26 thoughts on “Anyone get the feeling no one knows where the money is at Pencader Charter High School? #PCHS”
Now that is what I call an interesting question, Alan. I guess they forgot to tell you that the school is no longer contracting with Innovative Schools for any work at all ….it looked like Amanda Fraser knew it though by the look she sent Ann’s way. Just sayin’…….
Maybe the Board should rename the school the Pencader Charter High School of Secrets and Scandals?
ROFL
So did anyone correct him? Do you have any more footage you didn’t post yet?
@ Susan I am upset with the school too, just as much as you, but please, for the love of God, stop laughing and making stupid jokes, there is not one effing funny thing about any of this. Maybe your child is fine now. There are some of us who will have a kid who will now either graduate from a tarnished, disgraced, train wreck of a school, or from a new, different school, with kids they have not bonded with over the last three years, and will not know any teachers. How is any of this funny?
Above is a video from a man who has brainstormed and worked very hard for at least the last year, trying to help the school out and make it work, and, at least from the looks of this video, is being kept in the dark.. what a slap in the face to him ! Again, how is any of this funny?
Ms. Scheinberg did go into the hallway as he left to give him accurate info.
And PM, I think some of the snickering on here is just a coping mechanism. It is all very sad.
Pencadermom,
Really? Minnehan said something funny. Goodness. You have to lighten up some. If you are truly so bothered, then why were you not at the SB meeting? We all work, but you could have made it a priority. If your children are a priority, that is!?
Why didn’t you address Minnehan that said the joke? Goodness. I have a feeling all you do is sit home and fan yourself over your computer saying “how upset you are”. If you really care, and want to see this school saved and things to turn around then take action!
A mother bear can change the world! Yes, I am a mother bear, and yes, I changed the “world” for my child while they were there.
Pencadermom,
You were laughing on the other thread (“A very interesting question…), which you wrote 5 minutes after admonishing me for laughing/joking.
Really??? That’s so hypocritical. Just sayin.
I apologize. It felt like some were making a joke out of it. I didn’t really read Ms. Minnehans comment as such.. more like ‘oh wow, it should be called.. whatever”. –This is the part of blogs and social media in general that I don’t like, hard to always get the full point of someones comment (yours, Ms. Minnehans, and my response for examples) just by written words, without facial expression or voice tones.
You caught me at the wrong moment, my mood and how I was feeling about all of this right at that moment, but, also, I actually didn’t mean for it to sound as harsh as it did to you, and I am sorry for that, and sorry I wrote it.
Just like I’m sure you didn’t really mean to say that it is so easy for everyone with a job to just up and walk out to go to a meeting, and if you can’t, you must not care about your kids.. I will try to assume you didn’t mean it that way.
Apology accepted. I am also sorry for responding as I did. I know all of this is an emotional roller coaster. I just had a hard time with the fact you also were laughing 5 minutes after admonishing me.
I would never laugh directly at the situation. It really is a horrible nightmare, and I really, really feel sorry for the kids and the impact it will have on their future respect for authority of any kind.
Pencadermom, I really felt badly for Alan because as you said he has worked hard for the school and there sat Ann right next to him, nodding her head, and she knew damned well that he didn’t know what was up….that is the height of arrogance. I know because it has happened to me, too…and I can’t imagine how much those folks sitting around the Board table have not been told. What I do know is that they’ve been told much less than they have not been told….that’s called “control” folks….and that blond lady is an absolute master at it…..
John, thank you for your replies.. makes sense. Well, except Ms. Scheinberg is not on the board right? So really he wasn’t corrected by the people who should have been correcting him.
yes, Susan I sit home all day fanning myself. So if I didn’t leave work, that means my kids are not a priority? wow, classy.
Pencadermom,
Your post was downright rude and hypocritical considering you posted 5 minutes later a joke on another post? And that’s classy?
As I read this, I think Pencadermom thought you “ROFL” was in response to the video not in response to Harrie Ellen Minnehan’s post “Maybe the Board should rename the school the Pencader Charter High School of Secrets and Scandals?” I agree with you that is funny (although sad, too!).
Pencadermom laughs at times to as I saw in other posts. I think she owes you an apology, and you owe her some understanding.
We need to stick together!
Look, someone needed to tell him. Innovative is out and the Scanlans are in. Admin didn’t correct him. No board members corrected him. I kept waiting for that, but it never happened. There were several times last night when I thought I just burst. I held my tongue for the most part – but I did have to interject when the board failed to actually vote on its new member. You can’t just move and second something. That doesn’t do the job. You have to vote on it… It’s the law. The board was moving to install a Secretary whom they hadn’t actually voted onto the board, yet, when I interrupted their meeting. It was hard to watch…
They have so much to learn. And not nearly enough time to do so.
