Judge slams Wayland officials for skirting Open Meeting Law

Click on title above to read WickedLocal article.
Click Here to read the Judge's response

Older stuff..... (over the summer, WT will be updating this and other pages)

In words that are sure to come back to haunt them, the Wayland School Committee has said:

“We would like to state that we fully support the actions taken by (Superintendent Paul Stein) and other school administrators. We believe these administrators acted appropriately and in accordance with the best interests of the Wayland schools, including both students and staff, and the Wayland community.”

Read their full statement in the Crier or WickedLocal

Wayland Town Crier:

"Former Wayland AD gets over 100 write-in votes at election"
Now, why do you suppose that is?

MetroWest Daily News:

"Editorial: Abuse of power in Wayland"
Still no apology

Wayland Voters Network:

"Officials Unresponsive to Criticism on Cass Case"
In case you'd like to try...
Dr. Paul Stein, Superintendent of Schools
41 Cochituate Road
Wayland, MA 01778
508-358-3774
paul_stein@wayland.k12.ma.us / Wayland School Committee

This resident's letter to the Board of Selectmen is an example of public reaction to the Cass verdict

"To the members of the Board of Selectmen,
I have many questions about how an unreturned computer turned into this unbelievable mess, What level of group think is going that town officials cannot avoid behavior that will likely lead to an another totally preventable lawsuit? Even if Mr. Cass might have been an documented problem employee who needed to be terminated from his job, Dr. Stein should have dealt with the raised whistleblower questions and resolved those as well as the underlying personnel issues as part of his job as Superintendent himself. We should not have needed an outside consultant report for the Cass-Crozier conflict. The events as described in the publicly available documents strongly suggests that these were clear manaBement fuilures, first in the Dr. Stein's school department, the school committee, the police department and the last oversight, the board of selectman. How many nominally responsible adults failed to do the obvious and stop this act of vengeful retaliation in the town's name? How much tax payer time and money got wasted on this incident? Shooting the whistleblower is simply ineptitude.

I am looking for a public investigation and statement from this Board explaining how, with so many people involved in this chain of events, it got as far as it did. Then using that knowledge to review the town processes (again) to learn how to encourage and nudge people toward smarter and more honorable behavior. After all the past and ongoing selfinflicted legai woes, this whole thing further tarnishes trust in how we behave in Wayland. This one is not going to disappear behind privacy considerations and confidential legal settlements the public does not get access to see. Since we have had classes offered for the OML, apparently we need for ones on what triggers other lawsuits and how to avoid it. Standards for your public and private persona are not necessarily the same and that point seems to keep getting lost.

I think Mr. Cass, who was apparently trying to what he was hired to do, deserves at least a letter of regret from the town for the impact on his life for almost a year now, or whatever legally innocuous statement that can be made. What is the point of allthe work with the kids about preventing bullying if they see the adults around them turn a blind eye? Make it right.

I think more than undisclosed "disciplinary action" is necessary for Mr. Crozier - fire him, or least demote him. He made several ethically guestionable choices, starting with the Title lX issues and spreading out from there. lt should be interesting to see him prove he was not actively trying to damage Mr. Cass's reputation. I am not interested in how much the students may think he is wonderful. We are adults and they are children. I used to cut Dr. Stein slack for having to handle assorted packs of predator parents but he has used up his benefit-of-the-doubt outs cards with me. Being on the school committee is not for the faint of heart but perhaps also, not for the hard of hearing and the BO5 could do some coaching on that?

Seriously disappointed in how we got here and expecting much better to come from this incident, ~ C.P."

Comment under Globe article about the Cass trial:
"While small-mindedness is everywhere, and seems to be burgeoning, we read this yesterday, ruminated on it, and have ended our plans to look for a home in Wayland."

Sadly, this is what we've come to. The world outside our borders looks at Wayland and scratches its head.

It was a Happy St. Patrick's Day for Stephen Cass.

3.17.16
After hours of testimony, the Framingham District Court judge declared "directed verdict not guilty" and, so Stephen Cass was found to be, what everyone except the School Administrtion knew already - NOT GUILTY! More info coming soon. Meantime:

WVN Article
WickedLocal Article

Photos Used By Permission - MWDN - Read All About It in their article here

A $10,000 Red Herring

"Northeastern offers recommendations on Wayland athletics" Crier article

"An error doesn't become a mistake
until you refuse to correct it."

