Driver's Ed

Driver’s Ed, Part I. Is it just me, or is crashing cars into buildings a trendy new thing? It’s been quite a while since I first took the test to get my driver’s license, but I’m pretty sure back in the 80’s the DMV didn’t feel obligated to point out explicitly that one should avoid running into buildings with one’s car. Maybe they should start including that as a test question, though, because over several weeks this past summer, and then again in December, LP has been home to four such crashes, and I’ve seen a few more on the local news around the wider area.

First, on June 21, a car crashed into the side of the Sunoco/Mini Mart at 3201 West Ridge Pike (at the intersection with Mt. Kirk). Reports indicate that the driver was parking their car, when their dog jumped into the front seat, hit the gear shift lever into ‘drive’ and then the driver, attempting to stop the car, hit the gas instead of the brakes.

Second, around 5:30 pm on June 26, 2017 a truck crashed into the home of the Wheelers on Woodland Avenue. The home, at the juncture of the ‘T’ intersection of Clearfield and Woodland, sustained some damage although it was still habitable. In that incident, officials still aren’t sure what the cause was, although mechanical issues and careless driving have been ruled out. The cause is potentially medical, but confirmation of that may never be received. 

Third, on July 9, someone crashed into the Dunkin’ Donuts at the intersection of Trooper Road and Egypt Road shortly after midnight. I’m told it was the result of a domestic argument. The facility was repaired and reopened in September.

Then, to finish out the year, on December 22, 2017, the Friday just before Christmas a car crashed into the Collegeville Italian Bakery on Ridge Pike, practically turning it into a drive-through at the busiest time of year.  The building sustained significant damage to the pizzeria section of the restaurant, but no one was hurt and they were able to have it repaired within a month later and reopened as of January 21.

Let's be careful out there, folks! So far, no serious injuries or fatalities, but it's only a matter of time until something tragic happens. 

Driver’s Ed, Part II

In the Déjà vu Department (there was a similar incident with a prior school board member a few years ago), back on September 30, 2017, a Methacton school board director, identified in court records as Michael Ryan of Audubon, was arrested and charged with ‘public drunkenness’ stemming from an incident that occurred outside the Audubon Ale House.

Reportedly Ryan, elected in 2015 as a member of the CARE team of candidates (Community Advocates for Responsible Education), was allegedly found asleep, intoxicated, inside his car and identified himself as being on the Methacton school board to the arresting officer. He was charged with public drunkenness in violation of 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 5505, which prohibits a person from being in any "public place manifestly under the influence of alcohol or a controlled substance ... to the degree that he may endanger himself or other persons or property, or annoy persons in his vicinity."

Ryan had a hearing in district court on January 10 (continued from a November date) and reportedly was ordered to perform 24 hours’ worth of community service. Another hearing is scheduled for March 28, at which time I understand his charges may be dismissed if he completes said community service. It’s not clear whether or not he actually wound up pleading guilty to anything, although some reports of comments Ryan has made on the record at school board meetings would seem to indicate that he in fact considered himself guilty despite an initial ‘not guilty’ plea. In reaching out to the district court office for clarification of the docket details, I was referred to the arresting officer, who has yet to return my call.

According to people in the courtroom at the time, Ryan was told by the judge that he 'might want to drink less' or 'call an Uber' next time. 

At least Ryan didn’t try to claim it never happened, and blame anonymous internet bad guys for completely inventing the story (as did the former school board director who found herself in a similar situation, albeit in another state). At the end of the day, she resigned; as in that instance, Ryan should probably also consider resigning from the school board. Those responsible for educating our kids and  elected to be in charge of an annual budget exceeding $100,000  are supposed to be serving as good examples to them, and should be held to a higher standard and demonstrate that they can exercise better judgment while in office.

I’ve heard some people ask why, if he was found in his car, he wasn’t charged with DUI instead of public drunkenness  -  that’s a question for the arresting officer. We don’t know the entirety of the fact pattern, and clearly, the arresting officer has discretion at the scene to determine how they want to handle a given incident.  There are numerous pieces of criteria that go into determining whether a driver has ‘control’ of the vehicle and intent to drive and thus whether it rises to the level of DUI. 

By most accounts Ryan is a hard worker on the Board, and I'm sure the pressure of being a school director is substantial, but let's hope this is the last time a Methacton school director finds him/herself in the crosshairs of the law. 

