It appears the rampage is still going on. According to records more employees have been dismissed from DPS in the last four years then from the past ten years cumulative. Some may say, Well they are getting those bad teachers out of the classroom!” Ahhhhh, not so fast. Most of the employees have been in support positions and not classroom teachers. Why? Because most support employees have no experience or are no aware of the policies and laws pertaining to employment. Most amazing, according to records, is that the recommendations for dismissal have not come from direct supervisors but from the central office. Also in many cases the employee has never been informed of charges against them or what policies have been violated. As a matter of record, employees who challenged their rights through the Virginia Employment Commission (unemployment) have generally been successful in receiving benefits. Why? Because according to documentation the district has failed to provide adequate evidence that the employee was in the wrong. One hearing officer even went so far as to chide a district representative to, “Never come to a hearing again so unprepared or lacking of even basic information.”
So it appears the carnage continues as the Concrete Palace wields its sword over all who fail to conform to their way of thinking. Sounds a little Orwellian doesn’t it? Also note that the school board again turns a blind eye to the issue.
On another matter GWHS continues its slide. The school did not make AYP (Average Yearly Progress) and is also on a population slide. Records show that the enrollment has slipped to 1,578. Such a slip may force the district to drop athletics into a lower class for district play. Technology offenses (misuse of computers) has risen to a whopping 663! Ever wonder what the graduation breakdown (kinds of diplomas awarded)was for 2008-2009? Keep wondering, as of this date the district has failed to report the results to the state. Takes a lot of time to spin numbers doesn’t it?
The list goes on and on. The Queen and her subjects sit their twiddling their fingers looking for someone else to sacrifice. Who will be next?
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Shoot Me Now.........
The leaves slowly begin to turn, the smell of burning leaves fills the air, the crispness of the cold windburns the cheeks, and the school board settles in for a long winter nap. In preparation of the nap the faithful turn on City TV and watch a school board meeting. (A definite cure for insomnia) As the viewers settle into their cozy chairs with blankets tightly around their legs, hot chocolate in hand, they turn on what has to be the most boring show in the world. Doesn’t even one of the board members wants to stand up and shout, “What the hell are we doing, and why does it matter!”
Perhaps the most absurd of the actions is the part about rewriting the policy manual. Who ever put Polhamus in charge of that ought to have their head examined. He bored them to death at DCC and now he has a media audience to bore to death. For the hundredth time READING A POLICY INTO THE RECORD IS A ROBERTS RULE OF ORDER PHRASE THAT DOES NOT MEAN TO LITERALLY READ IT INTO THE RECORD!!! Phew finally got that out of my system.
Recently I contacted a former state board member and former board chairman of a local Virginia board and related what was happening at the meetings. The conversation went like this after I explained what they were doing.
Board Member: “Your kidding, he’s really reading all the policies?”
Centurian: Yes, as far as I know he reads a portion at every meeting.”
Board Member: “And the other members don’t say anything?”
Centurian: “Obviously not or they don’t know any better.”
Board Member: “ So he believes reading into the record means you have to physically read the policy?”
Centurian: “He thinks so.”
Board Member: “Has anyone ever told him the phrase simply means that the policy just needs to be entered into the official minutes of the meeting?”
Centurian: “I assume someone has told him that.”
Board Meeting: “Jeez don’t invite me to any of his meetings…..”
Centurian” “Believe me nobody goes unless they are required to attend.”
So again DPS is known on the state level as a place where common sense takes a back seat. I’m just utterly surprised some one doesn’t just reach over and slap him. Sure hope they never want to enter “War and Peace” into the record. They may be there for days.
And as the viewer slowly raises their cup of hot chocolate and throws it through the TV screen a smile creeps over their face and they murmur, “Put THAT into the record” and clicks the channel over to wrestling. At least that is believable.
Perhaps the most absurd of the actions is the part about rewriting the policy manual. Who ever put Polhamus in charge of that ought to have their head examined. He bored them to death at DCC and now he has a media audience to bore to death. For the hundredth time READING A POLICY INTO THE RECORD IS A ROBERTS RULE OF ORDER PHRASE THAT DOES NOT MEAN TO LITERALLY READ IT INTO THE RECORD!!! Phew finally got that out of my system.
Recently I contacted a former state board member and former board chairman of a local Virginia board and related what was happening at the meetings. The conversation went like this after I explained what they were doing.
Board Member: “Your kidding, he’s really reading all the policies?”
Centurian: Yes, as far as I know he reads a portion at every meeting.”
Board Member: “And the other members don’t say anything?”
Centurian: “Obviously not or they don’t know any better.”
Board Member: “ So he believes reading into the record means you have to physically read the policy?”
Centurian: “He thinks so.”
Board Member: “Has anyone ever told him the phrase simply means that the policy just needs to be entered into the official minutes of the meeting?”
Centurian: “I assume someone has told him that.”
Board Meeting: “Jeez don’t invite me to any of his meetings…..”
Centurian” “Believe me nobody goes unless they are required to attend.”
So again DPS is known on the state level as a place where common sense takes a back seat. I’m just utterly surprised some one doesn’t just reach over and slap him. Sure hope they never want to enter “War and Peace” into the record. They may be there for days.
And as the viewer slowly raises their cup of hot chocolate and throws it through the TV screen a smile creeps over their face and they murmur, “Put THAT into the record” and clicks the channel over to wrestling. At least that is believable.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
As The School Year Turns...
This issue will just clear up a few issues hanging around the “in” box. Its been a slow month with more about disasters that the city is creating rather then the school board. It would appear the board has been snoozing recently and has been unable to screw anything up.
Several e-mails came in about the asst. principal abruptly leaving Schoolfield literally in the middle of the night. Upon consulting sources within the system it has been clarified that this was a personal issue with no shenanigans on the part of central office. As such it deserves no further comment. The only negative I received was that the working relationship between the principal and the asst. at this school was very toxic. But based on the facts this deserves no further comment since it involves personal issues that are outside of the public arena.
However it was brought to my attention from several e-mails that the principal sent a letter home to parents blaming poor SOL scores and overall poor performance on the number of “black males” in the school. Can we spell “stupid”? This goes back to the issue that all the good principals have already been run out of the school district. What is left behind are inexperienced individuals who have not had the opportunity to work under outstanding administrators. Again I ask the board to look at the number of experienced teachers and administrators that have left the district since the queen’s reign began. More experienced individuals have left the district in the last five years then the previous 12 years combined. Doesn’t that say something? Sort of like heading for the lifeboats on the Titanic……
Speaking of a sinking ship the enrollment of students in DPS is expected to barely touch 6,300. Seems like the parents want a seat on the lifeboat also…. Check out the number of city of Danville administrators and higher ups who send their children to either the county schools or private schools. When questioned about this one department administrator stated, “I will support the city publicly all day long but when it comes to my own child I will not let them be exposed to an inferior educational system….” Says a lot doesn’t it?
Rumors are abounding about improprieties regarding the administration of the SOL at one city elementary school. An investigation is ongoing yet the state hasn’t been involved yet. Why the cover up? Is this going to be another William Fleming debacle? Come clean school board! Supposedly it involves students being declared special services students without proper documentation so that the SOL’s can be administered one on one. Anyone with additional info please send to savetheschools2@aol.com.
Please, please someone tell me what an “overachieving School District” is supposed to mean? It doesn’t even make sense…….LOL
Several e-mails came in about the asst. principal abruptly leaving Schoolfield literally in the middle of the night. Upon consulting sources within the system it has been clarified that this was a personal issue with no shenanigans on the part of central office. As such it deserves no further comment. The only negative I received was that the working relationship between the principal and the asst. at this school was very toxic. But based on the facts this deserves no further comment since it involves personal issues that are outside of the public arena.
However it was brought to my attention from several e-mails that the principal sent a letter home to parents blaming poor SOL scores and overall poor performance on the number of “black males” in the school. Can we spell “stupid”? This goes back to the issue that all the good principals have already been run out of the school district. What is left behind are inexperienced individuals who have not had the opportunity to work under outstanding administrators. Again I ask the board to look at the number of experienced teachers and administrators that have left the district since the queen’s reign began. More experienced individuals have left the district in the last five years then the previous 12 years combined. Doesn’t that say something? Sort of like heading for the lifeboats on the Titanic……
Speaking of a sinking ship the enrollment of students in DPS is expected to barely touch 6,300. Seems like the parents want a seat on the lifeboat also…. Check out the number of city of Danville administrators and higher ups who send their children to either the county schools or private schools. When questioned about this one department administrator stated, “I will support the city publicly all day long but when it comes to my own child I will not let them be exposed to an inferior educational system….” Says a lot doesn’t it?
Rumors are abounding about improprieties regarding the administration of the SOL at one city elementary school. An investigation is ongoing yet the state hasn’t been involved yet. Why the cover up? Is this going to be another William Fleming debacle? Come clean school board! Supposedly it involves students being declared special services students without proper documentation so that the SOL’s can be administered one on one. Anyone with additional info please send to savetheschools2@aol.com.
Please, please someone tell me what an “overachieving School District” is supposed to mean? It doesn’t even make sense…….LOL
Monday, August 24, 2009
Its That Time of Year Again
After returning from vacation I sat down to read the accumulation of newspapers the neighbors had graciously saved for me. The papers were filled with stories about the beginning of school and how children all over the area were anxiously awaiting the first day of school. My own daughter was excited as she carefully chose what clothes to wear and what school supplies she needed. One story in the paper caught my eye about the AYP of the city schools. I am the first to admit I am not a mathematician I looked at the names of the schools that did not make the mark. By rough calculations the number of students at these listed schools was over fifty percent of the students in the district. So how could the district have passed AYP if so many students and schools did not make the cut? Voodoo math? Oh how this district can make figures dance! So school board what’s up? Are we playing fast and furious with the figures? Are the hands quicker then the eyes? More on this later……………
The blog has reached a new milestone! Over 8,000 hits have been accumulated on the blog. According to the list we have visitors from California, New Mexico, Michigan, New York as well as Virginia and North Carolina. Most amazing is we have several viewers from Poland, France, England, and South America! In addition the blog is now carried as a link on at least ten other websites and blogs. This has been only through the efforts of you, the readers. I have received immense support in the form of written information, documents, e-mails, and several photographs. Many who submitted photos may be annoyed that I only printed a few of the pictures. This is because some of the pictures contained individuals and students who had nothing to do with the problem identified and I did not feel correct associating them with the situation. Anyone who submits pictures in the future please try to adhere to these policies. Submit any article, information, pics, or documents to savetheschools2@aol.com.
