Showing posts with label Catherine Kim Owens. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Catherine Kim Owens. Show all posts

Monday, February 25, 2013

Important day of reckoning for Broward County Schools, taxpayers and parents is at hand: Wednesday's coming clash in Plantation between Broward County's eastern schools and western schools on boundaries -and which schools, if any, need to be CLOSED or consolidated due to costs and students leaving for charter schools; BCPS Public Hearings to Discuss 2013-2014 School Attendance Areas, Usage Recommendations

Above, screenshot of Broward Schools Superintendent Robert W. Runcie, from a May 2012 Channel 10/WPLG-TV newscast on the necessary budget cuts and changes that he needed to institute throughout Broward to make the school administration more accurately reflect the smaller student population and need for paring the budget.

Important day of reckoning for Broward County Schools, taxpayers and parents is at hand: Wednesday's coming clash in Plantation between Broward County's eastern schools and western schools on boundaries -and which schools, if any, need to be CLOSED or consolidated due to costs and students leaving for charter schools; BCPS Public Hearings to Discuss 2013-2014 School Attendance Areas, Usage Recommendations

I received the following very important message this afternoon via email from the City of Hollywood that should be of more than passing interest to the residents, taxpayers and parents of Hollywood, Hallandale Beach, Dania Beach and other communities in eastern Broward County, who for so long have complained about the Broward School Board's expenditures flowing to the western part of the county that were growing in population, even as the eastern schools were being "neglected" from their point-of-view.

In Hallandale High's case, it not only was demonstrably true, but well-documented, as I've made perfectly clear in the past here on the blog, thanks to the diligent and thankless efforts of a few, including my hard-working friend, Catherine Kim Owens.

Well, that looming date for a battle over which Broward schools are doing well enough to be kept largely as they are, and which ones that are consistently under-performing, for so long, an academic question with a date far in the distance, seems to finally be at hand.
As all who follow education policy hereabouts must admit, many Broward schools are increasingly empty, since as of May of 2012, Broward Schools has lost 35,000 students in the past 5 years, many to private schools and Broward's charter schools.

It's Wednesday.
Don't doubt for a moment that some very unpopular lines may finally be drawn in the sand and made permanent.
-----

The Broward County School District has scheduled two public hearings to discuss 2013-2014 school attendance areas and school usage recommendations for all elementary, middle, high and combination schools. The District will hold the at the Plantation High School Auditorium at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, February 27, 2013 and Wednesday, April 3, 2013.

WHO: Broward County School Board Members, Superintendent, 
          Demographics and Student Assignments Staff, District Staff, 
          Parents and Community

WHAT: Broward County Public Schools Public Hearings on
           2013-2014 School Attendance Areas and School Usage  
           Recommendations 

WHEN: Public Hearing I – Wednesday, February 27, 2013 at 5:30 p.m.
           Public Hearing II – Wednesday, April 3, 2013 at 5:30 p.m.

WHERE: Plantation High School, Auditorium
             6901 NW 16th Street, Plantation 

The Superintendent’s final 2013-2014 school boundary recommendations based on community and School Board input can be viewed at the Demographics & Student Assignments website (http://www.broward.k12.fl.us/dsa). For additional information, contact Jill Young, director, Demographics & Student Assignments at 754.321.2480.

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Broward Schools Supt. Robert W. Runcie to visit Hallandale Beach City Hall Thursday night; Bob Norman on latest news re public corruption at Broward School Board; Does Hallandale High School have a long-term future?


Above and below, July 13, 2010 photo by South Beach Hoosier, looking south at the Broward County Schools HQ, 600 S.E. Third Avenue, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. 

© 2012 Hallandale Beach Blog, All Rights Reserved





















If you have not already seen it, I strongly encourage you to read Channel 10's Bob Norman's latest blog piece regarding  public corruption at the Broward School Board, which concerns Broward County Comm. Lois Wexler's forthright and damning testimony to the statewide Grand Jury.

Report: Lobbyist 'controlled' school board
By Bob Norman
Published On: Sep 26 2012 08:15:08 AM EDT  
Updated On: Sep 26 2012 12:24:48 PM EDT
Below is the recently released report from the grand jury after an interview of Broward County Commissioner Lois Wexler, a former school board member.
In it Wexler describes how lobbyist Neil Sterling "controlled" the school board and how he sold software to the board -- called Riverdeep -- that was faulty and wasted millions of dollars for the district (she says it wasn't, as the report says, "hundreds of millions").
Read the rest of the post at: 
And be sure to read the reader's comments!

