Dr. Evert, thank you for all your years of service to the students of Beloit and Janesville. You deserved much better than this. Happy retirement!

OMG, Janesville could get on the A&E show City Confidential®. It's a true-life documentary series-- here's a synopsis:
*
"A city. A mystery. A story. Every seemingly normal city hides a mystery—an event that has changed it forever. City Confidential® scours the country to find these intriguing places and unearth their mysteries. Covering cities from Seattle to South Beach, each episode goes deep inside an American city to tell its unique story, probing the rich history that exists behind and beneath every community."

By losing an election?

How is it that the other "player(s)" did not lose their position(s)????/

If its true, it would make a great Lifetime movie. Three married couples, numerous infidelities, a murder plot. Crazy stuff!
Well, if I guessed the right players, that is.

Is there anyone who doesn't know at this point? All the Parker and Craig students do.

ihaveaife - good point. There are no secrets and the truth will come out. The way this situation has been handled only serves to worsen public reaction.

Trish. Thanks for doing the research. When there is an improper relationship between a superior and his/her employee, the superior is considered more culpable because they operate from a position of higher power. That thought can throw a slightly different slant on some situations. The school board is the superior of the superintendent and could have legal problems in these situations.

RichE, I am pretty sure I figured it out. Good hints.
Oh what a tangled web. Who would have thought this was all connected to that. Well, that is if I am right on my guess.

Slainte,

Apparently, you don't know much about Dr. Evert and his team's approach to communication. They call it like the see it. Without the "horrible comments" you referenced in a previous posting (see below). The truth is not always pretty.

You indicate you have an "inside track with the media". If true, you would know your words would come back to haunt you. Below is a post you made belittling this open forum. It makes me think you should change your name from "slainte" to "slant".

You appear to acting like a hypocrite.

"Mr. Angus-
I am thoroughly disgusted by the sewer that these comment boards have become. When the new website was originally launched, the comments were interesting and sparked conversation. Since then, however, this has become a forum to bash people covered in the news, as well as fellow commentors. I feel that this website has degraded not only the value of the news that the Gazette SHOULD be being paid for- not giving away for free- but also has degraded the Gazette's image in the community by allowing these horrible comments. I strongly feel that the Gazette reconsider the number of comment board that are allowed as well as the amount of free content allowed on the website. The Gazette will be no more if you keep giving away your product, which is the news. I don't know of any other business that can give away their product and stay profitable, do you????
At a social event last weekend, I was shocked by the number of people who now REFUSE to go onto the Gazette website because they find the comment boards so offensive and upsetting. I realize that you are quite fond of the website but perhaps you should reconsider that position."

It occurs to me that all this cloak & dagger intrigue is making things seem a lot worse than they are. On the whole, people have short attention spans. If the rumor had been addressed and stated as such (i.e., a rumor), I bet a lot of us would have shrugged our shoulders and moved on. But now that there's a perceived "cover-up" people are hyper-alert and looking for conspiracy theories.

insgal....
The answer to your question is April, 2009.
THANK YOU FOR ASKING!!!

SaraB - I wouldn't know how the Rotary Club documents. I found the item with a google search. Janesville Rotary and the names of the individuals led to a newsletter item. As the post from iknowwhy2 says - things will come out. I hope it will be in a way that the Gazette is free to publish. There has to be a middle ground between publishing rumors and publishing propaganda. That will be a test of journalism but I believe it can be done. Considering the inflammatory personal attacks from Ms Briarmoon that have been printed against the Police Chief and others, it is reasonable to believe that the school board should not be exempt, especially if the problem began in the board. If the truth raises doubt about the reputation of the board, the public has a right to know.

I don't know enough about the situation to really form an opinion, but I am sure Dr. Evert is not facing the obstacles other newly "job displaced" folks are. Unlike the workers at Lab Safety, he at least had time to get his affairs in order. Does the Rotary preserve its events with photographs?

Rich,
When I attempted to shed some light yesterday, not only was my blog entry deleted, my account was deleted. I received an email asking if I have pictures to prove what emplyees in the district seem to already know. The dilemma, the email said, for both the school board and the Gazette, is that of circumstancial evidence.
Remember the article a few days ago? It stated, "charges against specific persons which, if discussed in public, would be likely to have a substantial adverse effect upon the reputation of a person involved."
I guess the topics are still too sensitive to share. So the excuse is a breakdown of cummunication. I'm thinking there was pretty good communication going on, but I mean that sarcastically.
And one comment to those concerned about the health statement and "the bucket of worms" it could open up. I would think Dr. Evert would be more than happy to blame his release, in part, to his health.