Going To The Mat

Update 4-26-14: I heard a rumor late last week that Coach Maida would be reinstated as wrestling coach soon. This morning a text was received by those in the wrestling program indicating that this was indeed the case. My understanding is that the decision to relieve Maida in the first place may have been unilaterally made and that protocols will be put in place to ensure that such decisions in the future are reviewed and approved by more than one individual.
 

To parents with kids in Methacton School District’s wrestling program, a mystery began a couple of weeks ago on April 3, when a cryptic email landed in their inboxes.

“I’m writing to inform you that as of Tuesday morning this week [this would have occurred on 4/1/14] I have been told that because I no longer fit with the high school principal’s [Judy Landis] philosophy of coaching I will not be retained as the wrestling coach at Methacton High School effective Monday, April 7^th. I appealed to the Superintendent [David Zerbe] Tuesday afternoon and met again with him yesterday where he indicated that he would support the principal’s decision. I would expect that the school board goes along with the superintendent’s recommendation. While this ends my tenure as your son’s coach I wanted to say thank you for the opportunity to be a part of your children’s lives over the last 7 seasons. Over the past several years I’ve made some incredible relationships with some amazing families and have probably learned more from you and your children than your kids ever have from me.

I’m actually not sure how to end this email so I’ll just say that I hope you all understand what this job has meant to me both personally and professionally and that my one desire would be to continue coaching at Methacton with the family that I think we’ve made together.

Sincerely,

            A.J. Maida”

Shortly thereafter, I received emails from several parents asking what on earth happened, and, given Methacton’s propensity for scandal in recent years, you can’t blame them for wondering whether there was a more disturbing undercurrent that they should be aware of. 

Ever since receiving the parting email from Maida, frustrated members of the Methacton wrestling program and their parents have been left scratching their heads and asking unanswered questions of the school district as to what happened…why was this clearly beloved coach unceremoniously and inexplicably dumped after 7 seasons that were by all accounts successes both on and off the mat?

Anthony (AJ) Maida, center (2011)

How is it possible that a coach parents tell me embodies the very traits one hopes to find in all those people our kids spend hours with each week, is removed from coaching? 

For decades, Methacton has had an enviable and venerable wrestling program. From the storied accomplishments of Bill Berardelli, Dennis Kellon, to late coach Nelson Stratton, Chris Lloyd, Tony Haley and Bill Moser, Maida, a veteran of the US Armed Services (Marines), seemed well-suited to the wrestling program’s long history of success, and competently filled the big shoes that our former wrestling coaches left as their legacy.  To bear witness to that, 48 of those students and fellow coaches stood up and testified in front of the school board at their April 15 meeting as to just what an impact he’d had on their lives and what wrestling for him had meant to them. I know there were more who either couldn’t be there that evening or were afraid to speak up (employees of the school district).

Maida supporters speaking at 4/15/14 school board meeting

My understanding is the school board has only heard one side of the issue, after the fact, although clearly the superintendent has heard both. But the school board appears unswayed and unlikely to investigate, revisit or reverse the decision to remove Maida from his coaching position.

What I’d like to know is what exactly is this ‘philosophy of coaching’ that principal Judy Landis has, and in what way doesn’t Maida measure up? Has her philosophy evolved or has Coach Maida such that he ‘no longer fits’?  It seems a little odd to me that a high school principal would even have a coaching philosophy, but if so, shouldn’t that be public?

MHS principal Judy Landis

When I called the school district to get answers for the parents who reached out to me I was handed off to the Athletic Director (Paul Spiewak) for response. It wasn’t Spiewak’s decision, so why would anybody want to talk to him about it? I couldn’t find this ‘philosophy of coaching’ anywhere on Methacton’s website, so I put in a Right-to-Know request to see if we can shed any light on it. It might be helpful for all our current, as well as future, coaches to be aware of, not to mention the parents and kids struggling to understand what went wrong here.

Of course, it might have just been damage control at the April 15 meeting when Zerbe stated “Any conflict of personality or philosophical differences between Maida and Landis are unfounded and not the reason for opening the position”. Maybe, but evidently that’s not how it was explained to Maida.