Well, it turns out that all the negative things you ever heard about the truly craven nature of former School Board members Bob Parks and Stephanie Kraft are all true -and then some!

The "CCC" referred to in the article that got former School Board counsel Ed Marko so upset directly concerned the Broward County School Board and Hallandale High School and serious allegations of racial discrimination, which later resulted in the Board signing a consent decree.

In related news, Broward Schools Supt. Robert W. Runcie will be at Hallandale Beach City Hall Thursday at 6:30 p.m. to discuss a number of matters.



Above, Supt. Robert Runcie after a public meeting of his Listening Tour at the City of Hollywood's  Fred Lippman Multi-Purpose Center, which was the second time I'd heard him speak in-person, having previously heard him in March at Hollywood Hills High School, also in Hollywood.  
May 14, 2012 photo by South Beach Hoosier. © 2012 Hallandale Beach Blog, All Rights Reserved.
Some well-informed people in this county who follow these things more closely than me seriously wonder if there's a real future for Hallandale High or not, which ought to be a concern of everyone here who wants this city on the countyline to have a higher quality of life.
The one we ought to have now.

It will be very interesting to see whether or not School Board chair Ann Murrayour ethically and morally-challenged representative, actually shows her face publicly after continually refusing to show-up here, year-after-year, including at the impressive education forum put together by my good friend, Catherine Kim Owensin June of last year, when both Murray and At-Large member Jennifer Gottlieb, both Hollywood residents, refused to make the short drive down the street, even while Board member Robin Bartleman, from Weston, could summon forth the time and energy to actually get here.

I remind you again that in the nearly nine years that I have lived here in Hallandale
Beach, Mayor Joy Cooper and the HB City Commission have never once shown the intelligence or gumption to convene a long-overdue city-wide meeting or forum on education in HB and what was really going on here.

That longstanding failure to be smart and thorough about this city's educational choices and options created a vacuum, one that Peter Deutsch and Ben Gamla Hebrew Charter School thought to exploit, even while they verbally sought to intimidate and bad-mouth the city, the NE 8th Avenue neighborhood and all residents of this city in the process, with nary a word of public criticism about THAT from Joy CooperAnthony Sanders or Alexander Lewy.
Just something to think about tomorrow night...

So what's happened since the city over-paid for that property from Peter Deutsch & Co.?


Hallandale city manager calls in special auditor to review property bought from ex-congressman
By William Gjebre, BrowardBulldog.org 
September 18, 2012 AT 6:17 AM

Correct, nothing positive.

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Part 2 of 2: Ann Murray -she's a phony, a bigot and a no-show. Consistently. That's what voters have seen of her tenure on Broward School Board so far -she needs to go!; update on projects at Hallandale High School


Ann Murray -a failure in every way that counts for southeast Broward taxpayers & parents 

Part 2 of 2: Ann Murray -she's a phony, a bigot and a no-show. Consistently. That's what voters have seen of her tenure on Broward School Board so far -she needs to go!; update on projects at Hallandale High School


Today's chapter: Broward School's sneak attack on Hallandale Beach: Hallandale HS's SAF was ALREADY held on January 23rd -and the public wasn't told
-----



January 29, 2012


This is a follow-up to my email of last week.


Like you, I've always assumed that the Broward County School system had an easily-understood hierarchy chart -somewhere- I just wasn't sure where.
A chart where the citizen taxpayers of this county were formally recognized as one of the legs of the table, lest it collapse.
You'd just think so, huh?


Well, there's something like that, but owing to the fact that this is Broward County and simply calling it an organizational chart would be too easy, here, it's called a Coherent Governance and Systemic Alignment.


Yes, it just flows right off your tongue, doesn't it?


Well, when you go to the Broward School Board's website, http://www.browardschools.com/ it does have a nice little flow chart of circles of interest and brackets of units on page 9 of http://eagenda3.broward.k12.fl.us/eAgenda/1803/49075/Files/superintendent_s_evaluation_presentation_120611.pdf and there seems to be some recognition of our role.
At least it does when it comes time to evaluate Supt. Robert W. Runcie's performance.
Yes, when it comes to that, everything has a clear delineation of responsibility.
Us, we're called "Community."


But what does that organization chart really mean in the real world if, as the email below clearly shows, one of THE most-involved people in this community, my friend, Catherine
Kim Owens, does NOT know, and never hears about that SAF meeting that's actually OPEN to the community, has been moved WITHOUT any public notice?
http://www.broward.k12.fl.us/sbbcpolicies/docs/P1.3.000.pdf


It tells me that there's someone in the Broward School system earning a paycheck from taxpayers who thinks that these organizational charts, while fine for filling-up space on
their website, are, in fact, just for naive chumps, parents and taxpayers.
When the powers-that-be want to do things on their own, the lines and arrows on that flow chart are meaningless.