Take note, the school board elections are only nine months away. Are there no brave souls willing to give the district a fighting chance? I know many employees who do an excellent job day after day. They need someone to be on their team, not the team of personal vendettas. For these people give some thought to running.
Here are just a few of the submissions I have received:
From someone lamenting the IT situation:
“The IT dept is a step child as you say and many stupid things have happened there……..” and “….that department is slowly becoming corrupted.
Another readers states:
“Many of us are eagerly awaiting your comments--as always! You'd be surprised how many out-of-towners (even across the country) read your blog!!! Witty, entertaining, and unfortunately, truthful."
From a frustrated employee:
“All they know how to do is to keep their heads above water. They lost the only forward thinking employees they ever had. I'm sure if you continue to probe, you'll find even more skeletons in that closet. “
It is comments like these that keep the blog moving forward. One cannot sit by and let it happen and not say or do anything. The students and the parents deserve better. The beginning of the school year is a happy occasion for the students. Lets make the future just as happy.
The blog has reached a new milestone! Over 8,000 hits have been accumulated on the blog. According to the list we have visitors from California, New Mexico, Michigan, New York as well as Virginia and North Carolina. Most amazing is we have several viewers from Poland, France, England, and South America! In addition the blog is now carried as a link on at least ten other websites and blogs. This has been only through the efforts of you, the readers. I have received immense support in the form of written information, documents, e-mails, and several photographs. Many who submitted photos may be annoyed that I only printed a few of the pictures. This is because some of the pictures contained individuals and students who had nothing to do with the problem identified and I did not feel correct associating them with the situation. Anyone who submits pictures in the future please try to adhere to these policies. Submit any article, information, pics, or documents to savetheschools2@aol.com.
Take note, the school board elections are only nine months away. Are there no brave souls willing to give the district a fighting chance? I know many employees who do an excellent job day after day. They need someone to be on their team, not the team of personal vendettas. For these people give some thought to running.
Here are just a few of the submissions I have received:
From someone lamenting the IT situation:
“The IT dept is a step child as you say and many stupid things have happened there……..” and “….that department is slowly becoming corrupted.
Another readers states:
“Many of us are eagerly awaiting your comments--as always! You'd be surprised how many out-of-towners (even across the country) read your blog!!! Witty, entertaining, and unfortunately, truthful."
From a frustrated employee:
“All they know how to do is to keep their heads above water. They lost the only forward thinking employees they ever had. I'm sure if you continue to probe, you'll find even more skeletons in that closet. “
It is comments like these that keep the blog moving forward. One cannot sit by and let it happen and not say or do anything. The students and the parents deserve better. The beginning of the school year is a happy occasion for the students. Lets make the future just as happy.
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Tales From The IT Crypt
As promised this blog will focus on the IT department at DPS or as its referred to “Tales from the Crypt”. The name evolves from the point that the IT department has been buried in the bowels of the Concrete Palace never to see the light of day. It has become the “red headed stepchild” of the administration banished because of real or alleged problems.
Again from the beginning it has been a fiasco. After investing tens of thousands of dollars in the old Schoolfield complex just a few years ago (new AC, new carpeting, upgraded electrical, generator, etc.) the Queen decides to rip it up and transfer it to the Concrete Palace. The former IT head strongly opposed the move which of course sealed his fate and his future. The reasons were very valid since the city ran the fiber optic lines to the Schoolfield site specifically for DPS. But alas the Queen closed the complex so the department had to be moved.
So the department was moved into a space that is roughly half of their former location. The IT techs are lined up in cubicles that appear to have been designed by a very frustrated prison designer. The setting and design smacks in the face of all management principles intended to get maximum productivity. Though warned by the IT head the location was insufficient for the thermal load of the servers the Queen went ahead with her mandate. No sooner had they moved in then the servers overheated and suffered multiple failures. Again the never ending checkbook came to the rescue. A HUGE AC unit had to be added to cool the server rooms- just as they were warned but let’s not ever listen to the people that know!
The next step in the dismantling of the IT department was an assault on its budget. The slash and burn group decided that technological advancement was not in the school district’s future. Why? It was because money was needed to support pet projects of the Queen and her court of merry jesters. Not that the IT department did not need some trimming and tweaking but such surgery requires careful evaluation not wholesale slashing and burning. Thousands of dollars were cut from the budget and funneled to other departments to pay for pet projects. As a result the equipment replacement schedule of DPS started to suffer.
As complaints began to surface the Queen, as usual, began looking around for a scapegoat. Well who better then the IT head? So the palace ax fell on the IT director. On what grounds? A vague case was manufactured accusing the director of taking parts (instead of dumping them on a parking lot) for personal use, and their favorite accusation “working on private ventures on school board time”. No chance was given to the head to defend himself against the accusations; they dismissed the employee while he was out on medical leave! (Can we say coward?) And again the school board supported the decision like sheep. At the same time they put another employee on “revolving door human management”. Despite similar accusations as the IT head this employee was put on leave, brought back, fired, rehired, and put back to work. As has been the habit with this administration employee rights take a back seat. The Human Resource department is about as effective as Kate Gosslin’s birth control pills. IT department employees were threatened with termination if they discussed any of the issues in the department.
As if this wasn’t bad enough the Queen reached into her bag of “stupid ideas” and pulled out the ultimate crappy idea: make the assistant superintendent head of IT! No matter she lacks: a) experience in IT management, b) credentials to run such a department, c) a personality. How completely clueless can the board be?
So what has been the result of these decisions? From school sources the computer programs at the schools have been decimated. No plan of replacement or updating of labs has been developed, no long term plan exists, and the morale in the department is at an all time low. More resumes are being printed at the IT department then anything else. Anyone who could leave has done so for greener or more professional pastures.
To walk into the IT department resembles a visit to a penal institution. The long faces remind you of people serving time. It reminds a visitor of an episode of the “Twilight Zone”. At any minute you expect Rod Serling to step out and tell you its all a dream. The only problem is that you wake up and realize it’s for real. Who will free the prisoners?
Again from the beginning it has been a fiasco. After investing tens of thousands of dollars in the old Schoolfield complex just a few years ago (new AC, new carpeting, upgraded electrical, generator, etc.) the Queen decides to rip it up and transfer it to the Concrete Palace. The former IT head strongly opposed the move which of course sealed his fate and his future. The reasons were very valid since the city ran the fiber optic lines to the Schoolfield site specifically for DPS. But alas the Queen closed the complex so the department had to be moved.
So the department was moved into a space that is roughly half of their former location. The IT techs are lined up in cubicles that appear to have been designed by a very frustrated prison designer. The setting and design smacks in the face of all management principles intended to get maximum productivity. Though warned by the IT head the location was insufficient for the thermal load of the servers the Queen went ahead with her mandate. No sooner had they moved in then the servers overheated and suffered multiple failures. Again the never ending checkbook came to the rescue. A HUGE AC unit had to be added to cool the server rooms- just as they were warned but let’s not ever listen to the people that know!
The next step in the dismantling of the IT department was an assault on its budget. The slash and burn group decided that technological advancement was not in the school district’s future. Why? It was because money was needed to support pet projects of the Queen and her court of merry jesters. Not that the IT department did not need some trimming and tweaking but such surgery requires careful evaluation not wholesale slashing and burning. Thousands of dollars were cut from the budget and funneled to other departments to pay for pet projects. As a result the equipment replacement schedule of DPS started to suffer.
As complaints began to surface the Queen, as usual, began looking around for a scapegoat. Well who better then the IT head? So the palace ax fell on the IT director. On what grounds? A vague case was manufactured accusing the director of taking parts (instead of dumping them on a parking lot) for personal use, and their favorite accusation “working on private ventures on school board time”. No chance was given to the head to defend himself against the accusations; they dismissed the employee while he was out on medical leave! (Can we say coward?) And again the school board supported the decision like sheep. At the same time they put another employee on “revolving door human management”. Despite similar accusations as the IT head this employee was put on leave, brought back, fired, rehired, and put back to work. As has been the habit with this administration employee rights take a back seat. The Human Resource department is about as effective as Kate Gosslin’s birth control pills. IT department employees were threatened with termination if they discussed any of the issues in the department.
As if this wasn’t bad enough the Queen reached into her bag of “stupid ideas” and pulled out the ultimate crappy idea: make the assistant superintendent head of IT! No matter she lacks: a) experience in IT management, b) credentials to run such a department, c) a personality. How completely clueless can the board be?
So what has been the result of these decisions? From school sources the computer programs at the schools have been decimated. No plan of replacement or updating of labs has been developed, no long term plan exists, and the morale in the department is at an all time low. More resumes are being printed at the IT department then anything else. Anyone who could leave has done so for greener or more professional pastures.
To walk into the IT department resembles a visit to a penal institution. The long faces remind you of people serving time. It reminds a visitor of an episode of the “Twilight Zone”. At any minute you expect Rod Serling to step out and tell you its all a dream. The only problem is that you wake up and realize it’s for real. Who will free the prisoners?
Monday, August 10, 2009
Ramblings from the Peasants
Well I have received more response from the computer dump picture then just about anything else. I guess a picture is worth a thousand words! Interesting that it was immediately cleaned up and the stored mulch is now being sent out to schools. I really hope this is not falling back on the maintenance department. From what I have seen this department is the only one that seems to function relatively well. I guess not being in the Concrete Palace allows their brains not to be sucked dry. I wonder what kind of cuts they have had to endure? I wonder how they keep their sanity while the queen and her court hand down ridiculous edicts?
People have suggested that I am hitting my head against a wall and that nothing will change. Maybe not but at least I can say that council and the school board knew it but chose to do nothing. Let them live with the scarlet letter of shame for knowing and turning a blind eye to the problem. How many times do you have to shove their face in it before they respond? Has no one on either board have a backbone? When the whole district blows up not one of them better dare go on the record saying “I never knew…….”.