Two years ago this school found itself at the bottom of a deep, dark financial well because of gross board mismanagement. The meeting I attended Thursday night was probably the most poorly organized and managed meeting I’ve ever attended, incuding Girl Scout meetings as a little kid. This is a school in crisis and that level of seriousness was not demonstrated at all. Again, the issue of lack of communication prevails: Mrs. Lewis handed out a list of “vendors” with no detail as to contract amounts, vendor competitors, dates, etc. So who knows where the money is going. All we know, and not from the Board Meeting, but from internal email communnications, is that Innovative Schools isn’t getting any of it anymore. To be frank it appeared that the people who cared the most were the parent visitors to the meeting, not the board membes themselves. There are exacting rules and laws on how board meetings for public organizations are to be organized and managed and this board needs to grab a copy of Roberts Rules asap and read it. If Pencader is to remain open and thrive the Board has some serious change-up ahead. There is no experience sitting at that table and other than a social studies teacher and a paraprofessional not much depth to the knowledge about education. Dr. Jones has enormous experience but there was a lot of ignoring going on while he spoke. The job of the Board is definitely not to protect the school leader. She is your employee, not your best friend. Sorry, Judi. That’s how it goes. Check Robert’s Rules.
This school could have been (still could be?) great. This ignorance has to stop, and it’s even more disturbing that it’s on my (our) dime!
I want to know how the SB and Pencader leadership can ignore the cheating and the fraud that has gone on at this school this past year? A fake Phd, are you kidding me? Are the SB members that ignorant and uneducated that they believe her intentions were good and she really worked for a Phd without a dissertation? Please do some research on this issue!
It doesn’t matter that a Phd was not required for her job. It was fraud and intentional misleading on a resume. For goodness sake, the kids knew her as Dr. Lewis! This is grounds for being fired at McDonalds! Don’t the kids at Pencader deserve more than this?
Intentional fraud to the pension office (letter stating teachers were terminated shows intent)? Need I say more?
My question to the current SB is:
When a child is brought before you for misconduct (ie. cheating on a test or whatever), and you have to decide to expel/punish him, how are you going to handle that when you cannot do the right thing here???
It’s no wonder that kid’s today do not understand ethics and integrity because they do learn from those around them! Parents are still sending their kids there for this kind of an education? Wow. Just Wow.
Elizabeth, thank you for telling him. To me it was hard to watch his enthusiasm and to know he is working on trying to figure things out and hear, from the board..crickets.
Elizabeth, when did you tell him? During or after the meeting? This is so disturbing. I applaud you, Elizabeth for speaking as a tax payer. I wish I had of known, thought about it, and gone with you!
He needed to leave early, so the CBOC report went first. I exited the room as he left and just shared that Innovative was no longer contracted with the school and that the Scanlans have been hired to do the back office stuff. I just wanted him to know that so that when he went to follow-up on his suggestions, he knew where to direct his questions.
How surprised was he with this news? What was his response?
I really believe that had this atrocious behavior (fake Ph.D; pension fraud; etc. etc. etc. more to come, always more to come) had happened under the watch of any Board previous to the one this year or last Lewis would have been gone the night that the Diploma Mill story hit. that is exactly what would have happened in ANY OTHER DELAWARE CHARTER SCHOOL. How long and how bad does it have to get before this board wakes up? Do they not understand the undercurrent of anger out there in the community? I certainly hope they are not living under the delusion that people will congratulate them for a great decision if they keep Lewis. What an embarrassment. I know the board lacks experience but surely they don’t lack common sense, too. Well, not all of them, I hope. Why would you vote to keep an unethical leader in a business school? What does that tell your students/ parents? the taxpayers? It’s just disgusting, embarrassing and about as wrong as anything can be. Maybe Mrs. lewis will wake up tomorrow and suddenly realize the damage she is causing is so huge that she needs to leave now.
By the way, NOBODY made her pretend she had a doctorate that she didn’t have; NOBODY made her try to deceive the Pension Office into thinking she had terminated her husband. To her argument that I made this happen: no! I don’t have that kind of power! And NO, there are NOT hundreds of teachers in Delaware doing what he and two other Pencader teachers were doing: accepting pensions and full paychecks from the same employer, the State of Delaware. You just can’t do that.
Kathy – Surprised is the appropriate word to describe his reaction. The second word I would use is harried. As I returned to the room, a NJ reporter approached him.
I was a witness to Mrs. Scheinberg’s revelation that Innovative Schools was no longer in play. The CBOC person was stunned and befuddled.
Very sad to say the least. It’s just turned into an absolute circus. In the beginning, she was so quick to judge and throw the previous School Leader under the bus, it really showed her character from the beginning.
Obviously there were financial problems, but at least Brad Catts didn’t drag the school through the mud.
Wow. It is bad when previous ousted leader is a favorable comparison
I will always believe that was part of her plan from the beginning. She had her eyes set on that position. In the end, she not only ruined a school, but a man’s reputation and family.
