Tuckahoe School Superintendent Linda Rozzi’s abrupt resignation last spring after two of three members of the district School Board refused to offer her a contract extension set off a wave of conflict and interpersonal strife within the typically quiet school district that continues today. That strife has led, directly or indirectly, to an ongoing effort by a group of parents to force a vote that could dissolve the sitting School Board entirely.
Early on, School Board members refused to answer questions from angry parents about why Ms. Rozzi, who was with the district for nine years, didn’t get the contract extension. They said a legal agreement with her prohibited it.
But amid the turmoil that has embroiled the district in the months since—it reached a crescendo at an anger-filled board meeting in January—School Board Chairwoman Sharon Grindle has hinted at the reasons.
In a series of interviews in recent weeks, Ms. Grindle has confirmed that she and board member Susan Riccardi refused to offer a contract extension to Ms. Rozzi because, she claims, the popular administrator ignored an instruction from the board regarding the district’s eighth grade mathematics curriculum that left at least two years of matriculating students—Ms. Grindle’s son among them—at a disadvantage when they reached high school.
Ms. Gindle said Ms. Rozzi disobeyed two specific orders from the School Board during her final two years at the school to instruct eighth grade students at Tuckahoe using a math curriculum directed exclusively at the algebra Regents exam. Instead, Ms. Grindle claims, Ms. Rozzi instructed the eighth grade math teacher to use a curriculum geared toward the state assessment tests given in March for the first half of the 2007-08 and 2008-09 school years, and then to teach the Regents curriculum in the second half of those years.
As a result of what Ms. Grindle says were Ms. Rozzi’s instructions, at least two years of matriculating Tuckahoe students did not receive the full algebra course instruction and, despite largely passing the Regents exam, struggled with math during their first year of high school, because many of the math concepts taught in ninth grade lacked the necessary foundation.
Ms. Rozzi is vehement that she never gave instructions to former math teacher Marc Nardin, who died unexpectedly in January, that the eighth grade math curriculum be split in any year since New York schools returned to the regents system in 2007. She said that Tuckahoe’s students were being taught according to the Regents curriculum and that no instruction to prepare them specifically for the annual March state assessment test was made.
“The curriculum was the curriculum,” Ms. Rozzi said in an interview in March. “As administration, we supervised the math teacher, but that was the extent of it. There’s nothing that we told the teacher to do differently than what the curriculum told him to do. He was an outstanding teacher and he taught to the algebra curriculum.”
A Bitter Departure
Ms. Rozzi’s contract with Tuckahoe was due to expire in the summer of 2010, but she resigned in June 2009 and left the school in December. At a heated meeting last June, attended by nearly 100 residents and school faculty, Ms. Grindle and Ms. Riccardi refused to second a motion made by the third School Board member, Robert Grisnik, to offer Ms. Rozzi a two-year contract extension.
Ms. Rozzi initially submitted her resignation and said she planned to leave the district immediately, but after a torrent of pleas from parents and other school faculty and a closed-door discussion with school board members, she agreed to stay on for the first semester of the school year. Ms. Rozzi had been the Tuckahoe School’s principal and district superintendent since 2001.
The anger and resentment toward the board by some parents carried over at meeting after meeting through the summer and last fall. At a January board meeting a crowd of nearly 200 residents and district staff turned out to see if the board would address a petition from residents demanding that a referendum be held on dissolving the School Board, expanding it and holding new elections. Heated criticisms of the board—primarily aimed at Ms. Grindle and Ms. Riccardi—turned into a debate between board members and between parents on the future of the school.
Anthony Grimaldi, husband of former school board member Teresa Grimaldi, stood up for the board’s decision on Ms. Rozzi and hinted at the mathematics program connection—the first time the issue had been brought up publicly. The debate switched to the quality of the programming at the school, and Ms. Grindle began to explain the problems that she says she uncovered—though she never referenced Ms. Rozzi’s role specifically before being cut off by angry parents and teachers.
Mr. Grisnik, who has served on the Tuckahoe School Board for more than 25 years, said he could not discuss the circumstances surrounding the superintendent’s resignation or the reasons Ms. Grindle and Ms. Riccardi gave for refusing to renew her contract, because a clause in the agreement with Ms. Rozzi precludes board members discussing the issue. He said this week that Ms. Grindle was breaking that agreement by speaking publicly about it.
I heard it was a cover up about the Tuckahoe math program...I hope they do a full investigation.
Grimaldi hand picked Grindle to continue her misguided policies and then Grindle hand-picked Riccardi to be her puppet. Ask yourself this - why ...more is Grindle so against a vote that would expand the board if Riccardi is not running and Grindle herself can run again if she chooses? Yeah, let's investigate this and the way they treated the math teacher referred to in this story and then let's fight for more representation so that this type of abuse never happens again.
Then albany needs to terminate grindles position on board for blatant disregard for explicit rules meant to protect privacy of district employees. None of whom can now expect personnell files to be protected
This is a travesty undertaken solely out of self preservation and to the detriment ...more of the school and all of the parties that participate in its functioning
Newsflash: the problem is being addressed. Now what? You have a rogue board president blabbing personal employment data to a newspaper!
Unless you haven't heard this is in clear violation of an entire host of state and federal erisa regulations, labor laws and a private legal agreement to which grindle herself refers. When the temptation ...more to save yourself usurps professional judgement thereby putting the district at a major risk of expensive civil lawsuits it become more than extra math work.
What really is the issue here!! The school, The board!! Math!! Laws!!
So many people have been at board meetings acting like unprofessional members of our community-screaming for months now at Ms. Grindle to give them information, now that she has given it, people are upset that she gave it?