There is another interesting blog to look up. Its www.fixdanville.com . This extremely interesting site points out the many things that need to be fixed in Danville both in public and business locations. Take a look at send in your own nominations.
Don’t start lining up for jobs at the white mill just yet. As a skeptic I will wave the flag when they start moving dirt and actual construction gets under way. I wonder how they come up with the employment figures and salaries without a known tenant? Is this another example of “goosing the figures” that the city administration is so famous for?
Let’s look at the Yorktowne factory. The employment there never reached anywhere near its projections. The same is true for Luna Technologies. The politicians constantly quote the “7,000 jobs have been brought to Danville”. That’s PROJECTED jobs. How many are actually on the ground and filled? Not anywhere near that number. I would suggest the city stop using questionable numbers that never come to be. Who do they think they are, the school board? Oh that’s right, they only release numbers at their third Friday morning “special meetings” not at the televised first Thursday public meeting. Not to say the Friday meetings are not open to the public. Everyone can attend a 7:30 AM meeting on a Friday. Oh gosh, I forgot, some people have real jobs! Wouldn’t it be something if a lot of people started showing up at the Friday meetings? Jeez, they would have to change their meetings to Wednesdays at midnight………
Well school has started for the year round students. I guess the Concrete Palace monsters are slowly awakening from their summer slumber and looking around like bears yawning from a deep hibernation and saying, “What can we screw up now? Who can we eat? “ Stay out of their way! Remember council members, don’t feed the bears! I look forward to the start of another athletic season at GW. Any bets on when the first screw up will occur without an athletic director? Won’t take long I imagine…….
So brace yourself oh weary citizens, the monster is at the trough. Only time will tell what they slop out onto the floor.
Tune in next time for “Tales from the Crypt-or the IT Department” Send in your subjects and information to savetheschools2@aol.com.
People have suggested that I am hitting my head against a wall and that nothing will change. Maybe not but at least I can say that council and the school board knew it but chose to do nothing. Let them live with the scarlet letter of shame for knowing and turning a blind eye to the problem. How many times do you have to shove their face in it before they respond? Has no one on either board have a backbone? When the whole district blows up not one of them better dare go on the record saying “I never knew…….”.
There is another interesting blog to look up. Its www.fixdanville.com . This extremely interesting site points out the many things that need to be fixed in Danville both in public and business locations. Take a look at send in your own nominations.
Don’t start lining up for jobs at the white mill just yet. As a skeptic I will wave the flag when they start moving dirt and actual construction gets under way. I wonder how they come up with the employment figures and salaries without a known tenant? Is this another example of “goosing the figures” that the city administration is so famous for?
Let’s look at the Yorktowne factory. The employment there never reached anywhere near its projections. The same is true for Luna Technologies. The politicians constantly quote the “7,000 jobs have been brought to Danville”. That’s PROJECTED jobs. How many are actually on the ground and filled? Not anywhere near that number. I would suggest the city stop using questionable numbers that never come to be. Who do they think they are, the school board? Oh that’s right, they only release numbers at their third Friday morning “special meetings” not at the televised first Thursday public meeting. Not to say the Friday meetings are not open to the public. Everyone can attend a 7:30 AM meeting on a Friday. Oh gosh, I forgot, some people have real jobs! Wouldn’t it be something if a lot of people started showing up at the Friday meetings? Jeez, they would have to change their meetings to Wednesdays at midnight………
Well school has started for the year round students. I guess the Concrete Palace monsters are slowly awakening from their summer slumber and looking around like bears yawning from a deep hibernation and saying, “What can we screw up now? Who can we eat? “ Stay out of their way! Remember council members, don’t feed the bears! I look forward to the start of another athletic season at GW. Any bets on when the first screw up will occur without an athletic director? Won’t take long I imagine…….
So brace yourself oh weary citizens, the monster is at the trough. Only time will tell what they slop out onto the floor.
Tune in next time for “Tales from the Crypt-or the IT Department” Send in your subjects and information to savetheschools2@aol.com.
Sunday, August 2, 2009
The Big Charade
So the sleeping giant DPS has been quiet this summer? Oh if that were only true. No the morons in motion can’t seem to leave well enough alone. The school board must have had another retreat where the topic was “How Can We Really Look Like Morons This Summer?”. Well it didn’t take long for that collective mind to have their administrative clones stick their foot in crap again.
In the interest in the taxpayers of Danville the concrete palace administrators ordered that computers be updated in some schools because gosh they were four years old! Perish the thought of elementary students working on anything that isn’t the latest piece of computer gear. Never mind the fact that they mostly only do word processing and internet searches that can be handled by any basic machine. No in their infinite wisdom they swapped out perfectly good computers with the latest from Captain Billy’s Wiz Bag. Of yeah I forgot that that department (IT) is being run by that nobel prize winner Dr. O. If she only thought beyond the end of those glasses it would be a miracle. Ok so the computers are replaced so what do they do with the removed perfectly good computers? Why just dump them in the middle of the maintenance parking lot! Go by and look for yourself.
In the interest in the taxpayers of Danville the concrete palace administrators ordered that computers be updated in some schools because gosh they were four years old! Perish the thought of elementary students working on anything that isn’t the latest piece of computer gear. Never mind the fact that they mostly only do word processing and internet searches that can be handled by any basic machine. No in their infinite wisdom they swapped out perfectly good computers with the latest from Captain Billy’s Wiz Bag. Of yeah I forgot that that department (IT) is being run by that nobel prize winner Dr. O. If she only thought beyond the end of those glasses it would be a miracle. Ok so the computers are replaced so what do they do with the removed perfectly good computers? Why just dump them in the middle of the maintenance parking lot! Go by and look for yourself.
There in a pile on the parking lot are computers, printers, and monitors! Can’t miss them they are right next to the 25 or so 800 lb bags of rubber mulch that have been sitting there for over a year. Hmmm maybe we could have sold them, donated them to neighborhood centers, or given to Goodwill. No, we can just piss away taypayers money by dumping them in the rain! If this isn’t a criminal act or malfeasance I don’t know what is!
Ah but we aren't done yet. Remember all the money spent on "magnet" eye candy throughout the district. Remember this was all spent ($8 million) under the watchful (not) eye of the Concrete Princess herself, the Grand Wizard Sue Davis. Well all the fanfare about these great new labs, decorations, exhibits, etc has died down and now the truth comes out. The stuff was crap, pure and simple. The district ,under the magnet director , sent all their business to Thayer and Associates (without competetive bidding), a design firm without engineers or architects, to design these monuments to incompetence. The result? Inferior subpar exhibits made out of inferior materials that began to break down within months of purchase. So now 7-8 years later where are all these bells and whistles? Gone....for the most part. One of the costliest projects ws at Glenwood School with its "animal habitats" and menageries. Glenwood, after killing off most of the animals, had all their habitats, displays, and eye candy torn out and dumped! Where? You guessed it at the maintenance building. I bet the guys there are getting real tired of being a dumping ground. So what else? Oh the big fanfare that went into the Woodrow Wilson exhibits and the "libratoriom" that was build is now, this summer, being quietly dismatled and trashed. Why? Simple fact it never worked as a media center! Too much fluff and no stuff.
So school board members before your next slap on the back meeting I would suggest you take a look at the money you have wasted because the buck stops with you. And the citizens of Danville, listen carefully. That sound you hear? That is a giant toilet being flushed as the districts money goes down the drain. Councilpersons, are you listening?
UPDATE 8/5/09
Within three days of posting these pictures the entire pile of computers has been removed according to an inside source at the concrete castle!
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Reprinted By Popular Demand
You Know You Live in Danville if
- “fine dining” means you go some place that actually serves the food on a plate.
- the streets are torn up every year just when school starts.
- utility bills resemble a Lexus payment.
- even the doctors won’t go to the hospital here.
- merge signs are merely a suggestion.
- “economic boom” is defined as a nickel increase in the price of scrap copper.
- the main newspaper is filled with news from yesterdays Richmond Times Dispatch.
- the age of your shoes are greater then the age of most Danville police officers.
- its easier to adopt a child then adopt a pet from the shelter.
- the Institute reminds you of Emerald City in the Wizard of Oz. A lot of bells and whistles but no one really knows what goes on behind the curtain.
- the streets are sprayed with water BEFORE an ice storm.
- the top job producer in the city is “demolition”.
- the school board could not pass a SOL test (Standards of Logic)
- restaurants serve food “deep fried” or “really deep fried”.
- The three largest religions are Baptist, Baptist, and NASCAR.
- Rotor Rooter is needed to clean out the arteries of the average citizen.
- the city needs a “multi media director” to produce the municipal version of the “Gong Show”.
- city still collects trash the way they did in the 18th century.
- the day of judgment comes but you don’t worry since Danville is 10 years behind so you still have time.
- all the kings horses and all the kings men couldn’t put Danville Memorial Hospital back together again.
- you decide to move to the county so your kids will get a decent education.
Stay tuned for the continuing saga of "DPS:The Disaster Continues"
- “fine dining” means you go some place that actually serves the food on a plate.
- the streets are torn up every year just when school starts.
- utility bills resemble a Lexus payment.
- even the doctors won’t go to the hospital here.
- merge signs are merely a suggestion.
- “economic boom” is defined as a nickel increase in the price of scrap copper.
- the main newspaper is filled with news from yesterdays Richmond Times Dispatch.
- the age of your shoes are greater then the age of most Danville police officers.
- its easier to adopt a child then adopt a pet from the shelter.
- the Institute reminds you of Emerald City in the Wizard of Oz. A lot of bells and whistles but no one really knows what goes on behind the curtain.
- the streets are sprayed with water BEFORE an ice storm.
- the top job producer in the city is “demolition”.
- the school board could not pass a SOL test (Standards of Logic)
- restaurants serve food “deep fried” or “really deep fried”.
- The three largest religions are Baptist, Baptist, and NASCAR.
- Rotor Rooter is needed to clean out the arteries of the average citizen.
