Peyton Wolcott - Edgewood Transcript

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

Mario Rios/EISD
email Aug. 9, 2006

THE TRANSCRIPT:
highlights--and low
By Peyton Wolcott - August 21,
2006 - 10:00 pm

THE TRANSCRIPT
R.G. Griffing - Editor/San
Antonio Lightning with
Mario Rios - Dir. of
Comm./Edgewood ISD
Tuesday - August 15, 2006

WATCH FOR THE
FOLLOWING
INCONSISTENCIES:
1. EISD's PR guy Mario Rios
says they will mail me a copy
of the police report; there is
no reference to its having
been allegedly emailed the
day before as they later
claimed. And of Aug. 21, there
is no USPS mailed copy.
2. Mario below claims that my
request "will be responded in
the order it was received."
But it wasn't; RG Griffing of the
San Antonio Lightning asked
later--and got sooner.

From: mrios@eisd.net
To: peyton@peytonwolcott.com
Subject: Information from Mario
Rios at Edgewood ISD
Date: Wed, 9 Aug 2006 09:21

I wanted to inform you that we
will provide you with the police
report. I understand it is a brief
report so we will be able to
provide you that at no cost. We
will mail it to you before the
end of the week. Do I have
your correct mailing address? .
. . . As far as your media
requests for information on
EISD, everything that concerns
Open Records information was
forwarded to our Open
Records/HR Administrator
Irma Paine last Wednesday,
Aug. 2. We are following
protocol and the process is
taking place. Your open
records request will be
responded in the order it was
received. You will have a
response within the 10 day
time frame allowed by Open
Records. Ms. Paine and I will
work together to get you all the
information you need. FYI, Ms.
Paine's email address is
ipaine@eisd.net.
I appreciate everything you do
for students and educators in
the Texas public school
system.
Keep up the good work.
Respectfully, Mario Rios

Last night as I was typing the
transcript (at far right) of San
Antonio Lightning editor RG
Griffing's interview with
Edgewood ISD PR guy Mario
Rios, I wanted to like Mario.

RG: Now this woman said she was held for
45 minutes. I don't see any time frame on your
police report.

MR: You know--I, again--the police report,
that's--what's there is there. You know, that's
what the investigating police officer documented.

RG: Right. But I'd asked
you earlier today--actually,
yesterday--why the officer
didn't sign the report when
he made it. Can you explain
that?

MR:         Yes, sir. You asked me yesterday. I
told you I'd research it, and I have. And again the
information is as follows. He was not available
to sign the report. He would normally sign the
report if he would have had just due time to do it.
But he didn't, because the request was made
that you needed it right away. So we had a
supervisor sign off on the report.

RG:        Wait a minute. On August 3 the incident
occurred, according to the police report. Now,
he wrote up the police report. What do you
mean he wasn't available to sign his own police
report? He was writing it. He was there.

MR:         He would have signed off on the police
report in normal circumstances. But since your
circumstances, the day after, you wanted the
report, we started having, we started going,
checking into this, and we saw that you needed
it, he wasn't available. We got it to you with his
supervisor's signature.

RG:        So if he didn't sign it the day that he
made it, how do I know you didn't just make all
this up after I called?

MR: I can't answer that
question, Mr. Griffing. I'm not
making things up. I'm, uh,
I'm, you know, I'm doing my
job.

RG: I'm trying to get you to
explain why he didn't sign the
report when he wrote it.

MR:         Well, you know, I, you know. The thing
is, that he wasn't available. And that's a fact.

RG:        He wasn't available at the time that he
wrote it?

MR:         If he would have been available he
would have signed the report.

RG:        Well, then, who actually wrote the
report?

MR:         The officers, there were three officers at
the scene, right?

RG:        Who actually wrote the report?

MR:         Sirs, one of those officers would have
wrote [sic] it. And according to what we're
seeing on documentation, Officers [sic]
Talamantez did.

RG:        But he didn't sign it.

Mario Rios/EISD
email Aug. 15, 2006

WATCH FOR THE
FOLLOWING
INCONSISTENCIES:
1. This email below on the
15th is the first one I received
from Edgewood.
2. This email below contains
the first information I received
from Edgewood re its logo.

Subject: Mario Rios Email now
re-activated & RE-sending Wolcott
information from intial [sic] send
date of Wed. Aug. 9 & Thurdy, [sic]
Aug 10
Date: Tue, 15 Aug 2006 11:26
From: mrios@eisd.net

Hello Peyton . . . . HR
Administrator Irma Paine
emailed you the police report
on Tuesday, Aug. 8. I emailed
you the district logo
information on Thursday, Aug.
10 (morning). After hearing
your phone message about not
getting police report on
Thursday, Aug. 10 (afternoon),
I emailed you police report
myself. All that said, 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. Below is the
response to the question about
logo information you asked for
earlier this month. I am
re-sending this information
from Aug. 10 email I sent you.
"I have some information that
you requested via open
records to Irma Paine. It was
the question you asked about
the Edgewood ISD logo cost
and year it was created. There
is no documentation for this
request so it does not fall
under TPIA guidelines. I can
answer the question via this
email. The logo was created in
1986. Due to the lengthy time
span, we have no record of the
cost or designer who created
it." 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.
Thank you for your support.
Mario Rios

So last night as I was typing the
transcript two images kept
coming to mind.