New Year's Resolution for ALL board members:
Watch this video and replace "America" with "Wayland".

"We intend to accept full responsibility for our errors. And we expect you to point them out when we miss them."

"Without debate, without criticism, no administration can succeed, and no country can survive"

"The very word "secrecy" is repugnant in a free and open society; and we are as a people inherently and historically opposed to secret societies, to secret oaths and secret proceedings. We decided long ago that the dangers of excessive and unwarranted concealment of pertinent facts far outweighed the dangers which are cited to justify it. "

"Its preparations are concealed, not published. Its mistakes are buried not headlined. Its dissenters are silenced, not praised. No expenditure is questioned, no rumor is printed, no secret is revealed."

"...government at all levels, must meet its obligation to provide you with the fullest possible information outside the narrowest limits of national security..."

outrageous:

1: exceeding the limits of what is usual
2: not conventional or matter-of-fact
3: unrestrained
4: going beyond all standards of what is right or decent
5: deficient in propriety or good taste

Former Atheletic Director case to go to trial March 17, 2016.
MetroWest Daily News article / Wayland Voters Network article

If you would like to let the School Committee and Administration know your feelings about this CLICK HERE to write to them all.
If you prefer to write to any one of them individually, you can use the links below:
Barb Fletcher
Donna Bouchard
Jeanne Downs
Kathie Steinberg
Ellen Grieco
Paul Stein
Brad Crozier

Use this link to write a Letter to The Editor of the Town Crier.

"What can Wayland officials hope to gain by the prosecution of Stephen Cass?"

An excellent question posed by Michael Short in a teriffic commentary in WVN. Click here to read.

"Parents and taxpayers complain, but schooling officials have been well trained to ignore all criticism; all anger; all common sense. Not only do schooling officials ignore all controversy, they actively seek to shut-up, remove, even destroy truthful and honorable employees. No threat to the status quo is ever tolerated, at any level."
From Betrayals in Public Education by Linda Schrock Taylor

DOES ANYONE REALLY BELIEVE IT WAS WARRANTED?

• “I’m embarrassed for our town”

• “If it wasn’t in retaliation for his allegations of misconduct in Wayland High School athletics programs, it certainly looked that way.”

• “… if it is found that this evidence was obtained under false pretenses, that will go very, very badly for the town.”

• “Please stop this matter, drop the charges, and focus on education.”

• “… why someone simply didn’t call Cass and ask for the computer’s return before making ‘the momentous decision to arrest someone on felony charges and potentially ruin his life.”

• “I just don’t understand how that decision could have been made or what kind of person could have made that decision without doing all their homework.”

Read the full story here, and stay tuned for more…

So, now we know.....

A Wayland resident submitted an Open Records Request to Superintendent Paul Stein concerning the allegedly "stolen" laptop. Here are a few excerpts from the request, with Superintendent Stein's response in red. Link to full document below.

"1. All written communications to...Stephen Cass ("Cass") concerning... possession... of... all computers... from the date Mr. Cass's employment... ended... through the present date."

"There were no written communications to Mr. Cass in the time period encompassed by your request."

"2. ....pricing information... concerning... equipment specified in paragraph #1 above... "

"Our staff's estimate... was between $250 and $400..... insurance company ... estimate first reported ... approximately $250 and, after ... more detailed information, they valued it at $220."

"3. Any and all requests, ... by the Wayland Public Schools... to... Cass ... for the return of any... property of the Wayland Public Schools. ...from the date...employment ... terminated through the present date."

"There were no written communications to Mr. Cass in the time period encompassed by your request."

Supporting Documents
• The original Public Records Request & Superintendent Stein's full email reponse
• Additional documents provided by Dr. Stein

Was the now infamous and allegedly “stolen”
2010 school laptop actually worth $ZERO ?

Arrested for possessing a “retired/recycled” laptop ?

Read "Another question on laptop value" on Wayland Voters Network

"Wayland residents criticize officials over AD’s arrest" ~ Boston Globe 11/3/15

According to Fox News reporter that somehow showed up at the courthouse... "The Superintendent told me that the only motivation for filing a criminal complaint was ‘to recover the computer’."