There is nothing about that SAF meeting being changed from tomorrow, Monday the 30th, to LAST Monday, the 23rd, on the Broward School Board's website, nor is there anything about it on the official Hallandale High School website http://www.broward.k12.fl.us/hallandalehigh/ or even on the webpage where that information should be located: http://www.broward.k12.fl.us/hallandalehigh/sacsaf.htm


If you spend even thirty seconds looking at the other threads that directly come under the subject of Parent Info, what do you find?


What you find are web pages that either have generic boilerplate, nothing on them other than the title of the subject area that is supposed to be there, or, you find information
that in some cases is well over THREE YEARS OLD.


See for yourself:

http://www.broward.k12.fl.us/hallandalehigh/parentinfo.htm
http://www.broward.k12.fl.us/hallandalehigh/annualcustomersurvey.htm
http://www.broward.k12.fl.us/hallandalehigh/fcat.htm
http://www.broward.k12.fl.us/hallandalehigh/brace.htm
http://www.broward.k12.fl.us/hallandalehigh/pinnacle.htm
http://www.broward.k12.fl.us/schoolimprove/
http://www.broward.k12.fl.us/hallandalehigh/sacsaf.htm
http://www.broward.k12.fl.us/hallandalehigh/titleI.htm
http://www.broward.k12.fl.us/hallandalehigh/veryinvolvedparent.htm
http://www.getinvolvedineducation.com/volunteers/index.htm
http://www.broward.k12.fl.us/hallandalehigh/summerreadinginformation.htm

My favorite one is that last one above, since at the bottom of the page it reads
"Click the link below for all auxiliary information and resources."
There is NO LINK.


That is, unless my favorite is the one that reads "Our partners in excellence"
http://www.broward.k12.fl.us/hallandalehigh/communitypartners.htm
It's blank!!!


Yes, your tax dollars at work.
http://www.broward.k12.fl.us/Comptroller/pdfs/Budget/District%20Budget/DISTRICT%20BUDGET%2011-12%20award%20091511.pdf
http://www.broward.k12.fl.us/comptroller/pdfs/Financial%20Rptg/CAFR/cafr_2011_board.pdf
Or, in this case, NOT.


Speaking of structure, organization and community involvement, or rather the complete lack of it, why don't you contact School Board Chair Ann Murray and ask HER to FULLY EXPLAIN to you as a Broward taxpayer in District 1 why that change in date happened, why it was never made public despite all thes resources available, and why it is that two months after SHE threw overboard two hard-working members of the Diversity Committee, James Sparks and Catherine, here in the last week of January 2012, she STILL only has one citizen representative instead of the number she is supposed to have?
Shouldn't she have already had people who were ready to serve?


After all these years in office, why CAN'T Ann Murray act competently and professionally?


And while you're at it, ask her when and where, exactly, she'll be showing her face in Hallandale Beach in the future, whose residents she is SUPPOSED to specifically represent
on the School Board?


Here's Murray's office phone number and email address so that you can ask her yourself, but DON'T hold your breath. 
754-321-2001  ann.murray@browardschools.com


Two months after the fact, Murray has still NEVER contacted Catherine to say why she consciously chose NOT to re-appoint Mr. Sparks or her to the Diversity Committee, despite all the hundreds and hundreds of hours they have put into it, including last year's public meeting at the HB Cultural Center, where, yes, Ann Murray, was a noticeable no-show.


Two months, and not so much as an explanation or thank you for all of Catherine's hard work.


In case you're wondering, this email tonight was my idea.
And lest you think that I and other concerned residents of HB and Hollywood are going to let this sort of continued disrespect and malignant neglect to our community continue unanswered, I've got other ideas in mind for Ann Murray and her future, some of which you will be hearing about in the near future.


As for Ann Murray, she ought to read up on the Law of Unintended Consequences.


