Reggie “The Mole” Malone’s Emails to RPS Revealed
mole noun: a spy (as a double agent) who establishes a cover long before beginning espionage; broadly : one within an organization who passes on information
While serving as a Patrick Henry Board member Reggie Malone passed along emails and draft legal documents to the RPS school board. Included in the emails to Superintendent of Richmond Public Schools, Yvonne Brandon were promises to “keep you informed”. Chris Dovi of Richmond Magazine.com published a story last night that includes links to the emails between former PHSSA board member and Malone and various RPS officials. The emails obtained through the Freedom of Information Act were released by former PHSSA board members Marjorie Bertolino, Bonnie Brown, Ph.D., Deborah Butterworth, Richard Day, Jessica Hoffa, M. Susan Martin who has a pending defamation lawsuit against Malone, and Krista Simmerman.
In these RPS-provided communications between Malone and Brandon, Malone often strikes an informal tone: “Hey Dr. Brandon, check this out,” he writes a number of times, as in a Sept. 13, 2010 e-mail that includes the forwarded e-mail communications of then-board member Bonnie L. Brown, a VCU professor, and current board member Deborah Corliss. Brown and Corliss are discussing how to report a grant awarded to the school board. In October 2010, while the charter school’s foundation board was negotiating a contract to make up the difference between RPS’s agreed-to principal salary and the amout the PHS board agreed to pay Principal Pamela Boyd, Malone forwarded a copy of a proposed contract to both Boyd and Brandon. In other e-mails, Malone seeks meetings with Brandon, offering her times when she might meet him at the Patrick Henry Elementary School parking lot (between 8 and 8:15 a.m.) or referring to the convenience of a convenient store meeting.
PHSSA has not released a statement at this time and was informed of the FOIA on 12/29.
With friends like Mr. Malone who needs enemies? It is also interesting to note that the RPS board meets tonight in a work session and have added PHSSA to the discussion. The work session doesn’t allow for public comment.
County and private schools are sounding better and better. RPS has such a culture of corruption and sabotage it doesn’t seem like it will ever be a viable option for thoughtful and caring parents. Sad.
Whoa, Greg –
There are plenty of “thoughtful and caring” parents who send their kids to RPS. Provided you can do it in a way that doesn’t involve any contact with the idiots downtown, it’s a pretty good system. Unfortunately, the idiots downtown have drawn a bead on PHSSA. Happily, they *are* idiots, and continually do things like send sneaky emails (FOIA whut?) and crash board meetings, which will come back to bite them in the hineys.
All of us that believe in public schools and care about this city should pay attention to what RPS is doing, and hold them accountable. We must work to end the corruption and dysfunction within RPS. They have gotten away with it because people let them.
And before you give up, consider Southampton and Fisher for your little students, if you don’t make the lottry for PH. And without the perjoratives, I agree with Jennifer that good parents can make the system work for their children. What will NOT work in any school is to simply throw your kids at the school, and expect good things to happen without parental involvement. That’s the real secret of PH.
@David –
My dealings with RPS have always been (seriously) rainbows and butterflies right up until I have to contact anyone whose office is downtown, at which point all becomes doody.
Another black eye for RPS on their interactions with PHSSA. I am glad to see legal avenues are being explored. Numerous ethical standards have been broken by both Malone and RPS employees who were complacent in receiving such documents. Heads at RPS should be rolling over this breach of the public trust. I hope City Council and the Mayor are paying attention, because few have confidence the school board will take appropriate actions against their staff.
I just read through all the documents. They are absolutely shocking. This may be my favorite statement. It actually made me laugh out loud. Taken from a document that Malone had written to the board chastising them and then forwarded to Brandon with the message “Also, check this out!” he wrote to the board: “that is one of this board’s biggest problems-having secrets from other members. ” HA! I believe he had the biggest secret of all. He was a spy for Burton.
Thank you for sharing this information re: Mr. Dovi’s article. As someone who chooses to raise my children in the city, I am disappointed in the elected and appointed leadership. How can we expect our littlest ones to model critical thinking and ethical behavior when the cultural norm in the school leadership goes the other way? What are we to do as taxpayers and parents to promote a healthy school system for all as opposed to complain? Hang out in convenience store parking lots to perhaps intercept information and model ethical conduct? Accountability starts at the top and trickles down.
Robert,
Neither City Council nor Mayor have control of RPS. School Board is directly elected (I think Henderson was unopposed). City could cut funding, but who does that hurt? A SB elected by district means no-one has welfare of the entire system at heart.
Whoops, in my response above, I meant to say he was a spy for Brandon not Burton.
David – Thanks for your feedback. That is truly sad state of affairs. You are of course correct in that reduced funds will only hurt all children throughout the city. That is the opposite of what anyone desires.
