For some reason, three of five of the front-page stories in this month’s issue deals with school issues…a topic we don’t regularly cover at Disclosure unless someone gets out of line or something extraordinary has happened.
Dennis Smith
In the case of this particular Read the Lead, the latter has occurred: The resignation of Dennis Smith has left people in Harrisburg by turns perplexed and thrilled. Smith, Superintendent of Harrisburg Schools, is, like many public officials, a polarizing subject: He’s either well-liked, or despised. So the response to his resignation has been split right down the middle, a 50/50 mix of “hooray” and “oh no.” You can read about it right here in this evening’s Read the Lead, “Harrisburg Schools’ Superintendent out“:
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SALINE CO.—The resignation of Harrisburg schools’ superintendent Dennis Smith remains one in which little detail has been revealed.
It was announced on the evening of Tuesday, December 17, 2013, that Smith would no longer be superintendent after the end of this school year.
The announcement came to Disclosure during a school board meeting held that night; the resignation was effective on January 1 of this year.
Presser typically saccharin
While a press release was typically saccharin about the situation that existed between the superintendent and the school board (which has seen tumultuous change just this past year, but which has been in a non-stop state of upheaval since about the time then-president Todd Fort was charged with multiple sexual assault crimes in 2010), sources associated with the board have long advised that a serious state of animosity existed between the board and Smith that was the result of long-standing differences that couldn’t be overcome.
In announcing Smith’s resignation, the press release indicated “it is important to the parties that this is not a result of fault or misconduct, but rather as that the board rapidly changed to the individual resignations/replacements of four members of the past six months. It would best be described as differences in direction and approach that could not be reconciled.
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To read the rest of this article, just click this link if you’re an e-Edition member, or follow the prompts if you’re new to the online version. Or, check the vendors list here to pick up your copy of the newest print version, which is only on stands for TWO more weeks…don’t miss out! You can pick up a copy of the January 2014 Special Edition of Disclosure at J&J’s Drive-Thru, Book Emporium, both locations of ROC One-Stop (Poplar Street and Commercial Drive) and our new vendor, Discount Food Mart, all in Harrisburg; both locations of ROC One-Stop in Eldorado as well as College Drive Liquor; and Galatia’s and Carrier Mills’ ROC One-Stop locations!