Peyton Wolcott - Armed Edgewood ISD Police Incident, San Antonio, Texas (August 3, 2006)

Conservative commentary - August 3, 2006 Edgewood ISD Police Department incident

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

Edgewood ISD's police report:
Confusion leads to confusion
By Peyton Wolcott - August 15, 2006 - 10:00 p.m.

Here's the report's text, AKA the "primary narrative for
event" which occurred at Edgewood ISD's main
administration building early afternoon, Thursday,
August 3, 2006:

"On this date at 1409 hrs. (R)
Talamantez, Sam made EISD
Administration building and contacted
(C) Mirles, Rose Lee who stated that
there was a female taking pictures inside
the building. (R) made contact with (Z)
Wolcott, Peyton who stated that the
building was built with tax money and that
she had the right to take pictures. (R)
informed her that she had to get
permission from the districts [sic]
PR department to do so. The (C)
contacted (A) Rios, Mario head of the
PR department to have him make the
location. (A) made the location and
contacted (Z). (A) asked what was the
purpose of taking pictures, and she stated
that she was with the media and was part
of a School Reform web site. (A) asked
for her media credentials in which she
could not produce. (Z) was asked to
leave and if she wanted to take pictures
she would have to do it off district
property. (Z) went across the street and
continued to take pictures. (Z) had made
the statement that the police officers were
harassing her.

Why doesn't Edgewood
ISD's supe live in
Edgewood ISD?

A big oops by
Edgewood at
2004 Robin
Hood trial

Mexican American
Legal Defense Fund
attorney David
Hinojosa's slide
show review with
EISD supe Richard
Bocanegra at the
2004 Robin Hood
trial in Austin before
Democrat John Dietz
contained nary a
mention of
Bocanegra's
predecessor's stay
the year before at a
Four Seasons luxury
hotel with his
secretary.

Surely this was an
oversight.

Instead, all
Democratic Judge
Dietz was shown:
"A photograph of
windows painted
over, to keep the
sunlight out and the
cooling costs down.
There is a parking lot
splotched with
standing water. Here
is a portable
classroom at
Burleson Elementary.
There is a photo of
broken sills and mold
at Cenizo Park.
Cinder block walls of
a 50-year-old
gymnasium are
shown split open by
shifting foundations.
Here’s another photo
of Coronado
Elementary School’s
gymnasium. Here are
window air
conditioning units
spaced motel-style at
Edgewood Middle
School. There is a
sump pump in the
slab at Memorial
High, because the
school was built
upon a landfill.
Truman Middle
School, Wrenn Middle
School, deteriorating
blacktop, ceiling tiles
stained and broken
from roof leaks,
garbage cans
catching water."
(SOURCE--Greg
Moses/Texas Civil Rights
Review)

Edgewood ISD Police
Department
Event #200603923

Confusion #1: Date sent
Mario Rios, Edgewood's PR guy, stated today that
Edgewood ISD's "HR Administrator Irma Paine emailed
you the police report on Tuesday, Aug. 8."

But this is difficult to understand, given that the report is
dated August 9, 2006 (below).

Edgewood ISD's PR guy,
Mario Rios

Confusion #2: Identities of report preparer,
report reviewer
Further, the report was prepared by "154 Officer Sam G.
Talamantez." To the right of his name the signature
space (above Newman's signature) is blank--unsigned
and undated.

Although the report was reviewed by "111 Sergeant
Carlos Solis," to the right of his name appears the
signature of not Sgt. Solis but a "Sgt. D. Newman #114"
(above).

Wondering if it might be standard police practice at
Edgewood ISD's police department for report preparers
to not sign their work, and for report reviewers to have
someone else sign their review for them. Is Sgt.
Newman authorized to sign for Sgt. Solis, as a standard
practice?

Confusion #3: Where is Edgewood ISD's
policy re obtaining permission of PR guy
before taking photos in admin. building?
Edgewood ISD still hasn't explained this one. Such
policy is not posted anywhere on or near the front door of
the admin. building, nor is it posted on the district's
bulletin board. I can prove this because I have photos.
Nor does it appear to exist in either the district's local or
legal policies. I've looked and can't find it anywhere.

