Subject: Pergrines not climate change
From: Art Cooley
Date: March 19, 2012

Subject: Updated info on South Country
From: Chris Picini <chrispicini@gmail.com
Date: March 2, 2012

 Unfortunately I was unable to attend the BOE meeting this past Wednesday due to a work commitment. I have spent a good part of today sorting through accounts from community members that were there as well as assessing the letters and op-ed piece in the LI Advance. As I read the Advance and sift through the documents I have in regards to these scandals I’m really confused about the BOE President and Vice Presidents statements in regards to Mr. O’Connell’s notice of claim and when they were made aware of it. In a letter to the editor today Kevin Kirk claims that he was notified at the same time as all the other BOE members about this claim. Based on the timeline I’ve put together I don’t see how that is possible. If he or someone else has information to disprove this timeline please let me know and I will correct my statements. It is not my intention to perpetuate any falsehoods.
 August 24, 2011: Kevin O’Connell submits a ‘notice of claim’ to the District Clerk. In this notice he alleges wrongful termination and claims to have information about grades being changed for a standout football player.
 August 24, 2011 or shortly after: The District Clerk forwards this information in an email to; Joe Cipp, Nelson Briggs, Victor Correa, Kevin Kirk & Doug Spencer (Guercio & Guercio).
 September 23, 2011: Kevin O’Connell submits to an examination by Douglas Spencer, ESQ. Mr. O’Connell is duly sworn in by the Notary Public. The examination takes place at central office on Dunton Ave. We all know what Mr. O’Connell alleges during his testimony.
 Sometime during the first week of December 2011: The NY Post publishes the now infamous article claiming grades were changed for a member of the championship football team. At some point during this week and prior to the BOE meeting on December 7th the BOE is given copies of Mr. O’Connell’s testimony. I believe this is the timeframe in which Kevin Kirk claims he received the notice of claim with all the other BOE members.
 The above timeline is FACT. It can not be disputed. Last week the office of Guercio & Guercio sent each BOE member copies of all communications (emails mostly) related to this claim.
 Now again if someone from the majority of the BOE wants to reach out to me and explain how I may have this timeline incorrect they should feel free to do so. Until then I will continue to present this as fact based on the information I have been privy to. So in my opinion the op-ed piece and Mr. Kirk’s letter to the editor are bogus, at least as they regard to Mr. Correa & Mr. Kirk. I have no knowledge and am not alleging any wrongdoing by any other majority member of the BOE. If you consider this timeline and the undisputed fact that Mr. Correa provided the Bronwyn Black report direct to Joe Cipp before his oath allowed him to, how can they claim no wrong doing? Again, if someone has information to prove my statement above is untrue please let me know but I suspect I will here from no one. Even if the allegation of grade changing is proven to be false (which is very, very unlikely) the handling of this claim by the BOE President, VP and senior administrators is corrupt at best.
 Now I’m told that Mr. Kirk claims he was on vacation the week in August when the original claim was sent to him and due to an emergency with his home he did not read the email dated August 24th. That may be true but to claim that he did not read it at all is either untrue or blatant incompetence, I’m not sure which is worse.
 Now once again as the Joe Cipp supporters begin to rally around their patriarch we once again are subjected to attacks on Kevin O’Connell’s character. He is being called incompetent and an extortionist. There are also claims that Mr. O’Connell has a checkered past with some of former past employers. I have no idea if he had any issues with his past positions with either the William Floyd SD or with Copiague. What I do know is that Mr. O’Connell received and exemplary recommendation from his supervisor in Copiague. And if he had some kind of issues at WF that are so terrible why was he hired in the first place? If they didn’t know about it then it certainly seems convenient to me that they know about it now. I don’t know Mr. O’Connell personally and have never met him. His past is none of my business. The fact remains, he made an allegation and that allegation seems to be true based on the report submitted by Ms. Black that was printed in the NY Post and Newsday. Every action taken to this point by our Superintendent leads us to believe he is guilty, from the alleged intimidation of those that testified against him to his attorney claiming that Mr. Cipp has the right to refute the testimony. If the investigation to this point didn’t prove his guilty then why would they feel the need to submit evidence to the contrary? All the while prolonging this investigation at the taxpayer’s expense. That doesn’t sound like someone that loves this community. It sounds more like someone trying to preserve their legacy.
 Now to address the notion that Mr. O’Connell was terminated due to incompetence, we need to put this into perspective. The prior year to Mr. O’Connell becoming principal the High School was evaluated by a committee from the NY State Department of Education. This committee is called the Joint Intervention Team (JIT). This committee submitted a report (available under FOIL) to the district known as the JIT report. There was plenty of controversy and alleged cover up of this report during Mr. O’Connell’s time as principal and it is doubtful that the BOE ever saw this report. This report is important because it was extremely critical of the buildings administration. So if this report showed the principal was incompetent then why was he elevated to Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources and not terminated like Mr. O’Connell. Does it have anything to do with his history with our Superintendent? You decide.
