The Latest

Tonight is the secret executive session meeting that GACS Bd. Pres. Bill Bush uses to discuss and decide school business. Do you think they will talk about...

1. Holding a special meeting for the public to talk about and answer questions about the investigation? When this blog started Bill Bush immediately ran to the teachers to talk about issues, but not the public or parents. Why? His sole support comes from one teacher and small click around her. Okay, so as we learned from the paper, it was mostly BS, but at least he talked to someone..sort of in public. He and the board have no support from the parents and community. They know they cannot justify their incompetence so they hide behind lawyers (welcome to the board) and board meeting rules (questions?...questions? We don't need to answer your stinking questions!). The way they treat and involve parents shows they do not give a rat's a** about the views and reactions of the parents and community. (Your two minutes are up. Shut up, sit down, go away.)

2. Resigning or taking action against ghost members. Ty Malone is a now a rumor. We think she exists, but no one has seen here since October. Where are the milk cartons? Both parent members will no longer have their children in the school next year. As long as Bill Bush and his patrons Marc Richards and Jerry Calone are still on the board, this blog will exist, there were will pubic scrutiny, outside agencies investigating, a strong presence at the CASD meetings, the truth will be told, and conflict and drama will continue...with school at serious risk of closure. It will more public, open, honest, embarrassing for the members and sad for the kids and parents who need this school to work for them. That is the future with this board. You can announce your resignation now with June being the last meeting. End of the year...new board in July. Clean. Simple.

3. Do we really want to put a personal friend of Bill Bush as the new principal? The leading candidate fits that description. Do you really want someone to protect lead teacher(s) and screw over CEO Mr. Gordon? Why else would an administrator come here unless they are personal friends with the board president and willing to do his bidding? If he does a good job, maybe he can work in Bill's charter school management company. Did any candidate do their research? Who would want the job unless a)they didn't do their research and don't know what they are getting into, b) know, but is really desperate for a job, or c) ready to be the puppet of Bill and his favorite lead teacher? First time he goes against them (especially her), bam, he will be the eighth administrator gone under Bill's reign. Any way you look at it, is that the person we want?

4. Why are teachers looking to leave? Luckily, it's not all of them. Only the good ones.

I'm sure they will have a lot to talk about...and decide...and we will never know.

Help On The Way??

According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, it looks like our local state senator is leading the way for reform. Notice the last sentence of the article. We need to contact Mr. Dinniman to offer our support and let him know what is going on in his home district.

Daily Local Article

In Sunday's Daily Local, there was a followed up on the investigation. Some people commented that they didn't know what Graystone is doing wrong. Perhaps some of you can enlighten the readers. My guess is the Inquirer will have something soon as well.

Points of Information

Here are some new items to think about.

- It appears that Bill Bush is still on the Board because he wants to start a charter school management company. Seriously. He actually told board members, administrators and a few community members this. He is doing such a great job with Graystone, that he (along with Nancy Cooper) wants to establish a company that will open and run charter schools based on all of the success they had at Graystone, and let's not forget, with all his real estate experience, build buildings for these new schools. They were working on it last spring/summer, but decided that they could coop Graystone to start. And, they are the first to say that he is an unpaid volunteer.

- Prediction: Former teacher rep to the Board and current lead teacher, Nancy Cooper will get named to an administrative position before the school year is out. If that happens...the teachers, who choose to stay, will contact the PSEA. Many are shocked that the union is not here already.

- Has anyone, CASD or an independent auditor, looked at Bill Bush's reimbursements? Has anyone questioned his reimbursements for legal expenses, evening "emergency meeting" dinners with the former administrative assistant? Dinner/Lunch meetings with the other real estate agents? What is the process for justifying expenditures beyond - I say so? Just because an expenditure may be "legal" is it ethical and worthy of tax dollars?

- There is CASD meeting tonight. (Tuesday, APRIL 27, 2010 - 7:00 PM
9/10 CENTER AUDITORIUM) One of the reasons CASD has not been aggressive with GASD is the lack of a voice from the GACS community. Coatesville needs to see that people care. We need you to be there.

