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Showing posts with label Broward County Public Schools. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Broward County Public Schools. Show all posts

Monday, September 16, 2024

Now is the time to make up for the lost opportunity of the past decade to make sure that the Broward Public Schools are firmly under the Broward Inspector General's purview, to root out unethical and corrupt behavior

Above: The hulking octop[us-like presence at 600 SE Third Avenue, Fort Lauderdale that serves as the multi-armed and entangled HQ for the Broward County Public Schools and the governing Broward County School Board


Originally posted Monday September 16th, 2024, 
Updated Saturday September 21st, 2024 

Most of you who know me even reasonably well, whether from any of the hundreds and hundreds of public meetings, civic association meetings or forums I've attended in South Florida over the past 20 years since returning from the Washington, D.C. area, largely from here on my humble blog, via my popular Twitter feed, or via my fact-filled observational and strategic emails over the years -IF you are on my mailing list- know one thing about me.
I have been focused like a laser-beam on ethics in local government and public policy in South Florida since long before I created this blog 17 years ago. Probably since my family first moved here in the summer of 1968, me, aged 7 years old, but a very curious and precocious seven year-old to be sure.
And, a kid quite positive that South Florida did NOT make sense the way other places so often did, however imperfectly. That clearly hasn't changed.

Back when the Broward County Office of Inspector General was originally proposed by the Broward County Commission, in large part because of increasing public outcry and the heroic efforts of my own district County Commissioner, Sue Gunzburger, YEARS after such an office was desperately needed, I had the somewhat unique distinction(!) of often being the only member of the public -in all of Broward County!- who actually attended the appointed Advisory Board's meetings.

Meetings that were at 8 a.m. sharp at the County HQ on Andrews Avenue, maybe a mile walk from the photo up above. 
Me being me, the type of person who enjoys having hard evidence of what I saw and heard when I'm making the argument for or against an idea or public policy -and to guard against occasional moments of boredom or even almost falling asleep in a large county room- I brought along my fully-charged video cameras and lightweight tripod.
And I recorded what was said -and by who- no matter how inspired or banal. and made contemporaneous notes on who was in the room, who they were communicating with, and what they were otherwise doing. Sh-h-h... lobbyists!

Yes, despite the fact that the meetings were deemed something important in the larger scheme of the county's efforts to regain the public's trust after so many scandals over the years, someone made the conscious choice NOT to have the meetings in the County Commission chambers that were already equipped with TV cameras, to make everything easy.
Instead, they were held in a much-smaller room. 
Without any cameras.

And, so, was NOT recorded by the County, just me.
I was always VERY aware of the fact that I was usually the only member of the public in the room, AND and that I had some pretty quality video of the BTS workings of government that nobody else in South Florida had, whether the local news media or other interested parties, like local elected officials.

To be kind, the Advisory Board meetings were very much a Poor Man's version of the Constitutional Congress in Philadelphia, but with air conditioning and so-so coffee in the back of the room.
It was there, right near the county-provided coffee, where I parked myself at every meeting I attended to make myself available for quick chats with the members in attendance. 
I almost always brought bagels + donuts along from home to keep myself fully awake and full of enough energy to pounce or text on my telephone at the first sign of mischief.
There, not so much holding court as guarding the waterfront, along with a thermos of hazelnut coffee I'd brewed beforehand at home, I took copious notes. 

Over a period of several months, I came to know these appointed members like the back of my hand: I knew who was always diligent about being properly prepared from the start and ready to push for stricter ethical standards in the county, and, of course, who was, well, generally unprepared, winging-it, and always looking at their watch, ready to throw in the towel if that had a quorum. 
And there were a LOT of times I thought that the latter was going to happen! 

