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.

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!

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"

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.

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….

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.”

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

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.