The first was Dan Hedaya
(above left) on the phone in Joe
Versus the Volcano:

MR: He didn't sign it
because he wasn't available.

RG: He was writing it.
He finished writing it, and
then you sign it. He was
available--he wrote it.

Yeah, Harry, but can
he do the job? I know
he can get the job,
but can he do the job?
I'm not arguing that
with you. I'm not
arguing that with you.
I'm not arguing that
with you.

MR:         Let's go back to what I, we, talked about
earlier. This is a word process [sic] generated
report.   And I'm being a witness at the scene, I
was there for the tail end of it. I did not see him,
you know, doing a report. I didn't see a word
processor out at the scene, anything like that.
So I'm, in my best judgment, he went back to the
office, which I believe that's what they normally
do, and they fill the reports out in that situation.

RG:        Right. And he filled out the report,
correct?

MR:         Yes, sir.

If you've not seen this movie, I
recommend it to you. It's a
family favorite. The phone
scene with Hedaya is a classic;
he's the boss, in a large
windowless office lit by noisy
overhead fluorescents sounding
much like blue bug lights (Buzz!
Buzz! Zap! Zap!).

The second image was Abbott
& Costello's brilliant "Who's on
First" baseball routine:

RG: But he didn't sign it. He
was there when he wrote it.
Why didn't he sign it at the time
that he wrote it?

MR: Not available to sign
the report.

Abbott: Well, let's
see, we have on the
bags, Who's on first,
What's on second, I
Don't Know is on
third...

Costello: That's what I
want to find out.

Abbott: I say Who's on
first, What's on
second, I Don't Know's
on third.

Costello: Are you the
manager?

Abbott: Yes.

Costello: You gonna be
the coach too?

Abbott: Yes.

Costello: And you don't
know the fellows' names?

Abbott: Well I should.

Costello: Well then
who's on first?

Abbott: Yes.

Costello: I mean the
fellow's name.

RG: How can you not be available when
you're writing the report yourself?

MR: There was more than one officer at the
scene, sir. So there's other people that have to
be, there must have been a collaboration, and at
the same time, the quickness and the fastness
of getting your report generated, he was not
available when you wanted it, to sign it, so the
supervisor signed it.

RG: That was the
day after. The
supervisor didn't sign it
until the 9th. You know,
it's not making a lot of
sense, Mario.

MR: I'm just telling you what I know and what
I've researched. I'm just telling you that you
wanted a report. You initially started it on the 4th.
On the 9th it was, it was, it was processed. It
was signed by a supervisor, and we got it to you.

RG: So are police reports normally
unsigned?

MR:         Police reports are
always signed.

RG:        Well, no, they're not.
I've got one that wasn't.

MR:        Well, that's because
you wanted it quick, and we
wanted to accommodate
you. We were trying to help
you.

Note that
Edgewood PR is
attempting to
"accommodate"
and "help" the
SA Lightning,
which got a
copy of the
police report
before the
reportee.

My friend and yours,
Edgewood ISD's PR guy, Mario
Rios, on the day of the police
detainment, Aug. 3, 2006.

When you read the transcript at
right, see if one or both of these
two images, Dan Hedaya, Abbott
& Costello, don't come to mind.

And can you can come up with a
reasonable explanation for how
it can be that Sam Talamantoz,
an armed police officer, can be
at the scene of a detainment on
Aug. 3, then prepare a report
without signing--it even though
the report isn't delivered at the
earliest on Aug. 14--another 11
days after the detainment? And
why Edgewood is saying that it's
unsigned because of the rush to
produce it?

Only in the world of school
districts could 11 days be
considered "quick."

If and when you do figure this
one out, please email me:

peyton@peytonwolcott.com

Here's my husband's
comment after
reading the
transcript at right:
"As a former
policeman, nothing's
official until you sign
it--it's the bonafide
signature on a police
report that makes it
official. By signing it,
the officer verifies
that whatever he's
written is correct, and
that it actually
happened."

RG: I didn't get it quick, and I don't
understand that the man who wrote the police
report, how was he not available to sign it if he
wrote it?

MR: He was not available to sign it when the
report was generated for you, sir. If we, if it
would have been normal circumstances,
whenever, however, long it takes, all concerned
parties would have signed it at that time. But
since you wanted it very quickly, it was not
signed by him because he was not available.

And note that
Edgewood is
saying that the
report's not
signed because
the SA Lightning
wanted it quickly.
But 11 days
elapsed between
the incident and
the date SAL
received the
police report; is
Edgewood saying
Officer
Talamantoz was
MIA for 11 days?

