Newmarket School Board Rewards Incompetence/Bad Behavior

Ignoring allegations of criminal conduct, ethics violations, acts of incompetence, and votes of no confidence by Newmarket staff and students, the Newmarket School Board just renewed the contact of school superintendent Susan Givens and gave her a five percent pay raise.

The renewal of Givens contract, with a pay raise, is in my opinion the school boards way of rewarding Givens for protecting the school board and district from criminal prosecution and ethics violations committed not just by school board members, but also by the districts attorney and several educators as well as previous administrators and board members.

The harm caused to the school district by Givens incompetence and unethical, illegal, and immoral actions will continue to reverberate in Newmarket for many years even after she has long departed the district. This is the high price that must be paid for failing to take a stand against corrupt and shameless public officials like Kim Shelton, Mike Kenison, Al Zink, Elizabeth McKinney, and so many others.

The biggest tragedy in all of this, of course, is the lessons this school board and Givens have taught the students of Newmarket. They have taught the students never to accept personal responsibility for one’s own actions. That it’s better to lie when confronted with acts of misdeeds no matter the cost. And now, perhaps worst of all, that one can be rewarded for their illegal, immoral, and unethical actions in protecting their superiors.

I would be remiss if I did not mention, just briefly, those who share in the responsibility for all the harm which has befallen Newmarket. The Newmarket Teachers Union, the professional educators in the district, and every community member who has failed to take a stand against all that has taken place and to speak out against Givens and the school board...I say shame on you! You all bear a responsibility for allowing Newmarket to degenerate into a bastion of corruption.

More to follow…

Jeffrey Thomas Clay, M.Ed.