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 |
| National School District Honor Roll |
| School District Check Registers Posted Online Now |
| Check Registers Online--Almost |
| NSDHR School District Spring Branch ISD (Houston, Texas) |
| Dallas ISD Dallas, Texas HOW TO ACCCESS: www.boardbook.org/apps/ bbv2/temp/C6F34186-E7 FF-035D-1D23A8C71170 93E3.pdf |
| Spring Branch ISD Houston, Texas HOW TO ACCESS: www.springbranchisd.com |
| The great cosmic ripple By Peyton Wolcott Sept. 27, 2006/1:00 am I will never quite know what impulse led me to snap this photo at right of the Spring Branch ISD group assembling after Juan WIlliams' (PBS) |
| Nederland ISD Nederland, Texas HOW TO ACCESS: www.nederland.k12.tx.us Find "Nederland ISD Board of Trustees" then "Board Agenda" then "Agenda Packet" then Item 8.B. and pick a date. |
| Spring Branch ISD "Team of Eight" |
| UPDATE Friday, Oct. 20, 2006 Friends, is YOUR district publishing its checks online? If so, please email me so I can add your district's name to this new National School District Honor Roll. If your district is not publishing its checks online--and in a format citizens can readily access--why not? As Nederland and New Caney ISD's have already shown the nation, it can be done. As of this afternoon, brand new to this brand new list is San Angelo ISD--more about them next week. For any doubting Thomases out there wondering if a good-sized district really can pull this off, Spring Branch ISD is about to give the nation a simple step-by-step how- to. Thank you, Nederland, New Caney and San Angelo! Thank you, Spring Branch ISD! -- Peyton Wolcott |
| keynote address at last October's TASA/TASB convention. I'd been following SBISD since the departure of their former supe, Yvonne Katz two years ago after the board's learning that while they'd operated as a team she hadn't--Katz had been moonlighting as a consultant to an energy firm she'd brought to them as a vendor without disclosing the relationship. So, new photo in hand, it was natural enough to report on the Team of Eight, SBISD being a good example of why it doesn't work. |
| New Caney ISD New Caney, Texas HOW TO ACCESS www.newcaneyisd.org Look for current month BoardBook link. Then I got lost; the checks are there but difficult to find without a check register tab. |
| Not so fast, emailed SBISD board vice president Mike Falick after my report posted, who insisted that things had changed since Katz's departure. The SBISD board was different, he said. When Falick said he did not accept reimburse- |
| SBISD supe Duncan Klussmann (second from left, rear); SBISD board VP Mike Falick at far right |
| ment from the district for board travel, meals or trainings, and was not doing business with the district, my ears perked up. Fast forward We've kept in touch this past year, and following Monday night's SBISD board meeting came this yesterday: |
| San Angelo ISD San Angelo, Texas HOW TO ACCESS Click on the “Inside SAISD” tab at the top of the page then click “Finance” on the left side of the page under “Business Operations.” www.saisd.org |
| I am pleased to report that Spring Branch will be posting its check register on the District's website. The logistics are still being worked out, but the register will be on the website this Fall. The implementation of this would not have been possible without the leadership of our Superintendent, Dr. Duncan Klussmann. This increased transparency is something that I believe all governmental entities (not just school districts) should adopt -- after all, it is the taxpayers' money. To that end, our District has adopted the following legislative position: PUBLICATION OF DISTRICT CHECK REGISTER: Support increased transparency and accountability by requiring school districts to publish their check register on the district's website. |
| OOPS! |
| Denison ISD Denison, Texas Henry Scott, Sup't DISD only posts checks over $1,000. www.denisonisd.net |
| Driscoll ISD Driscoll, Texas Cynthia Garcia, Sup't While individual checks were listed as recently as June 2005, this practice has been discontinued and in fact the most recent agenda packet available is July 2005, and the most recent DISD minutes posted are July 2005. www.driscollisd.esc2.net |
| Transparency at the top "We try to be a very transparent district," says SBISD supe Duncan Klussmann. "We have a strong and supportive community, and we feel that being transparent supports that." Klussmann added that when he first came into education it was common for all checks to be included with the board packets and an approval item at board meetings. |
| Duncan Klussmann |
| "The board holds the staff accountable and they are also very supportive of the work of the staff," said Klussmann. “This Board is good to work for –they do an outstanding job.” |
If your district isn't posting its checks online--why not? |
| Schertz-Cibolo- Universal City ISD, Texas Belinda Pustka, Sup't So close yet so far away. While SCUISD for a few years referenced "check register" as part of their BoardBook software, no checks were listed. www.boardbook.org/apps/b bv2/temp/EE3B0B83-E7FF- 035D-10E2CBCA9F8FF505. |
| MANY THANKS TO JOE SMITH By Peyton Wolcott - Oct. 2, 2006 - 12:34 am |
If your district is posting its checks online, please send me the URL. |
| Had Joe Smith not published on TexasISD.com a while back that some Texas school districts were publishing their checks online, I would not have been prompted to go look for them. |
| Joe Smith |
| What's exciting about Spring Branch ISD's voluntary move towards publishing their check register online is this: Now parents and taxpayers across America can go back to their own district and ask, "Why aren't WE publishing OUR checks online?" So, here's a well-deserved "Thank you!" to Joe Smith. |
| DISTRICT/STUDENTS Nederland ISD 8,022 New Caney ISD 4,918 San Angelo ISD 15,050 Spring Branch ISD 32,701 |
How we take back our children's education: one person, one question, one school at a time. |
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 |
| FAIR USE NOTICE: This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of education issues vital to a republic. We believe this constitutes a "fair use" of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C., Chapter 1, Section 107 which states: the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright," the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond "fair use" you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. |
| 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. |
| Copyright 1999-2006 Peyton Wolcott |
| 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.