From Day One, I was always mindful of the fact that the only thing preventing the members from giving up was the sure knowledge that the appointees definitley did NOT want to publicly embarrass their political patrons by making it seem like ethics u. Do no harm! 😠 

 Before she eventually moved up to Lutz from Hollywood, my good friend and well-known South Florida civic activist Charlotte Greenbarg also appeared at times early in the AM, speaking for both common sense and with a deep and genuine appreciation for understanding human behavior in such a weird political dynamic.
One, where many members of the Advisory Board not only didn't want to embarrass the person who'd selected them for the position over others vying for it, but also because I knew for a fact that many of them clearly had their eyes on running for elective office some time in the near-future, IF they weren't already an elected somewhere in the county, or an important person at some interest group in Broward used to flexing their muscles. 

Charlotte had years of first-hand experience dealing with the all-too-frequent and frustrating incompetency and failures of the Broward School system by virtue of being the much-respected head of its Audit Committee, and so had an insight into the realities of School Board's operation and (often pointless) direction that none of the Advisory Board members could hope to match. 

Charlotte and I were folks in the community at the time who were willing to actually show up in-person to publicly support the much-needed IG Office, and consistently spoke under Public Comments asking that the office be sure to include the Broward School system. 
The reason, of course, is obvious, because everyone who knew anything about how things REALLY work/works in the county, knew that some of the worst financial/patronage excesses and rampant, endemic ethical corruption and misbehavior was located there. 
Often, as we know from numerous investigations, hiding in plain sight. 

But nobody was willing to do the right thing, least of all, in the Broward SAO. 

 Unfortunately, most of the people selected by the county commissioners at the time to represent them on the board had very different priorities, and were NOT particularly interested in seeing the Broward School system be included, as well as see that the office cover lots of other things in the county that were common with such IG offices around the country. 
Naturally, me being me, before the first meeting, I'd spent a lot of time researching just those very things, so that as often as possible, I'd speak to the members before and after meetings about what could be done to make the office even more effective. 

Here's me in 2014, when there was a push to expand the Broward IG Office's areas of concern and responsibility.

 But as I learned years ago in electoral politics at the national and state level -and trust me, the people selected to the IG Advisory Board were VERY political- the #1 rule in politics is... to know your universe. 

People who didn't even think the office should exist were very vocal on the Advisory Board, so pulling THEM in the right direction was, alas, a losing battle. 
Now, the public in Broward finally has the opportunity to make up for that lost time! 

Sun Sentinel
Voters could expand watchdog role - Initiative asks whether Broward County inspector general's responsibilities should include the school district
Scott Travis South Florida Sun Sentinel
September 14, 2024

School Board elections are over, but Broward voters can still decide in November whether they want some new oversight to help the district root out waste, fraud and corruption.

A ballot initiative will ask those voting in the general election Nov. 5 to say yes or no to expanding the role of the Broward County inspector general to include the Broward School District.

Read the rest of the article at:





WSVN-7 News
Proposed amendment would expand authority of Broward Inspector General to include independent oversight of school board operations


Dave













David Bruce Smith 

Hallandale Beach/Hollywood Blog: http://www.hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/ 




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Thursday, February 22, 2024

Tonight's important Broward Schools outreach mtg. re Broward Supt. Licata's plan to close 5 schools/sell property within a year, with 3 in SE Broward on the prospective chopping block because they are less than 70% capacity

Today's blog post is a follow-up to my blog post of WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2023, titled,

Torey Alston's call for "Major reform" now by the Broward County School Board is 100% correct -and 100% long overdue
https://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2023/11/torey-alstons-call-for-major-reform-now.html



I also tweeted about that post here, https://x.com/hbbtruth/status/1729940297038078417?s=20





This was me on Twitter this past Sunday afternoon, plus the predicate tweets from BCPSCanDoBetter and Alexander Russo highlighting the Chicago Sun-Times account of what happened when the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) closed 50 schools throughout the nation's third-largest city.