Yes, the school has made a step forward ...more regarding the math program, but you are all forgetting we were alerted to this MAJOR issue because someone stepped forward to make the community aware and to fix the problem for the children in the future. Instead of screaming and bashing our board we should be thanking them for putting their necks out for our children. Think about it - based on what I'm reading I don't think many other people would have done that, There are many sides to this story. Personally I'm thankful that the board had enough strength to say enough is enough - which is why we have a FANTASTIC Superintendant even if for only a few months our school can see the way the school should have been run and will have higher expectations from here forward.
I was wondering how long it would take for the post deletion to happen but it was right on schedule! Everytime anything negative is written about one of the long time weekly advertisers in this paper, the post routinely gets deleted.
The integrity of the facts mentioned in my post regarding the critical events that have transpired in the last few months in Tuckahoe that has roiled this community cannot be challenged. But I guess business is business!
I was wondering how long it would take for the post deletion to happen but it was right on schedule! Everytime anything negative is written about one of the long time weekly advertisers in this paper, the post routinely gets deleted.
The integrity of the facts mentioned in my post regarding the critical events that have transpired in the last few months in Tuckahoe that has roiled this community cannot be challenged. But I guess business is business!
Lablover, the board doesn't manage the school, so if "blatant mismanagement" is your issue, you need to look at those that are hired for that purpose - most board decisions are based upon the recommendations of the superintendent. Fcmcmann, if you were at the big board meeting in Feb. you would know that Ms. Grindle's kids were both valedictorians for their respective grades, so your insinuaton that her childs "poor performance" ...more in math dictates school policy just doesn't add up. If you guys read the full article in the press, you would know that there are prominent community members, a Southampton School District official, even Bob Grisnik who all confirm that the math situation was a real ongoing problem for the past three years that is just now finally being addressed and corrected.
If i don't like the way my truck works, I don't pay to have it fixed then put it into storage and go rent a truck until i can get ...more a new better truck- maybe I shouldn't get a truck at all maybe I'll get two smart cars.
Oh, and if the school is big enough to warrant a split position aren't we by the same logic big enough to have more representation on the board.
Is this simply a case of a psuedoego?
Great. Let's have it your way. There is a horrible math problem. It needs attention. Lots of work needs to be done and poor sharon grindle is the only visionary in the district with the capability, internal fortitude and insight to fix it. Well great now she will be getting 2 more people at no cost to taxpayers to help her with this task. She should be thrilled. And because she is so critical and cherished it can only be concluded that she will be re-elected. Unless of course she is found ...more to be in breach of privacy and federal employment laws.
As far as breach of contract, parents were being told for a couple of years now that there were issues with math but that it was corrected, only to have the same thing happen the following year. It was discussed publicly at some of the school board meetings. If your kids were in the grades affected, you were very aware of these issues. No bombshells or secrets were exposed by the press article, it's just the first time this subject was given media attention. It's also the first time we've teamed with our local high school in a combined effort to make sure our kids came in to their school better prepared.
setyoufree:"Apr 3, 10 8:37 PM
The board has time and time again overstepped the bounds of what it is they were elected to do. "
Instead of repetitive, unsubstantiated bellyaching, why don't you simply accuse this Board of specific actionable charges that you can bring to BOCES or the Dept of Education and be rid of them, instead of interminable moblike personal harassments trying to unseat duly elected officials who are there because they were democratically voted in by the Community?
But here's the big thing. To all of you rose colored glasses wearing lovers of Linda Rozzi that kept ...more pushing pushing pushing. Congratulations. You've basically now trashed her career. She will have trouble getting a job as dog catcher let alone superintendent at another district.
You are doing Linda Rozzi no favors. Don't kid yourself; don't sell your kids short and admit that their education has not suffered one bit since Mr. McCarthy has taken over as superintendent.
Speaking for myself, if my kid has suffered academically since Mr. McCarthy took over it is because a vindictive and spiteful board president forced out the old super to satisfy her own vengeance and now she wants to cut all assistant teachers to make up for the extra monies spent on things like buying properties that are too expensive to use, paying an interim superintendent $750/day while still having to pay the full contract for the old super, giving Ed Joseph's an undeserved $40,000 raise and spending an extra 20 grand or more to split the super and principal positions? Wake up! You act as if every kid to graduate Tuckahoe in the last three years is suffering academically and it is simply not true. In fact, how many Tuckahoe kids are now in the top of their class at Southampton and other high schools? Or do they not suit your argument? Once riccardi is gone we can begin to restore a sense of dignity, decency, and responsibility to our board and our district.
As for the USFD, it would be three members, not two as, thankfully, Riccardi's term ...more is over. Also, Grindle could have chosen to work WITH the petitioners to keep her seat. She could have chosen to work WITH the petitioners to figure out how to convert the school - something she herself championed on a number of occasions. Instead, she chose to attack the petitioners. She chose to publicly impugn everyone who signed that petition without having even attempted to speak to even one of them.
Stop attempting to rewrite history, Sharon.
Yep, we have SO far to go...
Grade 6 up 2.8%
Grade 7 up 1.4%
Grade 8 up 727%
Why mislead? You and "your people" are desperately trying to make everything about the poor performance of some students in one grade. Why? Because you support Grindle and she has a personal grudge? She has treated her constituents, ...more parents, teachers, and residents with disdain and contempt.
Again, the entire referendum was and IS about increased representation. The folks I know who are running for Riccardi's seat support a UFSD conversion and, if one of them should be elected, this nonsense will be put to rest. We could have avoided all of this if Sharon had bothered to actually reach out to the petitioners, many of whom have were not involved in the mess three years ago and who simply believed that three people is not enough, then we would not even be here.
As I said before, I am so looking forward to a new day at Tuckahoe with a new board that will, hopefully, treat parent and teachers with the respect and decency they deserve.