School Board Hears Superintendent’s Report On Baldwin Media Contacts And Financing

By Eliza Hallabeck

Superintendent of Schools Janet Robinson shared a report of her communications with Baldwin Media Marketing with the Board of Education at its meeting on Tuesday, February 7.

Ann Baldwin, of Baldwin Media Marketing, was hired as the school district’s media consultant through the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education (CABE) on the authority of Dr Robinson over the last summer. By late December, Ms Baldwin had resigned from her position.

Board of Education Chair Debbie Leidlein said during Tuesday’s meeting she had contacted CABE earlier in the day to see if the school board would be receiving further information from Ms Baldwin regarding the product she produced during her time in Newtown.

“I have not received any communication back yet,” said Ms Leidlein.

An invoice for $3,800, as school board Vice Chair Laura Roche noted during the meeting, was listed under “membership” not under “services” in the report prepared for the school board members. That classification, board Secretary Cody McCubbin said, should not have been applied to expenses, and possibly caused the information for the charge not to come before the school board.

“The point is, we have to know where the money is going,” said Mr McCubbin.

School district Director of Business Ron Bienkowski said the invoice for the $3,800 came to the district after June 30, and had an open purchase order to CABE, of which the district is a member.

Before Dr Robinson spoke about her report for the school board, she said she listed her communications with Ms Baldwin in chronological order.

“There are no phone calls documented in here or other conversations that were outside of my involvement,” Dr Robinson told the school board.

Dr Robinson’s listing of communications began with a June 8 phone conference between Mr Bienkowski, Ms Baldwin, then-Board of Education chair William Hart, and herself regarding how to produce a frequently asked questions answer sheet. The questions, she said, involved explaining the transportation bid process, still an ongoing process in June.

Bids for the regular transportation routes were opened on June 24. In a 5-1 vote September 6, the Board of Education awarded All-Star Transportation the five-year bus contract that would have the Torrington-based company fulfilling about half of the transportation services in town from 2012 through 2017. During the bid process, a special event was held at Newtown High School on August 20 for the local owner-operators, Newtown’s traditional transportation services providers, and All-Star Transportation to make presentations before the school board.

After the June 8 phone conference, Dr Robinson listed a meeting with Ms Baldwin, she said, regarding the labor complaint filed by the owner-operators, which alleges the Board of Education failed to bargain with the contractors prior to deciding whether to open the 2012-17 transportation contract for bids. Dr Robinson told the school board she spoke with Ms Baldwin about how the school board could remain objective through the bid process while countering misinformation in the media.

Then on July 13, Dr Robinson said, there was a phone conversation between the superintendent, Mr Hart, then-school board secretary Andrew Buzzi, the Board of Education’s attorney Floyd Dugas, and Ms Baldwin about “vacation strategies.” Also during that conversation, Dr Robinson said it was determined that a meeting for each bidder on the transportation contract to present their track record would be held with a follow-up meeting scheduled for board discussion.

Dr Robinson then said a meeting on July 21 was held with Mr Hart and Ms Baldwin to organize the logistics of what would be the August 20 presentation at Newtown High School. Ms Baldwin agreed, Dr Robinson told the school board, to supply the equipment and videographer to film the event.

O July 28, the media consultant, the superintendent, and the business director met to plan to shoot a television show that would provide a synopsis of the bid process. During the same meeting, Dr Robinson said it was discussed that students would be trained to eventually create their own video programs.

When the August 20 event was held, Ms Baldwin was on hand with the planned videographer and video equipment, Dr Robinson said.

More than a month later, on September 27, Dr Robinson said she met with Ms Baldwin to speak about which school programs would be featured on a television show for Charter Communications.

By October 27, Ms Baldwin again met with the superintendent to discuss students being trained to produce videos to be aired locally, this time with NHS teacher Larry Saladin present. Ms Baldwin said at that meeting she would provide the training for the students and act as the show’s producer. On December 14, ten students were on hand with Ms Baldwin to film two 15-minute shows to air on television, but only one was filmed due to Ms Leidlein not being available for the shoot. After Dr Robinson spoke, Ms Roche pointed out Ms Leidlein had been made aware of that planned event only one to two days in advance.

And finally, on December 9, Ms Baldwin had a training session with teachers about “how to deal with the media in a crisis situation, including role play,” the superintendent said.

At the end of December, when Ms Baldwin’s resignation was announced, Ms Leidlein reported to her board at a December 20 meeting the total cost to the school district for Ms Baldwin’s time and position was $19,700.