 

One of my son’s closest friends wrestled for Coach Maida. He told us that an example of how Coach Maida cared enough about the kids and the program was that if the boys couldn’t get a ride to school for an early morning lifting session before school he’d pick them up and get them there. We all know teenagers aren’t famous for being early risers, but these kids WANTED to get up early to become better wrestlers and athletes for this coach, in this program. Coach Maida knew how to motivate them and get the best out of them. He even went out of his way to work with the middle school kids, ensuring a good pipeline of talent flowing into the high school program.  

This is a road Methacton has gone down before, with similar backlash. In 2006, longtime and charismatic football coach George Marinkov was unceremoniously replaced by Coach Bob McNally. Granted, the Warriors had several back-to-back losing seasons and Marinkov was replaced after a winless year, but the football players and parents circled the wagons in support of “Coach” much as they have for Maida. The McNally experiment didn’t net much on-field success, and he stepped down after 4 seasons with an overall record of 11-33. Coach was – and is - also the kind of guy who took a genuine and sincere interest in his players on and off the field and prided himself on treating them like the young men they were becoming (Coach has been back on the sidelines with current head football coach Paul Lepre and the coaching staff since 2010).  In contrast, in the 7 years Maida has coached Methacton wrestling they’ve gone without a losing record.  

I’ll tell you what I think our ‘philosophy of coaching’ should be. It should involve finding and supporting coaches who are paying attention to what is going on with our kids outside of school as well as during the time they are IN school, and it should go without saying that it should be about more than just a paycheck to them. Ideally, they’ll have a passion for the sport they coach, and some expertise in it, but it should always be – to the coach as well as the school district – about more than just wins and losses and what goes in the trophy case. I’d argue one learns more from losses than from wins anyway. A good coach can motivate kids to find the keys to leadership and success as well as how to pick oneself up, make corrections, and keep going in the face of defeat. A good coach inspires accountability, dedication and commitment…self-esteem, discipline, work ethic, teamwork….the list goes on. It would seem we’ve lost this and more with the removal of Maida as our wrestling coach. 

If Maida truly has no idea why he was relieved of duty, instead of smoke and mirrors, I think the school district owes him an honest answer as much as they do the wrestling team’s parents. I get it that personnel matters are often kept private, largely for liability reasons, and perhaps they could cite these specific “laws surrounding school personnel” they claim muzzles them so parents can determine the truth of that for themselves, but I don’t see why Maida couldn’t offer to waive his right to privacy in this matter and insist the school district be transparent as to their rationale. If it’s a sound decision, it should be defendable. 

 

Maida was not dismissed from his job teaching social studies at the high school, so whatever reason the school may have had to remove him from coaching can't be too egregious. My guess is if there is in fact no legitimate performance reason that more than likely, it’s political. Somebody knows somebody who wants the job.  It’s happened in this school district before (under Dr. Quinn, the prior superintendent), and unfortunately, it’s possible it’s happened again.  If true, that would truly be a big “L” for Methacton’s wrestling program as our loss will surely be another school district’s gain. Maida will coach another day, somewhere else, but in this instance, it looks like this is a match Methacton’s wrestlers cannot win.

 

Money for Nothing And Chicks For Free

(updated 6-6-13 2pm)

Fox 29’s investigative reporter Jeff Cole has a reputation as something of a pitbull when it comes to rooting out wasteful spending, fraud and abuse within government agencies, city bureaus, and local municipalities. So, last week when he called asking to get my perspective on aspects of his follow-up to the story he broke last fall about the extramarital affair and inappropriate promotion scandal at Methacton, I agreed to speak with him. The piece, which aired this week (here) revealed the terms contained in the separation agreements of, and cost to investigate, recently departed Methacton superintendent Timothy Quinn and soon-to-be departing Director of Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment, Diane Barrie.

Cole showed me copies of the separation agreements for each, which he obtained via Right To Know requests, calling out several clauses of interest. In addition he showed me copies of the legal bills which gave the fees and costs incurred by the two law firms hired to conduct the investigation. I'll save you the trouble of requesting an RTK; you can view them here.

First, the clauses. The separation agreements were virtually identical;  both contained provisions in which the school board agreed ‘not to report’ the contents and findings of the investigative report to Pennsylvania state education and disciplinary officials. I’m not sure why, especially taking into consideration the significant legal expenses Methacton incurred to obtain the report, we would want to protect either of these two individuals’ careers. I get it that they have a right to make a living, preferably in their chosen fields; however, I suggested that perhaps it shouldn’t be in the public sector. These were both adults who made choices with known risks and consequences. Presumably they accepted those risks, one being that they may not be employable in their professions if anything went wrong.

