Typical MVRCS -Avoidance and Intimidation Tactics!

 REQUESTS: We are seeking to make contact with an individual from the Malden school that the students in question attended (teacher, aid, staff, or parent) who can confirm that the students in question actually attended their school. We can assure you that your identity will NOT be revealed under any circumstances. While we have individuals and materials available from MVRCS to confirm that the students were enrolled, removed, and re-enrolled there, we would like someone from the Malden schools to confirm they were students there.
Should you (or someone you know) be able to provide any information regarding this situation, please contact us at UnOfficialMVRCS@gmail.com. Information and Contact Found - Thank you for the responses!

The following complaint was filed first with MVRCS Board of Trustees (filed March 14, 2011) and then, per DESE procedure, with Mitchell Chester (filed April 15, 2011), who is the Commissioner of Education at the DESE. Finally, on June 23, 2011 we heard back from Rick Veilleux (the Business Manager of MVRCS) regarding our complaint. As in the past when we have requested copies of the Board Meeting Minutes (both the open portion and Executive Session), the school resorted to intimidation and avoidance tactics by requiring us to either come into their office to review the material or provide a mailing address and funds to have it mailed to us. While the copies of the minutes were requested under the Freedom of Information Act and are therefore subject to such conditions, the formal complaint we filed is not. The complaint was filed electronically and as such, should be responded to in like form. Furthermore, as we're sure the complaint is already in electronic form, emailing a copy would be entirely appropriate and easily done. Of course we know that this is just MVRCS way of trying to determine our identity. In either case, any individual who is interested in obtaining a copy of the response from MVRCS's Board of Trustees may either drop into the office to view their response or request one be sent through the postal service (but the school will charge for photocopying and postage).
On June 23, 2011 we sent the following email was sent to Rick Veilleux and other various individuals who SHOULD be concerned and willing to further address this issue. Since then we have been working with a number of reporters and media outlets regarding the confirmation of our allegations. While we do want this issue addressed and the school to be held accountable, we are attempting to ensure that the identities of the students in question are not published as we feel this would not be in their or their immediate families best interest. In the meantime, we thought we would share with our readers our current efforts and this issue.




Subject: Complaint Response
To: rveilleux@mvrcs.org
Cc: JMcCleary@mvrcs.org, BBarnett@doe.mass.edu, JWulfson@doe.mass.edu, ago@state.ma.us, legal@eth.state.ma.us, KarenNober@eth.state.ma.us, cccompliance@doe.mass.edu, boe@doe.mass.edu, media@doe.mass.edu, CharterSchools@doe.mass.edu, www@doe.mass.edu, Gov.Webmail@state.ma.us
Date: Monday, July 11, 2011, 4:33 PM

Mr. Veilleux:

I am writing in response to your email dated June 23, 2011 regarding the formal complaint filed with Mystic Valley Regional Charter School (dated March 14, 2011) and the subsequent complaint filed with the Commissioner Mitchell Chester of the DESE (dated  April 15, 2011). I find your response to my complaint unacceptable and an attempt to circumvent addressing the issue at hand. Out of respect for Christopher Finn, a substantial amount of time to has been permitted to pass without further action being taken. As a direct result of your unwillingness to adequately respond in like form to the manner in which the complaint was filed,  I feel it is necessary to seek the assistance of the media and reporters. Therefore if an adequate and acceptable response is not received through electronic email by July 20, 2011, a copy of the complaint in full (along with contact information for all involved parties) will be forwarded to reporters and media outlets along with a request for assistance. I look forwarding to hearing from you.

March 14, 2011

To The Board of Trustees:

As required by Massachusetts Law 603 CMR 1.00, specifically section 1.10 regarding the Complaint Procedure please accept this letter as a formal complaint. It is our belief that MVRCS has violated section 1.06 ‘Charter School Enrollment and Recruitment’. Specifically section 5 of the law which states:

(5) …No student entering an enrollment process may be admitted ahead of other eligible students who were previously placed on a waiting list during a prior enrollment process, except in cases described in to 603 CMR 1.06(4)(e).

 It is our understanding that this law has been violated on numerous occasions but most recently in the re-admission of Chris Finn’s (Assistant Director) two xxxxxx, xxxxxx and xxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxx. It has come to our attention that during the 2007-2008 school year their mother transferred them out of the school. The following year these same two xxxxxxxx were re-admitted mid-year and are now currently enrolled in the school (xxxxxxx is in 3rd grade and xxxxx 5th). It is also our understanding that this is in direction violation of the above mentioned law as well as Massachusetts State Ethics laws pertaining to Conflicts of Interests and Codes of Conduct.