Thank you Trish for reading my post before it was deleted. I understand why the Gazette deleted the post though I did not name names and asked readers to do a bit of research online themselves. I believe public officials knowingly forfit a certain right to privacy when they enter the public arena through election or high visible employment. I am sorry that the media has become an accomplice to intentional deception and spin control. That should not be the function of a free press.

As someone who has an inside track to the local media, I can tell you that there is MUCH more to Dr. Evert's early retirement than poor communication. However, I also feel that poor communication is a HUGE problem for any person in a leadership role, and should have been addressed sooner. However, the communication issue only came to a head with this current school board, as they refused to rubber stamp everything Dr. Evert wanted. Good for the board- keep it up!
My last comment is that I feel there are other highly compensated administrators, such as Dr. Salerno, who also suffer from some control/communication issues. As he was Evert's little pet, I would encourage the board to look into his communication abilities as well.
Good luck to Dr. Schulte. I am acquainted with Karen, I feel she is very bright and we could certainly use a female perspective in a leadership role.

JVLBadger, I believe you are correct. It is much, much bigger than a break down of communication. IMO. I read RichE's post before it was deleted and the information he posted was quite concerning, to say the least. I suspect more information will have to come out sooner or later.

Quoting the Gazette article: "In a news conference Tuesday night, board members cited few examples of the communications breakdown and often were vague about what the problems were."

Three closed meetings with a lawyer would seem to indicate that Dr. Evert's "early" retirement is a result of something far more serious than a so-called "failure to communicate." This communication failure appears to be nothing more than a smokescreen to divert the public's attention from a situation that possibly could be quite damaging to certain individuals and/or the School District of Janesville. Unfortunately, it seems that the school board was clutching at straws to try and come up with a plausible cover story. And a very weak cover story it was. I doubt very much that we will ever see in print the real reason for Dr. Evert's quick departure.

His leaving early is a BIG DEAL and it had to be something BIG to cause the school board to force him to do so.

I will add my "glad he is gone" to many of the others. I have a special needs grandson and the school was not meeting the requirements that the school agreed to meet with state supervison. After several failed meetings at the school, we attempted to meet with the Supt. He just refused to meet. Even with repeated attempts. Clear refusal to act. No open discussion, no attempt to understand and correct the issue. His refusal created the need for the state board to step in an force the required actions. He was only a roadblock. In no way did he serve the school, the board and most importantly the student.

I had a dealing with Mr. Evert years ago. We wanted to change schools where our daughter was attending and she was having trouble with the school. It was a school that had the pod system. She had a hard time concentrating in that environment. We went through all the channels and had no luck at all. So, we decided to contact Mr. Evert and he was very cold and unwilling to listen to us. We ended up moving to another part of town and our daughter attended a school that had traditional classrooms and she excelled in that environment. She has ranked among the top 2% of her class all the way through high school and we couldn't be happier for her. This isn't that much of a problem now with the school choice program now in place. But, it was very frustrating what our family went through.

He wasn't a people person at all. Very arrogant. Glad to see him go.

In the absence of any wrongdoing, I think the school board did a JOB on him. He was a fine Superintendent until this School Board. He served well for a number of years and apparently was ready to give up the helm in June. This is sad for our community. I'm still intersted in how well he communicated with those who worked directly with him.

I have to agree with analert citizen. If he answered one little question, word would have spread like wildfire and he would have been flooded with calls. Every time I saw him at the ESC or anywhere he always said hello with a smile. There is a lot of business to take care of in the next few months; and I'm sure it was difficult for the board (at least most members) to make this decision. We elected these people to do their job - now lets put some trust in them to do it.

It's Board President DuWayne Severson.

Think again Sarah.

I think the guy on the right is Studer.

Okay, the photo on the left is of Evert, but who's the guy on the right? The headline says 'Evert, board part ways' but that doesn't explain the photos.

I never threatened anyone, nor would I ever. I simply had a question they did not have an answer to. It wasn't a bad thing at all. They simply did not have the answer to my question and felt it would be better addressed by Mr. Evert.