They couldn't have simply called him?!

Watch the brief courthouse interview with Cass HERE.

"Former Wayland school official allegedly kept laptop computer"

Be sure to read the comments under this Globe article
Click here for WickedLocal article

According to the Massachusetts Office of the Inspector General:

“… $5,000 CHECK” deposited into a PRIVATE BANK ACCOUNT titled “Giselle R. Kouka Doing Business As (DBA) Wayland METCO Program Boston Parent Council” (BPC)

“MS. KOUKA IS A WPS EMPLOYEE who reports directly to Ms. Reid-Wallace.”

“Having Ms. Kouka, Ms. Reid-Wallace’s subordinate and a WPS employee, in control of the funds is an insufficient segregation of duies and a Conflict of Interest.”

“… ONE OF MS. KOUKA’S CHILDREN RECEIVED MORE THAN $12,000 WORTH OF SCHOLARSHIPS AND AWARDS, including awards after graduating from WPS, AND A SCHOLARSHIP TO ATTEND A PRIVATE SUMMER CAMP while other students received significantly less.”

“… the lack of policies governing awards and scholarships CALLS INTO QUESTION THE FAIRNESS OF THIS AWARD to other METCO students and the basis for AWARDING ONE STUDENT A LARGE SUM when METCO fundraising is presumed to be for the benefit of all METCO students.”

“This is particularly concerning where MS. KOUKA is a BPC officer who ISSUES BPC REIMBURSEMENT CHECKS TO MS. REID-WALLACE.” (and Ms. Reid-Wallace is Ms. Kouka’s direct employer)

2012:
The METCO off-ledger bank account, under the sole custody of the METCO Director, is discovered by The Abrahams Group and ordered closed: "We recommend that funds raised for METCO purposes be kept within the METCO revolving accounts and not maintained at another organization."
~ Powers & Sullivan, LLC.

2015:
Another METCO off-ledger bank account, under the sole custody of the METCO Director's subordinate (a WPS employee), is discovered by The Office of the Inspector General of Massachusetts: "Ms. Reid-Wallace may have ignored a WPS directive and circumvented WPS policy by transferring funds to a private group."
~ Office of the Inspector General of Massachusetts

School Committee & Administration's Reaction:

Latest on METCO Matter

From the Inspector General report:
• "...without meaningful oversight "
• "...without concern for accountability or transparency..."
• "Misappropriation of funds could have occurred easily under these circumstances."

The IG is finished with it's report. However, there are two other agencies which will dig deeper and give us some answers IF they hear from enough residents with concerns.

Two things you can do right now that will make a difference:
1. Fill out the anonymous online form at the Attorney General's website
2. Call or write to the State Ethics Commission:

For concerns related to personal gain (Conflict of Interest violations), file an anonymous complaint with the State Ethics Enforcement Division
State Ethics Enforcement Division (Complaints are required by law to be kept confidential, including the name of the complainant.)
• Call Intake Investigator (617) 371-9500 or (888) 485-4766 between noon and 5:00pm, Monday - Friday
• U.S. mail to: State Ethics Commission, Enforcement Division, One Ashburton Place, Room 619, Boston, MA 02108-1501
• File a Complaint Electronically by Email
Anonymous complaints cannot be accepted by email. If you wish to file a complaint anonymously, please call, write or visit the Commission.

If you are employed by the town and would like to learn more about the Whistleblower Act, there is a Whistlebower link at the top of every page on this site.

WickedLocal Article: Review finds 'troubling' spending in Wayland's METCO program

Executive Session Minutes on METCO released

The School Committee has released the Minutes from several meetings they held in 2014.

Please note that anywhere you see the names Mark Lanza or Gini Tate, the attorneys for the town and the schools, respectively, that the SC was incurring legal fees. Click Here to read the Minutes.

Inspector General's Report on METCO Issues

No amount of warm, fuzzy letters to the Crier about our School Committee, or from its members, can change the facts contained in the IG report below. If history is any indication, they will still try to sweep this under the rug, with everything else. CONCLUSION: WE NEED A BIGGER RUG.

Excerpts from the IG Report (link to full doc below):
Wayland’s METCO Director

“… many of the transactions that formerly went through Ms. Reid-Wallace’s discretionary account now go through the BPC account.”