April 15, 2011

Commissioner Chester:
The following complaint was filed with the MVRCS Board of Trustees on March 14th, 2011 to which they have failed to respond to. In accordance with the law, I am now filing this complaint directly with the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

To The Board of Trustees:

As required by Massachusetts Law 603 CMR 1.00, specifically section 1.10 regarding the Complaint Procedure please accept this letter as a formal complaint. It is our belief that MVRCS has violated section 1.06 ‘Charter School Enrollment and Recruitment’. Specifically section 5 of the law which states:

(5) …No student entering an enrollment process may be admitted ahead of other eligible students who were previously placed on a waiting list during a prior enrollment process, except in cases described in to 603 CMR 1.06(4)(e).

 It is our understanding that this law has been violated on numerous occasions but most recently in the re-admission of Chris Finn’s (Assistant Director) two xxxxxx, xxxxxx and xxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxi. It has come to our attention that during the 2007-2008 school year their mother transferred them out of the school. The following year these same two xxxxxxxxxx were re-admitted mid-year and are now currently enrolled in the school (xxxxxxx is in 3rd grade and xxxxxx 5th). It is also our understanding that this is in direction violation of the above mentioned law as well as Massachusetts State Ethics laws pertaining to Conflicts of Interests and Codes of Conduct.

June 23, 2011

In regards to your complaint about the school’s enrollment policy, I have been asked by Mr. Brennan, our Board Secretary, to make arrangements with you to obtain or view his response.  As per our prior communications regarding various other matters, you may come into the Business Office located at 671 Salem Street to either view a copy of the response or pay for a copy of the response to take with you.  If you cannot come into the office, you can send me a check for the copy and cost of postage and the response will be mailed to you.  If you choose this option, please provide me with your mailing address and I will provide you with the cost and once a check is received, I will drop it in the mail.

Rick Veilleux

School Business Manager

Mystic Valley Regional Charter School

How REAL School Boards Do It....Meeting Minutes

Even though the Attorney General under the Open Meeting Laws now requires school committees (including Board of Trustees of charter schools) to provide 48 hour notice (with an agenda)AND keep minutes of all meetings, it seems that of the sending districts, only the Board at Mystic Valley does not feel the need to make such minutes easily accessible to parents. Getting a copy of the minutes for Board Meetings at Mystic Valley is, at the very least, a challenging task. While most districts (and the sending districts of MVRCS) make their minutes easily accessible on their website, Sir Kinnon does not choose to do so. At MVRCS if a parent or individual would like to see the minutes a request must be made and a copying fee charged unless one chooses to go into the business office to review them there (if they do in fact exist - we've heard that the appointed secretary of the board is not generally taking notes). Additionally, while minutes of Executive Sessions are only legally allowed to be kept confidential until the issue(s) discussed within such sessions have been resolved, His Royal Arse has refused to release these minutes upon request (and let us not fail to mention that the Board is only LEGALLY permitted to enter into Executive Session under certain circumstances, not whenever they choose).
In any event, we feel that it is worth demonstrating how school boards/committees who are accountable to the parents of their school AND have NOTHING to hide, make obtaining copies of meeting minutes so incredibly easy to access. We feel it is also worth mentioning that at some of these meetings state representatives have attended. This of course would NEVER happen at MVRCS (except of course maybe Arse's side kick Howard who doesn't count) as if any public official (besides those from Malden who have become immune to Kinnon's rude, arrogant behavior toward those in attendance) EVER witnessed the Board Meetings at MVRCS, they would be truly horrified and disgusted. Never mind the fact that Kinnon has incorrectly informed parents that dared to speak out that he 'doesn't have to have public meetings' - yet another illegal bullying tactic from the Arse's mouth. Oh Kinnon, what a gem you are!

How great it is for the parents of these districts that parents are actually permitted to be kept abreast of what takes place at meetings involving their childs education. Simply Marvelous!

Stoneham School Committee Minutes:
http://www.stonehamschools.net/Pages/School%20Committee%20Minutes

Melrose School Committee Minutes:
http://www.melroseschools.com/msc/full_committee_meetings/index.cfm

Wakefield School Committee Minutes:
http://www.wakefield.k12.ma.us/pages/WakefieldPS_ComMinutes/

Medford School Committee Minutes:
http://www.medfordpublicschools.org/about/central-administration/school-committee/#agendas

Everett School Committee Minutes:
http://www.boarddocs.com/wa/waesd/Board.nsf/Public

Malden School Committee Minutes: (these were, by far, the most vague and lacking of all the sending districts)
http://www.cityofmalden.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=content.eventCalendar&view=text

Kinnon - Mudding the MVRCS Name....?

