Peyton Wolcott - Commentary

P E Y T O N W O L C O T T

h o w w e t a k e b a c k o u r c h i l d r e n ' s e d u c a t i o n --
o n e p e r s o n , o n e q u e s t i o n , o n e s c h o o l a t a t i m e . Copyright 1999-2006 Peyton Wolcott

Commentary

N E W

P R E V I O U S

FORMER BREMOND ISD
SUPE SENTENCED TO 5
YEARS IN PRISON; PLEADS
NOLO CONTENDRE
By Peyton Wolcott - June 26, 2006

CAN BREMOND ISD'S EX-SUPE HELP US FIND
HIS DISTRICT'S MISSING $800,000?
By Peyton Wolcott - July 30, 2006/1:40 am

Bremond ISD's
fund balance
dropped by
$800,000 after
former BISD supe
James Kenneth
Johnson
resigned his post,
a big hit for a
district whose
annual budget is
in the $4 mil
range. Johnson's
been a hard man
to catch up with,
first at his pre-trial
on June 5, then
during his stay at
the Robertson
County Jail
following his June
26, 2006
sentencing.

Three years after
Bremond ISD
parents Maurice
and Pat Yezak and
Robert and Nancy
Gadbois began
asking questions
and eventually filing
public records
requests under the
Texas Public
Information Act to
learn more about
their school district's
finances-- inspired

Johnson (above) in
handcuffs accompan-
ied by law enforce-
ment personnel
(PHOTOS/Nancy
Gadbois)

by rumors of lavish trips and meals by
district personnel--their former
superintendent, James Kenneth Johnson,
was brought to justice and sentenced this
morning to five years in prison by 82nd
Judicial District Judge Robert Stem.

Former Bremond supe James Kenneth
Johnson (above) while still in Robertson County
Jail (PHOTO--Courtesy Sheriff GeraldYezak)

Here's hoping we can talk with him at the Holliday Unit in Huntsville
where he was transferred on July 17. Better ask quick; his first parole
hearing is in January.

Life's no holiday at Holliday
Johnson's schedule at the Holliday Unit is apt to be busy. Among the
agricultural opportunities for guests are: Edible and field crops, an
egg laying operation, a farm shop, the ever-popular peach and pear
orchards, regional pest control services, security horses and dogs, a
swine finishing operation, and a veterinary clinic. Holliday inmates
also assist with the Goree Unit horse breeding program

Johnson's first
stop:
Huntsville
According to law
enforcement officials,
Johnson's first stop
will be prison in
Huntsville for
processing and
observation, most
likely a one- to
two-week stay .

More here regarding
the background of
this case; more
information will be
posted tomorrow as
available from the
Robertson County
district clerk.

Among the educational
opportunities available at
Holliday are literacy,
"Perspectives & Solutions,"
"Project RIO," and such career
and technology programs as
landscape design and
construction and maintenance
work training. Additional
programs include spiritual
growth, mentoring, community
tours, substance abuse
education and support groups.

Top, Johnson
leaving courtroom;
above, Special
Prosecutor Jim
James;
left,Johnson's
attorney.
(PHOTOS/Nancy
Gadbois)

Scenes from the Texas Criminal
Justice System's Holliday Unit in
Huntsville, Texas; below,
"Offenders at the Holliday Unit in
Huntsville gain valuable
construction experience while
volunteering to work on Habitat
for Humanity projects."
PHOTOS/Above,Jérôme Brézillon, TCJS)

What to expect when
you're Kenny Johnson
and expecting to settle
in at Holliday
"Dr. Johnson has been received
by TDCJ but has not yet been
given a regular unit of
assignment," says Windham
School District communica-
tions coordinator Bambi Kiser.
"When he does, Classification
will evaluate him and his skills
to determine what his job
assignment will be on his
respective unit based on his job
skills and the unit's needs."
Senior warden at the unit is
Pamela S. Baggett.

COMING
SOON:
There are still
questions
regarding
Johnson's
employment
status and
salary from
May 16, 2003
to October 31,
2003.
And of course,
the $800,000
still missing.

Read Dan Genz's
Waco Tribune-Herald
Bremond ISD wrap-up
here

LITTLE-KNOWN
FACT: "The Holliday
Unit is named after
Reverend C. A. Holliday,
the first African-American
appointed by Governor
Connally in the 1950s to
serve on the Texas
Prison Board. The
Holliday Unit is located
on the outskirts of
Huntsville and operates
as a facility for offenders
awaiting transfer to other
prisons. An offender can
be held at the unit for up
to two years. The unit
employs approximately
500 employees, 300 of
whom are correctional
officers. Holliday serves
as a small city, complete
with its own water,
electricity, laundry, food
service, educational
facilities, law library,
substance abuse
treatment, medical care,
commissary, and
chapel." (SOURCE--TDCJ)

A new place to look for the
$800,000? Bremond ISD's
Lone Star account at TASB?
Among the stones apparently left
uncovered thus far in the search for
Bremond ISD's missing $800,000 is the
district's participation in the Lone Star
Investment Pool via the Texas
Association of School Boards.