Now that is what I call an interesting question, Alan. I guess they forgot to tell you that the school is no longer contracting with Innovative Schools for any work at all ….it looked like Amanda Fraser knew it though by the look she sent Ann’s way. Just sayin’…….
Maybe the Board should rename the school the Pencader Charter High School of Secrets and Scandals?
ROFL
So did anyone correct him? Do you have any more footage you didn’t post yet?
@ Susan I am upset with the school too, just as much as you, but please, for the love of God, stop laughing and making stupid jokes, there is not one effing funny thing about any of this. Maybe your child is fine now. There are some of us who will have a kid who will now either graduate from a tarnished, disgraced, train wreck of a school, or from a new, different school, with kids they have not bonded with over the last three years, and will not know any teachers. How is any of this funny?
Above is a video from a man who has brainstormed and worked very hard for at least the last year, trying to help the school out and make it work, and, at least from the looks of this video, is being kept in the dark.. what a slap in the face to him ! Again, how is any of this funny?
Ms. Scheinberg did go into the hallway as he left to give him accurate info.
And PM, I think some of the snickering on here is just a coping mechanism. It is all very sad.
Pencadermom,
Really? Minnehan said something funny. Goodness. You have to lighten up some. If you are truly so bothered, then why were you not at the SB meeting? We all work, but you could have made it a priority. If your children are a priority, that is!?
Why didn’t you address Minnehan that said the joke? Goodness. I have a feeling all you do is sit home and fan yourself over your computer saying “how upset you are”. If you really care, and want to see this school saved and things to turn around then take action!
A mother bear can change the world! Yes, I am a mother bear, and yes, I changed the “world” for my child while they were there.
Pencadermom,
You were laughing on the other thread (“A very interesting question…), which you wrote 5 minutes after admonishing me for laughing/joking.
Really??? That’s so hypocritical. Just sayin.
I apologize. It felt like some were making a joke out of it. I didn’t really read Ms. Minnehans comment as such.. more like ‘oh wow, it should be called.. whatever”. –This is the part of blogs and social media in general that I don’t like, hard to always get the full point of someones comment (yours, Ms. Minnehans, and my response for examples) just by written words, without facial expression or voice tones.
You caught me at the wrong moment, my mood and how I was feeling about all of this right at that moment, but, also, I actually didn’t mean for it to sound as harsh as it did to you, and I am sorry for that, and sorry I wrote it.
Just like I’m sure you didn’t really mean to say that it is so easy for everyone with a job to just up and walk out to go to a meeting, and if you can’t, you must not care about your kids.. I will try to assume you didn’t mean it that way.
Apology accepted. I am also sorry for responding as I did. I know all of this is an emotional roller coaster. I just had a hard time with the fact you also were laughing 5 minutes after admonishing me.
I would never laugh directly at the situation. It really is a horrible nightmare, and I really, really feel sorry for the kids and the impact it will have on their future respect for authority of any kind.
Pencadermom, I really felt badly for Alan because as you said he has worked hard for the school and there sat Ann right next to him, nodding her head, and she knew damned well that he didn’t know what was up….that is the height of arrogance. I know because it has happened to me, too…and I can’t imagine how much those folks sitting around the Board table have not been told. What I do know is that they’ve been told much less than they have not been told….that’s called “control” folks….and that blond lady is an absolute master at it…..
John, thank you for your replies.. makes sense. Well, except Ms. Scheinberg is not on the board right? So really he wasn’t corrected by the people who should have been correcting him.
yes, Susan I sit home all day fanning myself. So if I didn’t leave work, that means my kids are not a priority? wow, classy.
Pencadermom,
Your post was downright rude and hypocritical considering you posted 5 minutes later a joke on another post? And that’s classy?
As I read this, I think Pencadermom thought you “ROFL” was in response to the video not in response to Harrie Ellen Minnehan’s post “Maybe the Board should rename the school the Pencader Charter High School of Secrets and Scandals?” I agree with you that is funny (although sad, too!).
Pencadermom laughs at times to as I saw in other posts. I think she owes you an apology, and you owe her some understanding.
We need to stick together!
Look, someone needed to tell him. Innovative is out and the Scanlans are in. Admin didn’t correct him. No board members corrected him. I kept waiting for that, but it never happened. There were several times last night when I thought I just burst. I held my tongue for the most part – but I did have to interject when the board failed to actually vote on its new member. You can’t just move and second something. That doesn’t do the job. You have to vote on it… It’s the law. The board was moving to install a Secretary whom they hadn’t actually voted onto the board, yet, when I interrupted their meeting. It was hard to watch…
They have so much to learn. And not nearly enough time to do so.
