The First Annual DPS Darwin Awards

Well the votes are in and its worse then I thought. I expected to receive a few disgruntled employee e-mails however the ones I received were well documented, superbly written, and most of all exhibited a level of frustration that points to one indisputable fact---that there is a serious problem at DPS. Many thanks to all who contributed. The more I read the madder I got. The school board and the city council need to take notice, the barbarians are at the gate and knocking loud!

Opening the envelope………….And the winners are………

FIRST PLACE-DARWIN AWARDS

The total misuse of school board funds and disregard for the public trust. I was absolutely shocked at the information I received on this issue. All e-mails pointed out at least one instance of ridiculous misuse of our taxes. The city needs to read these when they board asks for more money. Here is a sampling of just a few. As I promised these were checked through other sources to verify the correctness of the information.

• Two schools were repainted within one year of each other because a central office administrator did not like the color. Other schools have waited up to seven years to be painted.
• The purchase of multicolored rubber mulch for playgrounds at approximately four times the cost of regular mulch. The mulch was spread in stripes of different colors because it “looked pretty”. Does anyone in the administration have children? How long did they believe this was going to last? What a waste of labor!
• The purchase of two iphones at $600 each for the superintendent and the asst superintendent. Were they afraid they would miss the soaps or what? A ridiculous waste of taxpayers money.
• Tearing out all the base molding at the new central office because they did not “like the color”. The ironic and moronic part of this is that they picked the molding to begin with! And due to the fact they tore the wallboard taking it off they needed to go back with wider molding to cover the damage. How totally absurd!!
• A private bathroom built for the asst superintendent. Hmmm afraid some common sense might get on you by using the bathrooms of the commoners? Approximate cost? Unknown at this time.
• Installed a new kitchen in the central office complete with oven, dishwasher, refrigerator, microwave, and fancy cabinets. I’ve heard of break rooms but was Martha Stewart coming? Who’s living there? The most amazing part is that the high dollar refrigerator has an ice maker and water in the door but it isn’t hooked up because the powers that be have decided that if they want water “get it from the spigot in the bathroom”. How absolutely condescending to employees who are on their team!
• Exorbitant over time costs. According to sources the over time being paid to maintenance employees (to complete “special” projects) over the last two years exceeds the over time paid in the previous ten years combined! Lack of planning, poor scheduling and complete lack of understanding that this is public money. It is also reported that in the last two years not one construction project was brought in on time or on budget. The multiple sources were quick to point out that it was not the fault of DPS maintenance but of the inaction, wrong action, or absurd actions of the central administration.
• The central office move. On the week of the move it was discovered (great planning) that not enough offices were available for all the employees! Guess the one who counts people was absent that week. To accommodate the mess employees were forced to double and triple up in offices. When they still would not all fit new offices had to be built over at Langston to take the overflow (using------you guessed it-------overtime workers!). With so many vacant or soon to be vacant school buildings (many believe Woodrow is next on the chopping block) was it wise to take a long term lease on a RENTAL building. (In researching this issue I attempted to get a copy of the lease and the yearly cost. I was told I would have to file a Freedom of Information request to get it. Hmmmmmmmm ) Several people noted the terrible parking situation. Not enough spaces and few visitor spaces. I checked this out myself. I went to the central office at 11:00 in the morning and there was not a single space available within two blocks. I sat and watched the visitor spots and noted that they were being used by central office employees, not visitors. So much for an “open and inviting” environment.
• Totally dismantling the custodial services department. The administration in all its wisdom created “day porters” (hmmm is this the 1930’s?) who simply emptied trash and swept floors. The real work was left to the night time “traveling” crews who moved from school to school. This created full time positions with the associated benefits. The problem was simply it did not improve the general cleanliness of the schools. Custodians had no attachment to the schools they cleaned at night and thus no pride. Instead of valuing school based custodians and paying them a decent wage, they turned them into basically “contract” employees. They might as well contract out to ServiceMaster. Oops don’t say that they might try that next. Well basically the whole experiment failed and the plan had to be scrapped at considerable time and cost.
  
  There were several other money wasting examples cited but they could not be confirmed. If anyone has info on incidents not included please respond to the saveourschools2@aol.com and provide the information and documentation. The real crime here is that classrooms are overcrowded, several employees let go, yet money is not being wisely used.
  