Here's how it works:

Local school districts such as
Bremond ISD
send their dollars to
The Texas Association
of School Boards
which sends the dollars to its
Lone Star Investment Pool
which sends the dollars to
First Public, LLC,
a private for-profit
--------------------------
Queries in to
First Public's Bill Mastrodicasa
and TASB's Jim Crow

Camera-shy Kenneth Johnson (below)
leaving courtroom and Robertson County
Courthouse (above) in Franklin, Texas on
June 5, the day of his pre-trial.

Looking for the page with the 24 boxes listing the
state, federal and local agencies which dropped
the ball on this one, including TEA and the FBI?
It's here.

Special thanks
to Robertson County Sheriff Gerald Yezak,
for his gracious assistance in obtaining Kenneth Johnson's
mug shot (top) and further information.

BREAKING NEWS!
Mon., June 26, 2006/11:00 a.m.
Former Bremond ISD supe Kenneth
Johnson has just been sentenced to
five (5) years in prison, no probation,
and left the courtroom in the custody
of the Robertson County sheriff's
dep't. Will be posting more
information including photos as
available later this afternoon.

June 26, 2006 statement by
Robert & Nancy Gadbois:

We were led to believe early on in the
investigation that law enforcement would
use their subpoena power to find the extent
of the misuse of funds. In spite of
everything we found, we now know they
simply took what Dr. Johnson claimed
responsibility for and ran with it.

The district is out hundreds of thousands of
dollars. Each and every governmental
agency we’ve turned to have either passed
the buck or claimed that due to limited
resources they would not pursue the
investigation to the full extent.

It appears no further investigation was
pursued even though more evidence existed
such as credit card statements from Wal-
Mart, Lowes and Texaco and at least four
years of checks.

We are pleased Dr. Johnson will serve time
in prison. We are disappointed in local, state
and federal authorities for not investigating
all the leads we provided them.

How we take back our children's education:
one person, one question, one school at a time.

BREMOND ISD
SUPE KENNETH
JOHNSON UPDATE
(JUNE 26,
2006/4:14 A.M.):
Have just posted
Jan. 2004 auditors'
findings re
Johnson's
employment status,
and conflicting
statements by
USDOE and State
Auditor's
investigator
regarding whether
the DOE considers
this case
"ongoing" or
closed. Look for
the Bremond
parents' request for
a Congressional
inquiry/ hearing,
reprinted in its
entirety.

AASA - American
Association of School
Administrators

ASA - Association of
School Administrators

CSD - Consolidated
School District

DOE - Department
of Education

ES - Elementary School

HS - High School

ISD - Independent
School District

JHS - Junior High School

MS - Middle School

MSM - Mainstream media

NSBA - National School
Boards Association

NSPRA - National School
Public Relations Association

PS - Public School(s)

SBEC - State Board for
Educator Certification

SD - School District

Sup't - Superintendent

TAKS - Texas Assessment of
Knowledge & Skills

TASA - Texas Association of
School Administrators

TASB - Texas Association
of School Boards

TASBO - Texas Association
of School Business Officials

TEA - Texas
Education Agency

TEKS - Texas Essential
Knowledge & Skills

USD - UnifiedUnited School
District

GUIDE

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QUOTES

Separatists in
India's north-eastern
state of Manipur
have shot six male
teachers in the leg
for allegedly helping
students cheat in
exams.

Two women
teachers were
beaten with sticks
for the same offence,
the rebels of the
Kanglei Yana
Kan Lup group said.
The teachers were
abducted from their
homes after an exam
on Thursday.

The rebels said
the teachers
took up to 5,000
rupees ($110) for
helping students
cheat and warned
of further
punishment if the
cheating continued.

The Kanglei
Yana Kan Lup
(KYKL) is one of
many separatist
groups fighting
Indian administration
in Manipur.

It said it
abducted the eight
teachers from their
homes in and around
the state capital,
Imphal, because of
reports they had
taken bribes.

--By Subir Bhaumik - BBC

ATTENTION EDUCATORS AND ADMINISTRATORS:
Every attempt possible has been made to verify all sources and information. In the event you feel an error has been made, please contact us immediately. Thank you.

POP QUIZ:

How do you
yourself know for a
fact that your state
or local supe is
actually using the
funds entrusted to
them for the
correct purposes?

David v.
Goliath:

How
America's
Moms & Dads
are taking on
Education,
Inc.