Two years ago this school found itself at the bottom of a deep, dark financial well because of gross board mismanagement. The meeting I attended Thursday night was probably the most poorly organized and managed meeting I’ve ever attended, incuding Girl Scout meetings as a little kid. This is a school in crisis and that level of seriousness was not demonstrated at all. Again, the issue of lack of communication prevails: Mrs. Lewis handed out a list of “vendors” with no detail as to contract amounts, vendor competitors, dates, etc. So who knows where the money is going. All we know, and not from the Board Meeting, but from internal email communnications, is that Innovative Schools isn’t getting any of it anymore. To be frank it appeared that the people who cared the most were the parent visitors to the meeting, not the board membes themselves. There are exacting rules and laws on how board meetings for public organizations are to be organized and managed and this board needs to grab a copy of Roberts Rules asap and read it. If Pencader is to remain open and thrive the Board has some serious change-up ahead. There is no experience sitting at that table and other than a social studies teacher and a paraprofessional not much depth to the knowledge about education. Dr. Jones has enormous experience but there was a lot of ignoring going on while he spoke. The job of the Board is definitely not to protect the school leader. She is your employee, not your best friend. Sorry, Judi. That’s how it goes. Check Robert’s Rules.
This school could have been (still could be?) great. This ignorance has to stop, and it’s even more disturbing that it’s on my (our) dime!
I want to know how the SB and Pencader leadership can ignore the cheating and the fraud that has gone on at this school this past year? A fake Phd, are you kidding me? Are the SB members that ignorant and uneducated that they believe her intentions were good and she really worked for a Phd without a dissertation? Please do some research on this issue!
It doesn’t matter that a Phd was not required for her job. It was fraud and intentional misleading on a resume. For goodness sake, the kids knew her as Dr. Lewis! This is grounds for being fired at McDonalds! Don’t the kids at Pencader deserve more than this?
Intentional fraud to the pension office (letter stating teachers were terminated shows intent)? Need I say more?
My question to the current SB is:
When a child is brought before you for misconduct (ie. cheating on a test or whatever), and you have to decide to expel/punish him, how are you going to handle that when you cannot do the right thing here???
It’s no wonder that kid’s today do not understand ethics and integrity because they do learn from those around them! Parents are still sending their kids there for this kind of an education? Wow. Just Wow.
Elizabeth, thank you for telling him. To me it was hard to watch his enthusiasm and to know he is working on trying to figure things out and hear, from the board..crickets.
Elizabeth, when did you tell him? During or after the meeting? This is so disturbing. I applaud you, Elizabeth for speaking as a tax payer. I wish I had of known, thought about it, and gone with you!
He needed to leave early, so the CBOC report went first. I exited the room as he left and just shared that Innovative was no longer contracted with the school and that the Scanlans have been hired to do the back office stuff. I just wanted him to know that so that when he went to follow-up on his suggestions, he knew where to direct his questions.
How surprised was he with this news? What was his response?
I really believe that had this atrocious behavior (fake Ph.D; pension fraud; etc. etc. etc. more to come, always more to come) had happened under the watch of any Board previous to the one this year or last Lewis would have been gone the night that the Diploma Mill story hit. that is exactly what would have happened in ANY OTHER DELAWARE CHARTER SCHOOL. How long and how bad does it have to get before this board wakes up? Do they not understand the undercurrent of anger out there in the community? I certainly hope they are not living under the delusion that people will congratulate them for a great decision if they keep Lewis. What an embarrassment. I know the board lacks experience but surely they don’t lack common sense, too. Well, not all of them, I hope. Why would you vote to keep an unethical leader in a business school? What does that tell your students/ parents? the taxpayers? It’s just disgusting, embarrassing and about as wrong as anything can be. Maybe Mrs. lewis will wake up tomorrow and suddenly realize the damage she is causing is so huge that she needs to leave now.
By the way, NOBODY made her pretend she had a doctorate that she didn’t have; NOBODY made her try to deceive the Pension Office into thinking she had terminated her husband. To her argument that I made this happen: no! I don’t have that kind of power! And NO, there are NOT hundreds of teachers in Delaware doing what he and two other Pencader teachers were doing: accepting pensions and full paychecks from the same employer, the State of Delaware. You just can’t do that.
Kathy – Surprised is the appropriate word to describe his reaction. The second word I would use is harried. As I returned to the room, a NJ reporter approached him.
I was a witness to Mrs. Scheinberg’s revelation that Innovative Schools was no longer in play. The CBOC person was stunned and befuddled.
Very sad to say the least. It’s just turned into an absolute circus. In the beginning, she was so quick to judge and throw the previous School Leader under the bus, it really showed her character from the beginning.
Obviously there were financial problems, but at least Brad Catts didn’t drag the school through the mud.
Wow. It is bad when previous ousted leader is a favorable comparison
I will always believe that was part of her plan from the beginning. She had her eyes set on that position. In the end, she not only ruined a school, but a man’s reputation and family.