Chicago Sun-Times

To report on the impact of Chicago’s mass school closings, we turned to neighborhood residents.
While City Hall and Chicago Public Schools put roadblocks in the way of reporting for the Sun-Times and WBEZ series, people who lived near the closed schools opened up with their stories.
By  Lauren FitzPatrick, December 28, 2023, 10:00am EST


Will be interested to see who among SE #Broward elected officials/candidates fm #HollywoodFL #HallandaleBeach participate @ 3rd of 3 #BCPS' mtgs re under-enrolled schools Thurs. @ Flanagan HS @ 6 pm.  Spies tell me few of Usual Suspects @ either City Hall attended. 🙄


Re Thursday's important mtg. re under-enrolled Broward schools, Supt.'s plan to close school/sell property of 5 within a year, with 3 in SE Broward on possible chopping block because they are less than 70% capacity: Hallandale High School, McNicol Middle School and Hollywood Central Elementary School.

There's a good but-not-perfect graph that was on a popular Broward public policy Facebook page that showed reasons that some Broward parents give for why they have -or may- pull their kids from the system. 

The official number given for so-called "lost" BCPS kids in the past 20 years is 58,000, but I suspect it is considerably higher since the very people who were NOT polled actually are the ones I'd like most to hear from in such a poll to know the truth: parents who fled Broward county ENTIRELY, and did not know of the poll.

Concerned Citizens of Broward County


Though this particular Facebook page is much more useful than most things online that have a South Florida emphasis, the truth is that is very noticeable that at certain times of the week -say on Sunday mornings and around midnight on weeknights Monday thru Thursday- it tends to have indignant and angry posts that are VERY heavily weighed and biased towards the long term interests and goals of the Broward Democratic Party and its activist allies, principally, teachers and their union friends, the Broward Teachers Union -the BTU.

The BTU expects that all Broward School Board candidates it endorses and who get elected to be faithful puppets and to always think as exactly as they are told, especially regarding salaries and pay raises.
That is, they believe that the answer to every problem in the school system, including why has Broward County lost 58,000 students over the past 20 years, is because teachers were not paid enough. Which is preposterous of course.
You can see for yourself below how their comments condescendingly dismiss all parents answers to simple questions about why they pulled/may pull their kids from the BCPS system, IF the answer isn't simply giving more $ to teachers.

We all know that parents in Broward County are NOT removing their children from the public schools and voting with their wallets/purses and feet by moving simply because of the level of salary individual teachers earn each year. Especially in a county where because of the efforts of Governor Ron DeSantis and the Florida legislature, the starting salary of a teacher in Broward County is $50,000, plus benefits, regardless of how poorly a teacher they may prove to be in their first year.

Here are the responses to the graph above, which make my larger point. 


Reality = Broward taxpayers interested in both solid academic improvement and financial efficiencies KNOW BCPS buildings and land WILL be sold, so the belief among self-serving, politically- driven #BTU and its members that honestly think that the number of teachers will or should remain the same is... DELUSIONAL. 
I'm NOT a fan of BTU's B.S.

As for tonight, I'm out-of-town, so I will NOT be able to attend the meeting in Pembroke Pines at Flanagan, the HS that my nephew graduated from 20 years ago.



Miami Herald
'Tough conversations': Broward school district hosts its first input event on school changes
Jimena Tavel, Staff Writer
February 12, 2024

While scrolling social media Wednesday night, Cathy Curry, 61, saw a list of the most under-enrolled schools in Broward County Public Schools and one caught her eye: her alma mater Hallandale High School, the same majority-Black school that, in 1974, she and her mother marched in protest to get the district to open.

She saw that the district could close it because it's operating at only 64% of its capacity. She panicked.

"I was so hurt I couldn't sleep," Curry, who graduated from the high school in 1980, told the Miami Herald.

The following day, on Thursday, she decided to attend a district event on the topic at Fort Lauderdale High School. That was the first of three events that Broward school district officials have planned to seek community input on a plan to close or repurpose at least five out of the district's total of 239 schools in the 2025-2026 school year. They say the district must make changes because it has lost about 58,000 students in the past 20 years.

Instead of holding a traditional town hall Thursday, district officials held small-group conversations.

First, Superintendent of Broward Public Schools Peter Licata briefly explained why the district needs to affect at least five schools. Then officials split the roughly 150 in-person attendees inside the school's auditorium - and the about 200 who tuned in to the live stream online - into eight groups and directed them to different areas such as classrooms and the cafeteria. They assigned a facilitator to lead and survey each group using an artificial intelligence platform called ThoughtExchange.