PEYTON WOLCOTT

QUERY
THE SUPE
& THE PR GUY

TO:
KATHY COX-GEORGIA
SUP'T OF SCHOOLS &
CEO-GEORGIA DOE
CC:
DANA TOFIG-
GEORGIA DOE
PUBLIC INFO. OFCR.
DATE: JAN. 22, 2006

Can you please send me
the annual dollar
amount for each school
year (the five annual fiscal
cycles 2000-2005) that the
Georgia Public Schools
DOE has spent with
vendor Computer
Consulting Services
Corp., described as a
consultant to Georgia's
DOE.

STATUS:
No response
rec'd from
Sup't Gray as of
Mar. 27, 2006

The question
is not how to
measure
excellence at
public schools
and education
agencies.

The question
is how to
measure
competence.

-- Dianna Pharr

QUERY
THE SUPE
(& CC THE BOARD)

DATE FIRST SENT:
FEB. 14, 2006

RE-SENT 03/26/06

Dear Strongsville
Superintendent
James Gray:

I'm hoping you can
clear something up for
me for my book and
website regarding your
standards for
administrative
practices in
Strongsville as there
have been not one but
two situations this past
year warranting
scrutiny....

Regarding special ed
teacher Christine
Scarlett's offering a
date with herself as a
grades incentive

1.    What rules/
guidelines do you now
have in place to
assure that nothing
like this happens
again? Would these
be administrative
changes or has your
board set specific
policies in place for
you to follow in future?

2.    Rumors of an affair
between Scarlett and
Bradigan persisted for
several months. You
have stated that you
have no idea such an
affair was going on.
Do you feel the fact
that you are
commuting from your
home in Akron (if this
has changed, please
let me know) has
adversely impacted
your ability to monitor
what's going on with
your employees in the
Strongsville
community in an
important and
sensitive area such as
this? Has your board
since made a
condition of your
employment that you
move to Strongsville
and become an
integral part of their
community?

Regarding the sex
education booklet
placed last fall in
young children's
lockers

4.    What guidelines
did you follow from
your established
board's policies for
such?

5.    There appears to
be a growing number
of parents who want to
be consulted before
such materials are
given to their students.
As one mom put it,
"What's wrong with so
many people in the
educational fields that
they don't even think
twice about providing
children with
inappropriate
materials and not even
consider the parents
wishes....Their tactics
mirror those used in
Communist China and
Cuba where children
are considered not
children of parents, but
wards of the State."
While this is clearly the
statement of an upset
parent, it does raise an
interesting issue
regarding public
school administrators
in the U.S. Do you
consider the students
in your schools yours
to educate as you
deem best or the
offspring of parents to
be consulted before
disseminating such
materials?

Regarding trainings
and conferences

6.    Of which
education-related
associations are you
and Strongsville City
Schools a member?
What are these
organizations'
guidelines for
disseminating such
materials?

7.    In which
education-related
conferences have
your and your staff
participated this past
year? Where were
they and what were
the costs for each?
Have you attended any
other seminars,
workshops or the like
offering guidance in
this area, and what
were those costs?

It may well be that
there are perfectly
reasonable
explanations for your
approving the placing
sex-education
pamphlets in young
students' lockers
without notifying
parents first, and it may
also well be that there
is a perfectly
reasonable
explanation for your
allowing a teacher to
offer a date at the Dairy
Queen with herself to a
young student; if so, I
am eager to learn such
reason or reasons.
==================
She said the booklet,
which also provides
information on the need for
parental consent for
abortion and a Web
address for the
Lesbian/Gay Community
Service Center of Greater
Cleveland, is
inappropriate for
11-year-olds. I believe
some sex education needs
to be given, but when
subjects are discussed or
material is given to kids of
this nature, a notice
should be sent home to
the parent and they should
be allowed to opt out of
the program if they wish,
Fleming said. School
Superintendent James
Gray said he gave an OK
for the pocket-sized
directories, which were
provided to the district by
United Way Services in
conjunction with the
county health department
and county commissioners,
to be given to students at
the high school, middle
schools and to sixth
graders. Gray said he
received two calls from
parents who took
exception to the booklet's
content. I understand that
and probably, in
retrospect, I should have
considered sending a
letter along with it as far
as an explanation, he
said, adding, this is a
developing situation. I
don't know what we are
going to do at this point.
Colleen Grady, a city
resident and a member of
the state school board,
said she got calls from four
parents concerned about
their children getting the
directory. Grady, who is
also a former city school
board member, said she
has not personally seen
the publication, but they
(parents) read me sections
over the telephone. She
said the state board of
education may wish to
make a legislative
recommendation to the
Ohio general assembly,
and the board could also
consider discussion about
adoption of a model policy
for the distribution of such
materials. Gray said there
will be continued
discussion, in the district's
curriculum and pupil
services departments on
whether to curtail
distribution of materials
which are considered to
be sensitive, particularly
for the younger kids.

CONTACT:
Peyton Wolcott
P.O. Box 9068
Horseshoe Bay, TX 78657
peyton@peytonwolcott.com

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