Friday, December 12, 2014

Joplin R-8 to pay nearly $100,000 to correct JHS seat colors

They made the mistake; we are the ones who are going to pay for it.

One of the major complaints about the new state-of-the-art Joplin High School has been the choice of  colors for the seats in the gymnasium.

When the C. J. Huff Administration selected the colors, for some reason, they neglected to use the Joplin school colors.

That problem will be handled following Tuesday night's Joplin R-8 Board of Education, but at a cost of nearly $100,000 in taxpayer money.

You also will not hear the matter discussed during the televised portion of the board meeting or during the work session. The item, referred to in the board agenda as "Change Management #254- Bid Package #120- Gym Seating," is part of the board's consent agenda, meaning the board will vote on it along with several other items without discussion.

Carroll Seating will do the work at a cost of $95,206.17, according to board documents.

The reason the changes need to be made, according to the document is "colors of gym seats provided were deemed unacceptable."

The document does not indicate by whom it was deemed unacceptable nor how the C. J. Huff Administration allowed their citadel of 21st Century education to feature a Jumbotron-type device, but not have the school colors.

The money for the change in seating colors will be taken from the 2014-2015 Capital Outlay Budget, according to the document, which was signed off on by Building Program Director Mike Johnson and Superintendent C. J. Huff.

















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29 comments:

Anonymous said...

That's because Mike Johnson signed off without reading the papers well enough to know what was going on.

Anonymous said...

Here's hoping they get rid of that butt ugly brown color on the walls while they're at it. Good gawd what an ugly mess. good job, r8. good job.

Anonymous said...

I heard Anne Sharp say on a tour that the design team did that on purpose so that the school colors wouldn't be overwhelming. I'm guessing that was their goal all over that building, because theres hardly a hint of cardinal red or navy around there. Just awful and gaudy colors everywhere you turn. Hideous. Bite the bullet and repaint the whole thing, and take the money out of CJ's pocket. And Anne's. And anyone else who had a part in this. Give us our old school back. It was good enough for most of Joplin to graduate from, and it looked a heck of a lot better than those colors.

Anonymous said...

And then there's the cost of redoing the floor so the baskets and stripes meet up straight. What's that going to cost and who is paying for that?

Anonymous said...

You might wanna be asking how much it's gonna cost to rewire FTC and the tech classes. And ventilate them. That won't be a cheap fix. I'm guessing the cost for that will be passed onto the taxpayers. Kinda wondering what else is wrong we don't even know about yet and when it'll stop.

Anonymous said...

This is totally unacceptable! We, as taxpayers, have paid for those seats once. Now they want us to pay for the replacement ones?? This is insanity on the part of the district. Since no one will hear about this during the school board meeting, it's another cover-up. In other words, business as usual for R8 land. I'll bet this information of needless waste does not even show up in the Globe. If Mike Johnson and CJ had been doing their jobs when the high school was under cinstruction, they would have immediately seen that the wrong colors were being installed. It could have been halted right then, with only replacing maybe a few seats, at most. But NO. Let's install them all, knowing full well that they were wrong. The JHS teachers knew the seating was wrong when they toured the school, but their comments went unheeded. I used to teach for this district, but after continuous waste of taxpayer money under this poor excuse of an administration, I guarantee I will NEVER vote for another school district bond issue. You are NOT good stewards of OUR money.

Anonymous said...

Mission Accomplished?

Anonymous said...

Who knew Riverton had such a big gym!

Anonymous said...

Take the seats out and put them at the blasters ball field for a fee say $95,000

Anonymous said...

If there were competent people over seeing this construction, this would not have happened. So the taxpayer is the one to pay for the dimwitted decisions this board and administration make. The Joplin school district has become the laughingstock of the area.

Anonymous said...

That's just plywood, they are hanging murals there. May have already done it.

Anonymous said...

Overseeing this construction is the job that was tailor made for Johnson
after he was temporarily shifted away from BGT where he also failed miserably. I would love to see the pictures he has on CJ or the BOE. On second thought, maybe I would not.

Anonymous said...

If this was Celebrity Apprentice, the Project Manager in charge of this would be FIRED !

No excuses, no blame game, no room for $100,000 mistakes.

FIRED

Anonymous said...