Not only that, but the findings should be made public for other reasons. This investigation lasted 5 months. It doesn’t take 5 months to find and review merely sordid emails. The taxpayers deserve to know what else was going on…were expense accounts padded? Arguably school district property and resources were used.  It also goes to what kind of school board are we dealing with – what kind of oversight have they had? Why didn’t this come to their attention before a reporter uncovered it?  

Another concession Quinn and Barrie received was that Methacton agreed to issue them ‘neutral’ reference letters. Typically such a letter would include only the start and end dates of their employment, their titles, and their ending salaries. As above, I’m not sure why we taxpayers should care about protecting their careers when they themselves evidently didn’t. For example, If you were parents of children in the next school district that considers hiring Quinn, wouldn’t you want to know that in at least three other school districts, he has shown a propensity to spend school time and resources pursuing relationships with coworkers?

In a time when the tax dollars we use for education are stretched so thin, and the school district always wants to raise taxes, I think taxpayers want to feel a comfort level with how wisely those dollars are being spent and that school district employees will be fully focused on the education and welfare of our children. These days employers do their homework about potential employees on Facebook, Twitter, blogs etc. They expect to know what it is that they are getting into and what liabilities they may be taking on.

Second, the legal expense. In a time when the school district is again asking for a tax hike – the final percentage is still unknown at this time as a final budget will be adopted later this month - and Methacton is in the process of quietly negotiating a new teacher’s contract, Methacton spent a total of over $81,000 for the five-month investigation. $27,000 went to the firm of Dischell Bartle & Dooley, and $57,000 to the firm of Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellot. All this money was spent on a report which will never be released publicly. In fact, because Quinn and Barrie opted to forgo formal due process hearings and instead resigned, I understand that the school board itself would not even have seen the contents of the report that cost so much.  

As for the $81,000 report itself, Cole put in a Right to Know Request to obtain a copy, which was denied by Methacton, and denied on appeal to the Office of Open Records. Reports such as the one that obviously contained damaging information that Quinn and Barrie hoped would never see the light of day are considered an exemption under the Open Records law. That’s a loophole that I think should be rectified in future revisions to that Law. Anything that costs taxpayers that much money should be available to them, especially when you consider the things we’ve cut out of the school district budget in recent years that this money could have been better spent helping to fund – buses for extracurricular activities, the T-1 program….and again, I get it that they preferred not to go through the discomfort and spectacle of hearings about their behavior, but that is a risk they were evidently comfortable taking.

It’s maddening when you realize all of this could have been prevented, twice. The 2008 Methacton School Board was warned by residents even before Quinn was hired that he had known baggage…. a record of doing this in two other PA school districts, per numerous articles available to even a casual researcher on the Internet, yet he was hired anyway.

The second time they could have prevented a major expense regarding Quinn occurred in 2010 when he asked for and got his contract renewed early. I spoke out against it at the time. Had we let the original contract run with no early renewal, by the time the scandal came out last fall, Methacton would then have been well positioned to potentially not even do an investigation, but simply give him 180 days’ notice that it was not renewing his original contract and thus wouldn’t have had to pay out anything to say ‘sayonara’.

Added to the legal costs were the payouts to each to close out their contracts through the end of this year, as negotiated. $21,000 in paid time off ( PTO) benefits were paid out to Quinn and just under $500 in PTO benefits to Barrie (she apparently didn’t have much vacation time left on the books). All in all, the total cost to part ways exceeds $100,000. In the case of Quinn, that amount could potentially have been virtually zero.

School board directors often lament that many budget items such as pensions, fuel costs and unfunded federal and state mandates are out of their control. Let’s hope that going forward, our school board directors – most of whom were not in their positions when Quinn was hired – will exercise  due diligence when considering candidates for Quinn’s permanent replacement, because the costs in this instance most certainly were within their control to avoid from the beginning.   

 

Don't Hate The Player, Hate the Game

If you choose not to play in a particular game, is it unfair when someone else who does, wins?

That is the twisted political logic on display in a recent Lower Providence Patch article (here) from local far-left Democrat, Joe “The Nerd” Ferraro.  You may have seen Mr. Ferraro on cable TV attending a local meeting on occasion. He has a talent for getting the local press to publish his sound bites, and is a frequent contributor to Huffington Post (and Patch). He and I have butted heads on occasion in the past and he’s often tried to label me as one thing or another.