- the city needs a “multi media director” to produce the municipal version of the “Gong Show”.
- city still collects trash the way they did in the 18th century.
- the day of judgment comes but you don’t worry since Danville is 10 years behind so you still have time.
- all the kings horses and all the kings men couldn’t put Danville Memorial Hospital back together again.
- you decide to move to the county so your kids will get a decent education.
Stay tuned for the continuing saga of "DPS:The Disaster Continues"
Thursday, June 18, 2009
The Continuing Saga......School District Gone Wild
And the lies just keep on coming! After all the denials from the concrete palace it now appears that DPS and the Queen were indeed contacted by the homeless shelter administrators about the move. This is drastically different from the story they told when the proverbial poop hit the fan. What can be believed from that office? Are they totally incapable of telling the truth? Does the school board even have a clue?
It is amazing that all surrounding school districts have been able to handle the budget reductions without layoffs (after attrition). But Danville? All they can do is say that laid off people were offered other positions. Again, the Pinnochio effect. I have received confirmation from at least three laid off workers that they were never offered alternative employment. Another was offered a job so far out of their job field that it was ridiculous.
Now a new scandal has reared its head. As many already know the district is experiencing severe declining enrollment. As a businessman I would assume it would be time to evaluate facilities and see where some consolidation could take place. No, not in DPS. They not only don’t consolidate any schools but decide to spend thousands upgrading one! The Woodrow Wilson Elementary school was closed in the late 1990’s due to “deteriorating facilities, land locked design, insufficient parking, and lack of accessibility….” (per school board report). After it was revived as a magnet school thousands of dollars were spent upgrading the HVAC system and the decadent magnet program poured more money into it creating media learning centers, dance studios, art studios, and other touchy feely designs. After that failed experiment and a lack of any future thinking the school reverted back to just another elementary school with a little over 100 students. (The school in its former life was a middle school with over 400 students.) A no brainer would have been to close this facility due to its age and condition and rezone the students to other under utilized schools. Makes sense doesn’t it? Not in the Danville playbook.
DPS has now decided to expend thousands of dollars to remodel the building and add two elevators! In addition they are replacing all windows, REPLACING ALL THE MAGNET INSTALLATIONS, and renovating the lobby area that is in such bad shape due to age. Again, expending money on an outdated, landlocked facility that has NO parking, insufficient athletic facilities, mold problems, and crumbling walls makes no sense.. Does this defy common sense? Yes, but remember this is DPS!
The elections for school board take place in May of 2010. I would surely hope that there will be a slate of candidates who will replace at least half of this moronic group. As has been stated before has anyone looked into the issue that in the last 4-5 years under the present administration more experienced principals, central office personnel, and quality teachers have left then the previous 15 years combined? Doesn’t that send a massage?
Wake up Danville, the Concrete Palace needs to be overthrown. Put Alice in Wonderland back into the rabbit hole. Only then will DPS be able to start its long hard journey back to the shining example it used to be.
It is amazing that all surrounding school districts have been able to handle the budget reductions without layoffs (after attrition). But Danville? All they can do is say that laid off people were offered other positions. Again, the Pinnochio effect. I have received confirmation from at least three laid off workers that they were never offered alternative employment. Another was offered a job so far out of their job field that it was ridiculous.
Now a new scandal has reared its head. As many already know the district is experiencing severe declining enrollment. As a businessman I would assume it would be time to evaluate facilities and see where some consolidation could take place. No, not in DPS. They not only don’t consolidate any schools but decide to spend thousands upgrading one! The Woodrow Wilson Elementary school was closed in the late 1990’s due to “deteriorating facilities, land locked design, insufficient parking, and lack of accessibility….” (per school board report). After it was revived as a magnet school thousands of dollars were spent upgrading the HVAC system and the decadent magnet program poured more money into it creating media learning centers, dance studios, art studios, and other touchy feely designs. After that failed experiment and a lack of any future thinking the school reverted back to just another elementary school with a little over 100 students. (The school in its former life was a middle school with over 400 students.) A no brainer would have been to close this facility due to its age and condition and rezone the students to other under utilized schools. Makes sense doesn’t it? Not in the Danville playbook.
DPS has now decided to expend thousands of dollars to remodel the building and add two elevators! In addition they are replacing all windows, REPLACING ALL THE MAGNET INSTALLATIONS, and renovating the lobby area that is in such bad shape due to age. Again, expending money on an outdated, landlocked facility that has NO parking, insufficient athletic facilities, mold problems, and crumbling walls makes no sense.. Does this defy common sense? Yes, but remember this is DPS!
The elections for school board take place in May of 2010. I would surely hope that there will be a slate of candidates who will replace at least half of this moronic group. As has been stated before has anyone looked into the issue that in the last 4-5 years under the present administration more experienced principals, central office personnel, and quality teachers have left then the previous 15 years combined? Doesn’t that send a massage?
Wake up Danville, the Concrete Palace needs to be overthrown. Put Alice in Wonderland back into the rabbit hole. Only then will DPS be able to start its long hard journey back to the shining example it used to be.
Monday, June 1, 2009
A Fairy Tale for the City of Danville
If anyone had watched the performance before the city council by the superintendent last month then you would know that the Emmys will pass up this debacle. While at times it appeared like a perverted version of Grimm’s Fairy Tales it was interesting from a psychological point of view. It appears that pathological liars are alive and well in Danville. While watching the Concrete Queen squirm a little did bring a smile to many a face in the district the council let up to soon. Like a wounded animal she clawed and lied her way as the council members peppered her with questions. There she was ready for the final blow and what happens? As always the city council backs off and shirks its duty to the people of Danville. Does the council ever check what she says? Obviously not or they would learn that the truth is bent so far it is in danger of snapping into a million pieces.
I observed the answers given during the presentation and had an opportunity to check them against the facts. Phew! The only thing she got right was her name. I am amazed at how little she knows about how a school system operates. Her answers on figures and funding were amazingly wrong and bordered on incompetence! How did this person get through the district for so many years and no one notice that she doesn’t have a clue about what she is talking about?
Now I do not know this athletic director at GW but from a business point of view the elimination of the position makes absolutely no sense. I checked with the state education department and they directed me to the state athletic league for information. From what I can gather Danville’s GWHS will be the only school of its size in Virginia that does not have an athletic director. I know I am getting old but I distinctly heard the superintendent say that the job would be taken over by three other administrators. As if by magic the next day the paper reports she claimed she never said that. Hmmm ever heard of “video recording”? Go the city web site and view it for yourself.
Further more later on in the presentation when asked about the GW track she deftly throws it to her elusive sidekick who mumbles something about getting quotes or researching the problem. Hmmmm so again I went to check the facts. After several calls I finally located a company who claims they gave the school district a quote for repairing and upgrading the tract in 2004! Now let me see if I understand this correctly. You have known since 2004 that the track needed repair but you wait until 2008 to “look into the issue”? And on top of that you turn over $900,000 of capital improvement money back to the city? Can you spell i-n-c-o-m-p-e-t-e-n-c-e ? If this individual worked for my company she would be fired. No if, ands, or buts. Jeez…………….
Council members, wake up, you are being hoodwinked. It is no wonder that the people in Danville have such little faith in their government. A public employee lies to you not once but several times and you never hold their feet to the fire. I put this on your head since I have long given up on the Seven Dwarfs that make up the school board. They are so clueless its almost criminal.
If the superintendent was Pinocchio we could use her nose for the new Robertson Bridge….
I observed the answers given during the presentation and had an opportunity to check them against the facts. Phew! The only thing she got right was her name. I am amazed at how little she knows about how a school system operates. Her answers on figures and funding were amazingly wrong and bordered on incompetence! How did this person get through the district for so many years and no one notice that she doesn’t have a clue about what she is talking about?
Now I do not know this athletic director at GW but from a business point of view the elimination of the position makes absolutely no sense. I checked with the state education department and they directed me to the state athletic league for information. From what I can gather Danville’s GWHS will be the only school of its size in Virginia that does not have an athletic director. I know I am getting old but I distinctly heard the superintendent say that the job would be taken over by three other administrators. As if by magic the next day the paper reports she claimed she never said that. Hmmm ever heard of “video recording”? Go the city web site and view it for yourself.
Further more later on in the presentation when asked about the GW track she deftly throws it to her elusive sidekick who mumbles something about getting quotes or researching the problem. Hmmmm so again I went to check the facts. After several calls I finally located a company who claims they gave the school district a quote for repairing and upgrading the tract in 2004! Now let me see if I understand this correctly. You have known since 2004 that the track needed repair but you wait until 2008 to “look into the issue”? And on top of that you turn over $900,000 of capital improvement money back to the city? Can you spell i-n-c-o-m-p-e-t-e-n-c-e ? If this individual worked for my company she would be fired. No if, ands, or buts. Jeez…………….
Council members, wake up, you are being hoodwinked. It is no wonder that the people in Danville have such little faith in their government. A public employee lies to you not once but several times and you never hold their feet to the fire. I put this on your head since I have long given up on the Seven Dwarfs that make up the school board. They are so clueless its almost criminal.
If the superintendent was Pinocchio we could use her nose for the new Robertson Bridge….
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Liar, Liar, Pants on fire..........
The famous journalist I. F. Stone once stated “All governments are run by liars and nothing they say should be believed.” This statement is true in regards to Danville Public Schools. The problem for the public is separating the lies from the total lies. In the last few weeks it has become obvious that the Concrete Castle liars are tripping over their own lies.
Nothing has become more ridiculous then the current debate over the GW athletic director position. The position is needed due to the large, complicated, and detail oriented nature of GW sports. It is not a “part time” job like a pizza delivery boy. It is a position that takes a huge amount of coordination among district officials, coaches, referees, and school administrators. To suddenly decide that this position is no longer needed indicates the central office’s utter lack of experience in high school management. Rather then ask the ones who know they gather in their concrete cave and issue edicts without knowledge, input, or common sense in regards to the people they are effecting. But is this any different then anything else they have done?
What is even more amazing is the lack of response from school board members who continue to rubber stamp the asinine decisions vomiting from the concrete palace. Even members of the city council, a group slow to react to anything, have sat up straight in their chairs to look at this issue. Maybe now they will stop writing the school board blank checks and stop hiding behind their perceived idea that they have nothing to do with the school board.
