An update on what’s happening with the School District Saga: Currently, Judge Wettick of the Court of Common Pleas, Allegheny County, PA denied a motion for a protective order moved by the Upper St.Clair School District and the School Board majority (BM).(newspaper article link) The BM were trying to conceal the facts behind the IB (International Baccalaureate) removal-reinstatement brouhaha by burying it in litigation designed to keep the records out of the public eye.
After having given in to the terms of a settlement to reinstate the IB program with the worst possible grace, the BM engaged in a war of attrition, accusing the plaintiffs in the suit against them of lying and false accusations.( Sound familiar? It seems like a mini-replay of the larger tug-of-war between the Congress and the White House.) They pulled no stops in defaming respectable USC residents through accusation and innuendo. To cover their tracks regarding a shameful episode where an ‘offer-you-can’t-refuse’ was made to the then-superintendent Dr.Lombardo, they filed a motion to classify the depositions of Dr.Lombardo and others,among other court documents in the original case, so that it could no longer be part of the public record.
Judge Wettick, on reviewing the merits of this motion, decided that it would be in the greater interest of the USC citizenry to have these documents available in the public record, and issued a ruling denying the motion for a protective order.
The May primary elections are hotting up, with two new slates announced- RestoreUSC with five candidates (the moderate faction, trying to restore Unity, Sense and Civility and VoteSmartUSC, with three candidates (owing allegiance to the current Board majority, and equally hell-bent on killing the IB, special-ed, school transportation, needed repairs/renovations to middle schools, you-name-it-and-they-oppose-it, unless it pours money into their or their friends’ pockets).
As a start of the political squabbling this season,there has already been a mini-battle of sorts in the local newspapers, with one school board candidate taking op-ed potshots at her rivals, without admitting that she was a candidate. This has already precipitated a flurry of responses pointing out the irregularity of criticizing rivals without disclosure.
All this would be funny, if it weren’t so deadly serious!
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