Trish - Did this building adminstrator suggest you go ask Dr. Evert before or after you theatened to go directly to Dr. Evert when this administrator did not give you the answer you were looking for?

And apparently he wasn't so high and mighty as to not take care of his own email...just ask Quint Studer.

analertcitizen said:His role was not to deal with individual circumstances.Time could never permit that in an organization.

Your kidding me right?

analertcitizen....as an example; as a citizen myself, I had a question about something Dr. Evert had knowledge of, and publicly commented on. When I emailed him with a simple question, I received a response from his secretary advising that if I had any questions for Dr. Evert I should call her to set up an appointment JUST TO ASK THE QUESTION. If you think that is an acceptable way to conduct business, then I can understand why you are dismayed at his departure.

Superintendent Tom Evert was a Top Notch Man you should have kept him .

analertciziten, Why do you assume I was disgruntled or entitled? There is a chain of command. Teacher, principal, super, school board. I was told by the administration to contact Mr. Evert about a concern I had as they didn't have the answer. I was not skipping anyone or running "to the top", if I would have been doing that, I would have immediately gone to the school board.
Teachers should have open communication with their "boss", therefore should be able to have contact with him directly. I was told that was not the case.
I also run a business. If I had a disgruntled customer, which to this day, 9 years into our business we have never had, I would contact them to rectify the situation. My customers are my lively hood and therefore too important to me to ignore or push onto someone else because I am too good or too important to deal with them. I wouldn't have my business without them. How about you? Where would you be without your customers? Out of business.

Tjncj, my hand is not raised. I feel this has little to do with communication although I do feel communication was a problem. I think he got a little bit too much like Mr. Citizen up there and thought he was too good or to important to deal with us little people!

Whiel I do not think this is about communication, I as a teacher was never happy with his communication. During the last teacher contract negotiations he would always call the gazette with his side of the story before contacting teachers. It was almost a month of snow day issues (and saturday school) before we ever heard from him. We did not hear from the school district about this falls computer issues until AFTER Colleen Neuman was brave enought to call the Gazette.
**
It is interesting to note that the district employee with the lowest Studer survey scores may land a job with the Studer group after we pay him $50,000 + not to work for a few months.
**
If what he did was so wrong they should have fired him with cause. If it is just the board OVER micromanaging because they are so insecure they should have left him to do his job.

Irun a business. If I get a disgruntled or otherwise call from someone- I refer it to the specialist hired to handle the call.I don't personally call everyone back. I have to work.

Raise your hand if you think this about communication?

I have raised 6 children in this school district and never once found it necessary to contact the superintendent.I always thought that any situation should be dealt with through the school's administrator who reports to the superintendant.You must feel somewhat entitled to be able to "go to the top".His role was not to deal with individual circumstances.Time could never permit that in an organization.

analertcitizen, I can't say for the principals or other administration but as a parent, I can tell you communication was nonexistent. I tried to reach him many, many times and left numerous messages requesting a call back and never once got one. I remember posting just that a few months ago during the contract articles and a teacher responding that I shouldn't feel too bad as she was not able to get a call back from him either. She even stated that he wouldn't/didn't respond to her emails either. Other parents have stated the same complaint on the gazette and craigslist.

analertcitizen....YES the question IS how he communicated with the board, because that is who he answers to.

But beyond that, it's also how he communicated with the public, which is a big part of his job...of which the answer is NOT VERY WELL.

When is re-election for the School Board President?

The question is NOT how well Dr. Evert communicated with the ever changing school board(keep in mind that in the past 15 years there have been more than 5 school boards)but how has he communicated with the people who have worked closely under him like principals and other administrative staff personnel. We haven't heard from them.Have they trusted him for the last 15 years?

sangus...OK, I'll take your word for it.
I guess I didn't realize it because of so many dual stories...one in the "story" column and one in the "blog" column, where both have been allowed to continue simultaneously indefinitely.

Pixie - District employees were officially notified of the change in an e-mail sent at 1:51 on Wednesday afternoon.

I don't know why Severson did this to such a fine gentleman....

I hope your background is clean...!!!!

John Doe,

We've done it before on stories that generate lots of comments. Believe it or not, we don't have a full-time staff to monitor comments. We do the best we can, and sometimes we attempt to reduce the time required.

