For quite a while, this blog has been curious as to why Superintendent Mark Fredisdorf seems so out of touch with current educational pedagogy and the dynamics of an actual classroom. When asked questions, he defers to others for answers. He comes up with cockamamie plans and uses the curriculum council as a shield to carry them out. When his plans fail, he has someone to blame.
FOIA requests to several public entities are finally providing answers.
First of all, Fredisdorf has had little professional development in the last three years and we suspect that has probably been the case for quite some time. The photo below is what Fredisdorf filled out in early December citing all the professional development he has had in the last three years. Most of the training listed is mandated by the state, and is not professional development.
Secondly, according to Fredisdorf's resume, he has spent one year, yes, you read that right, just ONE YEAR teaching school in the United States!
His one and only year ever teaching school was his very first year out of college waaaayy back in 1978-79!! Seriously, we cannot make this stuff up!
To be honest, we spoke with several people including administrators, a former principal and college professor who were alarmed about the lack of teaching experience Fredisdorf has had in his career. It is essentially unheard of to become a superintendent with so little experience!
While he has taught a few years in various countries overseas, they don't replicate an American classroom. For example, you don't even need a teaching degree to teach English in Japan - anyone with a college degree can do it! Not only was he a job hopper, but a country hopper too. Why?
In addition, Fredisdorf has never been a principal or even an assistant principal. The majority of his career has been spent away from children on administrative tasks.
It makes us wonder what board members Gary Bozick, Rita Uckerman, Bettina Johnson, Thomas Anselmo, Kathleen Blank, Ellen Blakeman and Patti Essig saw in him that led to hiring a superintendent with almost ZERO experience!
It certainly couldn't have been his expertise in strategic planning because Fredisdorf had to hire an outside company to help write the plan back in 2002. Heck, he can't even explain the plan when asked about it. It was written about 12 years ago and he continues to ride its coat tails as if it is actually meaningful today. Egads!
Mark Fredisdorf's resume:
His one and only year ever teaching school was his very first year out of college waaaayy back in 1978-79!! Seriously, we cannot make this stuff up!
To be honest, we spoke with several people including administrators, a former principal and college professor who were alarmed about the lack of teaching experience Fredisdorf has had in his career. It is essentially unheard of to become a superintendent with so little experience!
While he has taught a few years in various countries overseas, they don't replicate an American classroom. For example, you don't even need a teaching degree to teach English in Japan - anyone with a college degree can do it! Not only was he a job hopper, but a country hopper too. Why?
In addition, Fredisdorf has never been a principal or even an assistant principal. The majority of his career has been spent away from children on administrative tasks.
It makes us wonder what board members Gary Bozick, Rita Uckerman, Bettina Johnson, Thomas Anselmo, Kathleen Blank, Ellen Blakeman and Patti Essig saw in him that led to hiring a superintendent with almost ZERO experience!
It certainly couldn't have been his expertise in strategic planning because Fredisdorf had to hire an outside company to help write the plan back in 2002. Heck, he can't even explain the plan when asked about it. It was written about 12 years ago and he continues to ride its coat tails as if it is actually meaningful today. Egads!
Mark Fredisdorf's resume:
In his job application to Pleasantdale, Fredisdorf writes about being an independent consultant for strategic planning, curriculum and staff development; none of which he seems to have any clue about! When asked to provide the board with the middle school language arts curriculum recently, he responded, "What do you mean by curriculum?" Just watch some of the board videos if you don't believe us.
Fredisdorf also claims that he played a major role in creating innovative technology plans, overseeing the networking process, purchasing hardware and software and advancing the instructional use of technology. Say WHAT??? He can barely even operate a video presentation without help!!
Finally, Fredisdorf does not have a job description (which directly violates board policy 5:30) so the board of education doesn't hold him accountable for anything and no one knows exactly what he is supposed to be doing to earn his $250,000 a year salary! In addition, the board of education not longer keeps track of Fredisdorf's weekly schedule - he does that on his own. Remember what happened in the township treasurer's office when the board of trustees, elected to supervise Robert Healy, allowed him to do as he pleased and let him run amok? "Healy instructed his staff to stop logging his off-days, which they did. Even though sources said he often was not in the office, by Healy’s calculation he used only 25 vacation days in 24 years, and no sick or personal days." You can read about that here, here or here.
9 comments:
In his current contract, when did it begin and when does it expire?
Hmm, that is a good question. He was given a three year contract beginning July of 2011. By August of 2012, he wanted to break his contract to enter into a new four year contract that would be more beneficial to him. So in December of 2012, board members Rick Rigley, Leandra Sedlack, Lisa Houk, Mark Mirabile and Beth Tegtmeier voted 5 to 2 to give him a new, better contract. Board members O'Halloran and Scaletta-Nelson voting against it. So, now his current contract expires on June 30, 2016 and not a moment too soon!