Dave 


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Catherine Kim Owens 
Date: Sun, Jan 29, 2012 at 4:17 PM
Subject: The SAF meeting at Hallandale High School


apparently, this meeting to update the community on Hallandale HS's project updates was already held! on 1/23/12, with no notification to me or anyone else that I know of...  hmmm.....
I spoke w the Chair of the Site Visition Committee and the chair of the Diversity Committee.  They reaffirmed my opinion that no school board member nor staff member can cancel a site re-visit, which the main Diversity Committee voted on...this issue will be brought up at the next Diversity Meeting, with the new members.  This meeting will be held on February 2, at 6:30 pm.  My understanding is that Superintendent Runcie wll attend to speak and induct new officers.  I am planning to attend this meeting.  These are public meetings that are open to the public.  It would be great if we had a strong turnout from the Hallandale community.
Due to the fact that we could not hear of the updates to the projects this month, we will need to catch up on updates and have a HHS Task Force meeting in February.  I will confirm the date and send out a notice..but, usually, it's the 3rd Tuesday of the Month.
again, the SAF updates will not be given on Monday, the 30th, as previously indicated.


Catherine Kim Owens


Appointments to:
Hallandale Beach Education Advisory Committee
  Chair of Hallandale High School Task Force
  Graduation Task Force
2nd Vice Chair of Commission on Women's Status-Broward County

Part 1 of 2: Ann Murray -she's a phony, a bigot and a no-show. Consistently. That's what voters have seen of her tenure on Broward School Board so far -she needs to go!; update on projects at Hallandale High School

Ann Murray -a failure in every way that counts for southeast Broward taxpayers & parents 


Because of how poorly I think the South Florida news media has been covering the Broward County Schools and the dysfunction junction of politics, policy and taxpayers dollars that exists at the Broward School Board, and the important matters that continue to be ignored by that snoozing press corps, my next two blog posts here will consist of emails that I have either written, received or commented on since last Friday that concern Broward School Board member Ann Murray, its current Chair, who is supposed to be southeast Broward's representative.


In my opinion, and as the available public facts have shown for quite some time, Ann Murray isn't just a phony -who was first elected running as a reformer but who has shown she's anything but one- she's also a genuine bigot, not to mention, a constant no-show at public events in the community where concerned parents want honest answers and accountability from their elected officials, but she's missing-in-action, MIA. 


Copies of this were sent to roughly 150-175 concerned Broward school activists, policy makers, residents of Hollywood and Hallandale Beach and others who closely follow politics, government, civic affairs and education policy in Broward County, the fourth-largest county in the U.S.'s fourth-largest state.


For those of you who don't know, Hallandale High School also draws its student population from next-door Hollywood, not just kids from Hallandale Beach.


The only thing that I've changed or removed from below are personal phone numbers and email addresses.
-----

January 27, 2012

I've chosen to copy & paste my friend Catherine's email of this afternoon here so you could see the last time I mentioned this sore subject, seven weeks ago, and the links I mentioned, though there are several others.

---------- Forwarded message ----------

From: Catherine Kim Owens 
Date: Fri, Jan 27, 2012 at 2:15 PM
Subject: Hallandale High School's SAF meeting on Monday, 1/30/12, at 7pm, will give us an update on the projects at Hallandale High School.
Sorry for the delay in this email.  I've been out w pneumonia while still negotiating several real estate contracts.... I had this email drafted a couple of weeks ago, but didn't get to edit & send out earlier, as I had planned. 
The Diversity Committee had requested a re-visit/tour after upcoming Monday's SAF meeting when I chaired the Site Visitation Committee, but as you might have heard, School Board member Ann Murray unceremoniously removed me, with no advance notice nor cause, from the Diversity Committee.  And, even though she has only filled 2 of 3 appointments for the Diversity Committee, she has not responded to my email nor to other numerous emails of support from leaders of this community, who were kind enough to send emails of support for my advocacy for equitable quality education. 
As a parent of a high schooler in one year, and a resident of Hallandale for 13 years, it greatly concerns me, along with hundreds of other parents of this area, that this High School is still only receiving a C grade, when the Elementary School has been an A school for years, and Gulfstream Middle now has a fantastic STEM lab and a B grade.  Our HHS Task Force brought public & media attention to Hallandale High School in order to achieve some gains, and we were making progress.  It is up to all of us to attend this meeting and voice our concerns and keep the pressure on, despite Ms. Murray's attempt to quiet James Sparks' and my active voice for this and other schools of South District. 
The parents of my son's graduating class of 104 students will all have to make a tough choice for the selection of a high school next year.  Many of his friends are thinking of going to Cooper City (out of this area) in order to ensure that they receive the kind of education they deserve.  And, thus, the perpetuation of under enrollment of inner city and underfunded schools and over-population of suburban, well-funded schools continue... 
If you care about the values of your homes, and you care about the quality of residents that come to live here, please get the word out to your friends, associates, neighbors, church fellows, and let's all attend this meeting.  Show Ann Murray she can't cut down the voice of our community nor our dedication to our kids
 Catherine Kim Owens 