Coatesville Report Back?

Bill Bush told the teachers that the Coatesville Area School District's report was sent to Graystone's attorney with no findings and "a only couple of recommendations". He didn't present it or read from it. We know Bill thinks he owns the school, but the taxpayers pay the attorney fees.

So....

1. Does it really exist?

2. If it did, why didn't he share the information at the public meeting?

3. When will he share it?

4. Will he not share it because they recommended the GACS Board's resignation?

5. Why has CASD been so silent? Why haven't they visited the school?
Talked to administrators current and past? Talked to Board Members current and past? Talked with parents? Talked with all teachers? What did CASD do for eight months in their investigation?

Parents and the community need to call the GACS and CASD Boards to demand the truth. WE ARE IN THE PROCESS OF BEING TAKEN AGAIN....AGAIN! We need to start demanding some answers.

More Racism

We know that Graystone Academy has a minority population of over 80%. We know the one minority board member is a meeting no-show and lives and works way outside Coatesville. So of course, at the last Board meeting, they added a minority or GA parent to the GACS Board. Wrong. They found a white, male, attorney from the Mainline. The nomination committee of Jerry Calone and Marc Richards (who live in Bill Bush's right and left pockets) endorsed Bill's recommendation and the new guy got voted in for three years. A parent and husband of a Graystone teacher was rejected because, according to Bill Bush, "it would be a conflict of interest". Yea, a conflict to Bill's interest. All minority applicants to the GA board were rejected. There was not a single minority or parent available to serve on the Board? Oh, come on. The new member may be a wonderful man, but that is not the point. A charter school requires parental participation from the community served. This move tells us that they do not give a damn about the community. They don't care about diversity. They don't care about the parents. Just sit down, shut up, better yet...don't bother to come to Board meetings, and let Bill and the good ol' boys run the school.

Parents and the community should be outraged.

10 Question for the Graystone Board

We know the GACS Board no longer answers questions at public meetings. But if they did, perhaps they could answer....

1. Why didn't you share the details of the CASD investigation with us? Why did we have to find out in the paper when you knew about it for three months?

2. What have you done to cooperate with the investigation and resolve the issues under investigation?

3. If the school's minority population is over 80%, why do you only have one minority member on the Board (Ty Malone, African Am. - who lives on the Mainline and works in Philly)? Is it right to have the only minority member on the board who 1) was an employee of another Board member at the time of her appointment (Jerry Calone), 2. a perpetual no-show at meetings?

4. Is it right to have more representation from TD Bank (Ty Malone and Jerry Calone)then we do minority members? How is it not a conflict of interest to have two reps from TD Bank, who hold over $2 million dollars of our school accounts, to serve on the Board and be the treasurer?

5. How much is Graystone spending on legal expenses? How does that compare to how much we are spending on student field trips or a school library?

6. Because the CASD investigation has prevented us from doing anything for a new building, what is the Board going to do for housing if our building, which is for sale, is sold?

7. What were the topics of discussion at your last executive session meeting and why are administrators banned?

8. Why do you think it's okay for Board Members (Bill Bush) to take individual teachers to dinner at night and expense the meals back to the school?

9. Why do you have police at Board meetings?

10. Why should we not believe that the Board's actions are corrupt, racist, and incompetent?

Bonus question: If some board members are considering resigning in June, why not do it now so a new Board and a new administration can plan for next year?

There are many more questions that could be asked. The Board will probably not answer anything, but it doesn't hurt to ask. If parents are interested in asking questions and maybe getting answers, they need to be at the meeting tonight at 6:30 in the GACS cafeteria.

Parents Need To Act Now

If you care about the future of GACS, you need to show up to the Board meeting on Tuesday. If you are happy about how things are going, you need to speak up. If you are unhappy about the direction of the school, you need to say that as well.

