I’ve been waiting for Pravda on Lake Winnipesaukee to start delving into the goings-on in the Laconia School District (SAU 30) for a while. Finally, with things coming to a boil they did (reformatted, emphasis mine):
Petition asking for superintendent’s ouster signed by parents at Pleasant Street School
LACONIA — As of Wednesday, 119 parents of students at Pleasant Street School had signed an online petition asking the Laconia School Board to place Superintendent Steve Tucker on leave and not renew his contract, citing ineffective leadership, bullying, lack of transparency and unfair treatment of Pleasant Street School Principal David Levesque. Levesque’s contract has not been renewed because of reasons that have not been disclosed by the board or superintendent – and that’s become a thorny problem for the school community. District officials say they can’t detail circumstances behind the non-renewal because it’s a personnel issue.
…Levesque’s treatment, Tucker’s angry remarks at the May 3 school board meeting and the lack of explanation or further details have sparked a firestorm of support for Levesque and for the ouster of Tucker, and parents and community members continue to question the district’s decision not to keep the popular principal.
Levesque is appealing the decision. After several postponements, most recently of a school board hearing for Levesque that was scheduled for May 16, no new hearing date has been set. Levesque remains in limbo, and many parents, teachers and staff are shocked and distraught.
And his treatment is similar to others on whom Tucker is seeking retribution. They’ve contacted me saying that the reasons that Tucker has given them are pretty much bogus and can’t be substantiated. It seems that he has the same level of political instincts that he does in setting up a formal process of comparing 5th grade math curriculum with a hypothesis, a testing methodology, setting up an A/B metrics comparison, and enumerating the success criteria.
Which is to say, zippo. Not a freaking clue. I know – I and the Gilford Selectman (also an engineer) on the BudComm subcommittee grilled him and decided he was absolutely useless. And then failed upward – good going, Laconia!
Here’s the Change.org petition – and if you think that I was brutal on him…(again, emphasis mine):
We respectfully call on the school board of Laconia (SAU 30) to place Superintendent Steve Tucker on leave and not renew his upcoming contract. We as parents of the children that attend the schools in this district no longer have confidence in his abilities to lead our district to provide the best education possible. His lack of effective leadership and bullying in the school district has caused a toxic work environment for many staff and administrators. His malicious outburst toward PSS Principal Dave Levesque at the school board meeting on May 3rd proves he is unfit to hold a leadership position. He has shown he has more interest in a personal agenda than the education of the district by retaliating against and terminating those teachers and administrators who do not fit his narrative. If quick action is not taken with Superintendent Tucker the future of our school district is unknown and our children will suffer the most.
Like I said, no skilz. If you are in Laconia, sign it, please. If you need any prompting, the first 45 minutes of the May 3rd meeting that’s mentioned in the petition text.
Of course – it was held in a little room so as to keep the audience down. Deliberately. Why else not use the High School’s auditorium?
And it starts to get interesting at 11:30 at the first Public Comment session. Then at 38:30, Steve Tucker lies to the audience that Dave Levesque has taken a job in the Franklin school district. You can hear how ANGRY parents are – and the school board starts to turn on Tucker as well. Then at 1:15, Dave Levesque shows up and the lie that Tucker told is exposed (and a “food fight” on the board to allow Levesque to speak ensued).
And Tucker never apologies, to use the word of the day, for his “misinformation” about Dave Levesque.
I also dryly note that Tucker has put himself front and center – shouldn’t that have been the Chair?
Also, having served on my hamlet’s BudComm, this “Budget Meeting” was a complete fiasco. I can’t believe that the Chair, Aaron Hayword, allowed that craptacular meeting to go on and expect that a DETAILED analysis was completed. Absolutely shameful.