Confusion #4: Why is Edgewood ISD
claiming to have emailed the police report
twice last week--when I didn't receive it
until today?
Mario Rios writes, "Attached is the police report. Again it
was sent Aug. 8 by Irma Paine, re-sent Aug. 10 by
myself and re-sent again Aug. 15 by myself."

I only received one copy of the email, and that today.

Was Edgewood's email system the culprit and cause?
Mario writes, "On Thursday, Aug. 10 (in the late evening),
the entire Edgewood ISD email system was shut down.
We converted to a new district email system between
Aug. 11 and Aug. 14. On Tuesday, Aug. 15 at 11 AM, my
email was officially re-activated."

Confusion #5: Is it Edgewood ISD's normal
practice to send 3 armed police officers to
question grandmothers with cameras?
The police officers elsewhere whom I've questioned off
the record have uniformly indicated that this was an
unusually strong show of force.

Edgewood has raised the
issue of 'efficiency' in its
quest for other people's tax
dollars. But has anyone
examined how efficient
Edgewood is in its spending
of those dollars? This is the
direction of my Texas Public
Information Act
requests--asking the
accountability questions no
one else has.

Here's hoping that EISD supe can supply
some answers--soon.
Inquiring minds--and grandmothers with their first
police report--want to know.

Gee, was it really the camera?
How I came to be detained by three armed
Edgewood ISD police officers
By Peyton Wolcott - August 6, 2006 - 10:00 p.m.

If it wasn't my camera, a small
Minolta (right), could it have been
my public records requests--asking to
see the supe's contract, how much
did they spend on their logo, like that?

Whatever the cause--which district officials still have
not yet shared three days later--the result was that
Thursday afternoon, August 3, 2006, while visiting San
Antonio's Edgewood ISD to view some public records,
and hopefully to meet however briefly with district
superintendent Richard Bocanegra and also EISD PR
guy Mario Rios (below), I was detained by three
armed EISD police officers.

Edgewood's PR guy Mario Rios (above and bottom left)--
EISD police officers leaving scene with him;

B A C K G R O U N D

Why I went to
Edgewood ISD in the
first place
And why would anyone ask to
view EISD public records?
By Peyton Wolcott
Updated Sunday, February 11, 2008 - 3:07 a.m.

Until 1983, Edgewood ISD, located in
the San Antonio urban area, was a poor
district with few resources. Then-EISD
superintendent James R. Vasquez,
decided he wanted more money--what
supe doesn't? His reasoning was that
more money would solve Edgewood's
academic problems.

Problem for him was, Edgewood's
property values were low and therefore
the school district's revenues were also
low because back then local schools
were paid for out of local property taxes.
That's how capitalism works.

Adopting the mo' money mantra, in
1984 Edgewood's board filed the first of
five lawsuits which brought socialism
to Texas school public school
financing. Thanks to Mr. Vasquez and
his trustees -- one of whom was First
Southwest Company's executive VP
Raul Villasenor (see grey box below) --
the liberal-leaning courts agreed and
thus was born Texas' so-called "Robin
Hood" system of school finance in
which "rich" districts send their "extra"
money to "poor" districts. More here

Another good question to ask,
23 years and $30 billion annually
later: "Did Edgewood's lawsuits
accomplish their goal of improving
academics at EISD?"

Answer: When then-Texas edu-
missioner Shirley Neeley announced
on August 1, 2006 that Edgewood ISD
had dropped to the bottom rung of the
Texas accountability rating ladder--
academically unacceptable--the answer
would have to be a resounding "NO."
Throwing money at problems has never
solved anything.

Although the average Edgewood parent
visiting EISD a day or two after Neeley's
announcement would never have
guessed their child's district's true
status from signage displayed
prominently on the front door of EISD's
main entrance (below top) or the large
glass sign occupying several feet of
wall space (below bottom) in
Edgewood's administration building
entrance hall as both signs announce
Edgewood's status as a "Recognized
School District." Further, there are no
notices posted anywhere visible in the
main entry indicating that the district is
anything but recognized; how could a
parent without access to the Internet
know what's true and what isn't?