Joe cries foul and plays the victim because, as he claims, the LP Republican Party is ‘gaming the system’ in that their candidate for the Board of Supervisors, attorney Patrick Duffy, is allegedly running a write-in campaign on the Democrat ballot. This is not illegal; in fact it’s standard practice for school board and judicial candidates in Pennsylvania to file nominating petitions to run on both tickets.

I think it’s disingenuous for Joe to throw a flag on the play. The Democrat party in LP either is so disorganized that they can’t get their act together to get someone to step up and run, OR actively chose not to recruit and run candidates for township supervisor. Then, when there is an attempt at a
write-in campaign on their (empty) ballot, they get all indignant, as if somehow the GOP is disrespecting the position that they couldn't even be bothered to fill in the first place --- for TWO ELECTION CYCLES RUNNING!!!

In addition, they only have one candidate running for the 4 open spots on the Methacton School Board. Something tells me the LP Dems may not even have had anything to do with that; most likely, that candidate is a lone ranger.

They are also not running anyone for auditor. The only position they really do have a candidate for is tax collector. Incumbent Kirsten Deal – who withdrew from her seat as a Democrat committeeperson several years ago when she became frustrated with their leadership -  is up for another term this  year, so it’s not like the Dems had to go find their candidate for this slot.  She was already in the gate.

For all intents and purposes, LP Dems have almost totally avoided wading into the LP political pool of late. Given that, why on earth wouldn’t any smart candidate try to wrap up a 9-month election cycle in the primary if he or she can? If your party abandons its voters and offers up no candidate for them to rally around, who can blame the only participant in the race for going after them and presenting them with a candidate to evaluate on his/her merits, rather than by whether their name is followed by an R or a D? What have you got to lose at that point?

As I can personally attest, running for any elected office these days can cost a decent chunk of change and, if you do it right and actually knock on hundreds of doors to meet voters personally, can consume a huge amount of time and shoe leather. If your opposition gives you a freebie, you’d be stupid not to take it so that you can win on both ballots in the primary and be done with it. Don’t doubt for a second that if the shoe were on the other foot, the Democrats wouldn’t do the same.

When I ran for township supervisor in 2011, I elected to try this strategy and ran a Dem write-in campaign, as did the other two Republican candidates. As Joe alludes, the Democrats got wind of it when all the mail started hitting and, incensed that the Republican candidates were supposedly ‘hijacking’ their party, sprang into action 72 hours before the election, beginning their own write-in campaign on the Sunday evening before the Tuesday primary. Well, I submit that you can’t hijack something that has been abandoned, and make no mistake, the Dems abandoned the supervisor’s races in 2011 and 2013.

He also expressed outrage at this supposed violation of the ‘rules’.  Rules? Maybe the Dems should try  playing by the rules per the PA election code and running a real campaign the way serious candidates do.  Playing by the rules means filing nominating petitions full of voters’ signatures to get your candidate on the ballot, filing campaign formation documents and appointing officers so your candidate can fundraise and have transparency as to what he spends his money on, and running an issues-based campaign around whatever his positions are. It is most certainly not throwing a Hail Mary pass two days before an election and running an unvetted Johnny-come-lately who couldn’t be bothered to follow the process or spend any time visiting or educating voters on what he believes, his position on the issues, and what he would do if elected. It is the political equivalent of a drive-by shooting.

And, not for nothing, but the whining about how Duffy is supposedly sneakily using the color ‘blue’ in his yard signs to lull Democrats into voting for him is ludicrous.  Did I miss something? When did the Democrat party trademark the color blue and reserve it for their exclusive use? If everybody had the same thought process Joe does, shouldn’t Duffy’s use of blue work against him with his own party of red-loving Republicans?

I have to hand it to the Dems. In recent years all they managed to do was run the same retreads for the same offices over and over, but in the last few years it appears they completely threw in the towel and are running no one, so Joe’s righteous indignation rings hollow.  If you only start looking for candidates at the time nominating petitions are being circulated, you're already behind the 8-ball....what, you have no bench??

To quote the PA lottery groundhog, “You can’t win if you don’t play”.  

 

 

 

 

 

"Wanna Get Away"?

A few years back, Southwest Airlines aired a popular series of commercials. In them, people found themselves in highly embarrassing situations that left them wanting to evaporate and get out of town ASAP. The campaign, dubbed ‘Wanna Get Away?” was very humorous, relatable, and successful. 

