Deasy’s Distressing Lack of Real Leadership

By Duane Tucker

I have been closely following the goings on in the School District of late. It seems that more than a few folks have been questioning Superintendent John Deasy’s credibility.

As a long time member of this community, a writer and an avid supporter of the Santa Monica-Malibu School System, I decided to see if these recent problems were an aberration or actually the tip of some administrative iceberg.

The first thing that I couldn’t help but notice is that Mr. Deasy seems to have no problem when it comes to stretching the truth in order to convince people that his position, whatever the subject of the moment may be, is the correct one.

Then, I noticed School Board members being quite surprised by public testimony at a few meetings over the past year. Apparently Mr. Deasy had not been forthright with the members beforehand regarding the topics being proposed on the agenda.

The results of my very brief, ad hoc investigation were startling.

Research into Mr. Deasy’s past administration of the Coventry School District in Rhode Island turned up some interesting comments. Besides surprise over some financial slight-of-hand that came to light when he left, the Coventry Courier also reported that there was quite a bit of commentary regarding the trampling of the employees’ First Amendment rights, the climate of fear he engendered, and a history of outright misrepresentation to the local school board.

For example, after Mr. Deasy left the Coventry School District, the School Board President, a Mr. Butler, said, "The (school) system is in shambles right now." ("Coventry Citizens Attack Taxes," 6/7/02)

And in a letter to the Editor of the Coventry Courier, one correspondent said, “By forcing the implementation of all sorts of resume-building changes that were not proven to be effective anywhere else, he alienated not only the teachers and the parents, but also the students, and then conveniently left before he could witness or be held accountable for how questionable their success was and the price tag they incurred.” (LETTERS: "School Teachers Should Have to Check 1st Amendment Rights at the Door," 3/15/02)

It may be instructive to our own City Council to hear that the town of Coventry subsequently had to take over the finances of the School District!

My little investigation also discovered that besides the controversy surrounding the Gift Policy, there seems to be quite a brouhaha developing about Mr. Deasy’s determination to install Charter Schools in the District -- and to have his hand-picked friends from Rhode Island’s Big Picture Company lead this Charge to Charters.

For example, I contacted the ExEd Company of Santa Monica. These are the people who shepherded the Charter process at Palisades and Granada Hills High Schools. Amazingly, they had never been contacted to offer a bid or advice on Charter strategies in the SMMUSD. Yet Mr. Deasy claims that this was an open process and it just so happened that a Rhode Island Company was the best choice. This situation begs credulity.

My contacts at the teachers’ union are extremely concerned about the Superintendent’s reckless drive to Charter at any cost. It seems that Mr. Deasy is feeling emboldened by his new three-year contract. He has even been quoted as saying that, “The Board trusts me and supports me. I don’t care if anyone else doesn’t want them (charter schools)”

The teachers’ union President, Mr. Harry Keiley, just wrote a scalding letter to the community questioning the shaky numbers used to justify the financing of these Charters, no less any demonstrated need.

Again, from the Coventry Courier, “It is apparent that our former Schools Superintendent John Deasy had grand dreams for the Coventry School District. During his time here, the Town of Coventry enjoyed a reputation as one of the best, most successful, most innovative school systems in the state -- if not the nation. It's also apparent that Deasy skipped town without filling the rest of us in on how he intended to pay for those dreams.” (EDITORIAL "How Much Can Taxpayers Take?" 2/22/2)

Deasy also has a record of removing top administrators. Coventry’s Cheryl Ann McNeely wrote, "The ship started listing when Mr. Deasy took over, and in less than six years he gutted the top administrators."

And again Ms. McNeeley, “Dr. Brown, Sue Bourne, Dennis Wilkinson and many others refused contract renewal because they did not agree with the superintendent. The school committee (Board) did nothing for these people.” (LETTER: "School Department Needs a Lifeboat," 8/3/01)

If Santa Monica and Malibu don’t want to be left holding the bag when Mr. Deasy is finished polishing his resume in three years, I strongly suggest that board members get out to the schools and into the community as I did before continuing to vote blindly for Mr. Deasy’s proposals.

As I travel extensively in my work, I could only devote a small amount of my time to this most serious matter confronting our community. Nevertheless, I found time for telephone calls and a few lunches with District friends and acquaintances and a little time researching online. I hope that I have contributed in a positive way to the discussion of our District’s present and future life.

Have the School Board members similarly done their homework?