The council was right on the mark concerning the presentation of the budget. It was ill prepared, lacked detail, and generally was an attempt to hide the real money uses. Up to about four years ago the budget was presented in a detailed form to the council months before it came up to vote. Over the last years, despite the superintendent’s statements (lies), the staff has been kept in the dark about the budget details. The first budget draft was a SINGLE page. Any school administrator in the business department who presents a one page budget ought to be terminated for gross incompetence. To reduce a $20 million budget to a single page or to the poor budget report given to council does a disservice to the city and the taxpayers.
Wake up council members, as Tennessee Williams once stated, “The only thing worse then a liar is a liar who is also a hypocrite.”
Nothing has become more ridiculous then the current debate over the GW athletic director position. The position is needed due to the large, complicated, and detail oriented nature of GW sports. It is not a “part time” job like a pizza delivery boy. It is a position that takes a huge amount of coordination among district officials, coaches, referees, and school administrators. To suddenly decide that this position is no longer needed indicates the central office’s utter lack of experience in high school management. Rather then ask the ones who know they gather in their concrete cave and issue edicts without knowledge, input, or common sense in regards to the people they are effecting. But is this any different then anything else they have done?
What is even more amazing is the lack of response from school board members who continue to rubber stamp the asinine decisions vomiting from the concrete palace. Even members of the city council, a group slow to react to anything, have sat up straight in their chairs to look at this issue. Maybe now they will stop writing the school board blank checks and stop hiding behind their perceived idea that they have nothing to do with the school board.
The council was right on the mark concerning the presentation of the budget. It was ill prepared, lacked detail, and generally was an attempt to hide the real money uses. Up to about four years ago the budget was presented in a detailed form to the council months before it came up to vote. Over the last years, despite the superintendent’s statements (lies), the staff has been kept in the dark about the budget details. The first budget draft was a SINGLE page. Any school administrator in the business department who presents a one page budget ought to be terminated for gross incompetence. To reduce a $20 million budget to a single page or to the poor budget report given to council does a disservice to the city and the taxpayers.
Wake up council members, as Tennessee Williams once stated, “The only thing worse then a liar is a liar who is also a hypocrite.”
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Why Schools Need Mental Health Experts
So let me get this straight. The school board (bored) spends $8 million on “magnet” schools and what do they have to show for it now? Nothing….Zip. Most of the magnet money was spent on “things” but most of those “things” are broken, gone, or stored away. All that money has gone down the drain. And who was to blame for that mess? None other then the Concrete Queen herself! So board members are you patting her on the back now? What are you saying to her? Thanks for flushing $8 million? Geez, give me a break! How far does that sand go down that you have your head stuck in?
Now that the newspaper is completely written, directed, and printed in Lynchburg I don’t suppose they will ever have a reporter do any investigating of the squandering of taxpayers money by the district. Maybe the county paper can do something like have a Danville Edition of their paper. It seems they know how to cover meetings.
Have all the axes fallen in the district yet? Probably not, there are still a few more to go. Word has it GW is next on the list. The “blame” scope is zeroing in on the ”G” as the next battlefield for the Queen and her court of merry jesters. With the population down so dramatically at the school it appears some transfers are in order to shore up the middle schools. But the Queens main jester, the GW principal, will most likely be the last one to know or care. Not back from his casual lunch yet I assume. As much as he stays away from the building you could probably move the school and it would be several weeks before he found out. Does he even know what the GW drop out rate is?
Someone needs to be watching the troops. A relative’s child brought home a letter from an elementary principal lately that proves that spell check has been removed from school board computers. Does anyone ever read before they print? I guess it’s hard to take that kind of time when you’re busy printing off church bulletins.
Rumor has it that the golden child Galileo School is set for a big slap of reality. This little private school within a public district has some bad news rumbling its way. More on this later stay tuned.
Best Quote of the Day
Mark Twain: In the first place God made idiots; that was for practice; then he made school boards.
Runner Ups
"My education was dismal. I went to a series of schools for mentally disturbed teachers."
— Woody Allen
"Time is a great teacher, but unfortunately it kills all its pupils."
— Louis-Hector Berlioz
"If you think your teacher is tough, wait until you get a boss. He doesn't have tenure."
— Bill Gates
"Smartness runs in my family. When I went to school I was so smart my teacher was in my class for five years."
— Gracie Allen
"You know how to tell if the teacher is hung over? Movie Day."
— Jay Mohr
Now that the newspaper is completely written, directed, and printed in Lynchburg I don’t suppose they will ever have a reporter do any investigating of the squandering of taxpayers money by the district. Maybe the county paper can do something like have a Danville Edition of their paper. It seems they know how to cover meetings.
Have all the axes fallen in the district yet? Probably not, there are still a few more to go. Word has it GW is next on the list. The “blame” scope is zeroing in on the ”G” as the next battlefield for the Queen and her court of merry jesters. With the population down so dramatically at the school it appears some transfers are in order to shore up the middle schools. But the Queens main jester, the GW principal, will most likely be the last one to know or care. Not back from his casual lunch yet I assume. As much as he stays away from the building you could probably move the school and it would be several weeks before he found out. Does he even know what the GW drop out rate is?
Someone needs to be watching the troops. A relative’s child brought home a letter from an elementary principal lately that proves that spell check has been removed from school board computers. Does anyone ever read before they print? I guess it’s hard to take that kind of time when you’re busy printing off church bulletins.
Rumor has it that the golden child Galileo School is set for a big slap of reality. This little private school within a public district has some bad news rumbling its way. More on this later stay tuned.
Best Quote of the Day
Mark Twain: In the first place God made idiots; that was for practice; then he made school boards.
Runner Ups
"My education was dismal. I went to a series of schools for mentally disturbed teachers."
— Woody Allen
"Time is a great teacher, but unfortunately it kills all its pupils."
— Louis-Hector Berlioz
"If you think your teacher is tough, wait until you get a boss. He doesn't have tenure."
— Bill Gates
"Smartness runs in my family. When I went to school I was so smart my teacher was in my class for five years."
— Gracie Allen
"You know how to tell if the teacher is hung over? Movie Day."
— Jay Mohr
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Queen Holds Court
Deep in the bowels of the Concrete Palace behind the multiple locked doors the EVIL Ones convened a meeting of the unholy coven. Around the table sat the Queen herself and the mini-me Wanna Be Queen. They drummed their fingers on the table and looked disapprovingly at the drones who sat cowering in the corner. Things were not going well in the Overachieving School District.
Their plan to fire the IAT director and blame everything wrong in the district on him was not working as they planned. They miscalculated the brains of the worker drones, they actually could think for themselves. The Queen slapped her hand on the table and roared, “Why did it not work! They should be praising me by now!” The Wanna Be Queen twisted her hands and sheepishly stated, ”Oh Queen, it will work out, let me fire a few more in IAT and they will soon see the light!” “Not quick enough!”, screamed the Queen, “The Board should be showering me with praise by now!” She threw her crown onto the table, “The plan is not working, they are seeing through the smoke!” She fell back into her chair and put her hands together, “A new plan must be devised. I cannot let them learn the truth.” The drones scurried away to their work cubicles like cockroaches in the light. “Let them not question the power of the Queen……..”
Sounds like a Stephen King novel? If we could be so lucky…. No this is real life; the names were changed to identify the guilty. The school district continues its downward plunge. The amazing thing is that the newspaper has failed to catch on at all. The changes going down border on ludicrous but they go unnoticed since they are usually done in secret by the board hoping that nobody notices.
What ever happened to the open philosophy of the district? Though many did not agree in years past with the changes made at least they were mostly in the open and available for discussion. Now unless you have the code to the secret vault you will never find out until it comes crashing down on the employees. In the past few weeks many employees were given their walking papers and positions eliminated (Of course none from the Queens inner core) without a word of discussion by the board. Of course who would really know? The real decisions are made at the semi-secret Friday morning board meetings which conveniently are held at a time when most parents, employees, and the media cannot attend. The first Thursday meetings are the “media events” with all the back slapping and the robotic smiles that bleed “everything is ok.” I’m surprised they don’t have a bubble machine spewing out happy bubbles so all the TV audience can be assured that it’s a wonderful place. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain pulling the levers…….
So instead of closing underused schools the Queen and her Merry Band of Board Members are trying to boost the populations by secretly trying to rezone the district. One big problem with this philosophy, they actually have to tell the parents what they are doing and that just won’t work. The citizens of Danville may be naïve but they are not totally stupid. They know where their children ought to go to school. As soon as a few complain loudly this will go away and whoever suggested it will be banished to the nether regions. They don’t want to face the obvious, a school or schools need to be closed to save money and operate the district on, perish the thought, a sound financial basis. But no board member has thought of that yet, they can’t slap anyone on the back about closing a school!
Lets see what else is being done in secret. How about dismantling the vo-tech program, getting rid of the only staff person looking after its interest, and completely obliterating the adult ed program? Didn’t read about any of that in the paper have you? Schools are being asked to do with less and less while the central office suffers no loss of power. What about curriculum people who only add loads of paperwork on teachers? How about a human resource department that has more people then ever yet still can’t get licensing straight? How about support personnel being quietly eliminated while the central office doesn’t lose as much as a paperclip?
But not all is lost. In the last few weeks people in Danville are beginning to wake up. Moves are afoot to unseat the entire group of incompetent board members coming up for election next year. They are finally seeing the light. Now if council would ever wake up and see how the city money is being wasted then things would really change. If these events were to come to pass the Queen indeed would be wringing her hands in the Concrete Palace.
Their plan to fire the IAT director and blame everything wrong in the district on him was not working as they planned. They miscalculated the brains of the worker drones, they actually could think for themselves. The Queen slapped her hand on the table and roared, “Why did it not work! They should be praising me by now!” The Wanna Be Queen twisted her hands and sheepishly stated, ”Oh Queen, it will work out, let me fire a few more in IAT and they will soon see the light!” “Not quick enough!”, screamed the Queen, “The Board should be showering me with praise by now!” She threw her crown onto the table, “The plan is not working, they are seeing through the smoke!” She fell back into her chair and put her hands together, “A new plan must be devised. I cannot let them learn the truth.” The drones scurried away to their work cubicles like cockroaches in the light. “Let them not question the power of the Queen……..”