 

What’s going on up at Methacton School District these days easily has the makings of the next installment of that ad campaign.



  

When last we tuned in (here), the superintendent and a high-ranking administration official were allegedly embroiled in a messy extramarital affair amid allegations of favoritism in the promotions of one of the parties. Last fall, the Methacton School Board appointed special and separate legal and investigative counsel to look into the accusations and report findings and recommendations back to them. Perhaps what’s taking so long for the process to play out is the forensic discovery that must occur to obtain and review phone and email records and to interview any individuals who can corroborate or shed light on the accusations, as well as providing that information to the accused so they can respond.

 

In the meantime, the accused have apparently not been sitting idly by waiting for the axe to fall. Documents brought to my attention (see below) include a letter dated December 11, 2012 from Diane Barrie, indicating her interest in being hired as the Director of Curriculum, Instruction and Professional Development at the Montgomery County Intermediate Unit (MCIU).  

Oddly, a second letter recommending Ms. Barrie for the position, dated November 7, 2012 was purportedly written by Methacton’s Assistant to the Superintendent for Personnel, Robert Harney, to the MCIU, strongly recommending Ms. Barrie for the position almost a full month before she had even expressed a formal, written interest in the job.  I have no idea whether she's been interviewed or an offer extended to her.
 

Now, let me qualify this information by saying that these letters were provided to me anonymously. I generally know my sources and can vouch for their integrity and the quality of the information. And, regardless of the origination of information that comes my way, I always verify the information from secondary sources. However, in this case, since it involves proposed personnel actions and can neither be spoken about publicly yet nor can documents relevant to the situation be produced, as they are largely exempt from production in response to Right To Know requests, it’s impossible to do so. So, take all this with a grain of salt.  Obviously, someone has an agenda in providing them to me; curiously, they did not provide them to Jeff Cole, the Fox 29 reporter who originally broke the story. I don’t know what that agenda is but I present them for your consideration in arriving at whatever conclusions you may come to.

Is this an attempt by the school board – or, perhaps, by Quinn and his administration, without the school board’s knowledge - to sweep the problem under the figurative rug by attempting to ship Ms. Barrie off to the MCIU? Clearly Quinn could not author such a letter of recommendation himself.  The current school board is largely made up of people who had nothing to do with hiring Quinn, so I’m not sure how much they care whether he stays or goes; any poor judgment he may have exhibited would not necessarily be a reflection on them. They obviously cannot discuss this matter publicly yet because it’s a personnel issue, but my guess is that most if not all of the school board members have no idea that these letters were written and submitted.

 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, my understanding is that the school board has not yet been provided with the findings of the investigation. That may happen this coming week, when I've caught wind that the school board may be holding an executive session. 

 

I have also learned that Ms. Barrie and Mr. Quinn have already been provided with “Loudermill” requests. Loudermill is a reference to a 1985 landmark Supreme Court decision, Cleveland Board of Ed. V. Loudermill, et al., 470 U.S. 532 (1985). A Loudermill request is a pretermination hearing process that’s part of the framework for investigations of public employees where discipline, especially termination, could be the end result. The Loudermill decision requires that a minimum level of due process be given to public employees before dismissal can even be considered as an option.  The legal theory is a bit more complex than that, but at its basic level, that’s what it means and why it’s done.

The overall process requires that a written statement of findings be provided to the accused, and requesting the individual to formally respond before the entire shebang is presented to the school board for review and possible action. I don’t know how many days the parties were given to respond, as this can vary, but I believe their responses are already back, or will be shortly.

If I had to guess (and I am merely conjecturing here) I think that more likely than not, the parties expect something of substance to be found, actions will be taken, and at least Ms. Barrie will have a safety net to cushion any fall from grace. Harney may have written his letter at Quinn's request, or, perhaps in anticipation of a potential Quinn departure, Harney (who I believe would be next in line to succeed Quinn as the acting/interim superintendent should Quinn be removed from duty), by writing Barrie a recommendation letter is attempting to clear the deck of controversy so he has a clean slate if he takes the helm.

 As for Quinn, if his days at Methacton are numbered, perhaps his only recourse will be to purchase a ticket to someplace Southwest Airlines flies…as the ads famously concluded, he’ll be ‘free to move about the country’.