Mystic Valley Regional Charter School

SCHOOL NOT FORTHRIGHT WITH PAYROLL; GETTING MYSTIC VALLEY DATA A LENGTHY PROCESS, August 8, 2010, Boston (MA) Globe

The Mystic Valley Regional Charter School says its mission is to provide its students a world-class education that incorporates “selected core virtues and the fundamental ideals of our American culture, which are embodied in the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution.’’

But the Malden-based school has provided incomplete responses to the Globe’s requests for payroll records, sought under the state’s public records law beginning on April 21.

The paper’s request for payroll data was made about the time that local residents began to raise questions about Mystic Valley’s finances after the school paid $4.4 million in cash for a vacant car lot in Malden. Since it was founded 12 years ago, in rented space, the charter school has amassed a $10.1 million real estate portfolio that includes three houses, two school buildings, and a fire station leased to the city…

But for more than six weeks, the Globe has been trying to obtain an accurate account of the names, job descriptions, and gross annual salaries of Mystic Valley staff. Payroll data were promptly provided by city officials for public school employees in Malden, Medford, Melrose, and several other local communities…

“We’ve responded to you already, with what you wanted,’’ said Jordan Shapiro, the school’s legal counsel, during a telephone interview on Wednesday. “If you want something further, something in addition to what we have already provided, we will have to go gather that information. When you get specific and tell us what you want, we’ll follow the law and the rules and you’ll get what you want eventually.’’…

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Who set this up? I assume the teachers unions!!!

The Perimeter Primate said...

To Anonymous,

I presume by "this" you mean the website.

To answer your question: I'm not a teacher and I'm not a member of any union. But I am a public school-supporting U.S. citizen who is disgusted by all the charter school shenanigans going on.

Unknown said...

Hello? Anonymous? Get some background before you shoot a cowardly comment.
This article is the "tip of the iceburg".
Requests for public information (i.e. salaries funded by the taxpayers), are perfectly credible inquiries.
As it is, the Teachers' Union has bigger fish to fry. Have you ever taught? Had a child in the Public School system? Do you know what it feels like to have people in power, using their clout to line their pockets? All the while their kids never go without, and everyone else is left to work twice as hard to make a better experience for their families.
Shame on you. The "all-for-me" attitude is the same one that chips away at the integrity of basic decency. BOOOOOOOOOOO to you, "Anonymous".

UnOfficial MVRCS said...

Check out what we've done as a result of this article and the banter that was as a result.
A blog....

UnOfficialMVRCS.blogspot.com

The Perimeter Primate said...

Individuals concerned about what is going on at this school have started their own website @ http://unofficialmvrcs.blogspot.com/

The title is "The UnOfficial MVRCS Blog"

The description is "The sharing and positive discussion of information, experiences, and concerns at MVRCS without censorship. Political tactic: When you can't defeat the argument, attack the person making the argument."

The Perimeter Primate said...

People disgusted with this charter school are posting on Facebook.


http://www.facebook.com/UnOfficialMVRCS#!/UnOfficialMVRCS?v=wall

Anonymous said...

I would like to see an investigative journalist look into the fact that Mystic Valley Regional Charter School's reputation as one of the "best" schools in Massachusetts is a marketing creation. Besides this fact, the school has a known felon employed in their business office. The head of the board is also a city councilman (a conflict of interest) who has been allowed by the city to buy real estate for pennies on the dollar and rent it back to the city. There are a lot of unscrupulous activities at this school which takes public funds from public schools and is making a profit. This is not a good school at all. The recent scandal with the school only underscores their incompetence.

A Student said...

I really do not see why my school has such a bad reputation; it provides an above-average education, even including the international bacheloriate program, and has a good community. There aren't even that many of us, and frankly, I fail to see why you seem to despise us as much as you do. I have been attending since kindergarten (I am currently a sophomore) and I am perfectly content with my school. I want to be educated, and I could not receive any education as good as the one I have at Mystic Valley without having to pay some obscene amount of money just to attend HIGH school, and then pay even more to attend college afterwards. Let me and my friends go to school; if you have problems with us, they are entirely your own problem.

student said...

Um....just saying, I understand that our school might have a shady history, but I want evidence! I keep hearing people saying about how bad we are. They act like we are all snobby rich kids who always get our way. Guess what! Were not!! We are average people like you! So please-please- don't insult us students as well. If possible, don't insult our SCHOOL in general without evidence! Thank you for reading