- Wed Jul 04, 2007 6:39 am
#324898
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
The Heron's Nest: Blogging with the Editor: A stunner in Penn-Delco
By Phil Heron
Keith Crego has not been president of the Penn-Delco School Board since last December.
But the shroud he placed on the troubled district continues to grow, as does the body count of those caught in the tentacles of what he did to the district.
Under his leadership, school board members seemed to come and go every couple of weeks. Many believe people got positions on the board not necessarily because of their expertise or what they could offer the district, but because of their ties to Crego.
The board became something of a revolving door.
Monday the door opened once again, and this time it took another significant toll on the district.
Superintendent Leslye Abrutyn is exiting as schools’ boss, apparently tired of the soap opera that has surrounded the district and school board since Crego cast his spell on the surroundings.
It is almost unfathomable that someone so bright, so gifted, with so much to offer a school district could become just another victim of Keith Crego.
Abrutyn had been superintendent in Penn-Delco for the past decade. Her era was marked by fiscal prudence and increasing test scores.
Then Keith Crego rose to power as the leader of the Penn-Delco School Board.
Now Crego, and to some degree Abrutyn since she was the CEO of the district, find themselves at the center of an investigation into the district’s connection with Quick Start Preschools, a private day-care provider that was brought on board in 2005.
At the time, the service was being provided by the Rocky Run YMCA. The change to Quick Start, without a bidding process, raised a few eyebrows.
Now it is being looked at by county detectives. Both Crego and Abrutyn received subpoenas to appear before a county investigative grand jury.
Abrutyn is believed to have talked to investigators, but did not appear before the grand jury.
The district’s solicitor has indicated he does not believe the probe is targeting any current board members or school district employees.
Make no mistake. We have not heard the last of Quick Start, nor Keith Crego. Nor, I guess, Leslye Abrutyn.
After all, the new wing at Sun Valley High School carries her name, “The Dr. Leslye S. Abrutyn Wing of Education.”
It remains to be seen whether the district will mull a change of the name, much as it did with the Keith Crego Conference Center, where they hold their meetings.
I will admit that some of the stories you hear about what was going on in the district, and among some board members, is hard to believe.
It would be hard to believe among anyone in the district. Then you remind yourself that these were school board members.
Apparently Abrutyn, who is caring for her ailing mother and whose husband died of a heart attack last February, has tired of being under the microscope.
She can thank Keith Crego, in large part, for putting her there. And also herself, for not putting her foot down and putting an end to the shenanigans long before they reached the point they have now.
The Heron's Nest: Blogging with the Editor: A stunner in Penn-Delco
By Phil Heron
Keith Crego has not been president of the Penn-Delco School Board since last December.
But the shroud he placed on the troubled district continues to grow, as does the body count of those caught in the tentacles of what he did to the district.
Under his leadership, school board members seemed to come and go every couple of weeks. Many believe people got positions on the board not necessarily because of their expertise or what they could offer the district, but because of their ties to Crego.
The board became something of a revolving door.
Monday the door opened once again, and this time it took another significant toll on the district.
Superintendent Leslye Abrutyn is exiting as schools’ boss, apparently tired of the soap opera that has surrounded the district and school board since Crego cast his spell on the surroundings.
It is almost unfathomable that someone so bright, so gifted, with so much to offer a school district could become just another victim of Keith Crego.
Abrutyn had been superintendent in Penn-Delco for the past decade. Her era was marked by fiscal prudence and increasing test scores.
Then Keith Crego rose to power as the leader of the Penn-Delco School Board.
Now Crego, and to some degree Abrutyn since she was the CEO of the district, find themselves at the center of an investigation into the district’s connection with Quick Start Preschools, a private day-care provider that was brought on board in 2005.
At the time, the service was being provided by the Rocky Run YMCA. The change to Quick Start, without a bidding process, raised a few eyebrows.
Now it is being looked at by county detectives. Both Crego and Abrutyn received subpoenas to appear before a county investigative grand jury.
Abrutyn is believed to have talked to investigators, but did not appear before the grand jury.
The district’s solicitor has indicated he does not believe the probe is targeting any current board members or school district employees.
Make no mistake. We have not heard the last of Quick Start, nor Keith Crego. Nor, I guess, Leslye Abrutyn.
After all, the new wing at Sun Valley High School carries her name, “The Dr. Leslye S. Abrutyn Wing of Education.”
It remains to be seen whether the district will mull a change of the name, much as it did with the Keith Crego Conference Center, where they hold their meetings.
I will admit that some of the stories you hear about what was going on in the district, and among some board members, is hard to believe.
It would be hard to believe among anyone in the district. Then you remind yourself that these were school board members.
Apparently Abrutyn, who is caring for her ailing mother and whose husband died of a heart attack last February, has tired of being under the microscope.
She can thank Keith Crego, in large part, for putting her there. And also herself, for not putting her foot down and putting an end to the shenanigans long before they reached the point they have now.
'Live without pretending, love without depending, listen without defending, speak without offending.'
Whoa....she gets CAR INSURANCE 
Now, I'm impressed 