I believe there is little public faith in RPS to do the responsible thing. They should discipline their employees for participating in this heinous activity. A severe lack of judgment was exercised by those employees in receiving these emails and there should be consequences for that irresponsibility. I for one feel there should be a full investigation into this issue and the result of that investigation should be made public.
Former 7th District School Board representative Reggie Malone central in RPS/PHS brouhaha http://t.co/oDJibjyc
Shocking but not really, not at all surprised. Just another day in the life of RPS. BTW, not good parents, not good teachers, not good administrators and not even good board members have a chance in a corrupt, unethical and self-serving organization such as RPS. I spent a decade trying to make a difference, I assure you until change comes from the top down RPS will continue to be a horrific school system. Parents: do everything in your power to look for an alternative choice, your children will thank you later. How many public school systems do you know that has to spend big bucks on a PR campaign to convince its residents to send their children to public school? It is free, in your neighborhood with free transportation. But yet so many families with options opt out, as quickly as possible. Many don’t even consider RPS at all. Surrounding counties have to pay investigators to prevent RPS students from attending their districts illegally. Richmond parents buy properties in the county simply to have an address to use to send their kids anywhere but RPS. Private schools thrive in this area. Look at all the school board members who have kids that don’t attend their zoned schools or even attend private schools. Better than that, look at all the RPS teachers who refuse to send their children to RPS. I’m sorry but if you think RPS schools are doing a good job, you are wearing rose colored glasses. Start making unannounced visits regularly, look at health dept reports for the cafeterias, ask teachers the hard questions-many will tell you what you want to hear because it is the easy way out. Ask questions, questions and more questions!
I can’t wait to get out of this city! My kids will not be going to RPS.
Sending a child to an RPS school gives tacit approval to a corrupt and broken system. I’m mortgaging my child’s college funds on private elementary school tuition so I can ensure she gets a great education AND so I can avoid being subject to the buffoons downtown.
More than anything, it is just sad. Really sad for the kids whose parents are unable to provide a better option for their beloved children than a corrupt RPS and a less then stellar school. I live within walking distance of Westover Hills Elementary School. While I am sure there some dedicated and amazing teachers there, some outstanding kids and some very involved parents, I don’t know a soul who sends their child to the school. I do know families who avoided sending their kids there by using a lottery to get their kids into Patrick Henry, Fox, Munford, and Fisher. I also know families who send their kids to Collegiate, St. Catherine’s, St. Christopher’s, and St. Michael’s. However, I know many more families who have simply moved to the counties when their kids hit age 5. My lovely walkable neighborhood should be teeming with kids, but, instead, it is a bizarre combination of retirees and young couples with no kids or just babies. There are a few school age kids here and there but nary a teenager to be found (because even those families who use one of the better RPS elementary schools usually bolt by the time middle school rolls around)… There are massive and long standing socioeconomic issues that impact most city school systems, but that is all the more reason that RVA kids need honest, upstanding and cooperative people in the upper echelons of RPS.
Its going to be interesting to see what happens as mobility lessens due to economic and real estate market conditions. Moving somewhere else and even private schools are becoming less of an option.
Will this spur residents to become more civically involved and challenge the government and school status quo? Or will people will retreat even more into their own (real and electronic) lives and home schooling will become even more popular?
Do folks agree that this is primarily a local political problem that goes beyond Patrick Henry, with a current regime that is not interested in reform?
If they do, then what will create meaningful change? I don’t see the Mayor or City Council really challenging things as they have their own hands full. More lawsuits? Some sort of referendum? Hiring/electing and sticking by someone like Michele Rhee?
In the end, as one of the local DINKs (double income, no kids), without offense to Patrick Henry folks, I just don’t see a larger citizen commitment to the overhaul of RPS. I have spoken before to City Council on how wrong it is for them to spend all this money on downtown projects like the Convention Center and Center Stage while kids deal with lackluster RPS facilities. And I try to support school board members who support larger reform. I try to make sure that my neighborhood schools are in decent shape. But again, without kids, its hard for me to do much more when I see neighbors and parents do so much less. (And I will also say that RPS does not seem to inform or care for citizen advocacy either. Its not like they let me know what they need in the schools. Why do I have to investigate and find out how important it is for a school to have an elevator?)
If its any consolation, its not just the schools. I see citizens allowing themselves to get bamboozled and bulldozed over all the time in Richmond- citizen and public priorities take a back seat to money and power.
I support Patrick Henry because I hope it will be good for students and RPS in general (and I am encouraged by the efforts so far), More importantly, I hope it gets more parents involved in the larger RPS problems.
