Parents, taxpayers deserve facts, not rumors and speculation
By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times
An old maxim suggests wisdom is “knowing what you don’t know.”
Well, it appears that when it comes to the Coatesville Area School District, we are all wise beyond our years.
Here’s what we do know: CASD Superintendent of Schools Richard Como has resigned/retired effective Sept. 2 and while word of this circulated around the school district and beyond for days, the district refused to discuss it or keep anyone in the loop. We worked the story for days until, finally, we had such a tidal wave of sources reporting Como’s departure that we felt the need to inform the community.
Those are the facts as we know them. We also know this: People are angry and they want answers, sooner rather than later.
There’s a lot more out there right now, and we’re working really hard to separate rumor from reality and won’t repeat those rumors and even engage in speculation — but grab a seat at the counter at The Little Chef or the DoubleD Diner and I’m betting you’ll get up to speed pretty quickly on some of the dire things going around the community right now.
If only a tiny portion of what is out there turns out to be true, you may well be seeing headlines for weeks.
Personally, as much as it might help our business and generate even faster growth for The Times, the last thing CASD or the Coatesville community needs is another punch to the gut. Maybe I’m a lousy businessman, but I’d rather see our pages pilled with stories about kids doing amazing things at Rainbow Elementary, or parks being built and new businesses opening in Thorndale than another story about a trusted public figure being under investigation.
And with no information, and the history of misbehavior in the area, it’s not surprising when people assume the worst. For the CASD, the information lockdown seems to be an institutional issue.
As we saw with the pump failure at East Fallowfield Elementary School Monday, CASD seems to suffer from a profound inability or unwillingness to tell folks what’s going on.
Instead of letting parents know Monday that there were issues, CASD reopened the building Tuesday without working water — and it appears only one set of working bathrooms was available for 400-plus students and staff. Only on Tuesday, after kids were already in school and the Chester County Health Department shut the school, was there any meaningful communication with parents.
And it is much the same with the late Thursday night announcement that Como would retire, effective Sunday. We question whether any statement would have been issued this week had we not published reports of Como’s departure.
And frankly, the entire circumstance — and again, a lack of credible explanation and execution — doesn’t smell right, and again invites rumor and speculation.
School superintendents don’t typically suddenly wake up and decide to retire. Typically, that happens after weeks or months of discussions with school board members and an exit plan is developed to smooth the process for students and staff.
That, of course, begs the question: Why the rush?
Which, in turn, leads to a lot of other questions and few answers, whether it be from school administrators, officials or school board members.
Meanwhile, because there are no official answers, rumors are running rampant — some of which are likely far worse than the truth, not to mention the damage to the reputation of those mentioned in rumors that may not have any basis in fact.
It is far beyond the time for transparency, but answers must be forthcoming. The students, parents and taxpayers of the Coatesville Area School District deserve nothing less. We will continue to press for them, but suggest that if those answers do not come, a flurry of phone calls, emails, letters and even in-person visits to the Benner Administration Building might finally prompt a response.
At the end of the day, these folks work for you. Remind them of that fact and that it’s high time for the boss to get some answers.
Mike,
What are you going to do as a follow up to get more information? I was hoping you would try speak to the connected members of Como or talk with a school board member to find out more details.
The Coatesville Times is committed to speaking to as many people as possible, preferably on the record. However, if anyone has information that they would like to provide confidentially on background, we would be receptive to that, too. We would urge anyone with information and/or suggestions to contact us directly at kbshea@chescotimes.com or mike@chescotimes.com. Thanks very much.
Michael, I wanted to echo Kathy’s comments. We continue to work the story but the district, school board members and other resources to attempt to get more details. As you can imagine, not many people are speaking on the record about what is going on. As I’ve noted before, we can’t report rumor or speculation. And yes, by all means, anyone with information should contact either of us directly.
This goes well beyond just the football team, weight room and gym. How many employees were doing work at the Godfather’s house on district time with Miss Godfather watching? This goes DEEP, far deeper than a football team and the teachers students and programs like ROTC suffer!
What about Como’s son who was the recipient of huge salary increases
over the last 3 years while budgets and programs were being cut, teachers
were being eliminated, taxes were being raised,and anyone who dared to
stand up to the “God Father” Como was berated and was personally persacuted for
daring to speak out. What a joke that Como takes credit for his “vision and
hard work that has positioned the CASD to achieve success now and into
the future” How can he even in any way be allowed to say such a lie? The
only thing Como ever achieved was funneling untold $s into his favorite areas
like the football teams and the Gym programs. Look at the weight room that was
constructed at the High School. There are major colleges that don’t have that fancy
a set up. Also how many gym coaches does a school district need? Certainly not
as many as the CASD employs! Oh,unless you are the only district in Chester County
that requires as many Gym Credits for a senior to graduate. The School Board and
the administrators who facilitated this and other atroucities to happen and continue
should also resign. The new superintendent should be someone from outside the district
who has no previous relationships with anyone currently with the district. I hope this
developing scandal will alert the voters to how important the election of a competant and
honest School Board is, and will result in voting for anyone but the incumbents!!!
Thanks Mike and staff. Coatesville has been doing this crap for many years. Tearing down buildings (and I am old enough to remember Craig Ridgeway and the one near Sante’s) perfectly decent buildings, and saying later they need new schools. Schools in the big cities have stood for years, and those building were solid and stable. They took the old banks and made them into senior places?