Sounds like a Stephen King novel? If we could be so lucky…. No this is real life; the names were changed to identify the guilty. The school district continues its downward plunge. The amazing thing is that the newspaper has failed to catch on at all. The changes going down border on ludicrous but they go unnoticed since they are usually done in secret by the board hoping that nobody notices.
What ever happened to the open philosophy of the district? Though many did not agree in years past with the changes made at least they were mostly in the open and available for discussion. Now unless you have the code to the secret vault you will never find out until it comes crashing down on the employees. In the past few weeks many employees were given their walking papers and positions eliminated (Of course none from the Queens inner core) without a word of discussion by the board. Of course who would really know? The real decisions are made at the semi-secret Friday morning board meetings which conveniently are held at a time when most parents, employees, and the media cannot attend. The first Thursday meetings are the “media events” with all the back slapping and the robotic smiles that bleed “everything is ok.” I’m surprised they don’t have a bubble machine spewing out happy bubbles so all the TV audience can be assured that it’s a wonderful place. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain pulling the levers…….
So instead of closing underused schools the Queen and her Merry Band of Board Members are trying to boost the populations by secretly trying to rezone the district. One big problem with this philosophy, they actually have to tell the parents what they are doing and that just won’t work. The citizens of Danville may be naïve but they are not totally stupid. They know where their children ought to go to school. As soon as a few complain loudly this will go away and whoever suggested it will be banished to the nether regions. They don’t want to face the obvious, a school or schools need to be closed to save money and operate the district on, perish the thought, a sound financial basis. But no board member has thought of that yet, they can’t slap anyone on the back about closing a school!
Lets see what else is being done in secret. How about dismantling the vo-tech program, getting rid of the only staff person looking after its interest, and completely obliterating the adult ed program? Didn’t read about any of that in the paper have you? Schools are being asked to do with less and less while the central office suffers no loss of power. What about curriculum people who only add loads of paperwork on teachers? How about a human resource department that has more people then ever yet still can’t get licensing straight? How about support personnel being quietly eliminated while the central office doesn’t lose as much as a paperclip?
But not all is lost. In the last few weeks people in Danville are beginning to wake up. Moves are afoot to unseat the entire group of incompetent board members coming up for election next year. They are finally seeing the light. Now if council would ever wake up and see how the city money is being wasted then things would really change. If these events were to come to pass the Queen indeed would be wringing her hands in the Concrete Palace.
Friday, March 13, 2009
MIndless in Danville
It is often hard to decide which group wastes more money, the city of Danville or Danville Public Schools. On one side you have a city that spends $80,000 on a “world wide search” for a new city manager only to find the best candidate was already sitting in the office or DPS who spends that much money on colored mulch. It’s a toss up. (Of course the board also did a “world wide search” and look at what they ended up with.)
But nothing can hold a candle to the useless pile of wasted flesh that is called the School Board. As a teacher once told me, “These people could not think their way of a train tunnel.” How pitiful can a group get? Obviously pitiful enough to use their collective brain cells and come up with a ridiculous policy establishing a class of “essential” personnel. What human resources drop out would design such a policy? Of course the bureaucrat wannabe on the board who likes to hear himself talk is waving it around in the air like the Holy Grail. The policy defies logic. Why would any group come up with such a policy that is bound to divide faculties, intimidate employees, and generally tick off all the professionals in the district?
The base of the policy is that a principal can identify up to ten percent of the faculty as “essential” and thus exempt from the normal layoff process. So a twenty year teacher who does not kiss the proverbial a_ _ of the principal now becomes “nonessential” while the two year scared to death teacher is “essential”. So a “nonessential” teacher will now sit back and allow the “essential” teacher do all the work. Why not? If a system values them so little why put out an effort? It is a policy that is doomed to rip the school system apart. And who makes this decision? The principals in the system who have the collective experience level of a fruit fly life. What an embarrassment to the school district. But the robot board clicks their heels, pledge undying allegiance to the high goddess, and prints their edicts on slabs of stone. If it wasn’t so sad it would be funny…….well maybe not.
Until the board and the administration starts to show some sensitivity towards the employees of the district it will continue to be “An Underachieving School District”. Until they recognize the worth and dignity of all their employees they will continue to be viewed as the “enemy”. And why would they not be viewed that way? Their actions speak volumes.
“A company must recognize that its employees are its most valuable asset. The company also recognizes the individual dignity and worth of each employee. It is the company's desire and intent that each employee be treated as an intelligent, adult human being, with fairness and respect.” (Human Resource Basic Policy of Beliefs- Human Resource Institute) Are you reading this school board? You can only stick your head so far into the sand.
“Every person possesses inherent worth as a human being and, as such, is to be treated with dignity, fairness, and respect. Employees are to be judged on the basis of merit and ability, valued for their performance, and encouraged to attain their full potential.” (Joint Warfare Analysis Center-Commanders Policy) If its good enough for the military……
A board member recently stated that the policy had been approved and reviewed by VSBA. Upon contacting the VSBA the representative stated that they do not “approve” such policies. If fact their own policy statement on RIF states, “The VSBA recognizes that each division, and each community, values the elements that must be considered in changing a division’s workforce (including seniority, expertise, past performance, and special skills, among others) differently. Thus, VSBA does not have a sample RIF regulation.” Lets see is that lie number 2000 or 2001 from the board?
It all comes down to this. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it. But some school board members just seem to keep poking a paper clip into the wall plug. They can’t leave well enough alone. I would suggest that instead of creating a needless firestorm they concentrate of a school administration that acts like a Roman orgy with tax money. Mark these words; another school employee will soon be sacrificed so the Concrete Castle Goddesses can point and say “There’s the problem!” And behind the scene the moneychangers will hackle and laugh and count their thirty pieces of silver.
But nothing can hold a candle to the useless pile of wasted flesh that is called the School Board. As a teacher once told me, “These people could not think their way of a train tunnel.” How pitiful can a group get? Obviously pitiful enough to use their collective brain cells and come up with a ridiculous policy establishing a class of “essential” personnel. What human resources drop out would design such a policy? Of course the bureaucrat wannabe on the board who likes to hear himself talk is waving it around in the air like the Holy Grail. The policy defies logic. Why would any group come up with such a policy that is bound to divide faculties, intimidate employees, and generally tick off all the professionals in the district?
The base of the policy is that a principal can identify up to ten percent of the faculty as “essential” and thus exempt from the normal layoff process. So a twenty year teacher who does not kiss the proverbial a_ _ of the principal now becomes “nonessential” while the two year scared to death teacher is “essential”. So a “nonessential” teacher will now sit back and allow the “essential” teacher do all the work. Why not? If a system values them so little why put out an effort? It is a policy that is doomed to rip the school system apart. And who makes this decision? The principals in the system who have the collective experience level of a fruit fly life. What an embarrassment to the school district. But the robot board clicks their heels, pledge undying allegiance to the high goddess, and prints their edicts on slabs of stone. If it wasn’t so sad it would be funny…….well maybe not.
Until the board and the administration starts to show some sensitivity towards the employees of the district it will continue to be “An Underachieving School District”. Until they recognize the worth and dignity of all their employees they will continue to be viewed as the “enemy”. And why would they not be viewed that way? Their actions speak volumes.
“A company must recognize that its employees are its most valuable asset. The company also recognizes the individual dignity and worth of each employee. It is the company's desire and intent that each employee be treated as an intelligent, adult human being, with fairness and respect.” (Human Resource Basic Policy of Beliefs- Human Resource Institute) Are you reading this school board? You can only stick your head so far into the sand.
“Every person possesses inherent worth as a human being and, as such, is to be treated with dignity, fairness, and respect. Employees are to be judged on the basis of merit and ability, valued for their performance, and encouraged to attain their full potential.” (Joint Warfare Analysis Center-Commanders Policy) If its good enough for the military……
A board member recently stated that the policy had been approved and reviewed by VSBA. Upon contacting the VSBA the representative stated that they do not “approve” such policies. If fact their own policy statement on RIF states, “The VSBA recognizes that each division, and each community, values the elements that must be considered in changing a division’s workforce (including seniority, expertise, past performance, and special skills, among others) differently. Thus, VSBA does not have a sample RIF regulation.” Lets see is that lie number 2000 or 2001 from the board?
It all comes down to this. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it. But some school board members just seem to keep poking a paper clip into the wall plug. They can’t leave well enough alone. I would suggest that instead of creating a needless firestorm they concentrate of a school administration that acts like a Roman orgy with tax money. Mark these words; another school employee will soon be sacrificed so the Concrete Castle Goddesses can point and say “There’s the problem!” And behind the scene the moneychangers will hackle and laugh and count their thirty pieces of silver.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Don't Wait For The Stimulus
The results are in and the ideas for cutting costs are great! Twenty four replies have been received, evaluated, researched, and validated. The ideas have shown a tremendous amount of creativity and logical thinking, unlike anything the school board could ever design in their meager minds.
Before I get to the proposals I could not believe some of the policies the school board is considering. Besides the fact the board is “policy happy” with some of the most ridiculous and unnecessary policies, the members step on personal liberties with wreckless abandon. Not withstanding the fact that the policies could never stand a court test, they are just plain paranoid.
Consider this “new” policy that a Roanoke civil rights attorney stated was not only illegal but “….shows a severe case of paranoia that begs to ask what are they hiding?” Here is the policy:
“The Board prohibits employee use of cameras, camera phones, tape recorders, or other recording (audio or video) devices in the workplace.
Accordingly, employees are prohibited from using such devices in the workplace, unless specific advanced written authorization has been obtained from their immediate supervisor. This includes a prohibition on using the audio and video features commonly found on cellular phones.”
Paging Dr. Paranoid ! So now they not only won’t give you anything in writing but you’re not allowed to record their comments either. So what lie was one of them caught in that prompted this policy?