You don't have to make a long speech. Just say as board members, you have violated my trust and are leading the school to closure. I think it is time to resign immediately. Thank you. That's it. If you don't want to speak, just clap for the things you agree with. If people do not show up and hold the board accountable, nothing changes and we may loose our school. The Board needs to see and hear our frustration. If people do not show up, that means they don't care and deserve the consequences for their apathy - a messed up school that may soon be closed. If you want Graystone to exist, you need to be there. It's as important as any concert or parent conference. Our school's future depends on your voice. Call your friends and relatives or other parents that you may know. You can forward this web site to others as well. The meeting is Tuesday the 20th at 6:30PM in the GACS cafeteria.

One other thing...Bill Bush thinks so highly of the parents and the community that he now has police at board meetings.

How Graystone Works

This is how Graystone works. Anyone who worked or currently works for GA will verify this . You have five parts.

1. Board President - Bill Bush.
2. Lead Teacher - Nancy Cooper
3. Board Members - Gerry Carlone and Marc Richards
4. Anthony Gordon and school administration
5. Parents and community members

Bill and Nancy served together on the Board for over three years and have a very close relationship. Nancy was a teacher representative to the Board. Bill and Nancy created the "Lead Teacher" position to undermine school administration and give Nancy a position of power inside the school. They are in constant contact and together run the school. Last summer, the two worked together to write their own charter for a new charter school based on her TDC program. (More on this in future posts) This was at the same time they were having evening dinner meetings, paid for by Graystone without administrative knowledge, but approved by Marc Richards.

Information the Board uses to make decisions comes from 2 places - Nancy Cooper and school lawyers via Bill. What Nancy thinks, Bill thinks. What Nancy wants, Bill wants. The school attorney Graystone used last year (one of the best in the state) quit because they didn’t want to work with our school anymore. The new attorney reports directly to Bill Bush. (unheard of in most schools) Board members - Gerry Calone and Marc Richards supports Bill 100%. What Bill wants, they want. That makes 3 votes out of five board members, giving Bill and Nancy control of the school. If Anthony Gordon does something Nancy doesn't like, Bill overrules it. The other two board members are no shows. Even if they did show, Bill has a guaranteed three vote majority.

Only a few teachers support Nancy and are in her click. Most are afraid of her or stay clear of her. If she likes you, life is good. If she doesn’t ….you got trouble. That's the way GA runs. And everybody on the inside knows it.

The Board has no respect or need for school administrators. That's why there's a huge turnover in administrators and why administration is banned from executive board meetings. Bill and Nancy think they know how to run a school. This explains the massive number of lawsuits, with more to come, and why the Board is under investigation. Two people, who, in their arrogance, think they know what they are doing, but barely have a clue. To see their views on parents and the community, just look at the rules for public comment at board meetings. Two minutes max at the beginning of the meeting and no questions will be answered. No minority parental representation. No Board-Parent committees. Bill Bush does not care if involved parents stay or leave. In fact, he would prefer to see parents who complain leave.

So you have a culture of conflict, drama and dysfunction because of the leadership of Bill Bush. Where does that leave administration and parents? Left out. Where does that leave the kids? At a serious risk of losing their school.

This is why parents need to stand up at Tuesday's meeting and tell Bill Bush and the Board that they need to resign….now.

New law planned to boost Pa. charter oversight

By Martha Woodall

Inquirer Staff Writer

Leaders of the state Senate Education Committee said Friday that they would introduce a bill in Harrisburg to address the latest allegations of fiscal mismanagement that have rocked the Philadelphia charter school community.

Speaking at a long-scheduled hearing on a bill introduced in December to overhaul the 13-year-old charter law, Sen. Jeffrey E. Piccola (R., Dauphin) said he and his cochair, Sen. Andrew E. Dinniman (D., Chester), were putting that measure aside to focus on a new bill that would deal solely with increasing oversight of the state's 127 charter schools.

"As a result of the allegations and the outrages of the last few weeks, our focus will be solely on accountability and oversight," Piccola said during an afternoon hearing at Widener University in Chester. "We must clean up and weed out the bad actors from the charter school community before we adopt measures to promote more charter schools in Pennsylvania."

