The Coloradoan had an article reporting on the February 11, 2008 board meeting at TPAAK.
http://www.coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200880212008
A forum was started and for some reason it was removed. There is some shady business dealings that are going on at the TPAAK that need to be brought to the light. Many of these people have previous ties.
A new forum has been created at
http://groups.google.com/group/maketpaakbetter
It is just getting started so please join and contribute.
The charter school industry seems very incestuous and there is a reason these people continue to open schools. Please add information where you can.
Here are the main Players
Annette W. Riesel - School Founder
Terry Gogerty - Mosaica Education Inc., Director of Business Development
Barry Arrington - Attorney for Mosaica, TPAAK, etc
???? - Financial Guy who crafted the deal
Randy DeHoff - Colorado Charter School Institute, Executive Director
Laura Szech - Acting Chief Administrative Officer,
Lewis Reese - Former Chief Administrative Officer
Kristen Auen - TPAAK's Uncertified Kindergarten Teacher
Others???? Shell non-profit corporations, and their board members
School Board Members
John Kirsch - jjkirsch@gmail.com Barry Eastman - tommyboy@frii.com
Matt Fries - matt.fries@shredhere.com
Other Players
Michael J. Connelly, Chief Executive Officer Connelly@MosaicaEducation.com
Gene Eidelman, Co-Founder and President
Dawn Eidelman, Ph.D., Co-Founder and President of the Paragon Division
Rita Hackel Chapin, Chief Financial Officer
Louis J. Erste, Chief Operating Officer
Charles G. Forsythe, Executive Vice President
Mr Richard A. Hauge, General Counsel
The following website has detailed information regarding some of the dealings that have been occuring at the school.
http://tpaakinfo.googlepages.com/
1 comment:
. It was my first board meeting. My first reaction is how can there possibly be that much conflict of interest in a process has bylaws and governance. Why has the school's attorney, Barry Arington, not advised the board members, Mosaica, Terry Gogerty and Anette Reisel on these conflicts of interests. Barry seemed to be very active last night whispering in his client's ear. I would like to know who is paying him and how he can represent both TPAAK and Mosaica at the same time. Although the Mosaica and TPAAK relationships were set up to be a partnership, it appears that Mosaica is not fulfilling its obligations.
Who is really in charge? Is it the board, Mosaica, Terry, or Anette? When something smells fishy, you always need to follow the money. Where is the money going? Who are the bond holders? Is the school in financial trouble and why?
The financial guy spoke last night and there seems to be some incentuous relationships with in the charter school community. There were a number shell corporations or entities set up to make this all happen. It would be nice if the board was did some real investigative reporting and diagramed this complex web of corporate relationships and who is profitting.
The board seemed shock that there were all of these issues, but it is my understanding that this was the first time non-board members were allowed to speak. I appreciated the board member's invitation in soliciting comments to the board. I know three of their email addresses are on the web site. It is funny how they were able to remove principal Reese from the website and list the under qualified interim CAO so quickly when the other changes request have not been implemented. In addition, the new board member who has attended at least two board meetings is not listed.
All of the board members act like they are trying to do their best and they seem to be genuine. However, they don't seem to be holding Mosaica accountable for their promises. The only way to make Mosaica perform is the possibility of being fired. Right now it is very unclear that the board has any independence from Mocaica. It looks like Mosaica is calling all of the shots.
How is Anette Reisel still connected to the school and why does she get to select the board members? If her daughter, Ms. Auen is not a certified teacher, why is she teaching at TPAKK. There is not a teacher shortage in Fort Collins and there are hundreds of applications received for each of PSD job opening. I can't believe an non-certified teacher was the best choice. What if the CAO was ever critical of Ms. Auen, would her mother step in and save her?
From what I heard last night parents have sought to be elected board member and have sent in written requests for such, but it has been ignored by the board.
All disturbing. We just want the best education possible for our children and make all of this nonsense go away. It is going to take some independent regime change to make a real difference and satisfy parents.
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