Also: No Child Left Behind failure
Edgewood has fared similarly dismally
under No Child Left behind. Last year,
"four Edgewood schools failed to make
adequate yearly progress: Kennedy and
Memorial high schools and Truman
and Garcia middle schools."
(SOURCE--Jenny LaCoste-Caputo/San
Antonio Express-News)

Edgewood's solution? Same as
always: spend more money! Why not,
it's not their money! Linda Bononcini,
the district's assistant superintendent
for curriculum and instruction
responded to Neeley's August 1, 2006
announcement with one of her own:
"The district will try a new reading
program this year meant to accelerate
learning for immigrant students, and
the district will start providing those
students with hand-held translators."
(Ibid.)

Misleading "Recognized School District" signs on
Edgewood's front door (above) and main wall in
entry (below)--no notice visible of new lowest rating

Classic Edgewood/public
school solution:
Buy a new reading program!
Buy hand-held electronics!

Spend more money even though there
is no empirical evidence to support so
doing, this is Edgewood's reaction to
their bad news. Isn't there anybody on
staff or on their board able to step back
a moment and point out that if it didn't
work before, why would it work now?

(Top) Edgewood ISD police officer
talking with superintendent's
secretary; (M) Edgewood ISD
administration building; Mario
Rios,officers leaving detainment
scene.

generally act as though they're
spending their own money in their own
schools and shouldn't be questioned.
So parents and taxpayers are generally
forced to resort to the Texas Public
Information Act, the trick being to frame
questions designed to produce a
paper record, because just like a
teenager who doesn't want to clean his
room, you can't force a superintendent
to answer questions. But wait, there's
more.

Richard
Bocanegra

Another catalyst for visiting
Edgewood: WOAI's 2003
investigative reporting
"Even at Edgewood, one of the poorest
school districts in the state, we found
superintendent Luis Gonzalez and his
administrative assistant, Irma Paine,
staying at the Four Seasons," reported
local television station WOAI in a piece
entitled "School Superintendents
Splurge." The report doesn't say which
Four Seasons, or the purpose of the trip,
or why a superintendent of a district so
poor they felt the need to wage five
lawsuits against Texas taxpayers for
mo' money felt the need to stay in such
a grand hotel at taxpayer expense. We
don't know what the super and his
assistant's staying in such a grand hotel
at taxpayers expense had to do with
Edgewood schoolchildren's classroom
experience. The piece also doesn't say
why Gonzalez felt the need to take his
administrative assistant with him at all
on a business trip. Is this common
practice in school districts, for supes to
take their administrative assistants to
fancy hotels? Had Gonzalez fixed
Edgewood sufficiently that he could go
elsewhere, Dallas or Houston, and fix
their schools for them? Along these
lines did he and Ms. Paine perhaps set
up a mini-school in the Four Seasons
lobby, perhaps give classes in
something relevant between holes of
golf or whatever public school educators
do at a Four Seasons luxury hotel?

Four Seasons, Dallas

Dr. Leininger's $50 million
voucher give-away
Factor in also San Antonio philanthropist
James Leininger's unprecedented gift of
tuition to Edgewood students (he pays
half, they pay the other half) which has
drained the district of 2,000 students--
deemed by the district be its best and
brightest--each year although Leininger's
CEO Horizon Scholarship Program
takes all comers. Started modestly with
a brief television announcement in the
spring of 1998, the ten-year program is
the largest privately funded voucher
program in the U.S.

So this was what I walked into
Thursday, August 2, 2006 in San
Antonio. Maybe they were a bit
grumpy, maybe they were a bit
defensive. Maybe they've seen the future
and were frightened for their jobs.

James Leininger
(PHOTO/Bob Owen
S.A.Express-News)

Thursday afternoon
at edgy Edgewood
First thing you notice when you drive into the guest
parking area at Edgewood ISD is that the front door is
off to the side, although there is a locked side door
which is easily accessed by the first few parking
spaces adjacent, which bear the notation "Superinten-
dent" and "Superintendent's Secretary." Ah.

The following are the Texas Public
Information Act requests faxed to
Edgewood Wed., August 2, 2006, and
Thurs., August 3, 2006, all (correctly)
addressed to Edgewood ISD's
custodian of records, superintendent
Richard Bocanegra:

Richard, it is my understanding from
members of the community and from
my telephone conversation this
morning with your secretary Gloria
[Nino] that EISD is doing business with
(former Edgewood board member)
Raul Villasenor and First Southwest
(hereafter "First Southwest"). I have the
following questions for you:

1.        Is EISD doing business with
Ramirez & Company, yes/no? Has
EISD done business with Ramirez &
Company in the past, yes/no? Does
EISD anticipate doing so in the future,
yes/no?