Scott Angus

Ice.......I believe that your comments are correct. A teacher's photo would have been accompanied by the true story.

"we removed the story from the latest news blog because it essentially was an earlier version of this story, and it's harder to monitor the comments on two stories than one."

What?

That never stopped you from running other stories and comments simultaneously before.

Sounds kinda lame to me.

Oops - Evret or Evert

You people who are talking about HIPPA and all that are not taking into account that the press release was probably checked by the LAWYER in the LAW OFFICE where they met. If Everet says it's o.k. to put in - then isn't it?

He would, but he doesn't communicate well.

This board is completely dysfunctional and contentious. Their actions are unwarranted and they should be ashamed of what they have done. Their micromanaging is out of control. Any superintendent candidate should look at these actions and see the writing on the wall. This once well-led, well run district is going down the drain.

Roadmaster,
I never said we wouldn't cover allegations against "common employees." I was responding to a comment that we would give greater coverage to such allegations while "whitewashing" allegations against a "big wig." Not true. Imagine if that had been the sheriff. It would have been much bigger news, and we would have covered it as such.

Scott Angus

I find it ironic that Evert was a toastmaster coach yet his communication skills have deteriorated...

"Can't we all just get along"? - Rodney King

Scott Angus, a couple of years ago the Gazette ran sensational headline story(s) about three corrections officers (common employees)who were discharged for internet use. This caused serious damage to their reputations even though they (2) were subsequently exonerated and got their jobs back.

When were the employees of the school district officially notified of the change of leadership?

No, Janesvillean, we removed the story from the latest news blog because it essentially was an earlier version of this story, and it's harder to monitor the comments on two stories than one.

Scott Angus

Notably, the Gazette has removed other stories on this from the news blog -- comments, article, and all. Presumably the concern is libel.

I have a hard time with the statement that kids looked up to Evert as a hero??? My children and the other children I spoke to after school today didn't even know who he was. All these kids were between the ages of 12-17 and have been in the district their whole lives.

OK he had a breakdown in communications. He was leaveing in June. Now we pay more tax money to have him leave early. $20,000.00 as one board member put it. And board member Stottler called it a senior slide so does that mean we send all seniors in school who start to slide packing. Come on we could have let this go untill June and then it woulfd not cost us more money. Good Grief

Ice, you're just plain wrong. Do you think this would have run across the top of the front page if it involved a "common employee"? Not a chance. And do you think we'd have written as many stories taking up as much space? No way.
As I've stated before, we don't report unsubstantiated rumors - about bigwigs or common employees. We report what we know to be true or what we are told by people in positions to know.

Scott W. Angus
Editor

Is that what you want, ice?

I'll say it again, but in a different way. I'll still probably find my comment removed. So be it. There's a whitewash going on here, because the Gazette only reports on people with no power in this town. Had this story involved a common employee from the school district, rather than one of the bigwigs, there would be far more information forthcoming. Names would be named, with little regard for the reputations of the individual.

cottonjoe is right, think of all the kids that look up to Evert as a hero. They are all let down. I wouldnt be suprised if the Dr. Tommy kids club disbands.

Good observation cottonjoe.

I guess we'll have to tune in to Paul Harvey to find out "the rest of the story."

It's just too bad it had to end this way. There's nothing good about it, especially the poor example it sets for the kids. I'm sure both sides can rationalize their actions, but cooler heads, greater professionalism, and dignified conduct needed to prevail. Without knowing more, I'd say both sides should be ashamed.

HIPAA may apply to the school board if the school district has a self insured health plan as they would be considered the administrators. Regardless, I believe HIPAA violations occur when you can identify a condition and a person. John Doe has lung cancer versus John Doe is ill.

The HIPPA privacy act doesn't apply to the school board. HIPPA only applies to health care providers, insurance companies, and health care clearing houses.

Just wondering if anyone has checked to make sure that all the monies are in the Fund 10 since there was such a rife over it?

Someone posted the reason in the other blog, linked by "inknowwhy" in the first post of this blog. It was deleted right away. I guess you have to just incinuate.

lets try and get BS off the schoolboard.
That would be Bob Sodamen, or how ever you spell it.

RichE95... people like you amaze me. "I know something you don't know....." Just say what you have to say and stop with the innuendos. If the Gazette deletes you, then they delete you but get off your high horse.