Until there are 5 votes on the School Board, I would continue to expect more of the same. While I did run last time, I have no desire to at present. I wish whomever does the best, and would encourage those who note the issues to consider how to get the five consistent votes that will be needed.
cb, that is another part of the major problem. So many folks move out of Richmond taking their taxes with them. As RPS continues to spiral out of control, more families move and leaving less money to fund RPS. This affects every single resident of this city in numerous ways, property values among them. Employers want to open business in locales that provide good schools for their employees, therefore we are not attracting business development. Not to mention the long lasting social problems. We all lose and this is why our elected officials need to take action now and we need to demand that action, now!
I find that many more families with kids are actually opting to STAY in Richmond, as compared with 15 or so years ago.
We’ve lived in the same place for nearly 20 years, and the trend for young couples moving in, having kids, and moving to the counties when the eldest hits school age is just not happening with nearly as much frequency. So we have kids of various ages in the neighborhood, going to different public schools, and a couple of recent grads are halfway through VCU now.
It can be done and it is being done.
I think many people miss the fact that Richmond now has a neighborhood school system. The reason schools such as Westover don’t reflect the community is that parents in the community don’t use the school. If every primary school parent in the Forest Hill/Westover Hills attendance area would sign up for the neighborhood school, it would immediately begin to reflect the community. When they don’t, then children from other neighborhoods across the city are brought in to fill the seats. That’s true for every school in the district. If every parent chose Westover (or Fisher or Southampton), then parents would be able to get involved, the communities would be strengthened and all the talent being drained to alternative education outlets would stay in the neighborhood. Everybody wins.
David – that sounds great is is probably true but right minded parents are never going to let their child be the test case.
And I invite ALL of you with concerns to join us at the next School Board Meeting Jan 17th to show RPS that we do care, we do want change and we are not going to let their very irresponsible behavior continue to wreck Richmond Schools. I think that PHSSA is a step in the right direction to show what kids from all over RPS can do with the right teachers, curriculum and support. It will be a long road but let’s be the start to this fire of change!!!
I’ve heard the neighborhood school argument for 4 or 5 years. It will probably not gain much traction because it seems that most people don’t dig around very much. New parents hear “the schools suck!” and they stop listening. I think there are also other extenuating circumstances that hasten the flight including higher property taxes than the surrounding counties, and smaller, older homes that don’t accommodate modern tastes for larger spaces. It seems the minute a family has a second child, off they move.
The recent behavior of RPS has really shaken my resolve to stay in the city. It’s another example of how progress of any sort, whether a ball park or land use or a new school can’t move forward because there is always someone too paranoid to let it happen. We have some basic dysfunction in play. Is it the structure of our local government having both a mayor and city council? Is it having an elected rather than nominated school board? Is it too long a history of mistrust? It’s all so politicized and seems little-based on the wishes of the constituents.
Back to RPS for a moment. The school board approved the charter, and now is undermining it at every step to force PHSSA to break its charter. Reggie Malone seems to have spent a lot of time creating doubt and spreading misinformation. It doesn’t sound like he could work within the board like a grownup to resolve his concerns, he had to go running to “Mommy”. And Dr. Brandon allowed it to continue. She could have stopped the emails but she didn’t. That’s what it boils down to me.
There were some interesting comments in Friday’s RTD about this matter. While it can be appreciated the Superintendant did not think there was anything improper with her contact with Mr. Malone, the mere repeated occurrances of contact between the two when the topic concerned confidential matters does not seem appropriate.
Good luck, Patrick Henry, with the new building space on Monday! Let our focus be on the city’s children, not on the games and politics so endemic to the region.
I agree with what Kate has written. She is being very honest. What also struck a chord is my neighborhood should be absolutely teeming with children, too, but it’s not. I should know tons of people sending their children to Southhampton. Where are they? I see kids every summer at Southampton Recreation Center, but I don’t know of 1 child that has ever gone to that school.
My neighborhood is practically a retirement community. No young parents move in and any existing young parents (like myself) either send their kids to one of the select RPS schools, a private school or move to the county.
Unfortunately what this creates a non-community-like neighborhood. The parents don’t know each other, the kids don’t go to the same schools.
I am thinking about kindergarten right now. I have some years to go; however, I want Patrick Henry to succeed because I think it will be (and is!) good for the entire RPS system and the community at-large.
But, when my time comes and I have to send my son to school, the fact of the matter is, if we don’t get into Patrick Henry and Southampton is not at least comparable to a county elementary school in terms of academics, I may not have the money to send my son to a private school. Therefore, Richmond City (and RPS) is going to loose my tax funds.
p.s. when I do ask about Southampton or Westover Hills I never really really get people to clarify what exactly is the matter with those schools. The ONLY thing people say is, ‘oh, take a look at Fisher or Fox’. Really!? Come on, let’s admit it. No parent want to send their child to a school that has a bad reputation. Period – even if they can’t exactly pinpoint where the bad reputation came from.