2.        How much money has
Edgewood paid First Southwest in any
capacity during the past 2005-2006
school year, to the nearest $10,000?

3.        How has First Southwest come
to do business with EISD? Through a
board vote or the vendor bid process or
attrition?

Although as a member of the media I
would prefer that you answer the above

Whenever I drive up to a school district where the
supe's given himself the prime parking spot next to
the front door, I know I'm in a district with skewed
priorities. According to my way of thinking--tell me if
you disagree--the taxpayers footing the bill for the
public school enterprise should have the prime
parking spaces. Any supe who doesn't get this never
learned the most valuable lesson of retail, that the
customer comes first.

While I certainly was not expecting to see the rolling
out of any kind of red carpet, I had made considerable
effort to let Edgewood know I was coming: there were
telephone calls, messages left for both the supe and
the PR guy, along with the faxes. When I was late
leaving--it's a 90-minute round trip--I had called ahead
to let the supe's office know my new arrival time.

Walking through Edgewood's entrance I noticed the
big "Recognized school district" sign on the front door
and took a photo of it. Inside, the receptionist sits in
a metal and glass cage; this being new to me in
public school districts, I took a photo of that, too, along
with several other interesting bits, after greeting her
and signing in. We talked briefly; I asked her, Do you
live in Edgewood ISD? No. Ah.

There were interesting things on the walls to record,
as the "Living Wage Resolution" signed by six of the
seven Edgewood board members on July 29, 2003,
which "came after a two-year campaign" by the
Southwest Worker's Union and its members.
(SOURCE--Southwest Network for Environmental and
Economic Justice)

Living Wage Resolution

It seemed inappropriate to see such a framed
resolution in a public school building, especially when
the opening lines read, "The Texas Legislature has
forsaken education as a priority for Texas"--given
Edgewood's unique status as a persistent and
successful litigant for mo' money.

A few moments later the receptionist said I couldn't
take photographs. Why, there were no children
present. "The superintendent." Ah. After pointing out
that I wasn't taking photos of school children I took a
few more photos. Gloria Nino, the supe's secretary,
came out eventually and handed me an Edgewood
ISD envelope.with my name on it and a purple post-it
which read, "Pickup [sic] contract from Irma Paine, HR
office, HR Adm.," gesturing off to the side. Okay, and
thank you.

EISD's HR dept.

As it turns out,
Edgewood's HR (above
right) is in a separate
building, and there was
another wait, this time
for Irma Paine--who
apparently has received
a promotion to human
resources work from
her prior Four Seasons
traveling-with-the-supe
days under Luis
Gonzalez, who had by
now himself moved on,
which for him meant
another district, Mathis
ISD, northwest of
Corpus Christi in San
Patricio County. There
were some cute young
children lined up at a
table, coloring, but I
didn't take their photos
because that's a basic
ground rule at schools:
no pix of the kids.

Driving out, I noticed the supe's truck still in its
assigned parking space. Because persistence is a
useful quality in this life, I parked and went back inside
the main entrance, asked to speak to the supe's
secretary if she was available, just to let her know that
I'd seen the supe's vehicle and might he have just a
moment to shake hands in greeting given my
three-hour round trip to get there? This was the gist of
my message to the receptionist.

Children's artwork lining wall between
Edgewood's entry and supe's office,
all with a Cinco de Mayo theme; this
one reads 'Nuestra Cultura' and
'Nuestra Orgullo'--'Our Culture' and
'Our Pride.' Wondering to whom or
what the 'Our' refers. MIA on the art
wall: George Washington, Ben
Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, 1776, the
American Revolution, any references
at all to the U.S.

Richard Bocanegra's truck in
designated prime spot at front door

EISD receptionist
behind glass

Another one of the supe's secretaries--just how
many secretaries does a superintendent of a school
district with declining enrollment need?--came out,
introduced herself as Rosemary, explained that he
was too busy to see me, then engaged me in chitchat
for some minutes, all the while looking over my
shoulder. I kept trying to leave and she kept talking.