I'm glad the school board finally saw the light. I had a work related injury, caused by my bosses when I worked for the SDJ and Johnson would not hire anyone back with a dissability so therefore I lost my job. Evert didn't care that someone wasn't hired back do to a dissability. I'm glad he is finally leaving. Unless you have had to work for him and his administrators you have no idea what it is like!

sannio, I don't know what your job is, but Evert's job is governed by state laws and an employment contract.

Scott Angus misread my previous post. I did not say the Gazette should publish rumors even if it is widely known that some of the facts are more than rumors. I understand and appreciate the reluctance of the Gazette. My point is that the media is not always where the news is most accurately and completely reported - as odd as that may seem. The "communications" story released by the school board is lame to put it mildly. An issue last year would not have resulted in the private meetins and actions at this late date. It is very likely that the real reason was leaked by others involved in the situation, be it for revenge or any other purpose. It would be pointless to post the "real reason" on this blog without assurance from the Gazette that it would not be removed. In the fullness of time the information will have to come out. Perhaps a private citizen will need to pursue a freedom of information release if the media won't. I will go so far as to state that the situation involves more than Mr Evert and reaches to the board (past or present) itself. The Gazette has my permission to delete that last sentence but I would ask to to leave the rest of this post for valid discussion.

My wife's principal informed them first thing this morning. I agree that an email from the top would have been appropriate, but principals should probably have talked to their staff already. On the flip side, I believe all the buildings have been buzzing about what's happening already. I heard yesterday that Dr. Evert's releasal would be announced publicly at the end of the evening's closed session, which is exactly what happened. The teachers do already seem to know what's going on. In fact, I said this in the last blog, but if you want to know the real reason for the releasal, ask a teacher. It's no secret within, and it has nothing to do with the Studer Group. It goes back to the Board's comments in recent days about their reasons for closed session, which involved the need to protect the reputation of the employee being discussed and that discussion related to behavioral misconduct of the individual. They even went as far as to say the releasal of the information was sure to have significant adverse effects to that person's reputation. I believe the Board's lawyer found a way to keep all of that away from the public by craftily bringing up the Studer Group issue.

I guess it's "Dump on Dr. Evert" Day. I don't have a clue about what he supposedly did to warrant this, but it can't change the good work that he did for many years with the SDJ. In my dealings with him, he was very dedicated to public education and I always found him a pleasure to work with.

Why are there two photos shown?

1) How much did these three meetings in a lawyers office cost the taxpayers just to have him leave a few months early?
2) It said board members had to repeatedly ask for information. Welcome to my work day folks.
3) "Schulte will be paid extra—about $10,000—for her added responsibilities". Where's my extra compensation for increased responsibility.?
These people seem truly insulated from the Real World.

When I first came to the Janesville district, I thought I was very lucky to teach here. While I'm currently retired, I believe teaching morale was significantly diminished last year with the proposal of a very unattractive contract. The district wouldn't budge on the health issue, and the public didn't seem to be hearing the teachers when they tried to voice their opposition to paying into a pot that was actually earning the district millions of dollars each year. Their insurance fund surplus was already a source of approx. 2-3 million dollars that the district was adding to their Fund 10 balance each year. And Evert wanted them to pay MORE??? Teachers were feeling a lack of public support, as they kept hearing, "We have to pay for our insurance. In these rough times, it's your turn to pay too," and they wouldn't even hear just how unfair it really was under the circumstances that existed. The very close vote to ratify the contract last year (which I personally think only passed because of the number of teachers that just wanted it to be over) is a good indicator of how damaged this district has become. I believe Dr. Evert and his lack of being honest with the Board members is key in causing the poor climate that now exists. As was said, this used to be a wonderful district.

The board gets rid of Evert due to lack of communication. I just talked to a friend who works in the district and the staff has yet to be formally notified of the change in command by the Board or Mrs. Schulte--this is a continuation of the lack of communication in the district and NOT a good implementation of Studer principles!

""A board press release added one more reason for the action: Evert suffers from "a chronic health condition that is significantly impacted by stress.""

Not a good idea to include this. Now they opened the entire dismissal to the "Americans with disabilities act" That could be a huge ball of yarn to unravel.

This school board needs to be replaced almost to the person. The Janesville School District used to be a shining example of what a school district could be. Now it's... it's not.

Apparently the original blog is elsewhere.
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