Appointments to:
Hallandale Beach Education Advisory Committee
  Chair of Hallandale High School Task Force
  Graduation Task Force
2nd Vice Chair of Commission on Women's Status-Broward County

---- My earlier forwarded message, which I've previously posted here on the blog------

Date: Mon, Dec 5, 2011 at 11:41 PM
Subject: *FYI: Lesson learned! More re Payback time at the Broward School Board? Diversity activists accuse Chair Ann Murray

Monday December 5th, 2011

Payback time at the Broward School Board? Diversity activists accuse Chair Ann Murray

I've known about this situation for a bit now, and had been planning on posting something about this situation in the coming days, but overall, this article is pretty complete.
Still, I'd like to raise a point or two that isn't mentioned but which bears mentioning now.

Whatever happened to that public meeting that our SE Broward School Board rep Ann Murray promised the Hallandale Beach and Hollywood community months and months ago, when she was surprised to find both lots of concerned parents AND some unexpected people from Channel 4 present at a February meeting she was at, armed with a TV camera and asking serious questions that she had no interest in answering?

(The meeting held just days after that debacle of a public meeting that she and Jennifer Gottlieb held up on Hollywood Beach re the Beachside Montessori School that was specifically mentioned by the grand jury.  The one that was made up in large part by Montessori Soccer Mom apologists for her and Gottlieb and the school? 
The parents with the attitude that as long as they got their's, they didn't want to know the embarrassing or sordid details about how the process was handled.
Thankfully, due to the efforts of Hollywood city commissioner Heidi O'Sheehan, the federal govt. took an interest in that curious case of student selection, privilege and lack of diversity.)

In a word: NOTHING.

But even now, despite everything that has happened and come out publicly, Murray's remaining army of apologists -esp. in Hollywood- can't wrap their heads around the idea that she completely conned them when they supported her with their votes and campaign contributions.
She sold them an illusory bill of goods they wanted to believe -the reformer who wanted increased accountability.

Yet over-and-over, Murray has done precious little to reform the system and has done almost everything in her power to burrow-in and make herself part of the status quo that has made the Broward Schools such a public laughingstock and deserved object of ridicule.
Something that a PR representative CAN'T spin when concerned residents and voters know the true facts, despite whatever Supt. Runcie may believe, based upon his time in Chicago.

And lest you forget, when a public meeting was finally held in Hallandale Beach in June about the abysmal longstanding conditions at Hallandale High School, a meeting that was, quite literally, YEARS in the making, and largely driven by Catherine's own hard work and resilience, who were the prominent no-shows from the Broward School Board?
Correct, our local representative, Ann Murray, and Hollywood resident and At-Large member Jennifer Gottlieb.
What a slap in the face to the SE Broward community!

(The Channel 10 video link there is dead.)

While Gottlieb and Murray could both find time in their schedules for a meeting in next-door Hollywood, where they knew they'd have 'home-field advantage' and plenty of "ringers" in the room who would verbally attack and challenge anyone who asked hard questions about Montessori and their own actions, the prospect of actually facing angry constituents who want hard answers and the truth caused Murray and Gottlieb to make like outlaws and hide-out.

And now, the final slap in the face, we see how Catherine's countless hours of faithless hard work and persistence in the face of bureaucratic resistance and obfuscation has been rewarded by that mockery of a public servant, Ann Murray. 
And you wonder why the public in Broward County doesn't want to have anything to do with the people in charge of Broward Schools?
Trust me, lesson learned!

My previous blog posts mentioning Ann Murray -more than thirty!- can be found here:

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Lesson learned! A final slap in the face! How countless hours of hard work & persistence are rewarded by Broward School Board's Ann Murray

Below is a copy of an email I sent out late Monday night regarding what I believe is the incredibly shabby and disrespectful way my friend and fellow Hallandale Beach activist -and LONGTIME education volunteer- Catherine Kim Owens was treated within the past week by disreputable Broward School Board chair Ann Murray, the subject of so many blog posts here over the past few years -and never for a good reason.

For those of you who come to this blog often and pay attention, it's a sad and familiar refrain about what passes for the sorry state of education policy and community involvement in Broward County, where no good deed goes unpunished.
And who is the elected leader of this Crew?
Ann Murray.
-----
Monday December 5th, 2011

Payback time at the Broward School Board? Diversity activists accuse Chair Ann Murray

I've known about this situation for a bit now, and had been planning on posting something about this situation in the coming days, but overall, this article is pretty complete.
Still, I'd like to raise a point or two that isn't mentioned but which bears mentioning now.