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 Sept. 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.
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 |
| Featured NSDHR School District Dallas ISD (Dallas, Texas) |
| Dallas ISD moving towards a greater transparency By Peyton Wolcott - Copyright 2007 Saturday, February 17, 2007/9:10 pm Michael Hinojosa's self-described dream job of a lifetime as Dallas ISD's superinten- dent has turned out to be quite the chal- lenge, as with running any other big-city |
| Blackwell ISD Blackwell, Texas HOW TO ACCESS: www.blackwell.esc14.net |
| Big Spring ISD Big Spring, Texas HOW TO ACCESS: http://bsisd.esc18.net Look under "Parents & Community" - first listing |
| Malakoff ISD Malakoff, Texas HOW TO ACCESS www.malakoff.esc7.net Look under "School Board" |
| Arlington ISD (TX) Houston ISD (TX) Keller ISD (TX) McKinney ISD (TX) Temple ISD (TX) Ysleta ISD (TX) |
| Marble Falls ISD Marble Falls, Texas HOW TO ACCESS http://marble.tx.schoolweb pages.com |
| Houston ISD Houston, Texas HOW TO ACCESS: Not online yet -- coming soon! |
| Lovejoy ISD Allen, Texas HOW TO ACCESS www.lovejoyisd.net |
| State Education Agencies/ Departments |
| Texas Education Agency Austin, Texas NOTE: Checks posted as of announcement on Feb. 1, 2007 are dated Sept. 1, 2006 through Jan. 31, 2007. HOW TO ACCESS: www.tea.state.tx.us/tea/Che ckRegister.html |
| The other 49: MIA? By Peyton Wolcott - Copyright 2007 Sat., Feb. 17, 2007 Where are the other 49 states? We've not been able to find any other state departments of edu- cation or education agencies who are posting their checks online. Any names? |
| A vision is a dream with a deadline. --Michael Hinojosa |
| Mike Hinojosa |
| superintendency. They're all plagued by the fact that they receive enormous amounts of money from local, state and federal sources, most of it pouring in without any real oversight. Dallas ISD for example got $1,843,171,265 in total receipts all funds for 2004-05, the last official reporting period per the Texas Education Agency. Added to that, reports coming in to this desk indicate that Hinojosa's attempts to clean up the district he inherited from supe Mike Moses and interim supe Larry Groppel have been met with resistance in varying guises from the entrenched DISD bureaucracy. Watching from here in the Texas Hill Country almost four hours south, it appears that trying to introduce reforms to an entity as vast as DISD is not unlike trying to turn around a large oceangoing vessel. As it turns out, in light of reports surfacing two years ago, the oceangoing analogy is apt. |
| The Mike Moses/Larry Groppel legacy Let's start with Moses' technology director, Ruben Bohuchot, who appears to have experienced troubled sea after troubled sea, as reported by Pete Slover and Jessica Leeder in the Dallas Morning News in July 2005: |
| "Dallas schools' chief technology boss has for years accepted the free, regular use of luxurious sport-fishing yachts owned by a top provider of computer hardware to DISD, records and interviews show. Ruben Bohuchot, a Dallas Independent School District associate superintendent, told The Dallas Morning News that the sea voyages grew out of his relationship with Frankie Wong, president of Houston-based Micro System Enterprises....The FBI, also prompted by the boat revelations, is investigating possible corruption in the awarding of a technology contract--negotiated by Mr. Bohuchot--worth up to $125 million in federal technology funding to a consortium of companies led by MicroSystem." |
| The "Sir Veza II"), vendor boat used by DISD executive Ruben Bohuchot (below) (PHOTOS/ Dallas Morning News) |
More coming -- Please check back |
| "Uh...someone might want to tell Hinojosa that DISD has problems that won't be solved by a logo." (SOURCE--Posted by: James L | February 13, 2007 04:54 PM http://metro.beloblog.com/ |
| When all else fails, put your money and your attention on a new logo (right) -- except that the trustees vetoed Hinojosa's choice; the old (left) stays |