He said he was shocked by 6ABC reports that the Harambee Institute of Science and Technology Charter School in West Philadelphia was used as a nightclub on weekends. And he said he and his colleagues were angered by an investigation by Philadelphia City Controller Alan Butkovitz that found excessive salaries, rubber-stamp boards, inflated rents, and rampant conflicts of interest at the 13 charter schools probed.

Piccola, who was a sponsor of the state's original 1997 charter law, said he and Dinniman believed most charter operators were ethical and ran their schools in the best interest of their students. But they said it was time to address some operators' misdeeds to restore the credibility of charters.

"We have a serious crisis within the charter school movement in Pennsylvania," Piccola said.

Dinniman lambasted what he called "charter greed" and added: "What is especially tragic is that these people are ripping off kids and public taxpayers."

The committee cochairmen said they had not completed a draft of their bill but expected it would create a state office of charter and cyber charter schools responsible for monitoring all charters and investigating complaints of fraud, waste, and abuse.

The measure will include provisions allowing parents to lodge formal complaints if they believe charter trustees are failing in their duties; bar business relationships between charter administrators and family members; allow for regular outside audits of all charters; and require charters and related nonprofit foundations to make copies of all state and federal tax records public upon request.

In addition, Piccola said the bill would make it illegal to consume, buy, or sell alcoholic beverages in a charter school and would call for penalties for violators.

Lawrence F. Jones Jr., president of the Pennsylvania Coalition of Charter Schools, said his group favored strict accountability for charters and wanted to help make the law stronger.

"The stories of the past few days are troubling, if not shocking," said Jones, chief executive of the Richard Allen Preparatory School in Southwest Philadelphia. "And on a personal note, I am disturbed and saddened. Whether through misunderstanding, mismanagement, or malfeasance, some schools have let the taxpayers down."

Three former charter parents whose allegations of financial mismanagement triggered investigations of the Philadelphia Academy Charter School in Northeast Philadelphia and the Agora Cyber Charter School in Wayne offered their perspectives. In addition to increased oversight, they called for members of charter school boards to be elected by parents. Now, they said, charter founders appoint their friends, then the board members continue to reelect themselves. And the three parents said the damages extend beyond misspent funds.

"The monetary theft and unethical behaviors that continue to take place within these schools is nothing compared to the opportunities that are being stolen from these children as a result," said Lisa George, whose daughter was six years behind her grade level when she left Philadelphia Academy in 2008 because she had been improperly placed in a special-education classes.

Megan Snyder Galo, whose younger son had attended that school, urged the senators to require legislators with direct ties to charter schools to recuse themselves from voting on the bill.

"From an ethical standpoint, no legislator should have direct ties to a charter school," Galo said. "It is a blatant conflict of interest."

And Gladys Stefany, a former Agora parent, urged the committee to investigate all current charter schools "to be certain they are 100 percent compliant so that we can put an end to the scandals that are hurting our schools and the children they serve."

After The Inquirer detailed allegations of fiscal mismanagement and fraud at Philadelphia Academy in April 2008, a federal criminal investigation was launched and spread to at least nine area charter schools.

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Contact staff writer Martha Woodall at 215-854-2789 or martha.woodall@phillynews.com.

Name Three

Can anyone name three accomplishments of GACS since Bill Bush has been on the Board?

Well, we have made AYP for three years in a row....even though test scores have been declining and results were due to the high turnover in students.

We have money in the bank because we can't build a building. Beyond that???

Anyone?........Anyone?.........Bueller?..........Bueller?............

New Building...no.
Administrative Stability...no.
Teacher Retention...no.
Positive Work Environment...no.
High Morale....no.
Any Morale...no.
Community Participation...no
Parent Participation...no
Minority Participation...no.
Relationship with local district...no.
Reputation in community...no.
Increase in enrollment...no.

Not to mention a tremendous growth in lawsuits, legal expenses and litigation that is taking money from of our kids and giving it to lawyers. Coatesville Area School District is also spending money on lawyers as a result of the investigation, so taxpayers are getting nailed twice with a potential final combined legal bills in six figures. And, how much are we spending on our library?? Oh, that's right...we don't have one.

