Citizens in Support of Dr. Williams

This letter was received from a Perry parent and citizen and published with his full permission.

Open up your wallets, Perry Township. School board president Susan Adams wants to go shopping again.
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This time, as she browses for something sustainable against suspended superintendent Dr. H. Douglas Williams, she needs $250 an hour for a “prosecuting” attorney from Lafayette, and that guy wants an additional $175\hr for his assistant. They were recommended by the attorney hired to investigate Dr. Williams months ago who has charged the township $8,500 so far and produced nothing.
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The measure passed 4-3 Feb. 26 with the usual people voting the usual way.
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These expenditures are on top of the tens of thousands of dollars paid to Williams to stay home, not to mention the healthy bump in pay for Dennis Nichols to be the interim superintendent.
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The real question is this: what will happen if nothing sustainable is found against Williams? Has Adams thought that far ahead?
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Pull your children back, Perry Parent, Adams and board vice president Nancy Walsh are passing by. They’re in charge, baby, and everything comes through them, even detailed construction decisions.
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At the Feb. 26 meeting, Walsh had trouble formulating intelligible questions about badly needed classroom expansion, but that’s not important. She has the power, and Adams will help translate Walsh if necessary, and between the two of them, they will badger and insult experienced administrators without even the hint of self-awareness.
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Good leaders are wise people. Wise people know when to be quiet. They listen. They know how to take advice from those with more experience. They show respect.
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Adams openly challenged Associate Superintendent Bill Brown’s expertise on the construction matter. Brown, the poor man, is retiring. Board member Steve Maple thanked Brown for his “exemplary” service and noted that his departure was partly due to “despicable maligning” by some board members.
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The Adams\Walsh regime has now eliminated two solid administrators. If you’re keeping track at home, the score now stands at Adams\Walsh 2, Perry Township 0.
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It is painful to watch Adams and Walsh. A person cannot appreciate the level of their incompetence unless he or she sees it for themselves. All Perry Township taxpayers should attend at least one meeting. It is easy to overlook school board activities. Frankly, they seem rather unimportant, that things will work out well enough, but board members have great capacity for good or harm, and they have absolute power over the spending of tax dollars related to school activities. One visit to a school board meeting should suffice.
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Brown’s position must now be advertised and filled. What kind of candidate will step forward to work for the likes of Adams and Walsh? I wouldn’t.
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They wander the aisles of power and ego to satisfy whatever drives them. It’s certainly not the welfare of Perry students. I’m sure they delude themselves otherwise, but I think they care about power, and they care about keeping out Williams. All else gets subordinated to those two motivations. The voice of teachers and parents, the editorial boards of local newspapers, mean nothing. Adams and Walsh are as deaf as stone.
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Whether it’s Adams talking about the new, great “prosecuting” attorney (not even sure we could secure such a star) or Walsh bubbling along in her final comments after embarrassing herself again during the meeting, we are presented over and over with the fact that Perry Township schools are in the grip of two people who are frighteningly blind to their own faults and to the reality around them.
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Jim Bowie