New Article from Connecticut Post and Comments

True story: She was told not to return to a Fairfield County, CT hair salon. Sonia had a bad habit of showing up, and would then throw a tantrum, insisting that she had an appointment. Eventually they had to keep tapes of their contact with her in the event of a lawsuit. Does she still get the Japanese hair straightening every 6 months?

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He did more than drive her around in Bridgeport (the word was it was the reason for her divorce from Sylvester).

A Bridgeport Teacher

P.S. My strongest memory of her was when she pulled a group of reading and math specialists from their positions and placed them as classroom teachers. When confronted by one that she had no right to do so, and that they all had excellent reviews, her reply was, "I can do anything I want - I'm the SUPERINTENDENT!"

We're sorry you have her, now, but we're damn happy to have her gone.

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http://www.connpost.com/localnews/ci_4684136

This article was in the local Bridgeport paper.

Ex-supt., cohorts reunite; N.M. school board suspends Diaz
LINDA CONNER LAMBECK lclambeck@ctpost.com
Article Launched:11/18/2006 04:47:01 AM EST

Two former public employees in Bridgeport have found work in a New Mexico school district headed up — at least for the time being — by former Bridgeport Supt. of Schools Sonia Diaz.
John Marsillio, Bridgeport's public facilities director during the administration of former Mayor Joseph P. Ganim, was named business manager for the Las Cruces public schools as of Nov. 1.
Also hired by the Las Cruces district as part of a transition team, on a consulting basis, was Clarence Tolbert, who served as an associate superintendent under Diaz and later interim superintendent when Diaz's contract was not renewed in 2004.
Diaz, who went by the name Sonia Diaz Salcedo when she worked as Bridgeport's school chief, was hired in July by the Las Cruces district for an annual salary of $160,000. But earlier this month, she was put on a paid administrative leave by that city's school board
Las Cruces is an urban district with 23,700 students in southwestern New Mexico, about the same enrollment as Bridgeport.
School officials in Las Cruces won't publicly state why they have disciplined Diaz, according to Las Cruces press reports, saying it is a personnel matter. But others quoted in those accounts suggest her management style, spending habits and unilateral hiring of Marsillio and others without posting the jobs may be factors.
The Las Cruces Board of Education is expected to take up the issue of her employment status when it meets Monday.
Marsillio is working part time in Las Cruces and is expected to go full time Jan. 1, 2007, said Jo Galvin, a spokeswoman for the district.
Over the next two months, he will earn $10,336.56. His annual salary in January will be $125,000. Galvin said Marsillio is filling a vacancy created by the resignation of the district's chief operating officer. "But his position is more than just operating officer. His duties also include facilities, finances and human resources," she said.
Galvin said Diaz wanted to hire well-qualified people willing to relocate to New Mexico when she tapped Marsillio, adding Marsillio has done "just a phenomenal job of looking into our lack of systems in place and helping us move forward. He has a really good eye for improvements we need to make here."
Neither Diaz nor Marsillio could be reached for comment. Nor could Tolbert, who worked for Las Cruces from July 23 to 27. He has not been back since, said Galvin.
It was expected Tolbert would be paid $4,000, though to date he has only been paid $310.40 for hotel and meals, she said. "I don't know if there will be any more invoices or not," Galvin said.
When Diaz was in Bridgeport, she tried to hire Marsillio to oversee school construction projects while he still worked for the city. The school board approved the plan, but the City Council nixed it.
Marsillio, who worked as public facilities director in Bridgeport for 13 years, was fired in 2003 by Mayor John M. Fabrizi, who succeeded Ganim, after he was forced to resign following his conviction on federal corruption charges.
Marsillio was involved in overseeing many of the large public works projects planned during Ganim's administration. Contracts for several of those projects figured in Ganim's indictment and conviction on federal corruption charges. Marsillio was never charged with criminal wrongdoing.
Diaz, who spent four years in Bridgeport, left after the school board refused to renew her contract and became a deputy superintendent in Miami.
Salcedo was paid $125,000 for the remainder of her Bridgeport contract at the time of her departure, and was paid an annual salary of $185,000 in Miami. But she lasted in Florida only six months before deciding to leave.

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I want to thank the person hosting this blog for providing a safe place for LCPS employees to vent their concerns and fears. I believe your work played a big part in the Board of Education and several media sources taking our concerns seriously. The LCPS Board of Education now has a good idea about the concerns of school employees from this web blog, Channel 7 news (sadly, not from the Sun-News who seems clearly biased towards Dr. Diaz despite the facts), emails, and from their own internal investigation. I am so proud of those LCPS employees who had the courage to speak up about Dr. Diaz. And when I say courage, I mean real courage - Dr. Diaz openly takes pleasure in talking about firing people and complainers and whistleblowers are definitely at-risk! The safety is in the numbers. Dr. Diaz can't fire most of the administrators in the school district!The LCPS Board of Education now has the responsibility to act on information available to them. It should be abundantly clear that Dr. Diaz (1) has no real vision for improving student success, (2) is not fiscally responsible and likely has broken LCPS and NMPED regulations regarding spending and budget processes, (3) has violated LCPS procedures regarding hiring and contracting, (4) has created a great sense of fear through her threatening and cruel management style.I hope the LCPS Board of Education does the right thing with this information - fire Dr. Diaz.If the LCPS Board of Education does not, I hope there is outrage expressed at Monday's board meeting and that we turn up the heat on the board. Further, it is critically important that we work to remove the board via our votes in February and continue to ask the NMPED to step in and take over the school district.If the LCPS Board of Education does the right thing, I personally will not support a NMPED take-over. However, I will work to unseat any board member who votes to keep Dr. Diaz. For those board members voting to remove her, my support will go to them.Please show your passion to the LCPS Board of Education by: (1) emailing them, and (2) showing up to the meeting on Monday and be prepared to speak out against Dr. Diaz and the need for her to go.We can do this! We care about our children! Diaz must go! Let's get rid of the cancer before it grows further!

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As I continue to read this blog, I've asked myself why Dr. Diaz doesn't just resign? She obviously doesn't have the support of school administrators and my child's principal agrees that things have gone from bad to worse since she arrived. My child's school teachers and principal are working hard and I'm proud of this school district. I am NOT proud of the woman at the top of the organization. Please Dr. Diaz, re-evaluate. If you really care then step down. Let us move forward and let the staff concentrate on their jobs and not your problems. If you don't have support, how do you expect to be able to lead? You can't run this system alone - and alone is where you're at.

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To Anonymous... And administration doesn't understand that the kids are individuals who need instruction as individuals with separate, special needs. It is possible to build a curriculum system that addresses the needs of all the children, and delivers the right stuff, to the right kid, at the right time.

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As far as fundraising ideas: How about a dunking booth in the style of the Salem witch trials tests? Juuuuuust kiddin'.Actually, here's hoping that a lot of you LCPS employees are taking advantage of a Happy Hour available in one of the many the fine establishments here in town-with or without alcohol! You deserve it! (Get a safe ride home, of course!)Seriously, just to let you know, there are a lot of us out here who know how hard it is right now, know how much you do for us here in parent land, and hope all of you who have been feeling so stressed lately don't forget that you are far, far more than that job you go to each day. Thing can only get better folks! Take care! Don't forget: you're REALLY doing God's work--and for peanuts, too!