Meanwhile back to the submitted cost cutting ideas. After a careful review I am posting the ones that received the most votes from the responding individuals. And the winners are………….(Someone has to do it since the district has been silent about any ideas about cutting costs even though surrounding districts and cities have been discussing their proposals for weeks.)
Reduce Central Office Garbage Without a doubt this was mentioned most often as a way to cut costs. Some were specific (seven people in human resources?) and some were general ( get rid of anyone retired from North Carolina). Basically the cuts were:
-get rid of all curriculum planners (Comment: “Teachers don’t need to be e-mailed to death about useless information.)
-cut positions from human resources (Comment: “All those people and they still can’t get my icense straight.”
-cut IT/Curriculum people (Comment: “Never around, never do anything, ship them out….”)
-reduce secretarial positions (Comment: “Even secretaries have secretaries.”)
-cut the Asst Superintendent for Administrative Services (Comment: Mentioned on 85% of all responses.)
Close a School With the population steadily declining in the schools it makes sense to close another school. Votes were running about even with Glenwood and Woodrow being the most mentioned. This would result in significant savings in personnel, maintenance, transportation, etc.
Reduce Unnecessary Copying Several people mentioned the waste by teachers and administrators of paper for “personal” use. Seems like every church bulletin in Danville is printed on a school machine! Many questioned the need of so many color printers.
Stop Ridiculous Wasteful Spending Wow was this mentioned over and over! Examples given were i-phones for central office people, a $3,000 TV for the superintendents office, ridiculous work orders, and a decorator budget that would make Oprah blush!
Reduce Salaries by 3% Though this one was the most unpopular it was mentioned as a viable alternative ONLY if the central office did their share of cutting (like that’s going to happen…..)
Reduce and Control Energy Costs Many people mentioned HVAC systems running into the late evenings, after school use of facilities, and generally no policy to control energy costs. (Central office wired for individual desk heating units?)
So there it is school board members. Since you can’t seem to do the job yourself the employees have done it for you. So put those thinking caps on those very small brains and come up with some ideas. Its time to wake up and go to work! Oh but that’s right you’re too busy writing another policy….. As my granddaughter said, “Don’t those people know how to do anything?” No hunny, they don’t.
Before I get to the proposals I could not believe some of the policies the school board is considering. Besides the fact the board is “policy happy” with some of the most ridiculous and unnecessary policies, the members step on personal liberties with wreckless abandon. Not withstanding the fact that the policies could never stand a court test, they are just plain paranoid.
Consider this “new” policy that a Roanoke civil rights attorney stated was not only illegal but “….shows a severe case of paranoia that begs to ask what are they hiding?” Here is the policy:
“The Board prohibits employee use of cameras, camera phones, tape recorders, or other recording (audio or video) devices in the workplace.
Accordingly, employees are prohibited from using such devices in the workplace, unless specific advanced written authorization has been obtained from their immediate supervisor. This includes a prohibition on using the audio and video features commonly found on cellular phones.”
Paging Dr. Paranoid ! So now they not only won’t give you anything in writing but you’re not allowed to record their comments either. So what lie was one of them caught in that prompted this policy?
Meanwhile back to the submitted cost cutting ideas. After a careful review I am posting the ones that received the most votes from the responding individuals. And the winners are………….(Someone has to do it since the district has been silent about any ideas about cutting costs even though surrounding districts and cities have been discussing their proposals for weeks.)
Reduce Central Office Garbage Without a doubt this was mentioned most often as a way to cut costs. Some were specific (seven people in human resources?) and some were general ( get rid of anyone retired from North Carolina). Basically the cuts were:
-get rid of all curriculum planners (Comment: “Teachers don’t need to be e-mailed to death about useless information.)
-cut positions from human resources (Comment: “All those people and they still can’t get my icense straight.”
-cut IT/Curriculum people (Comment: “Never around, never do anything, ship them out….”)
-reduce secretarial positions (Comment: “Even secretaries have secretaries.”)
-cut the Asst Superintendent for Administrative Services (Comment: Mentioned on 85% of all responses.)
Close a School With the population steadily declining in the schools it makes sense to close another school. Votes were running about even with Glenwood and Woodrow being the most mentioned. This would result in significant savings in personnel, maintenance, transportation, etc.
Reduce Unnecessary Copying Several people mentioned the waste by teachers and administrators of paper for “personal” use. Seems like every church bulletin in Danville is printed on a school machine! Many questioned the need of so many color printers.
Stop Ridiculous Wasteful Spending Wow was this mentioned over and over! Examples given were i-phones for central office people, a $3,000 TV for the superintendents office, ridiculous work orders, and a decorator budget that would make Oprah blush!
Reduce Salaries by 3% Though this one was the most unpopular it was mentioned as a viable alternative ONLY if the central office did their share of cutting (like that’s going to happen…..)
Reduce and Control Energy Costs Many people mentioned HVAC systems running into the late evenings, after school use of facilities, and generally no policy to control energy costs. (Central office wired for individual desk heating units?)
So there it is school board members. Since you can’t seem to do the job yourself the employees have done it for you. So put those thinking caps on those very small brains and come up with some ideas. Its time to wake up and go to work! Oh but that’s right you’re too busy writing another policy….. As my granddaughter said, “Don’t those people know how to do anything?” No hunny, they don’t.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
The Race Is On
Well the responses to the blog concerning budget cuts for next year has been great. So far 16 replies with suggestions for reductions. Not bad. Some suggestions were very thought out and some were of the "I hate that person or program so cut it " variety. I will wait one more week then put the ideas together and post them. Maybe the school board will read it and actually do their job but I doubt it. They seem to be infactuated with their policy revisions and don't see anything else around them. They keep nodding their heads at the Queen from the Concrete Palace and waiting like lightening to strike. Or they may even wake up at a meeting.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Herked un Fonics Werks Fer Me
Well, well, well I have certainly struck a nerve! The GW/Central office gremlins have had their feathers ruffled. It seems like a lot of closet English teachers or frustrated proofreaders have decided to attack the blog. Well go ahead and attack the messenger but believe the message. I will be the last person to claim to be an English expert. I bow to the mensa scholars. I will be more careful in the future. So pull back your swords all you William of Malmesbury scholars, I will check my English Grammar for Dummies book more frequently. By the way if you want to read something that totally slaughters the English language try reading some memos from the GW administration. A valid question can be directed to the DPS central office. What exactly is an “Overachieving School District” ? Does that phrase even make sense?
The second comment was very defensive about GW. I have never said that GW did not have fine teachers, wonderful athletic teams, and some smart kids. My comments have always been directed at the administration of the school and at the central office level. These are the people that make life so difficult for the fine teachers, wonderful athletic teams and the smart kids. Their failure to plan, evaluate, and carry out any administrative task is what is so frustrating. I would never attack any of the teachers who must put up with the incompetent behavior on a daily basis. They are the only ones holding the place together. And please, do not throw the Wachovia cup up as a defense. Look at the criteria for that award. Mostly fluff, no stuff.
One comment addressed the issue of senior and juniors leaving the campus for lunch. I still feel, as many others do, that this is an extremely dangerous policy. I have checked with state level personnel and to their knowledge no other district in Virginia permits such a practice. One particular state education official commented as to why anyone would want to allow such a practice that opens the district to liability issues! Why not just send students off on field trips by themselves? No, teachers SUPERVISE students when they leave campus and never leave them out of their direct control. This is pure common sense. To allow a student to leave campus during the school day unsupervised is asking for an incident. To extend this bad practice to juniors is ludicrous. As is always the case in DPS decisions nothing will change until a tragedy occurs.
The commenter also needs a little history lesson. The practice of allowing seniors to leave campus did originate years ago because of the lack of sufficient lunch facilities. However this was when GW had a population of almost 2,400 students. With GW now at about 1,100 students the scheduled lunch periods could indeed be handled by the current facilities. Hey, I was asked for a suggestion so there it is. If the brain trust in the GW office can’t figure out a schedule then they need to go back to Administration 101.
No one disputes the fact that GW is a great asset for Danville however the facts indicate that the district lacks firm leadership both on the school level and the central office level. The “brain drain” from DPS over the last four years is astonishing. More talented and smart administrators have left in the last four years then the other ten years combined. Doesn’t that raise a red flag to the school board or are they still all hiding under a rock. The average years of administrative experience in the DPS system is in the single digits.
This trend is to blame for the flurry of ill conceived, ridiculous, dimwitted, and generally illogical decisions by school administrators that have been palmed off as “school based decisions”. Yeah they may be school based but when will a superintendent or school board step up to the plate and say just say NO! I really thought that was their job but I may be wrong.
As the debate heats up about state money the important question comes to mind. Has Danville been spending their money wisely? In this blog numerous costly blunders have already been discussed. They range from the foolish to the down right ridiculous. Lets then look at an independent examination of cost efficiency. Is DPS using the funds allotted wisely?
To explore this questions, the Clare Boothe Luce Policy Institute evaluated Virginia Department of Education data using a cost-efficiency assessment methodology developed by Connecticut’s Yankee Institute for Public Policy Studies. First, the percentage of a district’s students who attained the state’s Standard of Learning goals in English and mathematics was averaged to determine a school district’s Goal Attainment
Average. Each district’s per-pupil spending was then divided by its Goal Attainment Average to determine its Cost Benefit Value.
In this study Danville fell into the Poor Achievement Category with a Goal Attainment Average between seventy four and eighty percent. Danville was identified as a Poor Price Group (higher costs) with a Cost Benefit Value of $109.90. This is the unit cost to produce a single average percentage point of student English and mathematics achievement. To put it in perspective Pittsylvania County falls into Good Achievement Category with a Goal Attainment Average between eighty point five to eighty seven percent. Pittsylvania was identified as a Best Price Group (lowest cost) with a Cost Benefit Value of $90.87. Add to these figures the fact that Danville spends $8,678 per student compared to the Pittsylvania County cost of $7,527 per student and you can see what district uses its money more wisely.
Now here is the big issue. Where does DPS cut six to seven million dollars from their budget? Let’s try something radical. Let’s ask the teachers, parents, and the public where they feel the cuts should come from. What programs, personnel, or policies could be eliminated without drastically affecting the students in the schools? Send your replies to savetheschools2@aol.com and I will discuss the best ones. Also knowing the vindictive nature of DPS so called leaders I will not reveal your name or school. Again, forget the messenger but listen to the message.
