Joseph Gatti will stay at Powell Middle rather than take charge of the charter school he helped found.
By ROBERT KING
Published August 1, 2003
BROOKSVILLE - To the surprise of School Board members and parents alike, Joseph Gatti said Thursday he will not give up his job at Powell Middle School to lead the fledgling charter school he helped found.
Instead, Gatti will serve only as a part-time consultant to the Gulf Coast Academy of Science and Technology - a new school expected to be officially born today with the signing of its charter contract in Brooksville.
Since the charter school idea was first proposed last fall, Gatti and fellow Powell Middle School teacher Nevin Siefert have been its two public faces. From the beginning, the two men said they would be the "co-directors" of the charter school.
But Gatti informed Gulf Coast's board of trustees on July 6 that he would be staying at Powell. He made the decision after it became clear that the Hernando County School Board would not grant him a leave of absence to help run the school this year.
Neither Gatti nor any other Gulf Coast representative mentioned Gatti's diminished role during a crucial three-hour meeting with the Hernando County School Board Tuesday night.
At that meeting, in front of a room full of charter school families, Gulf Coast Academy officials ironed out their differences with the School Board. Siefert did most of the talking, but Gatti also took part and stood at Siefert's side the entire evening.
School Board members said Gatti should have disclosed during the meeting his change of roles in the charter school and his change of heart about leaving Powell.
"This colors things," said board member Jim Malcolm. "I'm disappointed. I don't think as a team standing there they were forthright."
Added board member Gail David: "It does throw us a very strange twist. It comes across to me that he was being less than honest with board members."
School Board members said they assumed Gatti was among the five county teachers planning to resign their district jobs so that they could move to the charter school.
But as Gatti and Siefert pointed out Thursday, Gatti never turned in a resignation letter. The other teachers making the jump from district schools did. Instead, Gatti had filed a request for a leave of absence, which was denied.
Gatti claims the denial was unlawful, and he plans to appeal it. But Malcolm said it appears that Gatti's decision not to resign from Powell sends a signal that he is not convinced the charter school will be able to open by Aug. 27 - its new start date.
"I think he's unsure. I really do. He's protecting himself - not that people don't. I think we all do by nature," Malcolm said. "But in this particular case, let's not do it at the expense of a whole bunch of other people."
Frank Fyock, a parent who attended Tuesday night's School Board meeting and who intends to put his son, Hank, in the charter school, was surprised to hear that Gatti's role has changed.
"That's a revelation I had never heard," Fyock said. "I kind of thought he was the driving force behind it."
Fyock said the concept of the school - its focus on science and technology, hands-on learning and field trips - is what drew his interest. Gatti's decision will not hurt his confidence in the new school as long as the core values remain the same, he said.
But David, the School Board member, said it was Gatti's technology expertise that was supposed to make the charter school a science and technology academy. During an interview Thursday, Gatti said he will still develop Gulf Coast's curriculum, assist teachers and be involved in developing innovative teaching strategies. But instead of doing it as a salaried, full-time employee, he will be doing it on a part-time, hourly basis in the afternoons and on weekends.
But while Gatti also said he would be Gulf Coast's financial director, Siefert said that managing the finances would be his (Siefert's) responsibility alone.
"I am going to be the financial director," said Siefert, who will be the school's top administrator, too. "I will utilize him as much as possible. I will be responsible for day-to-day operations of the school."
Gatti and Siefert said they had not yet told parents of Gatti's changing role. That was something they intended to do during meetings with parents this weekend and at next week's open house.
With Gatti at Gulf Coast only part-time, the school has hired a full-time assistant director. Neither Siefert nor Gatti would disclose the new assistant's name Thursday. Gatti said his decision will actually save the school money, since his consultant fees and the assistant director's salary will be less than his full-time co-director's salary.
Gatti will benefit, too. He will earn his salary from Powell, as well as consultant fees from Gulf Coast, and continue accruing benefits in the Florida Retirement System - something he would have lost with the charter school.
