Brother-In-Law of AG Kathleen Kane’s Chief of Staff To Run Hershey School;
Rendell Crony And High-Profile Democrat Will Replace Colistra
By Ric Fouad, President, Protect Hershey’s Children
Well that didn’t take long.
John Estey, the brother-in-law of AG Kane’s chief of staff, Adrian King, has been named as Milton Hershey School “interim president.”
This follows by some two months Kane declining to impose meaningful MHS reforms.
Many attributed Kane’s lack of reform enthusiasm to the influence of the King-Estey connection and other political considerations.
Tony Colistra is to step aside in favor of Estey “later this summer.”
Little in Estey’s resume would indicate he is qualified to run the world’s largest child welfare charity. He is supposedly serving only on an interim basis.
But with the latest presidential “search” having just commenced, Estey’s “interim” term could be lengthy –and MHS has had two earlier “interim” presidents go on to the full-time position (Rod Pera and Johnny O’Brien).
In any case, these searches – even the mock ones witnessed at MHS – typically take six to twelve months. It is also questionable whether many candidates will be available at the start of a school year, or even in the middle of it; i.e., Estey may be in the position for a full year, and at a time when MHS is already in a downward spiral.
The question is why the MHS Board did not start a search last fall, when Colistra’s departure became commonly known?
Why wasn’t a search firm retained then to pick a candidate who would be ready to take over right now, or who could take over in September, after a genuine “interim” president spent four or so months cleaning house and ridding MHS of the leadership problems created during the last ten years?
The answer seems obvious: the MHS Board maneuvered this intentionally to have the position go to Estey. Why else would they have failed to undertake a search already?
It is very hard to defend the MHS Board’s actions and these questions certainly deserve answers.
While Estey does not appear to have child welfare qualifications, his political credentials are well-known. This includes as a long-term crony of Ed Rendell, having served as Rendell’s chief of staff. If that isn’t enough, Rendell, Estey, and King (Kane’s chief of staff) were also all law partners together at the same Philadelphia law firm.
The present MHS environment is fraught with problems, including:
• MHS is losing more than one child every school day.
• More than 80 house parents have left in the last year.
• High-needs MHS kids are being failed by amateurish programs.
• MHS students are being expelled after “enrollment reviews” that violate these children’s rights, disregard their wellbeing, flaunt child welfare norms, and trample all notions of due process.
• Employees have suffered under years of leadership bullying and cronyism.
• Enrollment policies are irrational.
The list is endless.
Nonetheless, MHS students and staff will now face another recycled MHS Board member as president, one who hardly seems equipped to address the current grave circumstances.
Students and staff must also observe while the Bob Cavanaugh-led MHS Board pursues another Presidential “search,” despite a record of dubious selections that include Johnny O’Brien and Tony Colistra.
The board claimed that these individuals were superior to the other competing candidates; but such claims strain all credulity –an OAG staff member even burst out laughing when told that Colistra would replace O’Brien, so convinced was he that this was just a joke.
Once again, the Hershey charity’s problems are at the MHS Board level. So long as people with questionable motives and a lack of child welfare qualifications are making momentous MHS decisions, needy kids and staff will pay a staggering price…
We will report additional information as it emerges.
I would be curious to know if Ms. Kane’s problems with said practices would extend to the those of her own political persuasion?