He will try to pin the problems on the administration. But, 1) he routinely undermines, overrules, or fires school administration who dare to challenge his authority; and 2) every item listed above relates back to board policies and actions. Charter schools are all about accountability. He needs to be accountable for his lack of competence.

That is why Bill and Board need to resign....now. Not June...now.

Step-By-Step Change

Here is a step-by-step process for changing the GACS Board within one to two months:

1. Bill Bush resigns immediately. April meeting.

2. Within two weeks, a nomination committee is named with the CEO as chair. The committee has two PTO reps, two non-lead teacher reps, two administrators, two non-certified staff reps and two community reps. They review and nominate three new members. One with a 1 year term, one with a 2 year term, and one with a 3 year term. Remaining members approve recommendation.

3. The three are sworn in at the May meeting. The remaining members resign after new members are sworn in. New Board Officers are elected.

4. By May 30th an internal election for enrolled parents is held by the PTO for three seats with a one year term. This will be done every year. They are sworn in at the June meeting.

5. CASD is asked to supply a representative by the June meeting or special meeting.

This creates a 7 member board that represents the community, adds accountability and rebuilds the relationship with CASD. The new Board, working with the GA administration, settles all issues under investigation to the satisfaction of CASD and selects a new Principal.

However, it can be done, something needs to happen. This is one idea. Parents and the community need to speak now.

What Can Parents Do?

As parents and community members, we need to act now to save Graystone Academy. Here are some steps that parents can take to bring about change.

1. Contact Graystone Academy Board Members. Members of the GACS Board of Trustees are public officials, just like any other elected official. That means citizens have the right and responsibility to contact officials regarding their actions. Bill Bush has limited public comment opportunities at the public meetings, but even without the limitations, it is appropriate for community members to contact public officials directly through all legal avenues. Here is a link to their GACS email accounts. Some members have publicly listed phone numbers. As public officials, they need to know what their constituents think and feel about their leadership and be accountable for their actions.

2. Attend the next Graystone Academy Charter School Board of Trustees meeting. This situation happened because people did not go to Board meetings. Now is the time for parents to speak up and act, before it's too late. We need to let them know that they can't be trusted and that they need to resign. NOW. You may want to bring a tape recorder to document the actions. They meet on the 3rd Tuesday of the month at 6:30. The next meeting is this Tuesday. You need to get there a little early to sign in for public comment. Don't expect them to respond to questions and comments in the public meeting. They have stopped that a few meetings back.

3. Contact your local Coatesville Area Board of Trustees member. Here is their information. They need to know that we love our school, but need help. They need to know that the GACS Board no longer has the support of the parents and the vast majority of the staff. They need to know that we do not want to loose our school because of the their incompetence. They need to know the current GACS Board will not act ethically or responsibly and will not police themselves. Therefore, we need CASD help. They meet the 4th Tuesday of the month.

Now is the time for those who care to act...before it's too late.

Graystone at the Crossroad

The Graystone Academy Charter School is at a crossroad. Now is the time to act to salvage the future and reputation of our school that is in serious jeopardy because of the actions and inactions of our Board President, Bill Bush and his supporters. This blog has two purposes:

1. To give a way for those who care about our school - parents, teachers, staff, community members, to speak out about the direction of the school. The Board has taken every possible step to limit questions and comments at public meetings. Your voice can be found here.

2. To inform people about the current crisis in Board leadership. There is a lot of things going on that the public needs to know. We intend to bring it out.

We ask that you comment and act to save a very special school that is needed for the children of Coatesville. You can be anonymous or use your name, but please be careful of your language when you comment. Let's save our school.

Let The Sun Shine In.

This We Believe

We are writing as representatives for many concerned parents and community members. Our membership includes parents who have devoted hours of sweat, hopes and dreams on behalf of this school. We have entrusted to your our hard earned tax dollars and our most precious possession – the lives of our children.