It is a well known fact that we have numerous issues with Neil Kinnon and the dictatorship he has created for himself. At the same time we do appreciate that MVRCS would not be in existence today if it weren't for the efforts of him and the other founding members. We have been very vocal in pointing out issues we find troubling such as the numerous conflicts of interest surrounding many of his actions and decisions, the hiring and retaining of individuals solely based on their association with him (regardless of their qualifications and/or performance), his disregard and demeaning manner in which parents of the school are treated, and the treatment of the teachers and staff of the school (who are NOT part of his inner circle). We have worked (and continue to do so) towards bringing the bigger issues to the attention of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, State Ethics Committee, Attorney General, Inspector General, and Governor Deval Patrick. While our efforts have been solely on issues pertaining to the school, it seems as though others within the community have concerns of their own and are acting on those concerns. It is our understanding that a number of state agencies have begun investigating allegations of corruption and wrong-doing amongst Malden politicians. Included within the issues being investigated are the many back room deals that are common between Neil Kinnon and the City of Malden (such as the park deal from last spring) that are conducted outside of the laws that govern their actions. We can't be sure what the end result will be or how this will implicate or impact our school but the issue remains that if Neil Kinnon followed not only the letter of the laws but the spirit of the laws as well, MVRCS would not be in a position to be found guilty by association. We will wait with baited breath as the investigation continues and will keep everyone updated as to the status of the numerous investigations currently being conducted by various state agencies.

Another Example of Salary Issues at MVRCS.....

We find ourselves drawn repeatedly to the Globes listing of the top 50 salaries at MVRCS as we keep finding examples of preferential treatment (in this case, salary) for friends, family members, and associates of various individuals. While a number of HS teachers were mentioned, very few lower school teachers were actually mentioned. One individual pointed out that this may be due to differences in education and/or experience and not as a result of questionable practices. As we began looking into the teachers in the lower school, we realized that a few of them have been at the school for many years, some have Master's degrees, and others take on extra activities that pay 'stipends', yet fail to appear on 'the list'.
For instance, we know that the entire second grade team are all long time employees (one has been commended for exceptional  behavior management - Ms. White), at least one has obtained her Master's (Ms. Lynch), one is in the process (again Ms. White), yet neither of these individuals are making more than 45,000.00? It upsets us (especially in light of the massively high turnover and Neil Kinnon's statement to the contrary) that these teachers (who most would say are highly qualified and an asset to the teaching staff of MVRCS), and many of the other long term teachers, are not making what the facility manager and supervisor, office manager, lower level music teacher, or public relations employees are. It seems as no wonder that long time teachers are making a mass exit out of MVRCS, many must be livid that so many individuals that perform the least are paid the most.

Open Meeting Report Complaints - Feel Like Filing One?

We recently requested copies of the Board Meeting minutes for September and the prior 6 meetings from Rick Veilleux. Mr. Veilleux denied a portion of our request, specifically related to Executive Session minutes. We take issue with this and question the legality of his denial and the purpose behind many of the Executive Sessions themselves. We believe that in an effort to gain the attention necessary to initiate positive change within our school, the more parents that send this letter, the more likely this issue is to gain their attention. We are asking that any parent feeling comfortable doing so, file complaints. After speaking with our contact at the Attorney General’s Office, the complaint procedure includes two options which we have completed the dialogue portion of (bolded text)

The first involves filing a complaint with the Attorney General’s Office using the complaint form located here (Attorney General's Complaint Form - Open Meeting. While some information will require your personal information, we have completed the dialogue portion of the complaint if you prefer not to compose your own.

The second option involves contacting the Supervisor of Records within William Galvins Office, Secretary of the Commonwealth. For this complaint we have included pre-written letters that require little more than the inserting of personal information.

~~~~~~~Should you decide to send your own request for minutes ~~~~~~~

October 26, 2010

Mr. Rick Veilleux

Mystic Valley Regional Charter School
671 Salem Street

Malden, MA, 02148

Re: Massachusetts Public Records Request

Dear Mr. Veilleux:

This is a request under the Massachusetts Public Records Law (M. G. L. Chapter 66, Section 10).

I am requesting that I be provided a copy of the following records:

            A copy of Board of Trustees Open & Executive Meeting Minutes Jan 2010 – Sep 2010

I recognize that you do charge reasonable costs for copies, as well as for personnel time needed to comply with this request.  If you expect costs to exceed $10.00, please provide a detailed fee estimate.

As you may be aware, the Public Records Law requires you to provide me with a written response within 10 calendar days.  If you cannot comply with my request, you are statutorily required to provide an explanation in writing.

Sincerely,

Your Name
Your Address
City, State, Zip Code
Telephone Number [Optional]

~~~~~~~~~~The Complaint Process -- Attorney General's Office ~~~~~~~~~~

The complaint form for the Attorney General’s office can be found at Attorney General's Complaint Form - Open Meeting law and requests your personal information along with the following:

OPEN MEETING LAW COMPLAINT FORM

Office of the Attorney General One Ashburton Place Boston, MA 02108