RG: He didn't know
that I was going to request
it on the 3rd. Is he
psychic?

MR: Now you're
asking me questions that I
can't answer because this
is getting a little crazy
here. I'd just like to keep it
professional. So I'm
going to go with this now.
And, uh, so you'll know, I'd
like to record you now, so
you can hear me say this,
please. [Click] RG. [On
speakerphone'

RG:        Yes, hello.

MR:         RG, now I have my recorder on. Just
so you know, I want to make sure that we're
clear. Uh, I appreciate what you do, you're a
good reporter. But I just want you to know some
of the questions you asked me are a little out
there and I want to keep this all professional, so
if you have any other questions, I want you to put
them in writing, and we'll give you your response
in the, in the order that it was received.

RG:        Define "out there" -- that I'm questioning
why a report wasn't signed when it was written?

Edgewood ISD police officer on duty in front of HQ,
Saturday, Aug. 19, 2006.

MR: Yes, I'd like to keep this
all professional, so from this
day forward. I'm not used to the,
the abrupt questions, and the,
and the, and the--I don't know
how else to put it. I'd like to
keep this professional, so if you
have any other requests, just do
it in writing, and I guarantee you
we will get you a response
quickly, because we appreciate
all the coverage that you give us.

RG:        Okay, and what about the question I
asked, about the superintendent and where he
lives?

MR:         The superintendent question, like I told
you earlier in the day, uh, put that in writing from
now on, and, uh, we will take care of you.

RG:        You already told me you will give me
the answer to that today. You can email me the
answer.

ONLY HERE, FOLKS -- EXCLUSIVE!
Seldom seen up close, this image was smuggled out
by a secret informant who claims it is the badge
worn by Edgewood ISD police officers. Roughly
translated from the Latin, the department's motto
appears to proclaim, "We serve as one brave proud
force, protecting our superintendent from
grandmothers with cameras."

MR: This has changed.
You have changed the
playing surface for me, sir.

RG: Why, because I
asked why a police report
wasn't signed?

MR:         No, I have answered that question, and
the superintendent one, I'm going to answer
that, too. But let's do everything from now on in
writing when we correspond.

RG:        No, I don't work that way. I will just carry
you as "no comment."

MR:         I would, I would be more than happy to
answer your questions. I just need a quick
email to "mrios@eisd.net" and I will take care of
all your needs, RG.

RG:        No. No, you're not taking care of all my
needs, not even in person; why would putting it
in writing help? You just don't want to be
questioned about the absurd answers you're
giving.

MR: I'm giving you
straightforward factual
answers, sir.

RG: How is it possible
that a man writes a report
but doesn't sign it because
he's not available? How is
that possible?

MR:         He was not available so his
supervisor signed off on the report.

RG:        If he wasn't available, how did he write
the report? Did you guys make this up
afterwards? Is he afraid to sign it?

MR:         I've answered your questions, sir.

RG:        Do this, then. It's not a question. I
want a copy of the police report signed by the
officer that was there.

MR: I will investigate
that for you and I'll research
it. But you can put that in
writing for us, please.

RG: No.

[End of tape]

Article in San Antonio Lightning here:
www.sanantoniolightning.com/eisd2.html

Look for taped interview about 1/3 down

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

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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
Aug. 20, 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

F o c u s i n g
o n
accountability
f i r s t

Hard to ignore:
During the police detainment
(Thursday, Aug. 3) I asked
Mario himself for a copy of the
police report, and followed up
with a confirming fax the next
day. During the detainment
Mario told told me the district
had ten business days to get
it to me. I asked him to hurry.

It didn't come and it didn't
come and it didn't come.

A promise--Edgewood style
Mario later said by phone that
I'd get the first copy of the
police report, before anyone
else, and that was "a
promise." Unlike RG, I didn't
take the precaution of taping
my conversation with Mario;
like Louis B. Mayer said, "A
verbal contract isn't worth the
paper it's written on."

Oops
On Wednesday, Aug. 9,
Mario's assistant Moses
Tovar tells me, "You should
feel secure that there were
three police officers there to
ensure your safety." Oops.

On Tuesday, Aug. 15,
Edgewood ISD finally emailed
me a copy of my own police
report. But Mario had sent a
copy to RG at the San Antonio
Lightning the day before, on
Monday, Aug. 14. Oops.

Also on Aug. 15, Edgewood
claims to have emailed me a
copy of my police report first
on Aug. 8--except that it's not
dated until Aug. 9. Oops.

Also on Aug. 15, Edgewood's
police report is prepared by
Officer Sam G. Talamantoz--
who didn't sign it. In fact, the
space where Sam should
have signed it is completely
blank. But the reviewer,
Sergeant Carlos Solis, didn't
sign it either. "Sgt. D.
Newman" did. Oops.

Edgewood ISD
Police Dep't

Et Pluribus
Protectoratus
grand potentate
Superintendentatus
Oppogno
Grandmotherus
et Camerae