Following the public rebuke of Superintendent Torres-Rodriguez’s tone-deaf request for a bonus, her chief propaganda specialist, Jesse Sugarman, skipped off to the Hartford Courant to tell them that the whole thing was a big misunderstanding, there was, he said, “confusion.”

Sugarman told the Courant, “If compensation had been considered and approved, it would have been exclusively utilized as a monetary donation to benefit Hartford Public School students. At the superintendent’s explicit request, this compensation would not have personally benefitted her” (Hartford Courant (Online) Dec 22, 2023).

This is the language, in its entirety, of the proposal before the Board of Education (which the board chose not to vote on):

“That the Hartford Board of Education authorizes the Hartford Board of Education Chair to negotiate a stipend, or other form of compensation and/or benefits, to be provided to the Superintendent relative to the extra duties assumed in her role over the past year due to senior executive team vacancies.”

Seems to be pretty straightforward, no mention of donating anything to anybody but rather, “…to be provided to the Superintendent relative to the extra duties assumed…”  If the intent was, as Sugarman said, so “explicit,” then who the hell wrote a proposal which appears to be quite explicit in its purpose? This is just the Superintendent and Sugarman concocting a child’s story to save face.

However, let’s play along with the less than honest folks at HPS.  Assuming this was to end up being a donation back to the school system, then what you have is Torres-Rodriguez asking the board to approve taking money from the school district budget and then turning around and giving it back to the school district and calling it a charitable donation from Torres-Rodriguez.  Seriously?  Basically, give me a bonus so I can donate to my favorite charity.  They probably already had an order in for a plaque to be made honoring Torres-Rodriguez for her donation to the district…of district funds.

As Hyacinth Yennie told the superintendent and board, “when I want to donate, I take my own money and donate.”  Yes, that is the way it is usually done.

However, once the stench of this proposal drifted across Hartford on a chilly December breeze, Hartford union leaders, led by Carol Gale, joined in an email to the BOE the afternoon before the meeting where this proposal would be taken up, asking the board, WTF?!  Similarly, that same afternoon, Hyacinth Yennie made phone calls to board members to present the public’s dissatisfaction with what they were smelling…hearing.  Thus, with just a few hours before this was to be brought before the public for a vote, the superintendent and the board had to come up with a face-saving story, and they chose the donation and confusion angle.

As was reported in the Hartford News (“Santa baby, show her the money”), the motion for the bonus was ‘tabled,’ meaning that the BOE, also trying to save face after looking foolish even presenting the resolution in public, and to avoid tarnishing their back-room collegiate relationship with Torres-Rodriguez, would not vote on the motion. 

Board Member Johnson stated however, that he wanted the public to know that the board had the right to vote on the motion if they so desired.  Ah, yes, you did, that right is not in question (stay in the same lane, bro).  The question is, and was asked by Member Browdy, is “why” will there be no vote?  Why did your spine turn to jelly?  Johnson explained that the motion was tabled because that is allowed by parliamentary procedure.  What?!  That’s not an answer!

Thus, it appears that the only people confused are the leaders of this charade, the folks who assured the public that they are the ones who will lead the children of Hartford to the promised land.  This group couldn’t lead a dog to red meat.  This would have been funny if it wasn’t so seriously pathetic.