Fredericksen To Be Reappointed Tuesday

Joe,

All of the outcry about Fredericksen’s leadership and the unethical actions of some board members had no effect. The board is set to reappoint him on Tuesday. His contract renewal is on the agenda for tomorrow, February 21st, soon after the board meeting begins at 1:30. None of the concerns of the public and parents, the complete lack of respect and confidence of the staff, the culture of fear imposed on employees, the past performance and questionable actions in Minnesota, and his performance here leading WCPS have not mattered to the board at all. They made no request for public input, no attempt to survey staff, no effort to investigate claims, and clearly no intelligent review of his last four years. If you are part of the problem, it is difficult to become the solution.

What will the press release say? Typically you tout accomplishments and strategic vision in such things. “Dr. Fredericksen has led WCPS to four failing years on student achievement tests. He has completely lost the confidence and respect of his staff and alienated the community members with whom he has had contact. But he has been our puppet and supported our own personal motives and questionable actions, so we welcome him back for four more years. We need to hold this ball of yarn together and don’t believe the children of Wicomico County deserve any better than this.”

All of that alone should be enough without the pending legal actions that have already begun. By filing the defamation claim against White, Moses and Messick were smarter than Fredericksen. Then again, that bar is pretty low. Now White, Fredericksen, and others will begin to answer about relationships and communications and they will have to release records so that Fredericksen can no longer ignore timelines on public information requests and lie on responses. The unions will scamper to get themselves removed from the claim arguing that White was acting on his own in conjunction with Fredericksen. Even if Fredericksen wanted to help out his only buddy, White, the board’s insurance plan would not allow it. White will be alone on an island and the unraveling will begin soon and who knows where it will end.

By the time that saga concludes, there won’t be much of a board of education or a Fredericksen around. It makes you wonder what is wrong with the board. Your article on pension bailout is telling. That cost is coming to the local government or board of ed. According to our website, Fredericksen came here at 58 years old and likely a retiree from Minnesota with a pension there. Once the board gives him a new contract, he’ll be vested in the Maryland pension system (5 years). With the cost now about to be paid locally, Wicomico County citizens will be paying for Fredericksen’s pension no matter how long he endures the legal battle facing him. Aren’t we lucky.

We should thank the board for that lifetime bill, especially for a guy who hates Wicomico County and the Shore. From the beginning he has made ongoing weird and defamatory comments about us. He tells people that he is privileged as an educated white man with a doctorate and actually believes that they open lines in Target just for him. Seriously. When he first arrived he commented on going to church here that had a confederate flag so much that staff members checked it out. It was a cemetery marker of a Civil War soldier outside the church. He told a parent, who he didn’t know was an employee, that if she was so concerned about gang activity in schools she should put her kids in private school. Because he had such a difficult time adjusting to here, he once hired a customer relations firm (for one meeting) to help people interact. They left when they realized he was the only one having trouble interacting, but at the preparation meeting one staff member trying to help him said she had to transition when she came here from another state. Fredericksen replied, “Why, because you have a doctorate but not a pickup truck.”

Wow, four more years. Let’s all thank the board. At least we have this blog to detail every aspect of Fredericksen and the board for the next four years. I’m sure they are looking forward to that as well.

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