing on a blog.

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  16. So, now that you admit you don't know enough about the other employees situation to know if they were in fact treated differently than Kinnon, can you stop posting baseless allegations?

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  17. Andrew -
    Ok, say for a minute that they did in fact close every school in Malden and then it was your child with an LD and MVRCS was giving you lip service but your child was still doing miserable, feeling miserable about themselves, and not making any progress? What would you do? Who would you turn to? Would you not be outraged that laws were so blantently being broken? Yes, the natural answer would be to move out of Malden but what if you can't (work, finances, employment...)? Yes, private school but then again private schools don't have to provide special ed services.
    If all the Malden politicians and people who could make a difference in Malden schools are able to get their kids into the Charter school, what incentive do they have to make the needed changes in the schools and/or for the community? When do you begin to care, when your child has unmet needs at the school? Everyone should be caring and requiring the school to at least make efforts towards providing an education to all of its students.

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  18. To Anonymous @12:14pm
    We know enough to know that the individuals in question were all treated very differently. We don't see this as baseless - it shows that people are in fact being treated differently AND that someone who has the title of a nurse at our school possibly has a violent temper.

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  19. Andy, Andy, Andy...you are losing it. At least be an adult and admit you were slamming me. You start out "My story is about Manny not Annie" then admit "based only on the limited information I have about you". My point was we have rules and I follow them unlike the admin at the school. You cannot equate what the bloggers have posted here and made up stuff like you put out here. Stay in your little bubble of koolaid and denial. You must love Mayor Howard's blend. He has finally cleared his head enough to admit we have a crime and drug problem here. Too little too late. How'd that work for him? Neil is next.

    Doesn't it even bother you a little the school hired Marty and put him in a position to represent the school with his background which is true and documented? How abusive does a husband have to be to get a wife to call the police for being "pushed". Do you think that was his first time "pushing" her? Many women who are beaten don't press charges against their abuser. I personally have been verbally abused by Neil Kinnon and have no doubt in my mind if he treats a stranger in this manner then he must also be verbally abusive to his family.

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  20. Please tell us the name of the other person who was fired for the same allegation that Greg Kinnon was dealing with (and not found guilty of). Tell us what they did.

    You continue to walk a very very fine line. Just because someone accuses you of something doesn't mean it happened. Why isn't Greg Kinnon also afforded that benefit? You have chosen to say he possibly has a violent temper. Shame on you.

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  21. We haven't said they were fired but that they came close to being fired and it wasn't for violence, it was a for allegations of a different illegal act (NOT having anything to do with a child).
    As for Greg not being afforded that same benefit, we were able to confirm that yes, the police did go to his house on a call of domestic violence. Maybe he 'shoved' his wife, maybe he didn't, maybe the other person was guilty of xxxx, maybe they weren't. The school was not there for either incident and as such, both should have been treated the same.
    If you have issues with people being treated differently, you should really take it up with the school as they are much more guilty of it that we are. Why do you not stick up for the individuals who do get spoken to for being late, for not being at work because of a sick child, or who are not at their assigned 'spots' during pick up and delivery while others are allowed to do all of the above without consequences. Shame on you....

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  22. I believe when you start posting names and slandering people, as you have done, you step over the line. I know you understand the point and are playing a game of semantics. Think about what you are doing. Did Greg Kinnon tell you he wasn't spoke to and almost fired? You don't, so you really have no idea if anyone was treated differently.

    For what it is worth, I am aware of the identity of those behind this site, but I have chosen to not share that publicly as I respect the desire of you to remain private.

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  23. Is it possible to be a friend and family member and not get slammed and harassed. It seems like if you are a friend or family member you can do no right

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  24. Yes, it's possible especially for those individuals who don't take advantage of the relationship. The individuals that we've singled out have all taken advantage of it and/or are overpaid for what they do. We know others within the school that are there as a result of a relationship or association to various individuals who we don't mention or bring up as they add to the education of our children and to the school.

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  25. You are now bringing the parents of Greg Kinnon into this. You people really need to get a life.

    Funny how you call everyone out by name but still we don't know who you are. You NEVER, EVER once stop to think about the children of the the people you are calling out. Isn't that the reason why we don't know your name, to protect your children? Answer this, and not with your lame standard answer, why is that ok???????

    You talk about how you are all for the children. You are nothing but lying idiots. I just got that from reading this blog, so it MUST be true. It HAS to be true!!! If I write it MUST be true.

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  26. So in fairness and being objective to both sides of the issue than why would you not mention (by name) the folks who are doing a great job even though they are "Konnected"?

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  27. Now pretend Manny's has two skateboarding daughters and they get picked up for smoking pot and carrying drugs for other people. The blotter might light up but would it not be a despicable thing for someone to be posting stuff about it until they were or were not found guilty or innocent? How would Jesus or the Virgin Mary think about the person casting aspersions on a person for no good reason but to tear them down especially with nothing but an accusation.

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  28. Eric, I mean, Andy: The fumes from cleaning out the stink pipe must be getting to you as well as that koolaid. The person who accused Greg was his wife, not a stranger on the internet. Does my own personal witness of his work habits convince me he is a slacker and darn lucky his brother is able to provide him with a handsome salary at a job he barely has to perform at? You pretend not to know anyone yet you seem to have all the answers. I know Jesus and Mary would think they would have to forgive you for not being in sound mind to clearly see the wolves in sheeps clothing.

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  29. Story continued: Manny has fumes coming out of house windows. Cops smell the fumes. Smell like pot must be pot. Raid Manny's house find pot stashed. Manny arrested as accessory. Yes that shows up on the blotter. Well Manny is guilty for life convicted right. Skateboarders just holding stash for buddy skater boys. But nobody cares or knows the truth except the Virgin Mary.

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  30. Why are some people more outraged that we posted 2 names of individuals who have had their past actions published in medias with much higher reader numbers than our little blog? Why are they not infuriated that the school is wasting funds on 2 individuals who only have their jobs as a result of being family or friends of certain individuals? Why are we not asking where the funds used for their salaries could be used for the education of our children? And most importantly, WHY ARE THESE INDIVIDUALS MORE OUTRAGED ABOUT US PUBLISHING THE INFORMATION THAN ABOUT THE SCHOOL TREATING DIFFERENT PEOPLE DIFFERENTLY AND TEACHERS NOT WANTING TO BE THERE BECAUSE OF THAT(and not just in this case but in so many different aspects)?????? Really people!
    WHY, WHY, WHY????

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  31. As long as I could have a haddock dinner for my last meal! LOL You've got the wrong house--it was 12 Jacob St. The weed belonged to the Biegler boys who got tossed out of the charter school and their pops was shown the door soon after. Too bad he didn't take the boys with him as they lived here on the streets for a year or so. They live back in Chicago now but make frequent trips back to kick up their heels without the parents. There's always a new crop of charter school kids coming up that they have as "kustomers".

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  32. Unofficial: I think the "why" is that they cannot defend any of the real issues and have to nitpick over minutiae, spelling or grammar. There was no apology necessary for the meetings not being posted but the one time at City Hall. The meeting for the 18th is still not posted at the City Hall website. This has been going on for years and believe me, you are making progress. Many people who have their reasons to keep quiet are out there supporting you as I have gotten support over the years. You must know that by the counters on your page views and new visitors. Posters who are a distraction (Andy?) are refusing to look at the obvious. They must then admit maybe they would have to do something and their "friends" really aren't who they pretend to be. Or they have sold their soul to the Devil and have no choice. People do things for many reasons for survival or the easy way out. The good news is that when you shine the light on what is going on, it cannot go on forever. Now the elections are over, people have an opportunity to answer your questions and the era of terror is almost over. Keep up the pressure and don't give up!