They waste and spend, spend and waste, meanwhile our kids do without. 40+ handicap buttons in the JHS/FTC buildings and not one of them are wired to operate. Let's talk about the tennis courts we HAD TO HAVE 4 MORE OF... They are 4' too narrow to ever have any state championship games on at our school. The ONLY thing the EIGHT tennis courts are good for is PE class!! How do you all like the newly constructed prison bars along the doorways?? Think about this for a moment...If the building were to catch fire, how do those gates open?? Do they open by a panic button from the inside or does someone have to open them with a key card, which requires being wired in to electricity. If the handicap buttons are not wired in what makes you think they will wire those gates or wire them properly??
That school contract was sold to the lowest bidder and built out of cardboard and plastic! By the time the third floor was reached, money was gone and the school was finished with toilet paper. It may be "pretty" for a minute, but in the long run, it will not last! The architect did not approve any of the changes to the school so anything, and I do mean any thing that goes wrong falls back on the individual contractors. How is that going to work out CJ??
While our athletes are being punished, and can't take trips they have EARNED, because the district says they "have no money to pay for it", we are paying for the narcissi's man of distinction dinner, the auction gifts he purchased with the school credit card, trips to Nashville for concerts and miles and miles of ribbon to NOWHERE!! Your karma will come one day Huff, oh yes it will, and I hope and pray it comes in the form of a 350 lb roommate named "Bubba" wearing orange!!!

Anonymous said...

It's all for the children!

Anonymous said...

Mark Cuban would be speechless. Right before he exploded!

Anonymous said...

So they're going to take it out of the capital outlay that their already taking money out of to pay back their loan from? Awesome. Way to go!

zev goldman said...

Do we know the monthly utility costs of the great white elephant or the annual cost of maintenance for the structure? Was there a utility audit performed prior to construction of the school? Remember, we are dealing with nearly half a million square feet of space.

Anonymous said...

Could they at least say "we are sorry-- we know we made a mistake" instead of making up silly excuses!?!
Another bad example "for the kids" who are watching the bad behavior of these adults.
When you make a mistake, the best thing to do is apologize and try to make amends.
Common sense and good manners must have been blown away by the tornado.

Anonymous said...

The BOE could find the money by laying off Johnson, Doshier, Orem, Stevens...& etc. & etc.

Anonymous said...

When did Joplin's school colors become crimson & navy? Last time I checked it was crimson and gray. Its sad when I graduated from joplin and am happy I no longer live there

Anonymous said...

ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF CJ'S F~~K-UPS.

I WONDER HOW MANY OTHER DISTRICTS HAVE THIS MANY SCREW UPS.....I'M SURE THEY MAY, BUT NOT TO THE TUNE OF ANOTHER $100K..... THE AMOUNT JUST KEEPS GOING UP... WHEN WILL IT STOP...

THIS IS ANOTHER RAPE OF THE JOPLIN R-8 TAXPAYERS!!

Anonymous said...

What is the process needed to fire Huff? I'm not sure I've seen that explained. Maybe taxpayers can help it along.

Anonymous said...

VOTE!

Unknown said...

Who cares? No one will even see when butts are in the seats. What a waste

Anonymous said...

If genius Johnson would not have eliminated the painters in order to drive out the president of the union (The lead painter with almost thirty years in the district dared challenge MJ's BS), the seats could have been pprofessionally painted at a fraction of the cost, Our self-proclaimed expert in the building trades calls painting a "want to" not a "have to." His words. Paint is primarily a protectant, not a beautifier. If you have ever seen bare wood, metal, etc... you realize rot, rust, etc.., is inevitable.

Every professional that has dealt with this clown is astounded by his staggering ignorance, beligerant character, and baseless ego,

Do yourself a favor CJ, offer his "head" up to appease the taxpayers. It might buy you time you so desperately need.

Anonymous said...

Maybe Annie could just take 100 grand out of her trust fund, i am sure she would not even miss it

Anonymous said...

You just wait... They have more ideas up their sleeves. Tax payers better get ready.

Anonymous said...

Unbelievable. When JHS was at the mall the test scores were as high as they've ever been but we still had to spend $100M on a new high school. Why? Now this idiocy. When your property taxes jump, look back on this.