Whatever happened to that public meeting that our SE Broward School Board rep Ann Murray promised the Hallandale Beach and Hollywood community months and months ago, when she was surprised to find both lots of concerned parents AND some unexpected people from WFOR-TV/Channel 4 present at a February meeting she was at, armed with a TV camera and asking serious questions that she had no interest in answering?

(The meeting held just days after that debacle of a public meeting that she and Jennifer Gottlieb held up on Hollywood Beach re the Beachside Montessori School that was specifically mentioned by the grand jury.
The one that was made up in large part by Montessori Soccer Mom apologists for her and Gottlieb and the school?
The parents with the attitude that as long as they got their's, they didn't want to know the embarrassing or sordid details about how the process was handled.
Thankfully, due to the efforts of Hollywood city commissioner Heidi O'Sheehan, the federal govt. took an interest in that curious case of student selection, privilege and lack of diversity.)

In a word: NOTHING.

But even now, despite everything that has happened and come out publicly, Murray's remaining army of apologists -esp. in Hollywood- can't wrap their heads around the idea that she completely conned them when they supported her with their votes and campaign contributions.
She sold them an illusory bill of goods they wanted to believe -the reformer who wanted increased accountability.

Yet over-and-over, Murray has done precious little to reform the system and has done almost everything in her power to burrow-in and make herself part of the status quo that has made the Broward Schools such a public laughingstock and deserved object of ridicule.
Something that a PR representative CAN'T spin when concerned residents and voters know the true facts, despite whatever Supt. Runcie may believe, based upon his time in Chicago.

And lest you forget, when a public meeting was finally held in Hallandale Beach in June about the abysmal longstanding conditions at Hallandale High School, a meeting that was, quite literally, YEARS in the making, and largely driven by Catherine's own hard work and resilience, who were the prominent no-shows from the Broward School Board?
Correct, our local representative, Ann Murray, and Hollywood resident and At-Large member Jennifer Gottlieb.
What a slap in the face to the SE Broward community!

(The Channel 10 video link there is dead.)

While Gottlieb and Murray could both find time in their schedules for a meeting in next-door Hollywood, where they knew they'd have 'home-field advantage' and plenty of "ringers" in the room who would verbally attack and challenge anyone who asked hard questions about Montessori and their own actions, the prospect of actually facing angry constituents who want hard answers and the truth caused Murray and Gottlieb to make like outlaws and hide-out.

And now, the final slap in the face, we see how Catherine's countless hours of faithless hard work and persistence in the face of bureaucratic resistance and obfuscation has been rewarded by that mockery of a public servant, Ann Murray.

And you wonder why the public in Broward County doesn't want to have anything to do with the people in charge of Broward Schools?
Trust me, lesson learned!

My previous blog posts mentioning Ann Murray in some fashion or another-more than thirty!- can be found here:

-----

If I can find the time, later today I will try to post on this post some of the many photos I snapped of Murray and Gottlieb at that Hollywood Beach meeting that my friends Catherine, Csaba Kulin and I all attended.

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Broward County Schools' dysfunction junction continues to rile taxpayers, parents & pols in S.E. Broward County who want honest answers

July 13, 2010 photo by South Beach Hoosier of the Broward County Public Schools HQ in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Other than tap-dancing around the truth, what exactly is it that Broward School South Area Supt Joel Herbst is doing, and why is it that the Broward School system and the School Board remain unable to tell the truth and communicate effectively with taxpayers, parents and voters?
It just never ends with them.

First, how goes that search for a new Superintendent of Schools?
Well, according to their not-so-useful website:
Deadline for applications is August 16. The slate of semi-finalists will be presented to the Board on August 29 and finalists will be interviewed the week of September 12. The School Board is expected to make a selection at the conclusion of the process.
Or not.
Which is to say that just as I predicted here months ago, dear readers, despite having ample time to make some solid selections, they will NOT have someone in place by the time the new school year begins on August 22nd.
Maybe not even the first month of the new school year.

This inability to appreciate how this rolling-tumbleweed of a deadline looks to students, parents and taxpayers, who all have to meet deadlines, says a lot about who's running things.
And it only reminds me all over again that they need to select someone from outside of the state who has never heard of any of the sorry characters inhabiting that building.

