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Letter Missed the Facts

(Times Herald 9/11/07)

Letter to the Editor:

There have been many Letters to the Editor in the past regarding the Vallejo City Unified School District; some complimentary, some not.  I generally choose not to respond except when there are glaring errors of fact or a breach of professionalism.  Such was the case in a Letter to the Editor published earlier this week, so I am taking the time to respond.

It is difficult to imagine why an employee of the Vallejo City Unified School District would write a Letter to the Editor without first checking with the individuals responsible to get their perspective and all of the needed factual information.  What I am referring to is a letter to the editor written by Mr. William Innes, a teacher and educator at Cave Elementary School in the Vallejo City Unified School District.

Mr. Innes's letter is filled with numerous inaccuracies.  Let me respond to each inaccuracy one by one:

· Mr. Innes: Mr. Innes wonders how a candidate for a job could make it through the screening process without proper credentials.

My Response:   The candidate's papers provided to the District on the surface appeared to be valid and accurate.  The committees of teachers, parents and administrators that interviewed the candidate rated him highly.  Reference checking

yielded no concerns.  It was the excellent work of our credential specialist in our Human Resources Department that determined there could be a credentialing problem which we then began researching.

· Mr. Innes:   It cost $200,000 plus dollars to hire two people to do the job of one.

My Response : There were not two people in the same position nor  is the cost of the two positions $200,000.  The position of a Middle School Vice-Principal at

     is a budgeted position as is the vacant position of custodial supervisor that the individual was temporarily placed in while the credentialing issue was being researched. To leave the readers of the Letter to the Editor with the thought that $200,000 plus in additional dollars are being spent is inaccurate and unconscionable.

     Mr. Innes used this forum to publicly criticize Tish Busselle for doing her job.  She is the District's Public Information Officer, and works hard to keep the media informed.  Another of her responsibilities is to project enrollment, work with principals and Human Resources to determine staffing allocations, and help principals determine grade configurations.  All these tasks are critical to the District's financial well-being.  Projecting enrollment and staffing can have grave consequences if done inappropriately.  Mr. Innes seems to have forgotten that this School District was $27.8 million in the red 36 months ago and, today, has a balanced budget. 

     Secondly, to expect Ms. Busselle to find a solution to combination classes is an unreasonable comment.  Mr. Innes knows the solution is overstaffing, which was one of the major contributors to the District's financial problems three years ago. 

     Mr. Innes has a great gift.  He is a very talented and gifted writer.  Maybe he should consider using his talents more constructively rather than using his talents to communicate inaccuracies to the residents of this community without first checking the facts.  In doing so, he does an injustice to the District, the education profession and, in my opinion, violates the Code of Ethics of the organization that employs him.

Richard J. Damelio, Ed.D.

State Administrator

Vallejo City Unified School District

707 556-8921