It would benefit the entire community, the staff and most importantly the children if the current board would oust him now, but they won't because certain people are more worried about possible community backlash than doing the right thing.
Fredisdorf has repeatedly been caught in lies, disregarded policies, created the most toxic work environment for his staff and shortchanged hundreds of students by not having an RtI program let alone a curriculum in place. Watch the board videos to see and hear the truth.
Teachers are stressed out and leaving left and right. It is getting so bad that Matt Vandercar is running out of neighbors, church members and his kids' friends to fill all the openings. Pretty soon they will have to look beyond Westmont for qualified people!
In any case, we hope that we answered your question.
Thanks for your quick response. Now to a topic that might have been covered before: 2013 Report Card
Who (Superintendent/Board) is resposible for the dramatic drop in test scores this past year? Is this related to Common Core in any way? Dr. Fredisdorf used to preach what great test scores we had in the district.
Of course the superintendent oversees the entire district so naturally he is responsible. As the state has been transitioning to the Common Core for the last three years, so have the tests. First of all, Dr. Fredisdorf did not think it was really going to happen and said so at a few board meetings. He felt that the "Pleansantdale Standards" were far superior to anything and anyone else, so no matter what changed he would be fine. If you look at the post titled Common Core Time Lie you will see that miraculously he was able to complete this three year transition in just a few months! Our test scores have always been similar to the other feeder schools in regard to the ISAT. Fredisdorf likes to say that we are above the township average, but so are four of the other schools. Only two districts are below the average. He has NEVER compared apples to apples though when it came to other standardized test measurements. While EVERY other school uses the MAP test, Fredisdorf does not. He uses the antiquated, outdated and useless ITBS test. Why? So we CANNOT compare to other districts! Pay attention here because this trend is about to continue. Recently, he has decided that he no longer wants to use the ITBS. We believe it is because he can no longer game the system to bring about the results he wants. So rather than comparing his apples to everyone else's apples by using the MAP test, he wants the board of education to approve the STAR Assesement test. He knows the writing is on the wall. His scores are falling and his house of cards is collapsing. That's what happens when you do not educate yourself professionally. He refused to acknowledge the Common Core was coming and now it has bitten him in the backside. That's what happens when you have no RtI plan in place to keep struggling learners from falling through the cracks. That's what happens when you have no real curriculum in place because you have not educated yourself or your staff professionally. That's what happens when you no longer have a school board that does not question anything and just blindly agrees with and approves whatever he wants. That's what happens when your staff is tired of being thrown under the bus for every failed plan and dropped score and finally stands up for themselves. That's what happens when parents are able to communicate with each other via social media and discuss their children's education freely. That's what happens when people are surveyed and the truth comes out. That's what happens when his background is exposed. That's what happens when no one has any confidence is his ability to lead. It is all coming full circle and it is no longer fun. His house of cards is caving in. The walls are tumbling down. People are finally starting to see through all the smoke and mirrors and the truth is coming out. Finally!
Why is this clown still here? Any person with an ounce of respect would walk away and say I'm sorry for screwing things up.
Well the board members that hired Mark are not morons they saw something in him and personaly I find his resume quite impressive. I wonder what the individual who posted his resume looks like im sure nothing like Marks and are you even allowed to share something like that. This seems more a personal issue and not so much what is best for the students. Look at all all neighboring schools everyones test scores have declined with the new common core . I find common core to be a waste of time.
Just curious who are the members of the pleasant dale blog team obviously someone on the school board is.
For your information I don't drink never did I was up with my 5 sick children. It is no business of yours but I am not an idiot I am college educated. You are judgemental and don't want to hear anyone else's opinions because I am not agreeing with you lets see you resume. Its parents like you that shame the community and teach children to judge and call others names. Yes my opinion was that I found Mark's resume to be quite impressive. That is my opinion you don't have to agree but you don't have to be rude. Drinking and posting don't mix really!
To the anonymous poster who is oddly impressed with Mark's credentials: How do you know that test scores in other school districts have declined? Are you privy to their 2013-2014 MAP scores? You probably don't even know what MAP testing is, considering our school district is the only public LT feeder school not administering it. Are you comparing our ITBS scores to other schools? Now that would be impressive, since nobody else takes that test. Have you seen ISAT scores? That too would be impressive considering the school probably doesn't even have those scores yet. Maybe you should consider commenting when you actually know what you're talking about.
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