NOTE: As the remainder essentially follow the above format, only the gist is
included below.

Edgewood ISD police officers arrive
To say I was surprised is an understatement. Frankly,
I was so taken aback that the next several minutes are
still blurry. Having noted that all three wore guns in
their holsters, my immediate instinct was survival.
Engage these nice people in a friendly way, try to figure
out why they were there and what they wanted.
Eventually I learned that they wanted me to wait for the
district's PR guy, Mario Rios. Why? They had no
answer.

Richard, I have just received your faxed letter dated today, and thank you for your
response. I will still be coming to Edgewood tomorrow morning and would like
to view your employment contract at that time; presumably even with the
absence of employees you will know where your own employment contract is
kept. Presumably you have your own copy in your own files. I do have one
other question, and that is how much did EISD pay for its logo (below) and who
sold it to EISD?

NBC floor reporter John
Chancellor was
covering some kind of
dispute on the
convention floor when
he suddenly found
himself being arrested
by the local police! So
there was Chancellor,
strapped into his
floor-reporter's gear,
signing-off with "This is
John Chancellor, NBC
News, somewhere in
custody!" Anchormen
Huntley and Brinkley
burst out laughing! This
incident had a happy
ending--once Chancellor
was taken off the floor,
someone noted who he
was and told Chancellor
that he wouldn't be held
in custody at all and to
get back on the
convention floor and do
his job for NBC. (SOURCE
-- Joseph Gallant/ TV
Broadcasting History)

At this point I felt like John Chancellor at the 1964
Republican convention in San Francisco (see grey
box below yellow bar at left).

Which helped my frame of mind. The three police
officers were very serious although one seemed
puzzled as to why they were there. "You seem really
nice," he said, as though this were a surprise to him.

Richard, I'd like to take a look at EISD's expenses for October 2005 charged to
code 701 (PEIMS superintendent code). These would include but not be
limited to any and all expenses in connection with your attendance at the
TASA/TASB convention that month.

Is it an arrest if you're not handcuffed?
This appears to be a point of law. Although I was not handcuffed, the three police officers all had guns
and the one in charge told me to wait for the PR guy. Some folks with whom I've talked said it is an
arrest if the police who are wearing guns won't let you leave. Could I have left? I don't know. There
were three of them and one of me, and again--I keep saying this, I know, but it is the one key pivotal
point here--all three of them had guns. It would have been their word against mine.

Richard, while I'm at EISD . . . . I'd like to take a look at any minutes for the EISD
superintendent's communication committee ("the Committee") subsequent to
the Committee's August 19, 2004 meeting. By the way, the minutes for this
meeting are posted online but have a "DRAFT" designation on them. As it's
been almost two years now since that meeting, wondering if these minutes
ever made it past the "DRAFT" stage and into final form.

Tuesday's San Antonio Express-News headline reads, "Edgewood schools get
failing grade from state." Richard, you made a statement over two years ago,
on August 19, 2004, stating that "if everyone works as a team and
implements the instructional plan the Edgewood ISD will definitely be rated
as recognized or exemplary." As it does not appear this has happened, and
Edgewood is currently not even rated academically acceptable, to whom would
you ascribe responsibility for the failure of this to happen? To which jobholder
in EISD? Do you believe that because you have embraced the "team" approach
that Edgewood's recently announced failing schools are not your fault and/or
responsibility? Do you believe that Edgewood's problems result from no
one's being in charge? After all, if someone's in charge, then someone's
responsible.

Sam Talamantoz, M. Gonzales and T. Aguillen
These were their names. I have them written down on a small Edgewood ISD PD business card in a
somber blue; the card also bears the case number although it hasn't done much good as I still now,
almost three days as of this writing, do not know why they detained me on Thursday afternoon.

When was this going to be over?
Aside from the fact that there seemed no definite arrival time for the PR guy, I was concerned about my
next appointment. I finally told Sam Talamantoz, who appeared to be the one in charge--although this
was confusing because all three had entirely different uniforms on--that I wanted to go to my car and
get my copies of the Texas Public Information Act faxes I'd sent, perhaps that might help them
understand why I was there. He finally agreed to walk out with me. En route I finally thought to call
someone I know in San Antonio on my cell; it felt reassuring to have at least have one person on my
side hear what was transpiring. It was only after we had reached the parking lot and I was retrieving
the faxes from the file folders on the front seat of my car, wishing very much I'd organized them better,
that Marios Rios, Edgewood's PR director, showed up.