The money laundering has got to stop. Taxes are through the roof and the kids aren’t getting the education they deserve. We only had plain notebooks and pens and pencils and we turned out okay. Shout out to the class of ’78!
Why is it never in mainstream media that we hear about this CRAP in the ‘ville. Advertisers need to throw their money at your site, as this is where the real news is.
And we, as concerned citizens need to get out from behind our keyboards and get rid of the rest of the buzzards that continue to feast off our tax dollars.
Grendal is a perfect example of what has gone haywire in this district. People will no longer be silenced, fear for their jobs, or some bogus threat of legal action. I applaud the Coatesville Times for standing up to this kind of thuggery. Keep asking questions and voicing what you know.
This article rocks….. The teachers have no support. People need to go to the next board meeting… They control through avoidance and manipulation. You feel like you are in an episode of the Sopranos when you try to advocate for your kid…. And the teachers feel the same when they try to get a kid services… It is sick
Well he is gone thats all that matters. Now maybe they will bring in a out side company for maintenance and kitchen to cut back millions of tx payers dollars.
These generally are all good comment. One problem is: Who watches the watchers? When the school board overlooks long-standing funding, hiring practices, nepotism and ignoring their own policies in exchange for favors from the Superintendent, how would the public know? And since there are agencies on a state or federal level that look closely at this issue, the whole organization is not accountable to anyone except an ill-informed public. I doubt the person who knows the Board members knows what happens in the private meetings.
Why do they give the Superintendent the legal authority to hire/fire during the summer without any review when they return? How are people with criminal backgrounds that would make them otherwise disqualified from employment hired?
Perhaps a federal or state law enforcement agency needs to step in and do a truly thorough and independent examination. Action news was right this morning: CASD is a district in distress.
Well said! We need a board and Superintendent that are above reproach. I’m tired of the District getting screwed over by corruption.
The teachers are on the front lines working hard to better this district with limited resources and often they are the ones given the bad rap. They are here for the students…to give them the best education so that they can be successful, contributing members of our community.
Let me make this as clear and simple as possible. The board is in charge of not only renewing the superintendents contract, but also approving his budget. A yearly budget which included increasing class sizes to 35+, teacher furloughs, programs such as languages and technology education cut completely, pay and tuition freezes for teachers all while creating positions for questionable individuals, coaches, and friends of those in charge and on the board.
Throw in the musical chairs game of accountants and the annual disappearing act of millions of dollars.
Top it off with the near acquisition of a building which was to be used for “district healthcare” that just so happened to be owned by a company one of the board members is a top executive of.
This is just the beginning of a lot of information the public must be aware of. So yes, the board as a group, has been a great dance partner for all these years.
Perfectly said, Ontheinside.
Thanks for all of the insightful comments!!!! And a big “thank you” goes out to Mike for the article & your perseverance in trying to get the “truth” for our community!!!
No need to thank me — but it’s been a team effort here with Kathy Brady Shea and Kyle Carrozza working this story and me pitching in where needed. But if you like what you see, spread the word about The Times.
I know two of the school board members and I can’t for the life of me figure out the comments about the school board I see on some of these boards. Only 3 of them were on the board when Como was named Superintendent. They may not have been very forthcoming with information (for reasons unknown) but they did act swiftly as I understand it and I’m sure the whole story will be known soon. I also heard it had a lot to do with inappropriate texts. Seems to me if they took this action swiftly over inappropriate text, isn’t that what we would have wanted them to do?
Awesome job Mike!
Maybe it has to do with what he did to the students and employees of Graystone Academy??
It is awful to shut down a school two weeks prior to beginning the school year.
shutting down a poorly run charter school stealing money and giving inferior education is not a bad thing.
Uh, let’s go easy on the stealing money claim. While Graystone had trouble getting its financial reporting done in a timely manner, there never were any claims of money being stolen or spent improperly.
Now, if you want to argue that charter schools steal money from public education, lack accountability and based on test scores fail to educate kids as well as the average public school, that is an argument many would agree with.
I understand your need to walk on eggshells but its stealing from all of us .it is amazing how our society has become so sue happy that we can not speak the truth but have to hide it in shadows as not to offend people who steal from us every day.but when the government is allowed to “legally” steal from us is it any wonder they allow others to also do it? Even the media, in general, allow it.
Please understand that most of the CASD staff were also blindsided by the current events. They found out along with the public about the retirement/ resignation on Thursday night. Most of the employees have worked very hard to build up the reputation of CASD only to have people at the top tear it down. So many unnecessary budget cuts could possibly been avoided and the educational welfare of the students not put at risk.
That’s what is so infuriating – the teachers, staff, students and parents, try their best (generally speaking) to give Coatesville a better reputation and take pride in their district, only to have the administration, or in the past, the school board, take it all away. At the root of it all, it’s our teachers, staff and students who suffer, while funding has allegedly been misdirected … and that is reprehensible.
Just a correction, in your second to last paragraph, it is not the Gordon Center, it is the Benner Administration Building
Thanks. Noted and corrected.
I truly appreciate your journalistic professionalism and integrity. The truth is out there and it’s our job to bring it to light. I am sure you will find a long line of those ready to talk. The public must know the repercussions of electing the wrong people for the school board who in turn continue to empower the wrong people as superintendent. So many people inside and outside of the city complain about the district. Do they know who their reps are? If you want change, you must invest in it.
Well said. This whole week has been infuriating for the parents in the CASD. All of the cover ups, secrets, etc make it pretty impossible to maintain “Coatesville Pride.”