 Now if you take a moment and forget about the grade changing scandal, I know it’s hard to do but try. As I stated in my last email we must ask ourselves, is Mr. Cipp doing such a great job that we should be subjected to this type of controversy? Decide for yourself, our High School’s graduation rate for Regents diplomas is in the bottom 10% for Suffolk County. The percentage of graduates that attend a 4 year college is in the bottom 20% in Suffolk County. Then take a minute and visit www.greatschools.com. Look up or district and each individual school and see how they are doing. When an organization is struggling you have to look at the top and make a change. Now I know there are some that will blame teachers for this, if so call me, I’ll argue with you until I’m blue in the face. Are there teachers in our district that aren’t great, sure, but what organization doesn’t have a few week links? The question is what are the administrators doing to foster a better environment for learning? We have great teachers in our district just like many others on Long Island. The administration needs to treat the faculty like the professionals they are and provided a positive workplace, proper tools and guidance to better serve our students. Mr. Cipp may have many accomplishments on the gridiron but they do not entitle him to lead and institution whose responsibility is to educate our children, even if his supporters think so.
 For those of you who have not heard by now, the Cipp supporters have begun to rally. They are planning informative meetings and are encouraging supporters to come out for next weeks BOE meeting, even quoting some of my emails and accusing me (without using my name directly) as grandstanding for votes. All this means to me is that next weeks meeting will be a circus. At next weeks meeting we will be treated to a whole bunch of Cipp supporters and a whole bunch of Cipp critics speaking at the microphone, I’m just wondering if we will here from a Cipp supporter that did not play football. Will any parents come forward and speak about how Mr. Cipp saved their son even though he didn’t play football? I don’t know but I’m curious to find out. My fear for next week is that it will not be civil. There are those on both sides of this issue that in my opinion have behaved in a less then desirable fashion. Recent facebook posts actually use ignorant terms like “tar and feather” in reference to criticism of Joe Cipp and “old west lynch mob”. Those comments are meant only to further divide this community by using such hateful rhetoric. It is incredibly irresponsible during such an emotional debate. I urge all of those in my network to speak if they want to but do so respectably. Do not take the bait and sink to the level of anyone that seeks to drag you down. I consider my self to be a person of integrity which is why you will not hear me screaming at the microphone for terminations and resignations or making comments that are intended to provoke hate. I am simply going to continue to provide anyone that will listen with the information I have in a manor I feel respectable. It is inevitable that the truth will come out and I believe the truth will prove all of what I have stated in this email and those of the past few months. I hate to plead for patience but that is what we need at this point, but do not think it’s unimportant for you to attend BOE meetings. Anyone that is interested should be there to hear what’s happening for themselves. Also remember, this is not an anti football movement as the Cipp supporters continue to claim. This is about right and wrong, this is about educating the students in our community, this is about proper handling of tax dollars, it is NOT about vendetta’s or grudges, at least for me. The Cipp supporters continue to lump all of his critics into one group. They need to understand that there are a large number of residents that are reasonable and fair that appose Mr. Cipp and that we have had enough.
 As for the situation involving Mr. Miglino, there’s not much to say. Once the judgment is signed he will no longer be an employee of the district, which is not debatable. What is in question is his appeal. I’ve talk to BOE members on both the majority and the minority and it appears very unlikely that they will use district funds to pay for his appeal and that they will honor the judgment once it is signed. I do not know when exactly that the signing will take place but I understand it could be within the next week. What we all must take into account is the risk the BOE takes in not paying for this appeal. If Mr. Miglino wins then the district will be forced to reimburse him for his legal fees and any back wages between the time of his termination and the outcome of the appeal. I am guessing that the BOE’s decision not to fund these legal fees has to do with the fact that they believe he will not win. I’m also guessing that is from the advice of Guercio & Guercio. What are troubling are Mr. Miglino’s own words to a resident at this weeks meeting. Mr. Miglino stated “My appeal will bankrupt this district”, yes that is a quote directly from his mouth. Does this sound like someone that’s in it for the kids like he claims? How on Earth is this someone that cares for this community? He can claim all he wants that this is about politics since Reggie Seltzer is a democrat and he is a Conservative Republican that actively campaigns for local politicians. He can’t make that claim to me since I to am a Conservative Republican. This isn’t about politics, this is about right and wrong and I can care less how anyone votes on Election Day (except for school elections).
 Chris Picini

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