Speaking of people who want to be Supt, or rather, who for now are publicly saying they don't want to seek it, late Monday night, a not-so-secret fact known to more than a few people hereabouts, finally came to light in a Sun-Sentinel story by Cara Fitzpatrick about some clearly unethical shenanigans that took place under Herbt's tenure as principal at South Plantation High School.

Unethical on its face, unethical when you think about it, and unethical when you get to know the facts about how long it was tolerated by people who should have known better.
Yet Herbst would have us believe he didn't know it was wrong.

Frankly, that sort of sheer stupidity is more than enough to dis-credit him for good in my book.

I wonder if Herbst mentioned this moral indiscretion of his to the FBI last year when they interviewed him about the longstanding culture of corruption in the Broward School system?


South Florida Sun-Sentinel
South Plantation High kept $200,000 a year in undisclosed fund
By Cara Fitzpatrick, Sun Sentinel
3:49 PM EDT, July 18, 2011

For at least a decade, principals at South Plantation High allowed hundreds of thousands of dollars in school funds to be diverted to an outside bank account, bypassing rules imposed by the Broward School District to safeguard its money from misuse.

In one flush year, records show more than $350,000 was in the account; in the last two years, it was $200,000 or more. The district's chief auditor, Patrick Reilly, called it a "clandestine bookkeeping operation," and said it paid for about $4,200 for Florida Marlins tickets, $4,450 for shoes and clothes for the baseball team, and $1,600 for a Back-to-School barbecue.

The school even had a $75,000 investment fund, not authorized by the district.

District auditors say it's possible other schools are using similar accounts. "We don't usually ask the question, 'Where's your other, second set of books?''' Reilly said.

The fund, which mixed some district money with fund-raising proceeds, was managed by the Parent Teacher Student Organization, a group outside the authority of district auditors. It was used for about three years by current principal David Basile, and from 2000 to 2006 by Joel Herbst, who is now an area superintendent supervising some principals.

Basile flagged the account to auditors last year after concerns were raised by the PTO president and it was later closed at Basile's request. He declined comment for this article.

Herbst said he wasn't aware the school's use of the account violated district and state policies.

"Certainly, if I was aware I would have immediately taken appropriate measures to correct the deficiency," Herbst wrote in an email to the Sun Sentinel.

Reilly, however, said principals receive ample training in how to manage school funds. Funneling money "outside" the school creates an opportunity for fraud — and makes it difficult to track, he said.

For instance, auditors can't tell who used the Florida Marlins tickets. And the $4,450 check for shoes and clothes went to a "guy in Stuart," violating district-approved vendor contracts, he said.

"Did it get to the kids? I don't know," Reilly said.

District officials aren't sure how long the practice existed. Auditors have been able to review only two complete years of records, though they say it dates back at least 10 years. Area Superintendent Desmond Blackburn put it at 19 years, according to district records.

Auditors only learned of the practice last year and have spent months trying to unravel how much money was spent and where, said Reilly.

Basile, who has been at the school about four years, told district officials he didn't realize the account was in violation of district and state policies. Herbst said it was used for "the welfare of the school" and in keeping with the philanthropic mission of the PTO.

But putting the school money in that account meant auditors could not track it. They only saw financial reports on accounts signed by the principal and school bookkeeper each month.

The PTO isn't obligated to give its records to the district. It filed financial papers as a nonprofit organization dating back to at least 2004, but those records don't clarify how the money was spent.

Auditors might not have discovered the fund at all if PTO president Kay Arnold hadn't raised concerns, prompting Basile to close it last July, Reilly said. Arnold couldn't be reached for comment, despite three phone calls.

Both Herbst and Basile have been honored by the district for excellence as principals. Herbst was named Principal of the Year during his tenure at South Plantation. Basile was a finalist for the award this year.

Neither Interim Superintendent Donnie Carter or school board members could be reached for comment, despite each receiving at least one phone call and email.

Auditors are expected to present their report to the School Board on Aug. 2.

Staff Researcher Barbara Hijek contributed to this report.
Reader comments at:

To start with the most obvious education-related issue, what's the deal with the new un-named principal at Hallandale High School?

I'm really starting to get the impression that the new "cooperation" that we were all promised at the June 13th forum at the HB Cultural Center, by Herbst and Co. was just, a mirage.
Poof!
Now it's gone!

That meeting was years in the making, real YEARS, not metaphorical ones, and my friend and fellow HB resident Catherine Kim Owens of the Broward Schools Diversity Committee did a GREAT job of mobilizing people in the community to attend and was fair in moderating it.
A meeting that actually ran on-time and on-schedule, that rarest of things here in HB!