“BPC is not registered or incorporated as a charitable 501(c)3 organization, does not have a tax identification number, does not issue financial statements, and has never been audited or reviewed.”

“Shortly after Ms. Reid-Wallace closed the ‘METCO Discretionary Account,’ BPC checking account activity grew from an average of 17 transactions per year to an average of 70 transactions per year. The BPC account may have taken the place of the now-closed METCO discretionary account.”

“If BPC is raising or holding funds for use by WPS or any WPS program such as the METCO program, then WPS has oversight responsibility.”

“Since January 2012, the BPC account has been used in the manner that Ms. Reid-Wallace previously used the METCO account. For example, fundraising revenue from the Martin Luther King, Jr. dinner and the Florence Adler Walk/Run are now deposited into the BPC account.”

“… the relationship between Ms. Reid-Wallace and the BPC is troubling because the sole signatory for the BPC checking account is a METCO staff member who reports to Ms. Reid-Wallace.”

“This relationship and the transfer of activity from the discretionary account to the METCO account raises questions about the BPC’s independence from Ms. Reid-Wallace and whether Ms. Reid-Wallace is using the BPC to divert funds from the WPS and to circumvent the superintendent’s directive and the spending and oversight controls instituted in 2012.”

“This could raise issues of unwarranted privilege, nepotism, and other conflict of interest concerns for the State Ethics Commission under M.G.L. c.268A – the Conflict of Interest Law.”

“The OIG (Office of the Inspector General) understands that WPS has forwarded this matter to the Commission for their review.”

Read the IG's report here

ROUND 2: The STATE ETHICS COMMISSION.

If you have not already expressed your concerns to the State Ethics Commission, you may still do so, anonymously:

• Call Intake Investigator (617) 371-9500 or (888) 485-4766 between noon and 5:00pm, Monday - Friday
• U.S. mail to: State Ethics Commission, Enforcement Division, One Ashburton Place, Room 619, Boston, MA 02108-1501
• File a Complaint Electronically by Email
Anonymous complaints cannot be accepted by email. If you wish to file a complaint anonymously, please call, write or visit the Commission.

Other News

The Administration found "no evidence whatsoever to support any violation" from their own internal investigation.

Read all about it in the Crier.

Results of the internal investigation.

Residents and School Committee "left in the dark"

A lawsuit was filed against the Wayland School Committee, and later settled for $75,000 and… … the School Committee knew nothing about it

Former School Committee member speaks out

Click for Crier link

Quotes from MetroWest Daily News article:

FORMER SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEMBER KINNEY:

“Audacity cannot even describe the actions of those responsible for the incredible secretive handling and settlement of the Jamieson lawsuit against the Wayland School Committee,”

ATTORNEY GEORGE HARRIS:

“You couldn’t do these things unless there was a meeting. No board member has the legal authority.”

SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEMBER FLETCHER:

“I gave it a lot of thought and went back and I honestly, I can’t remember the details behind the signing of the settlement agreement, and I really don’t feel comfortable trying to hypothesize or speculate what might have happened”

SUPERINTENDENT STEIN:

“Stein also said he does not remember how he came to sign off on the lawsuit”

Link to the Jamieson Settlement Agreement that neither Fletcher nor Stein remember signing 2 1/2 years ago

Link to WickedLocal article

If You See Something, Say Something!

It’s clear from the cryptic tone and lack of specificity in the SC attorney's letters that these agencies have been provided little incentive and will probably not pursue an investigation unless there is a public outcry. YOU can clean things up, or continue to watch the broom sweep them under the rug.

We've heard from parents, teachers, coaches, and even students that they have heard/seen improper practices within the Wayland athletics department, but they are afraid to speak out for fear of retaliation. If you would like to remain anonymous but feel it’s important to be heard:

For concerns related to waste, fraud or abuse of power, file an anonymous complaint with the Office of the Inspector General:
• 24 Hour Hotline: 800-322-1323 / Fax: 617-723-2334
• Email: MA-IGO-General-Mail@massmail.state.ma.us
• U.S. Mail: Office of the Inspector General, John W. McCormack State Office Building, One Ashburton Place, Room 1311, Boston, MA 02108