The second comment was very defensive about GW. I have never said that GW did not have fine teachers, wonderful athletic teams, and some smart kids. My comments have always been directed at the administration of the school and at the central office level. These are the people that make life so difficult for the fine teachers, wonderful athletic teams and the smart kids. Their failure to plan, evaluate, and carry out any administrative task is what is so frustrating. I would never attack any of the teachers who must put up with the incompetent behavior on a daily basis. They are the only ones holding the place together. And please, do not throw the Wachovia cup up as a defense. Look at the criteria for that award. Mostly fluff, no stuff.
One comment addressed the issue of senior and juniors leaving the campus for lunch. I still feel, as many others do, that this is an extremely dangerous policy. I have checked with state level personnel and to their knowledge no other district in Virginia permits such a practice. One particular state education official commented as to why anyone would want to allow such a practice that opens the district to liability issues! Why not just send students off on field trips by themselves? No, teachers SUPERVISE students when they leave campus and never leave them out of their direct control. This is pure common sense. To allow a student to leave campus during the school day unsupervised is asking for an incident. To extend this bad practice to juniors is ludicrous. As is always the case in DPS decisions nothing will change until a tragedy occurs.
The commenter also needs a little history lesson. The practice of allowing seniors to leave campus did originate years ago because of the lack of sufficient lunch facilities. However this was when GW had a population of almost 2,400 students. With GW now at about 1,100 students the scheduled lunch periods could indeed be handled by the current facilities. Hey, I was asked for a suggestion so there it is. If the brain trust in the GW office can’t figure out a schedule then they need to go back to Administration 101.
No one disputes the fact that GW is a great asset for Danville however the facts indicate that the district lacks firm leadership both on the school level and the central office level. The “brain drain” from DPS over the last four years is astonishing. More talented and smart administrators have left in the last four years then the other ten years combined. Doesn’t that raise a red flag to the school board or are they still all hiding under a rock. The average years of administrative experience in the DPS system is in the single digits.
This trend is to blame for the flurry of ill conceived, ridiculous, dimwitted, and generally illogical decisions by school administrators that have been palmed off as “school based decisions”. Yeah they may be school based but when will a superintendent or school board step up to the plate and say just say NO! I really thought that was their job but I may be wrong.
As the debate heats up about state money the important question comes to mind. Has Danville been spending their money wisely? In this blog numerous costly blunders have already been discussed. They range from the foolish to the down right ridiculous. Lets then look at an independent examination of cost efficiency. Is DPS using the funds allotted wisely?
To explore this questions, the Clare Boothe Luce Policy Institute evaluated Virginia Department of Education data using a cost-efficiency assessment methodology developed by Connecticut’s Yankee Institute for Public Policy Studies. First, the percentage of a district’s students who attained the state’s Standard of Learning goals in English and mathematics was averaged to determine a school district’s Goal Attainment
Average. Each district’s per-pupil spending was then divided by its Goal Attainment Average to determine its Cost Benefit Value.
In this study Danville fell into the Poor Achievement Category with a Goal Attainment Average between seventy four and eighty percent. Danville was identified as a Poor Price Group (higher costs) with a Cost Benefit Value of $109.90. This is the unit cost to produce a single average percentage point of student English and mathematics achievement. To put it in perspective Pittsylvania County falls into Good Achievement Category with a Goal Attainment Average between eighty point five to eighty seven percent. Pittsylvania was identified as a Best Price Group (lowest cost) with a Cost Benefit Value of $90.87. Add to these figures the fact that Danville spends $8,678 per student compared to the Pittsylvania County cost of $7,527 per student and you can see what district uses its money more wisely.
Now here is the big issue. Where does DPS cut six to seven million dollars from their budget? Let’s try something radical. Let’s ask the teachers, parents, and the public where they feel the cuts should come from. What programs, personnel, or policies could be eliminated without drastically affecting the students in the schools? Send your replies to savetheschools2@aol.com and I will discuss the best ones. Also knowing the vindictive nature of DPS so called leaders I will not reveal your name or school. Again, forget the messenger but listen to the message.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
GWHS Twisting in the Wind
Just when you think it can’t get any worse, it does. So goes the continuing saga of Danville Public Schools. The lions are at the door in regards to the principal of GWHS. Someone is finally waking up and looking at the travesty that is taking place there.
In a set of recent posts on a national website the public has begun to express their concerns about how things are going at GWHS. One post from a parent:
“GW is a school that has past its prime. The administration is weak and the superintendent even weaker. Security is the only thing good about the school. The once great GW is but a tarnished has been as it slowly sinks deeper. Only an overhaul of the administration and school board could save this school.” Submitted by a parent
And another one:
“This school has good teachers, but a terrible environment for a child to work in. The school is full of dangerous people and becomes more and more like a penitentiary every day. The school has cameras and tall fences(Which have done no good), but ten year old books.”
I guess the next new position at DPS will be a full time press agent to twist around the words like the Register & Rag does. Wonder why you never read anything negative about DPS? This is because the local newspaper has been bought and sold by the politicians in Danville. Can’t sell the mythical new companies on Danville if anything “negative” is in the paper. What a poor excuse for a newspaper. Bring back the old weekly paper in Danville. How much worse could it be?
Back to GWHS the administration is now allowing juniors to go off campus on Friday for lunch. Please, have the administrators lost their mind? Does anyone know of any other school in Virginia that allows the students to leave the campus in the middle of the day for lunch? The practice dates from years ago when GW had over 2,400 students. The cafeteria could not accommodate the students so seniors were allowed to leave. With the population at GW down to under 1,700 a schedule could be designed to keep the students on campus. Teachers and security report that more problems with drugs and drinking occur when students return from off campus lunch. But the brainless school board allows the practice to continue. As is always the case it will take a serious event to occur before they will suddenly wake up. Every bit of data for schools tells you that controlled supervision is the safest way to run a school. When a student is killed or seriously injured, god forbid, I hope the families sues the pants off the school district for gross negligence. GW, oh GW what have you become?
UPDATE: After a previous blog pointed out the huge number of discipline cases in DPS the edict has come down from the concrete castle that referrals will be curtailed. Now teachers report the discipine referrals are not being acted on and in fact are being trashed. So much for working together with the teachers.
In a set of recent posts on a national website the public has begun to express their concerns about how things are going at GWHS. One post from a parent:
“GW is a school that has past its prime. The administration is weak and the superintendent even weaker. Security is the only thing good about the school. The once great GW is but a tarnished has been as it slowly sinks deeper. Only an overhaul of the administration and school board could save this school.” Submitted by a parent
And another one:
“This school has good teachers, but a terrible environment for a child to work in. The school is full of dangerous people and becomes more and more like a penitentiary every day. The school has cameras and tall fences(Which have done no good), but ten year old books.”
I guess the next new position at DPS will be a full time press agent to twist around the words like the Register & Rag does. Wonder why you never read anything negative about DPS? This is because the local newspaper has been bought and sold by the politicians in Danville. Can’t sell the mythical new companies on Danville if anything “negative” is in the paper. What a poor excuse for a newspaper. Bring back the old weekly paper in Danville. How much worse could it be?
Back to GWHS the administration is now allowing juniors to go off campus on Friday for lunch. Please, have the administrators lost their mind? Does anyone know of any other school in Virginia that allows the students to leave the campus in the middle of the day for lunch? The practice dates from years ago when GW had over 2,400 students. The cafeteria could not accommodate the students so seniors were allowed to leave. With the population at GW down to under 1,700 a schedule could be designed to keep the students on campus. Teachers and security report that more problems with drugs and drinking occur when students return from off campus lunch. But the brainless school board allows the practice to continue. As is always the case it will take a serious event to occur before they will suddenly wake up. Every bit of data for schools tells you that controlled supervision is the safest way to run a school. When a student is killed or seriously injured, god forbid, I hope the families sues the pants off the school district for gross negligence. GW, oh GW what have you become?
UPDATE: After a previous blog pointed out the huge number of discipline cases in DPS the edict has come down from the concrete castle that referrals will be curtailed. Now teachers report the discipine referrals are not being acted on and in fact are being trashed. So much for working together with the teachers.
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Business Bits
Back Yard Burger closes for good, rumor is that several other restaurants will follow in Danville………..Home Depot parking lot looks like a ghost town but word is contract sales are keeping their bottom line in the black……Sam’s Club had good Christmas……Pier 1 is on the ropes……….Two new computer sweepstakes stores opened in Danville, may be the wave of the future but who is behind these stores? None other then cash lending companies…….Rumor abounds that K-Mart, Hobby Lobby, and Ashley Furniture will close but no confirmations…..Liquor Stores did fine the holiday!....New barbecue restaurant searching hard for location in Danville……Danville needs a full service computer store……..1,700 acres bought on SR 863 at state line can only mean a BIG plant, keep your fingers crossed, rumor has it to be a Volkswagon or Toyota hybrid plant…….New brick company set to come to Pittsylvania area……Employment office and WIA office set to merge in a new location…..First Citizens has plans to move bank to Piney Forest and NorDan…..big plans for the Davis headquarters building on Bridge St, said to be a hotel and high end coffee shop….. Danville needs a good coffee shop on Riverside Drive…….Sheetz poking around 58 East area for location……Rumor of US Government data processing center on Memorial Drive…..another one planned for the old Value City site………New trendy fashion store to come to Riverside Drive area……Norris Funeral home building new facility on 58 West next to cemetery at Church Ave……..DanView Restaurant smoke free after January 1, expect to see more eating places to follow…..Oyster house restaurant set to open on Westover Drive……Electronics store downtown closes…..Bogies Burgers opens in old McDonalds restaurant in Ballou Park….Flurry of activity in old Rax’s Restaurant on Riverside, any ideas?.....Kohls rumored for old Boscov’s space……..Can’t we get a good bookstore besides one in mall?.........What kind of store would you like to see in Danville. Respond to savetheschools2@aol.com by January 20 and the ideas will be printed! Till next time…………
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