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Kulbertis’ Debacle

EDITOR:

The Dr. Kulbertis debacle is a sad state affairs for the Gladstone taxpayers, our students, and those educational colleagues sucked into this mess, including the Michigan Department of Education. Ann Fox’s letter of Feb. 21 “Kulbertis disciplined by boards” is excellent. The in-depth article in the press by Jordan Beck “Enrollment issues mean less funding More students reported in Gladstone Area Schools’ online program than enrolled” reveals some of the dishonest reporting which has been occurring. I possess the communication Doug Leisenring, superintendent of the Delta-Schoolcraft ISD, sent to the Gladstone School Board, which outlines the depth of Dr. Kulbertis’ deceit in gaining additional funds for his district. When questions arose, Mr. Leisenring enlisted assistance from the Dickinson-Iron Intermediate School District to investigate the web Dr. Kulbertis wove in his attempted cover up.

The Dickinson-Iron Intermediate School District auditor Mary Welcher knew exactly what she was doing and it took a lot of time and energy for her to finally back him into a corner and flush him out, causing him to admit to Mr. Leisenring in this document “I lied.” Sadly, he lied to everyone. This is a misappropriation of state funds to the tune of $289,797. Do any of these monies need to be paid back since we received them last school year? A good question. Merriam Webster defines fraud as:“1a : deceit, trickery;  specifically  : intentional perversion of truth in order to induce another to part with something…: an act of deceiving or misrepresenting”

He received these state monies under false pretenses. Did he commit fraud? The Michigan Department of Education needs to do an extensive fiscal audit of the Gladstone School District, including the board to ensure similar irregularities haven’t occurred to date. The extent Dr. Kulbertis schemed to deceive Ms. Welcher is extensive. His lying even caused Mr. Leisenring to have to travel to Gladstone and personally question teachers regarding the accuracies of their attendance sheets. They didn’t have the students he claimed were in their classrooms. How stressful was that for them? Do they fear retaliation? They were placed in an awful situation. He has lost his integrity. He’s deceitful. He is a liar. And liars can’t be trusted.

Our school board felt he is worthy of keeping his job and shame on them. A slap on the hand is not enough. He needs to be terminated. We need a superintendent we can be proud of, trusted, and principled from now on. Dr. Kulbertis, the degree to which you have lost face warrants a voluntary resignation. This is the honorable action for you to take now.

Gerry Niedermaier

Gladstone

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