The following were faxed after Thursday's detainment incident at Edgewood:

Richard, presumably you know by now that I was detained by three armed
EISDPD officers yesterday afternoon while taking photographs at the EISD
administration building located at 5358 West Commerce Street, San Antonio,
Texas 78237.

I am writing to you in your capacity as the official custodian of records for EISD;
while I recognize that it is entirely possible that you may elect to delegate
authority for responding to this request, I note an old expression my Marine
husband uses: You can delegate authority but you can't delegate responsibility.

In connection with this, I would like to view EISD's documentation for Case
#2006-03923 including but not limited to paperwork detailing the case. I would
expect such information to include but be not limited to the name of the person
who asked EISDPD to detain me, and the cause stated for my being
detained. In the event that locating responsive documents may take some
time, I am most interested in the public record noting EISD's stated cause for
detaining me, and would like to see this at the very earliest opportunity.

Unfortunately, because of yesterday's incident it does not appear to be safe for
me at this time to set foot in any jurisdiction controlled by EISD and/or EISDPD.
Therefore, how do you recommend that I view such documentation? Although
as a member of the media I would prefer that you simply PDF and email

Who are you and what are you doing here?
This seemed to be the gist of the officers' and Rios' concern. They seemed to be wanting my press
credentials.

Folks, this concerns me a great deal. This was the same thing I heard last month from SBOE chair
Tincy Miller in Austin, that I was taking photographs without visible press credentials during the state
school board meeting. More here Fortunately that day both David Anderson, lead attorney for the
Texas Education Agency, and Debbie Ratcliffe, education commissioner Shirley Neeley's press officer,
were both there to set her straight, which they did, visibly and immediately, that anyone can take
photographs during a public meeting. It bothered me that the SBOE chair was not more familiar with
our open meetings laws.

And the same concern carries over to the situation in Edgewood on Thursday, far more important than
the inconvenience of my being detained for 45 minutes however distressing the circumstances.

My concern is that Edgewood ISD for that day, Thursday, conducted itself like a medieval city-state,
a power unto itself. It felt like any third-world country today ruled by a military junta or a dictatorship. It
did not seem like part of our great republic where citizens--any citizen, anybody with a camera--are
entirely free to take photographs in government buildings, especially we-the-people-owned
government buildings with no posted "no photography" signs and no children present. On Thursday
Edgewood ISD had police officers in their employ who were authorized to carry guns and question
people, and the district exercised its prerogative to have the police officers detain me.

WHAT AN INTERESTING BUSINESS MODEL:
Make it your customer's responsibility rather than your secretary's to
make sure you receive phone messages and faxes. Edgewood ISD's
PR guy Mario Rios said on August 3, 2006 that he'd not seen any of
my 6 faxes or 2 phone messages, said also he didn't know I was
coming, intimating it was my fault that he didn't know.

Follow up
Later that night I called a friend in a nearby community, asked if he knew anything about Edgewood
ISD's police department.

"Yeah, they're trigger-happy," he said. "They just shot a kid they followed off school property, a few
months ago."

To give credit where credit is due, there's a press release on the district's website explaining their side
of the May incident. The young the EISD police officers shot did survive; I learned this later not
because of information published on either the district's website or by the local newspaper but
because I followed up with the San Antonio Police Department.

I do not know yet whether the young man survived, nor do I know the circumstances. I did not know
until the moment I read the press release that public school district police officers were authorized to
follow unarmed citizens off school district property.