Facilitators asked each group two questions using ThoughtExchange and then led a discussion about all of the groups' answers, which they could see and rate up or down online.

The first was, "When the District decides to close or combine schools, what should we think about the most. What considerations are most important and why?"

Some of the answers included bus schedules and transportation concerns, the well-being of children, maintaining or improving the quality of the education, increasing targeted programs for specific careers in the future, the overall fiscal impact to the district and the classroom sizes.

The second question was, "How can we make changing schools a positive experience for students, teachers, and the community to help our schools become the best they can be?"

Those answers featured statements like "infrastructure is key," "increasing mental health for students," and "pay the teachers a decent wage."

The first question upset Curry.

"To see that felt like the decision is already made, and it's disingenuous to gather the community here," she said.

Zoie Saunders, the district's chief strategy and innovation officer, was facilitating Curry's group and apologized for that. She later told the Herald that the original question was too long and in the editing process, it lost some clarity.

"I completely acknowledged that was a mistake," Saunders said. "We'll try to wordsmith that question for the future."

Overall, Licata, who walked in and out of all of the group settings, told the Herald after the event that he thought it had gone well.

"I thought tonight was pretty good," he said. "We had some really good conversations; we had some really tough conversations. ... It was the first night. We're going to redirect some things, fix some things. We are going to address what people have said. We're listening."

Complaints with format, use of AI

Others in Curry's group raised concerns about the district's logistics for the event.

Narnike Pierre Grant, the mother of a Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School freshman and the chair of the school district's diversity committee, said she disliked being divided into small groups.

"I wasn't happy with the format. I don't think it was conducive for the people in this district," said Pierre Grant. "When they were advertising it, they made it feel like a town hall, and that's not what it was. It was hard for people who aren't technologically savvy."

In response, Licata said the district never called the event a "town hall meeting." The official district web page and the flyer describe the events as "Community Conversations." But he acknowledged that the district can hammer that point more in the future.

Overall, he said he understands that there's a history of mistrust in the school district and that that might affect some perspectives.

"We know we have to build trust. This is new to this district, and I'm new to this district. It will take time," he said.

Similarly to Pierre Grant, one of the teachers who attended Thursday, Erica Hansinger from Western High School in Davie, felt that the district could have surveyed people at home instead of in person. And that the use of AI didn't foster "deep, raw conversations."

After the group members answered the two questions, they got to up-vote or down-vote other attendees' ideas. At the end, the platform produced a "summary" with conclusions about what the people said, which the facilitator read out loud.

"That's not the way to engage the community," said Hansinger, who's been teaching for 20 years. "I was baffled. It was bizarre."

After the group stopped looking down at their devices in Hansinger and Pierre Grant's group, they started chatting. A woman shared that she had experienced trauma back in 1995 when the district rezoned some schools and she lost all of her friends; she said she didn't want her own children to experience that, too.

"Her story touched me," Hansinger said, pointing out that the woman wouldn't have been able to share that emotion and those details online on ThoughtExchange and that the format possibly hindered others from sharing their own tales.

In response to that, Saunders said the district decided to use the platform to collect more data and spark ideas. She said that it's not over-relying on its results, as it will also consider other factors when deciding what schools to change: factors including enrollment, neighborhood demographics and the condition of each facility.

The next two district events will take place at 6 p.m. Thursday at the J.P. Taravella High School at 10600 Riverside Dr. in Coral Springs and at 6 p.m. Feb. 22, which is also a Thursday, at the Charles W. Flanagan High School at 12800 Taft St. in Pembroke Pines.


https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/education/article285429077.html

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Wednesday, November 29, 2023

Torey Alston's call for "Major reform" now by the Broward County School Board is 100% correct -and 100% long overdue

Please take a moment or two today to read the very important essay by Torey Alston in Monday's Sun Sentinel, preceded by one printed over the weekend penned by Broward Public Schools Supt. Peter Licata.