We demand the immediate resignation of Board President, Bill Bush and his supporters Marc Richards, Gerald Calone, Anne Morroney, and Ty Malone. As the Board of Trustees of Graystone Academy Charter School YOU HAVE VIOLATED OUR TRUST. During your terms in office, your governance can only be described as incompetent, unethical, and criminal. Below we offer as evidence the following:

YOU HAVE VIOLATED OUR TRUST because of your refusal to conduct the affairs of the Board according to the terms delineated in the bylaws and Pennsylvania Law.

You have not acted to enforce provisions of the Bylaw regarding the attendance and membership of Board members. As per your by-laws section 3 (3.3) Removal of Trustees states: Cause for a Trustee’s removal shall include, but is not limited to failure to attend three consecutive meetings of the Board (public or otherwise). Therefore, Ty Malone should no longer be a member of Board. In addition, Ann Morroney’s attendance over the past two years warrants action as well.

YOU HAVE VIOLATED OUR TRUST by intentionally breaking public law through the willful violation of the Pennsylvania Open Meetings Act (commonly known as the Pennsylvania Sunshine Law). The Board repeatedly holds lengthy executive sessions, without the attendance of school administration, followed by brief public sessions at which votes were conducted but no discussion on matters before the board is held. Board members participated in the votes used by the three other charged board members to illegally accomplish their purposes. By criminally conducting the business of the school, you are insulting the parents, staff and community and YOU HAVE VIOLATED OUR TRUST

YOU HAVE VIOLATED OUR TRUST by not informing the community, parents, and staff regarding the current investigation of the BOARD, not the staff or administration, by the Coatesville Area School District. You have full knowledge of the investigation for over three months and choose not to disclose to the public the nature and potential consequences of the action. Your action was an intentional cover-up of serious allegation that should have been formally communicated to the public and refusal to fully cooperate with the CASD has put our children’s school in jeopardy. No matter the outcome of the investigation, your behavior has violated our trust.

YOU HAVE VIOLATED OUR TRUST though a history of incompetent leadership resulting in a failure to secure a proper facility for our children, declining test scores, declining enrollment, exorbitant legal fees, high administrative turnover, high teacher attrition, and a public reputation not worthy of our students and families.

YOU HAVE VIOLATED OUR TRUST by creating an atmosphere of internal mistrust and fear. As parents, we have spoken with former and current faculty and staff members who indicate a hesitation of speaking out against Board practices for fear of retaliation, up to and including termination and litigation. Those who have spoken up have described repeated acts of professional retaliation by the Board. Teacher pay is below traditional public school districts, anywhere, but loving what you do and who you do it with can keep good teachers. Working for someone you fear and can't trust doesn't. Because of your inability to support the teachers and employees of Graystone, YOU HAVE VIOLATED OUR TRUST!

We are united in the belief that the Board is acting on their personal self interest and does not want what is best for the school. The current board members further presence in office would be harmful to the public welfare. Your performance is beyond the “mere mistake or failure to carry out minor statutory requirements attached to office” and does indeed warrant the extraordinary remedy of removal from office. We believe the charter and future of the school is in serious jeopardy. Many parents, especially the volunteers and advocates, are considering the painful decision to withdraw their children from the school for the next school year all because of issues that relate directly back to current Board of Trustees.

As board officials you must understand that the work you do requires you to be held as a model example for children, parents, and educators alike. Every decision that you make changes the future! There simply isn't room for my child's leaders to make poor decisions now or to continue in the future. We need leaders our educators can stand behind, too.

If your resignation is not submitted we are prepared to take additional LEGAL action. We realize that the discretion of the school board is not unlimited, and when it is abused, the courts may step in with the power of judicial review; the presumption of good faith is not irrefutable, and when it is overcome the court must determine whether the officer should be removed from their position of “public trust.”

Many parents and community members feel that as the elected leaders of the school, the Board clearly does care about what is in the best interest of the students. They have also, thus far, turned down all minority members wanting to serve on the Board. We collectively agree the current Board of Trustees are no longer good representatives for the school or children of the school. YOU HAVE VIOLATED OUR TRUST.

We thank you for your time that you have given to our school as board members but we implore you to relinquish your positions. You owe it to our children. We must save Graystone Academy and your resignation is the first step.