L E S S O N S L E A R N E D ( 2 0 0 6)

The bigger picture
We're seeing a pattern of harassment across our great nation, as school
districts use a taxpayer-funded display of force against those who oppose
them.

o        On the East Coast, dad David Parker was arrested and carted off to jail
for the night when his kindergartner's principal refused to follow
Massachusetts' parental notification laws. More here

o       Also on the East Coast, Miami Dade teacher Bennett Packman lost
employment for a year when he refused to go along with a phony drivers ed
credentialing scheme.

o        On the West Coast, Captain James Olsen was greeted at his child's
middle school one day last year by law enforcement personnel and
presented with a "No trespass" letter by the school district--for refusing to go
along with Bainbridge Island public schools' rewriting of World War II history
in favor of the Japanese. His wife, Mary Dombrowski, was then followed with
their daughter throughout the entire run of a day-long field trip by a police
officer in a squad car. More here

o        Here in Texas, such abuses of authority have become commonplace.
Pat Yezak and Nancy Gadbois, the Bremond moms whose efforts to have
their superintendent brought to justice (see the mug shot in the top right
corner of this page) have cost them dearly: Nancy, the mother of four, has not
been allowed to volunteer in any of her children's classrooms, and Pat, an
active substitute teacher until she asked to see the district's audit , has not
worked at Bremond ISD in the three years since.

I know another mom who for reasons of privacy would prefer not to have her
name used who was similarly barred from a child's school; this is one of the
kindest and most loving people I've ever met.

The schools like us so long as we're content to volunteer and raise money
and write checks. When we start asking questions, asking for accountability,
everything changes.

Is this still the United States or are we in danger of becoming something
else?

Everyone listed above is a member of our mainstream culture; we're the PTA,
PTO moms and dads. If the schools harass and intimidate us, who's next?

Our freedoms are secure only as long as we continue to exercise them.

Richard, I would like to view
EISD's documentation
regarding the professional
background, training, and
education (including
continuing education) for the
following EISDPD officers: (1)
Sam Talamantoz, (2) M.
Gonzales, and (3) T. Aguillen.

Richard, I would like to view any
EISD public records regarding
its policy forbidding
photographs in the
administration building(s) by
members of the public (the
"Policy") along with stated
authority for the Policy, to
include names of any places
where the Policy is posted
where members of the public
might see the Policy. The
Policy was neither posted on or
near the district's front door
yesterday (of which I have a
photograph) or on what
appears to be the district's
official bulletin board, for which
I also have a photograph. I
would also like to view any
EISD public records regarding
its policy and authority for
requiring citizens to obtain the
permission of Mario Rios
and/or EISD's director of
communications or similar title
before taking photographs in
administration buildings where
there are no school children
present.

More regarding
First Southwest, the superintendent's
employment contract, other
information, as received.

SBOE VP Don McElroy
(Bryan) on accountability

Two
moms
speak up

Mary Dombrowksi (above
with family)

Peyton Wolcott's experience Thursday
with the Edgewood Police and School
District is eerily similar to our own
here in the Greater Seattle area: The
use of city police by school district
and other public employees to
intimidate and harass citizens who in
any way challenge district policy.

In February of 2005, as he arrived to
observe a panel discussion on
"Japanese Internment" in our
daughter's classroom, my husband
was stopped in the parking lot
by three armed police officers and
handed a "no trespass" letter. One
week later, an armed policewoman
trailed me from stop to stop during
all five hours of a school field trip.

Shortly thereafter, at the Seattle Public
library, the parent of a child who had
also challenged our school district
curriculum, attended a public
presentation pushing the same topic.
According to the police report, this
parent was "bothering people."
Library personnel summoned police
who accosted her, fought her to
ground, and detained her overnight in
the King County Jail.

After the incident with my husband
made the news, Peyton kindly
contacted us with the advice that
when we visit school properties, we
take a buddy, keep cool, and carry a
camera. We've been following her
wise admonition every since. The
public is fortunate indeed that Ms.
Wolcott has documented and is
sharing her chilling experience in
Edgewood.

Nancy Gadbois

I am continually amazed at the
behavior of school districts that don’t
want to answer questions. When
school districts have something to
hide they tend to go the direction of
harassment or threats of lawsuits.
Instead of complying with open
records requests or trying to find a
solution to a problem, they try to
make the citizens that pay their
salaries go away. This is called
“abuse of power.” School districts
are not a dictatorship contrary to
what some believe.

Edgewood is proof that money
does not make you a successful
school district. There are school
districts in this state that have a
large population of underprivileged
students, without new desks, a
personal laptop, or a Jumbotron to
watch their football team in instant
replay and they are successfully
educated on a daily basis and have
the scores to prove it. What has
made those districts successful are
an administration, teachers, parents
and students that have all been
empowered to work together as a
community and have created a
learning environment which
encourages the students to excel. I
would be willing to bet they can also
account for every dime they spend.