They follow very closely on the heels of my follow-up tweets last week, below, regarding the not-so-great reality of student attendance at Broward County Public Schools the past few years.

As I have been writing about in this space for for YEARS, as well as at city meetings all around Hollywood, that's especially the case with respect to three -3!- schools in Hollywood and Hallandale Beach that are within two miles of one another: Hallandale High School, McNicol Middle School and Hollywood Central Elementary School.




So, one BCPS school located in a mostly residential neighborhood of HB, one located on the Hollywood side of Pembroke Road two blocks east of 1-95, and one located on the east side of US-1 located just a few blocks south of Young Circle, which Hollywood City Hall has for years been telling us was the area of the city that was just waiting to POP with activity once a few things were done to bring the area into the 21st Century from its longstanding state of arrested development. 

As I wrote last year on both my blog as well as in a few emails that you may well have received, there was ZERO public discussion by the announced candidates for the BCSB District 1 seat of the grim reality about declining enrollment and the future of those schools and the land beneath them -and the long-term consequences of that- here in SE Broward, before, during and after last year's August primary and November general election. 
ZERO. 🤨😒🙄

Keep an eye on this space as I may well expand upon it in the coming days. 





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South Florida Sun-Sentinel
OPINION
Major reform needed now by Broward School Board

By TOREY ALSTON
PUBLISHED: November 27, 2023 at 11:00 a.m.
UPDATED: November 27, 2023 at 11:01 a.m.

Five former School Board members were mentioned in a grand jury report for incompetence and neglect of duty, leading to four of them being removed from the School Board of Broward County.

This action by the governor led to “reform board” actions that began the new focus on becoming an “A”-rated school district, focused attention on the learning crisis as a result of the pandemic, ceased legal payments to School Board members named in the grand jury report, set aside millions in unallocated funds for a rainy day fund, supported new training for board members, created a public comment period at the start of board meetings and ultimately led the charge to push out a former superintendent, who many knew was in over her head but many elected and community leaders did not have the courage to stand up and do the right thing.

As Board chair during this period, those were all tough decisions made by a balanced board with a diversity of thought and experiences.

There would be no Dr. Peter Licata, Dr. Earlean Smiley or Dr. Valerie Wanza if not for the tough questions and hard decisions started by the reform board.

As we fast forward, we need additional reforms now more than ever before within our district — many decisions that prior Board members shunned, and some that current Board members may also hesitate to address with 2024 elections approaching.

The truth matters, and the public appreciates a clear understanding of the issues and opportunities ahead.

While we are the sixth largest school district in the country, with amazing students and top-notch employees, our school board needs to show courage to preserve our district and prevent the fiscal catastrophe I and others have highlighted.

With continually declining enrollment at our traditional public schools, low capital reserves, a low fund balance and parents increasingly choosing charter and private schools over traditional public schools, this moment requires leadership.

We must also be clear that much needed school construction projects will be heavily monitored and the board must address roofing, air quality and basic beautification in all of our schools.

I will not support any board action that reallocates funds for any maintenance away from our schools, with $3 billion in current school site facility needs and routine maintenance visibly lacking in many schools.

I do not support redirecting safety or security funds, mental health or school site dollars for employee compensation. We need to make some painful cuts now and look for more cost avoidances — that’s how we can increase compensation. Our No. 1 priority should remain our 250,000 children learning in safe and clean classrooms.


Now is the time to start the process to repurpose or close at least 40 to 50 school sites due to drastic under-enrollment, sell vacant school district land to bring in more revenue, demolish unused portables that impact state funding and take a critical look at how we compensate all employees.

Re-purposing or closing 40 to 50 schools will lead to a smaller district footprint, better targeted funding for our kids, an increased fund balance to preserve the district’s fiscal health and could ultimately lead to newly built schools in later years.

Now is the time for the district to demonstrate the value of our employees, share with the public how the district compensates its employees compared to neighboring districts, and push back on false attacks from Broward Teachers’ Union leadership against the district about lack of compensation, when the district has provided more compensation to employees in the last two years than both Miami-Dade County Public Schools and Palm Beach County Public Schools.