A meeting which, as we all know, in someone else's hands -I won't say her name- would have easily taken 2-3 times longer.

Yet a meeting that Hollywood-based Broward School Board members Ann Murray (District 1) and Jennifer Gottlieb, (At-Large), were no-shows at, even while At-Large member Robin Bartleman of Weston could make it.
Murray & Gottlieb?
Too busy.
Schedule conflicts, don't ya know!


Above and below, two checklists re progress mediating longstanding problems at Hallandale High School, from the Power Point presentation made during the forum.
June 13th, 2011 photos by South Beach Hoosier.


South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Officials update residents on the state of three Hallandale schools
July 15, 2011
By Sergy Odiduro, Forum Publishing Group

A recent community meeting updated residents on the conditions and academic progress at three Hallandale Beach schools.

Discussion at the meeting, sponsored by the Broward School Board's Diversity Committee, the Hallandale Beach Education Advisory Committee and the Hallandale High School Task Force, centered on the high school, Gulfstream Middle and Hallandale Elementary School.

Several administrators highlighted positive aspects at their schools, including Hallandale Elementary, which pointed to its nine-year record as an A school.

"I can tell you for sure our school is headed in the right direction," said Brian Kingsley, principal at Gulfstream Middle.

Hallandale High School also touted its successes, reporting that 99 percent of its 2011 class participated in the graduation ceremony.

Despite this, lingering questions remained about the condition of the school's facilities.

A report detailing a site visit made in December revealed the observations of the diversity committee, some of whom were upset over conditions at the school.

The report, which described "prolonged years of neglect and lack of resources" at Hallandale High, included pictures of missing portions of a ceiling with exposed plumbing in the boys' locker room, frayed power cords, torn chairs on weight equipment, outdated textbooks, and noted a "a strong odor upon entering the school building."

In response to the report, the school is undergoing a series of upgrades aimed at addressing the top 20 most-needed renovations suggested by the committee.

At the meeting, South Area Superintendent Joel Herbst outlined a number of projects at the school, including new computers, textbooks and novels, a new hydraulic lift for the automotive shop, refurbished bathrooms, and a remodeled boys' locker room.

James Sparks, a member of the diversity committee who voiced concerns about the condition of the softball field, said he wants progress to continue.

"I'm not asking for anything other than what we deserve. I have seen tremendous improvements, but why did it take so long?" he asked.

The Rev. Josh Brown, who graduated from Hallandale High in 1978 and whose daughter also graduated from there, wrangled with officials at the meeting over whether irrigation or drainage was an issue in flooding near the school.

"The school opened its doors in 1977. We are talking about issues that still have not been addressed," he said.

Catherine Kim Owens, co-chairwoman of the diversity committee, said she hopes the conversation with school officials will continue and that the only way to change conditions is by more parents getting involved.

"That's one of the reasons why I joined the diversity committee," she said. "We need to get involved if we are not happy with the facilities. Unless we speak up, we are not going to get heard."

Just to give you a little more idea of how the forum went and the community's dis-satisfaction, watch this Channel Ten news video from a month ago:

Channel 10 News
Parents Upset Over State Of S. Fla. High School,
Work To Be Done To Fix Decade's Worth Of Problems
by Baron James
POSTED: Tuesday, June 14, 2011,
UPDATED: 11:28 am EDT June 14, 2011


So, is it that they have STILL not decided who it is yet, or, that they don't want, anyone to know who it is until they announce it officially this week, reportedly, Wednesday?

In some towns in this country, a new principal at an improving but still, admittedly, 'troubled' school, would be considered "news" and the local press corps would likely attend.

This part of South Florida is NOT one of those places, so if the School Board, in its infinte stupidity, is deliberately keeping us in the dark so they can have a surprise, they're only fooling themselves.
In the year 2011, nobody from the local news media will show-up at School Board HQ just to hear who the winner of their HS principal search is.

Which only gets to the dysfunctional, disconnected universe up there at Broward Schools HQ.

As I've said so many times on my blog, despite all their resources and personnel, Broward Schools and the School Board seemingly have no real sense of how to effectively communicate to parents and taxpayers in the year 2011, something made worse in our case by geography, since we are repped by the uncommunicative and invisible Ann Murray.
Just saying...

-----
Channel 10 News
Bob Norman's Blog
Superintendent Search: Joel Herbst Says He Won't Apply For Job
By Bob Norman
POSTED: Wednesday, June 22, 2011,
UPDATED: 1:28 pm EDT June 22, 2011


In case you didn't receive this article from me last week: