Wickliffe School Board Saga

As the school book turns?

The Ohio Department of Education (ODE) cleared Vicki Wheatley of any wrong doing that may have endangered her educator's license. A News-Herald article discusses the recent development here.

The Wickliffe Schools have been like the Wild West this year. During the past election there were political action committees operating illegally, instults traded between board members and teachers, ..., the Vicki Wheatley saga, ..., and new school board members to boot!

Anyhow, Vicki Wheatley was the principle of Wickliffe Highschool. At the end of last school year Ms. Wheately was put on paid administrative leave by the school district over an issue involving the placement of students in classes for credit that occured at the same time and possibily graduating students with enough credits according to the ODE, but not Wickliffe's School Board.

With that said...Ms Wheatley has maintained her innocence and has been vindicated as far as we are concerned. Congrats Ms. Wheately! I hope your federal law suit teaches the Wickliffe School Board and Kathleen Cintavey a lesson.

What the Heck is Up in Wickliffe?

What the heck is going on in Wickliffe?!? We have been reading this on going saga for months!

We want to hear from you the loyal readership about what is going on in the Wickliffe schools.

Over the week-end y the News-Herald ran a story about the embattled Wickliffe High School Principal and her struggles with the School Board and Superintendent, here.

A lot of stories have been written about Vicki Wheatley and her suspension from active duty as principal of Wickliffe High School. Now, from what we can piece together Ms. Wheatley has been accused by the Superintendent of allowing students to register for two classes at the same time in extenuating circumstances (e.g. needing to graduate). Furthermore, Ms. Wheately is accused of allowing hall monitors to oversee classes when a substitute could have been used, and asking teachers to teach past their certifications.

Yawn. Not much going here in our opinion.

Did we miss something?????

Feel free to comment and fill us in.

LAst but not least...if Ms. Wheatley did nothing wrong...why has the Wickliffe School Board offered her three different settlement packages? If Ms. Wheatley is wrong why not just go to court if she sued?

Seems like the board may have something to hide!

It Ain't Over 'Till All the Votes Are Counted: here come the ballots!

It has been ten days today since the November 3rd General Election! That means the Lake County Board of Election can start counting the late absentees and provisional ballots!

The Eastlake mayor's race was a lot of fun to watch. The Ugrincic Machine could not topple Mayor Andrzejewski .

However, as you can see Wickliffe's Mayor's race and Ward 1 is up for grabs! Can Councilman Levar rally?

The News-Herald chronicles the details here, but here's a quote from their article:

* The race for Wickliffe Council Ward 1 has 33 outstanding ballots left with a two-vote difference between the two candidates. James Bala received 620 votes, and Terri Jo Rotondo had 618 votes.

* The Wickliffe mayoral contest had a difference of 52 votes with 120 outstanding ballots left between the two candidates. Bill Margalis received 2,340 votes; Gordon F. Levar received 2,288 votes.

* For North Perry Village Council, voters selected four candidates with difference of four votes among three candidates vying for the fourth spot, and 11 outstanding ballots remain. Joe Stinson Jr. received 190 votes, Lorrie J. Taylor had 186 votes, and Michael Zinn had 186 votes.

* For Riverside School Board, voters selected three candidates with a difference of 37 votes between third and fifth place, with 139 outstanding ballots left in Painesville Township. Richard Radcliffe received 3,832 votes, Brian Kolkowski received 3,795 votes, and Thomas J. Trombley received 3,705 votes.

* For Madison School Board, voters selected three candidates with a 62-vote difference between third and fourth place, and 122 outstanding ballots left (92 in Madison Township and 30 in Madison Village). Duane H. Frager received 1,746 votes and Michael Legeza received 1,710 votes.

* For Kirtland School Board, 43 outstanding ballots remain. Voters selected three candidates with a difference of 11 votes between third and four place. Timothy E. Kehres received 1,194 votes and Keith A. McCrory garnered 1,183 votes.

It Aint' Over 'till All the Votes are Counted: Wickliffe Mayor's Race

This past General Election has come and gone. Hats off to Lake County Board of Elections Director Janet F. Clair and her staff; Election Day seems to have gone smoothly since no major problems, irregularities, etc have surfaced yet. According to the Lake County BOE's website The voter turnout in Lake County was 45.07%.

This past election cycle had some heated municipal races: Eastlake Mayor Ted Andrzejewski fended of the Ugrincic Machine's bid to elect retired law enforcement officer Walt Ugrincic, and Council President Bill Margalis leads Councilman Gordon Levar by 52 votes. As of right now election results are UNOFFICIAL! Council President Bill Margalis' 2,340 (50.56%) votes may not be enough to hold onto the lead over Councilman Levar's 2,288 votes (49.44%); this is the vote with 9 of 9 precincts counted. An automatic recount would kick-in if the FINAL, OFFICIAL vote tally is than one half of one percent.

Why the Lake County Resident, politico, and the like asks!?

As of now there are about 3, 000 votes to still be counted county-wide according to our sources at the BOE. These 3,000 votes include late absentees post marked by the correct date and provisional ballots.

If Council President Margalis holds on his time would be divided between the part-time Mayor's Post and his full-time job as a County Administrator.

In other Wickliffe election news it appears that Incumbent Councilman Matt Jaworski was defeated Ronald P. Ely with an unofficial vote count of 600 to 539, respectively. Tough loss for a hard working young man; hopefully Jaworski picks himself up...dusts off and gets back on the horse quickly.

Stay tuned. We have to talk about that brutal school board race!