As I stated in my previous post, the School Board’s selection of Mr. Johnson as superintendent was made before the report of the various area advisory meetings was publicized. Wednesday, I sent Dawn Creason, I-SS Director of Public Relations, an e-mail asking to inspect the final report as well as any intermediate reports of the various Area Advisory Meetings that began on Oct. 1, 2009. I also requested to inspect the reports of any other advisory meetings, including the one with certified personnel, that were held relating to the selection of the new superintendent. I received the following reply.
Mr. Klaene-
I have checked, and the minutes posted online are the reports of the advisory meetings. There were no intermediate reports. Additionally, there have been no meetings with certified personnel relating to the selection of the new superintendent.
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I have read the minutes of the advisory meetings and they are not the reports that were promised. As a matter of fact, each of the minutes includes the following statement.
All information gathered at this and all Area Advisory Meetings will be presented back to the community in the form of a report from Mr. Hultberg and Ms. Masiello.
Additionally, at the last of the area advisory meetings, Mr. Johnson stated that the advisory meeting report would be posted on the I-SS web site within a few days. Why is there no report? Why was no advisory meeting held with the teachers as promised? Why was there no public survey as promised?
As part of his comments at the Board meeting, Dr. Cash said: “we reviewed recommendations made through the district advisory meeting process and the data obtained from formal and informal surveys throughout the education and civic community.” How could they review the recommendations if there was no report? What formal and informal surveys was he referring to? Perhaps the Board members simply talked to their friends, relatives, and close associates.
Now don’t get me wrong, I know that Mr. Johnson is a capable and dedicated man. I certainly think that he will do a good job as superintendent. However, the Board promised that they would use a particular process in the selection of the new superintendent. Yet, in the end, they chose to abruptly stop that process and go behind closed doors to make their decision. This casts a dark cloud over the whole process and even worse; it casts a dark cloud over Mr. Johnson. Once again, the School Board has shown a lack of respect for students, parents, teachers, other I-SS employees, and the citizens of Iredell County.
Paul Kleane you are a nit picker, a knat flying around the school system trying to be important. The BOE is self serving as it always has been. The entire system is self serving. It is comprised of people who are motivated by self just as you are Paul. Everybody is using the false front of caring and concern to support their favorite cause, self.
ReplyDeleteAs I have said before all of you that have voiced opinions need to get out and vote how you feel. Do what your conscience feels. Vote for who you feel will do the best job, and if you do not like the way the BOE does things, then get new faces in there.
ReplyDeletePaul - I think they should create an administrator position for someone to govern that type of information, and you'd be perfect for the job and maybe they could even give you your own department.
ReplyDeleteWe already have a quality department, so what can we name yours? Something along the lines of MTPS, since the district is so fond of abreviations. Meddling, Trifling, Pot Stirring. (Yeah, we all know that's a pseudonym for Quality, but hey, when in Rome.)
I can see it now. Your department mission statement and purpose could be:
"The collection of data for which nobody gives 3 flying flips about."
After all, they already have 20+ administrators, only half of which are somewhat necessary, and another half of which are actually necessary. What's one more dead weight at the top of the dung heap? It would undoubtedly make you happy, and give some poor worker bee yet another job to do, and crap to clean up.
Honestly, I hate being ugly, but those of us out in the schools that once paid attention to you with half an ear, are seeing that there's really no way to make you happy. You preached Brady Johnson's values, morals, and virtues to people, but now that they named him as the superintendent, you're whining, grumping, and moaning because they didn't do it the way YOU wanted them to. Come on Paul. We have much more going on at the schools between kids with issues, and extra work than to worry about what lynch mob you're trying to rally now to chase down the board.
The election's coming up in the spring, so let them go until then. I am more than certain there will be some changes coming to our BOE. But for the love of God... GIVE IT A REST already! Go on vacation. Clean the house for Pam. Do something, but leave Brady Johnson alone. He's going to make changes, and he's going to right some wrongs. He's in there, you wanted it, so be happy and get a new hobby.
I like the MPTS position suggestion. I nominate Mrs. Munday to be his girl Friday. Together they could trifle well.
ReplyDeleteApparently, there are many who have no problem with duplicity. They think that it is perfectly acceptable for the BoE to say one thing and then do another---there is an "L" word that applies to this type of behavior.
ReplyDeleteKudos and thanks to Paul, Janey, and others who are doing what they can to hold the I-SS/BoE accountable for their actions.
You are correct on one account...come election time, voters should give an entirely new group the chance to govern OUR school system with transparency, integrity and honesty. The current one has blown all their chances to do this.
Yeah KUDOS to Paul and Janey! Muckrakers of the year! I think the National Enquirer is looking for a few more field reporters that are great with digging, fabrication and gossip spreading. This BLOG can be your resume!
ReplyDeletePaul, Brady Johnson is only going along with you to get you to shut up. Sooner or later you will push it too far and ruin a good thing. No wonder Holiday tossed you out of the office and told you to talk to his attorney. Oh wait, he tossed your buddy Munday out and Dulin as well! Birds of a feather. Get a life. Find something productive to do for the school system. ISS is morally corrupt and will always be morally corrupt. It is a government agency. Let it go and put your energy in to something productive!
ReplyDeletePaul, Janey, and everyone else, thank you for doing what you do! It's hard on some when they can't refute the argument, so they reduce themselves to attacking the messenger. The fact is they didn't follow through on their word, and there is no defense for that as you are only as credible as your actions say you are.