I believe there is mutual agreement that costs have increased on all families, and we must increase overall compensation to our employees. We should lower the temperature and work together to get things done, as the Police Benevolent Association, the Broward Principals and Assistant Principals Association, and other public worker unions have done collegially.

Now is the time for our parents, community leaders and key stakeholders to join together in a common purpose of maintaining the fiscal health of the district, so that we provide quality education to all Broward children, regardless of zip code, in a more efficient environment.

Now is the time for my colleagues to make the tough decisions. Our children and this community will reflect years later on how we banded together in a nonpartisan way to truly become an “A” school district and the premier choice for Broward families.

Torey Alston, a former Broward County commissioner, represents District 2 on the Broward County School Board.
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South Florida Sun-Sentinel
OPINION
An opportunity to redefine Broward public schools 
(Special to the Sun Sentinel). Dr. Peter B. Licata is superintendent of Broward County Public Schools.

By PETER B. LICATA
PUBLISHED: November 26, 2023 at 5:00 a.m.
UPDATED: November 27, 2023 at 12:36 p.m.

I am honored to be the Superintendent of Broward County Public Schools (BCPS), and although I’m no longer in the classroom, I will always consider myself a teacher. I grew up in a family of teachers and continue to be surrounded by lifelong educators in my personal life.

Although three of my children are lawyers and a doctor, I am as proud, if not more so, of my fourth child for pursuing a career as a teacher. I know firsthand the dedication it takes, and the daily sacrifices being made in classrooms across Broward County.

The teaching profession is invaluable. Our society can never fully repay educators for their impact on our world. While our district is grateful to the state for prioritizing teacher salaries, we know those increases are not enough for teachers living in South Florida. As we continue to manage declining student enrollment and the increasing cost of living, we must ensure that teachers can afford to live in the communities they serve.

Since 2018, thanks to the community’s investment in education through the voter-approved referendum, the Broward County School Board has consistently provided compensation supplements to our teachers. For the 2023-24 school year, BCPS has agreed to increase the average teacher compensation package by more than 9%.

Unlike most school districts, BCPS continues to guarantee our employees have access to healthcare by fully covering not basic insurance, but the top-tier coverage plan. Still, we know we must do more for our teachers.

This is our opportunity to “Redefine BCPS” and make it the organization the entire community deserves.

BCPS is committed to finding strategic ways to increase compensation. In a few short months, we have reorganized our corporate structure to maximize central office efficiencies while reducing costs.

We have eliminated more than 50 district office positions and redundant technology and educational programs. We also have limited access to our reserves as it is near the state minimum funding requirements. We have taken steps to ensure we remain fiscally responsible while not impacting the classroom.

BCPS has a great foundation. Our current classroom teacher vacancy rate is approximately 1%, which is unheard of, as other districts nationwide are struggling with teacher shortages.

Many of our high schools are ranked among the best in the nation and we are looking to replicate those academic programs as we strategically plan to meet the needs in our communities.

We have closed out more than 20 capital construction projects that had been delayed and broke ground on rebuilding the campus at Rickards Middle School. We must continue this momentum and work as a team to accomplish our goals, with a guiding focus on putting students first.

After taking a tour of the county with my executive cabinet, I realize we must consider making difficult decisions, as our budget is not aligned with our current student enrollment. We will evaluate repurposing schools and expand and replicate successful programs along with selling district-owned lands or properties.

The savings from these moves will be reinvested in our schools and our teachers. I will also explore how some of these excess properties can be utilized to provide affordable housing.

We owe much gratitude to our educators. I am personally committed to ensuring our teachers receive the support and recognition they rightfully deserve. Their dedication and sacrifices are critical to our communities, and our collective responsibility is to support them as they shape the future.

The entire BCPS team, especially teachers, has my commitment to start planning my first official budget in December. It will include line items for compensation increases for teachers and other staff so we can retain our incredible team members and “Redefine BCPS” as a leader and example for districts across the nation.

Dr. Peter B. Licata is superintendent of Broward County Public Schools.  

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