Do the taxpayers of the state of
Texas need to be reminded that it is
our tax dollars these school districts
are using to hire attorneys to
represent them against us (the ones
that pay their salary) to pressure us
into not asking for or to prevent us
from reviewing PUBLIC information?

I shudder to think what these
school districts may be trying to
hide.

Some thoughts on
accountability from SBOE
member Don McElroy (below)
of Bryan. The thing that
frustrates me about our
accountability system is the
unintended consequences:
They're so focused on the
particulars of the TAKS test
that the kids aren't getting the
vocabulary and general
knowledge they need. And if
they don't have enough
knowledge background, after
fourth grade where it
becomes more complex the
kids really have a difficult time
and grow discouraged. Also,
we have a top- down
accountability system, and
competi- tion from the bottom
up is the only cure.

Note to Don: Thank you! This
is what parents and
taxpayers are attempting
with our public records
requests, bottom- up
accountability.

NOTE: They're both right.

It hadn't occurred to me to
take a friend with me to
Edgewood ISD on Thursday
because it was my first visit.

However, the point's well
taken.

My nephew's third cousin
twice-removed has
volunteered to come next
time; we call him "Vinny
the Hulk." He's bringing his
older brother, Lonnie the
Lunk.

Edgewood ISD Police Department
"Indicident Event Report"
August 3, 2006

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

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HOME

Still more questions
Howsoever legitimate any
of these questions might
be, public school
administrators don't tend to
like answering them.
Worse, they generally act
as if they don't have to. In
fact, administrators

T H E I N C I D E N T

T H E P O L I C E R E P O R T

NOTE: I repeatedly told the
officers that my ID was in
my car out front in the
parking lot but they would
not let me leave the adminis-
tration building the first 30+
minutes of the detainment.

Friends who weren't there
later asked me why I didn't
simply walk out of the
administration building
that afternoon. After all,
they pointed out, I'd not
been arrested.

My friends were right, I
was not arrested.

However, the Edgewood
ISD police officers'
demeanor was serious,
they outnumbered me,
plus all three had guns.

? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

M O R E R E I N C I D E N T

Edgewood ISD's main lobby in the administration building, the only
such I've ever seen where the receptionist sits in a locked cage.

questions very simply with either "yes" or "no" responses, the dollar amount
requested, and a simple one-phrase statement to 3., should you be unwilling to
do so, please consider this a request for information under the Texas Public
Information Act to view any records possessed by EISD with the requested
information. Please note under TPIA guidelines that this is a clear and discrete
separate stand-alone request, entirely independent of and unconnected to any
other requests that you may receive from me. Although I am not required to do
so under TPIA guidelines, I will share with you that because this information is
for a report I am preparing for posting on my website, I expect no charges from
EISD.

I will be at EISD's administrative offices tomorrow morning, at a time convenient
for you and your staff, to view these public records related to how EISD spends
taxpayer dollars. Should you have any questions, via return email is the easiest,
cheapest and fastest way to reach me as I will be checking emails at least
hourly throughout the day today at the following e-address . . . . Thank you, and
wishing you all the best. Looking forward to meeting with you, Richard and
Mario, tomorrow morning, if you can spare a few minutes on short notice.

Richard, kudos to EISD for posting salaries on the district's website. Hats off to
you and your board and staff for introducing this degree of transparency to
EISD's operations and relations with the community at large. Unfortunately, the
largest salary--yours--is missing. Therefore, could you please PDF me a copy
of your most recent contract?

responsive documents, should
you be unwilling to do so,
please consider this a request
for information under the Texas
Public Information Act to view
any records possessed by
EISD with the requested
information. Please note
under TPIA guidelines that this
is a clear and discrete
separate stand-alone request,
entirely independent of and
unconnected to any other
requests that you may receive
from me. Although I am not
required to do so under TPIA
guidelines, I will share with you
that because this information
is for a report I am preparing
for posting on my website, I
expect no charges from EISD.
Should you have any
questions, via return email is
the easiest, cheapest and
fastest way to reach me as I
will be checking emails
throughout the day today at the
following e-address . . . ..
Thank you for your anticipated
assistance.

Developing . . .