  
  SECOND PLACE-DARWIN AWARDS
  
  Allowing well trained, professional and experienced administrators to leave
  In the last two years many school and central administrators left the district completely disillusioned by the leadership of the division. Conservatively, administrators representing over 150 years of experience were allowed to leave. Talking with some of them revealed that many would have stayed had they seen a glimmer of hope in the future. Top principals left for other jobs in the area, retirement, or new jobs in North Carolina. How the school board could not see this drain of experience and not question the reasons defies logic. The fact, more seasoned administrators left in the last two years then in the previous seven years. Several who responded with e-mails cited “lack of leadership” as the major reason and others reported an atmosphere of fear and intimidation as the reasons they left.
  
  THIRD PLACE-DARWIN AWARDS
  
  Creating an atmosphere where good employees are not recognized or appreciated.
  Several, in fact all, of the e-mails pointed to a lack of appreciation by the central administrators for the employees. They feel that they are on the front line yet the administration does not seek their input and in fact discounts their knowledge and experience. Many have left for Pittsylvania County Schools where they report that the atmosphere is like night and day. In the county they report that administrators actively seek their input and appreciate their efforts. The most amazing thing they report is that central office administrators are actually OUT VISITING THE SCHOOLS! As a result Danville has one of the highest percentages of teachers who are not “highly qualified” by state standards. Recruiting teachers for Danville must be like getting kitchen help for the Titanic. DPS gets around many of the licensing requirements by creating titles for people such as “Instructional Facilitator” when they do not have administrative credentials. Sort of like a weird version of why buy the cow when you get the milk free. The fact remains DPS employees will continue to drain into surrounding areas until the school board gets their collective heads out of the sand and see what is occurring. (Oh yes Chicken Little, the sky is indeed falling.)
  
  HONORABLE MENTION
  The following were reported also but only received an honorable mention because they could not be completely confirmed. Evidence exists but, as the courts put it, not “beyond reasonable doubt”. If anyone has additional information on these issues I would be glad to reprint them as confirmed.
  · The superintendent, in direct defiance of school board order, continues to live in the county. Oh yes she purchased a house in the city but someone else lives there! The asst superintendent for administrative services also reports a city address but in fact still resides in North Carolina.
  · A substitute list that is one step above a “warm body”. Teachers report that the list is so miserable that teachers actually try to “book” their substitute months ahead of time. Sounds like a ticket to Hanna Montana……. (gotta have small kids to understand that one) Why is the list like that? Many point to miserable pay as the main reason.
  · I was sent an e-mail that supposedly came from the superintendent that asks teachers to help find teachers for positions (hmmm paging Human Resources……are you there?) and indicates they would consider “career switchers, graduate students, or part-time…..” Doesn’t seem to be the route towards “highly qualified”.
  · This was confirmed but I did not know where to put it: A school board member had a child who was having a problem with a teacher at GW in a math class. The teacher refused to give into the board members demand that her grades be raised. Instead of standing by the facts (test grades, etc) the superintendent instead arranged that the child (of yeah and two of her friends) were given a free pass to attend a DCC class and receive a special tutor, all at DPS expense. Don’t we wish all students had such opportunities?
  
  
  This was perhaps the most painful blog I ever had to write. The evidence was so overwhelming that it was undeniable. If you watch the school board meetings on TV you would think things were all rosy. But scrape the surface a little and this “golden district” is really just a pathetic film over rust. It is being eaten up from the inside. How the school board sits by in the wake of such evidence and not call for massive accountability is beyond understanding. Every one of the seven dwarfs needs to be removed from office for malfeasance. This is not just being deceived they are part of the problem. While I was a strong supporter years ago of elected boards all we really did was trade one idiot board for another. I wonder if DPS pays for the operation to get the board members arms disjointed and stretched so they can pat themselves on the back all day. If it wasn’t so sad it would be funny. But it isn’t funny, it’s pathetic. DPS parents need to wake up and see what is happening. Council needs to look at the books closer. And the citizens of Danville need to look for qualified, honest people who see what is happening to a once great district and get them to run for board positions. It is not a time to sit back and expect others to do the work. If the city wants to recruit new industries they better have a school district that is not in the shape that DPS is at the moment. If something is not done soon the last teacher leaving Danville needs to turn off the lights.
  
  Well on that note I need to go look up “private schools” in the phone book. I have a lot of work to do……….