Thursday, March 17, 2011

$91,304.00 for Recruiting and Advertising…..REALLY?

Yes, that is what MVRCS reportedly spent for recruiting and advertising during the 2008 fiscal year. We mention this as the school continues with their reviews of teachers. Apparently, due to the expense of the Athletic Complex the powers that be are being less than generous to the teachers and staff. Considering that they spend such an exorbitant amount of money to recruit and advertise for new staff one would think they’d try to limit their future recruitment needs. Pay now or pay later. Interestingly enough we haven’t seen this expense on any of the public school budgets and while we have seen other charter schools spending funds on recruitment, we weren’t able to find any that spent anywhere near what MVRCS does each year. Unfortunately, this isn’t just a one time expense but rather approximately what the school spends each year. It is also worth mentioning that the school also employs a HR Director who is making over $80,000.00 per year AND pays a vendor to handle additional HR matters. Certainly makes one stop and wonder if the school is using their funds appropriately and reasonably.


To add insult to injury, we came across the following charter school law (located at http://www.doe.mass.edu/lawsregs/603cmr1.html?section=07):

1.07: Charter School Staff

Charter school teachers hired after August 10, 2000 must either:

(1) take and pass, within their first year of employment at a charter school, the Massachusetts Tests for Educator Licensure; or

(2) be already certified to teach in Massachusetts.

Regulatory Authority:

603 CMR 1.00: M.G.L. c. 69, § 1B; c. 71, § 89.
One may conclude that the schools recruitment and advertising fees are so exorbitant as a result of having to hire certified teachers and that they are working towards that end with the high turnover rate. Unfortunately we found that that is not the case. It seems that the school has chosen not to follow this law as they go about hiring, firing and losing the many teachers that pass through the schools doors. In reviewing the data of the past few years, the school typically employs between 88-95 teachers yet only 55-60% of them are actually certified. One would think that with the incredibly high number of new teachers they are forced to hire each year that they would be at least moderately increasing the number of certified teachers they employ. While not only is that NOT the case but to further exasperate the issue, they show a decline in the percent of certified teachers they employ since 2008. It seems that they do not feel the need to follow this law any more than they feel the need to follow many of the other laws and regulations that govern them. But then again, why should they, they are Mystic Valley – the school held to very different expectations and standards than other charter schools.

20 comments:

  1. Perhaps you should put your efforts into getting on the administration team, since you can clearly see the issues that exist and would be so much better at running the school!

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  2. Neil Kinnon declared at the board meeting where the hiring of Marty Gately was questioned that he made only $40,000 per year and if the school retained only 4 students for the high school, he had made his pay. His important job of getting the kids in the paper for their accomplishments was critical to ensuring the student stayed there. It helped build their resume for college applications and made them feel good. I doubt the headlines where it proclaimed how they got a beat down made any kid feel good. More money spent on friends and family and forget the students squished into lousy facilities every day.

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  3. The school forgot to consult with you on their budget!? I find this hard to believe. I'm sure if you give them the proper number for this line item they would carry it if only to keep you quiet for five minutes!

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  4. You forgot to mention that the HR director also teaches a near full math course load as a certified, licensed math teacher. The reality is they are getting a great deal with getting him to do two jobs for one pay.

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  5. Wait a minute...Gately was hired at $40,000.00 and was at $52,729 by 2009 after 2 years of employment? In 2008 he made $50,500 so he received a $10,500.00 raise after one year? I'd like to see what the teachers get for raises cause I'm sure it isn't that! Nice to be part of the Friends and Family club!

    This is from the globe article...

    Gately Marty PR 2 $52,729 $50,500

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  6. Does the HR director actually teach math courses or is that just a title?

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  7. For an organization that employs between 100-150 employees, they spend roughly $83,000.00 for an HR Director, $49,357.00 for vendor services (from the DOE financial reports) AND $91,304.00 for recruitment. That means they spend approximately
    $223,661.00 per year on HR. Glad to see they are financially responsible!

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  8. Prospect Hill Charter spends $99,388.00 for the same.
    Seven Hills Charter spend $110,802.00 for the same.
    The other schools that we looked at didn't even come close to these numbers.

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  9. Sabis spends 106,954.00 and has about the same number of students.

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  10. I'd like to see numbers on how many "new" teachers there are every year and who they are....

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  11. Mystic Valley asked to beef up bullying prevention plan


    Read more: Mystic Valley asked to beef up bullying prevention plan - Melrose, Massachusetts - Melrose Free Press http://www.wickedlocal.com/melrose/archive/x1777825170/Mystic-Valley-asked-to-beef-up-bullying-prevention-plan#ixzz1HIdkSGBW

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  12. Well, considering the fact that MVRCS does not believe in having a guidance counselor because they believe that all emotional issues should be dealt with at home, I'm not surprised that they failed at this.

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  13. So where's the list of all these new teachers you say get hired every year? Do you have lists of all the teachers for the last several years?

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  14. I just took a look at the Upper School teacher list.

    I left MVRCS 3 years ago.

    Out of the current 37 teachers, I know 12.

    That's 67%!!!!!!!!!!!

    That's as pathetic as it comes.

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  15. We did an analysis, out of 89 teachers, 30 have started within the past 2 years. That is about 1/3 of all the teachers who have been at the school for 2 years or less (they started the 2009-2010 school year or later).

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  16. If you have bought the yearbooks, it is easy to check.

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  17. That is interesting, my daughter had someone named Mr. Chiccuarelli for math this year. Must be two of them with the same last name, huh?

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  18. Hey what's the turnover rate annually in IB schools throughout the world? 33% is the number is what I have learned. Everyone says there great schools but they must be pathetic. Don't believe anything on here as this is just an anti charter school pro union attack board.

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  19. Be careful...the there, their, they're police are lurking everywhere on this site!

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  20. IB schools are primarly INTERNATIONAL schools. Of course they're going to have turnover, as people who live abroad tend to move every 4-6 years on average.
    MV is NOT an American International School, and therefore having 67% turnover over TWO YEARS is absolutely pathetic.

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