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  33. I remember the garden selling been to underage children. Annie should be fired along with all other garden employees and never allowed to work anywhere if she is employed at the garden

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  34. Oh good, then we can say that ALL of the Board of Trustees for the school must step down as they have REPEATEDLY broken Open Meeting/Executive Session laws by going into Executive Session to discuss issues not covered under the same, allowing Neil Kinnon to involve himself in negotiations between the school and the city of Malden.....and the list goes on and on and on and on....
    Then, after those individuals are removed, Chris Finn can be removed for his allowing the re-admittance of his relatives back into the school (another no-no), Kathy Kinnon for not following NCLB laws and making illegal statements to parents such as 'we don't do that here'....and again, it goes on, and on, and on, and on....
    We could probably clear the school of all of the baggage under this thinking....Annie, take one for the team and let them fire you, just think, you'll be taking one for ALL of the students who currently DON'T have a voice or take priority within the school!
    Good thinking Anonymous! Love it!

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  35. Unofficial MVRCS....the answer to you "why, why, why" question is simple. You have chosen to slander people with no facts to back them up. You have backed off when confronted by at least one, but should Greg Kinnon, Kathy Kinnon, etc really have to come on here to defend themselves? No. So instead you are finding out people just aren't buyin' what you are selling any more because your approach is unfair, and your information more often than not factually incorrect. You may have started out with good intentions but then you quickly turned this into a 'bash mvrcs' site, and everyone was able to see just that. Now there an honest answer to your question.

    Think about it.

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  36. Anonymous @ Nov 12, 3:34pm
    "Slander people with no facts"?
    Really? We can assure you that we do have facts on the majority of information we provide here. For example,
    1. We confirmed that Chris Finn's relatives DID leave the school and WERE re-admitted,
    2. We do know of several parents who have told us that they had a "Konnection" to gain their child a spot,
    3. We have provided links to DOE documents and now have an email from Jeff Wulfson proving that the DESE has been trying to get the school to set term limits and they refuse,
    4. Neil Kinnon IS responsible for the hiring and retaining of many of his friends, family members, and associates. Examples that come to mind include Greg, Kathy, and Lee Kinnon, Marty Gately, Burt Shapiro, and Chris Finn and that is just touching the tip of the iceberg.
    4. The school has refused to clarify their transportation issue even after numerous attempts. It is our understanding from parents that they are considering 770 Salem Street as a 'hub' which they are NOT permitted to do. We have given the school plenty of opportunity to clarify their policy which they refuse to do.
    We could go on and on and rehash every allegation we have made but the bottom line is that the majority of what we write about has been confirmed. Further, in the few instances that we have identified mistakes on our part, we waste no time in correcting or retracting the information.

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  37. To Anonymous @ Nov 12, 3:34pm
    1. "should Greg Kinnon, Kathy Kinnon, etc really have to come on here to defend themselves?"
    Yes, if they can, they should or at least email us and set us straight. We would retract or correct any information that was not accurate.

    2."you are finding out people just aren't buyin' what you are selling any more"
    Again, really? Have you looked at our counters? We can also see that the few negative comments towards us are usually written by the same individuals (our site gives us access to that information).

    4. "because your approach is unfair"
    Our approach is unfair as compared to who, the Boards or Administration? At least we give individuals an opportunity to be heard. The school uses bully tactics by not allowing individuals to be heard, opinions valued, and insisting on complete control, much like a dictator. How our approach is considered unfair and one would support the approach of the board and administration is beyond comprehension.

    5. "and your information more often than not factually incorrect.
    Again, really? Asked and answered but just to reiterate, more often than not our information IS confirmed and IS correct.

    6. "You may have started out with good intentions but then you quickly turned this into a 'bash mvrcs' site"
    We are not looking to 'bash mvrcs' but rather we are trying to get MVRCS to follow the laws that govern them, ensure special ed students receive the education needed, treat all students and staff equally, get rid of the excessive employee baggage (all the friends, family members, and associates), and generally clean up their act. The only bashing we do are to those that are abusing their positions or relationships.

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