ReplyDeleteWhen the discussion came up at school that Brady was named superindentent, the reaction was a head shake! Not because we don't like Mr. Johnson, but because we were lied to once again. Unfornately, it's the norm in this district and that obviously hasn't changed.
The teachers aren't doing the survey, or not many of them are doing it. Bottom line, what's the point? They obviously have NO interest in hearing what the teachers have to say!
Quote: The teachers aren't doing the survey, or not many of them are doing it. Bottom line, what's the point? They obviously have NO interest in hearing what the teachers have to say!
ReplyDeleteYes, and when the survey is no longer available and a few months go by...someone (or a BUNCH of someones) is going to be hollering that nobody asked their opinion(s).
Have they ever really cared about anything the teacher says? Politics are politics. SIT is what the Central Office wants and not what teachers want. They can pretend there is input on everything, and that is the biggest lie there ever was. Nothing will change because the suggestions by teachers is not taken to heart.
ReplyDeleteThe so-called data is twisted around until it is done exactly the way they were going to do it anyway. That is why teachers don't do the surveys ,because what is the use? It is another waste of teacher time.
Our input is not wanted when it has already been preplanned. It is manipulation continually.
That's why the survery didn't have abandon on it...it's not an option for THEM, so of course they don't want to hear that some things are just unneccessary for us! Another reason teachers don't do surveys is because it creates more work for them! A teacher once told me not to mark anything low on the climate survey because then we would have to do more paperwork as a fix to the problem!
ReplyDeleteThis district doesn't think we are actually qualified to do anything - they have to tell us how to teach, how to give homework, how to make a test, can't let us have three options because they're afraid we won't tell them why something needs abandoned, can't let us have an opinion in the new superintendent....The great scores are all because of the work they have done at district office with the Baldridge model...has nothing to do with teachers! They think the kids take the wallpaper seriously. They don't think teachers are smart enough to learn how to play the game and know that as long as it looks pretty, you'll be evaluated highly and the Classroom Walkthrough data will be good.
I would like to see the true data on who choose this AWFUL math program! Our old one was very successful, but we can't have that now, we have to use this mess so everyone in the district is on the same page. Per the Baldridge model, there is only one way to get to the same destination. But of course if, or should I say when, the math scores die, teachers will be blamed!
Don't worry ! We don't want anything but clones. All students are the same and all teachers must teach the same way. The same strategies work for all students, and let's keep lowering our standards so every student passes the PDSAs on our walls. I can't wait until the real EOGs come our way because at this rate we will continue to produce fewer students that can pass them, and not be able to work in the 21st century. They will be able to pass our wishy, washy PDSA assessments, and our ridiculous CFAs, but the students we are producing will never make it in the real world. We are the biggest bunch of fools that this world will ever see. Rome collapsed, and so will ISS at the rate it is going. Fools are fools and you cannot tell them anything. No use trying , and even when they fail it will be everyone else's fault, never those that engineered the beginning of the end.
ReplyDeleteBut those fools have made quite a bit of money and have even received national prestige based on a crazy evaluation. Isn't that what is really important? Who cares if there are classrooms with 3 or less computers, no technology in the schools. I'm sure when our kids go to on job interviews they can say, no I've never done a powerpoint or seen a smartboard, but I passed my PDSA 80% of the time! I've never put together a project or presentation, but I can eliminate answers and get the answer right on multiple choice questions!
ReplyDeleteMaybe people won't have to wait as long as they think about changes in the BOE. Rumor has it that several will not seek re-election as they are "fed up" with what has been going on. Amazing, having to be accountable and transparent is something they apparantly did not sign up for.
ReplyDeleteThey allowed it to happen, gave Holiday his contracts, approved the budgets and the hiring at CO. But it's hysterical that they are fed up with themselves! That's usually what politicians do though, make a mess, then turn it over to someone else to handle.
ReplyDeleteThat's the point, now that they have to be accountable and can't make deals under the table anymore without someone questioning it, they don't like the job anymore! It's just like Washington and the tea parties, whine, whine whine that congress has to actually speak to their constituents.
ReplyDeletePaul, just wondering if, according to Dawn Creason, there is no intermediate report, was any money paid to Mr. Hultberg and Ms. Masiello. Also what company if any do Mr. Hultberg and Ms. Masiello work for/own? Was there a contract in place to pay them for the preparation and production of a report?
ReplyDeleteTerri Masiello is the director of Piedmont Mediation and Paul Hultberg works for Barium Springs Home for Children. Some time ago Mr. Johnson told me that they were being paid to collect the information at the advisory meetings but he did not state the specifics of their contracts. Mr. Rogers told me that the Board will still receive a formal report. He did not say when.
ReplyDeleteWho is not seeking re-election?
ReplyDeleteFreedom of information act = show me where the money goes
ReplyDeleteNovember 19, 2009 10:31 PM., absolutely!
ReplyDeleteI-SS is not a privately held company...it is the 'property' of tax payers. Under the law, they must produce all documents regarding records of payment....thank you Paul for not being deterred by continued I-SS top admin perpetuated obfuscation.
Many had hoped that this type of behavior was history along with the departing of the Hollidays.
Let's see them produce the cost of the latest advisary meetings report.
ReplyDeleteSomeone on this blog prefers corruption over truth. Let me see the news is speaking well of Govenors, such as Sanford, Easley,etc.
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to see what comes out of Palin's book. She is exactly like all of the others. Money corrupts. Please let the truth come out about her soon. If she isn't the leader of a bunch of hypocritical idiots, then the world is really flat. All she wants is to make money out of her book and to hell with anyone else. She is just like a sly fox, and the chicken house is hers for the taking.