C. J. Huff in his own words- From tornado to bond issue, obsessed with his image

E-mails sent from Joplin R-8 Superintendent C. J. Huff to his staff in the days following the May 22, 2011, Joplin Tornado through the passage of the bond issue in April of the following year show an obsession with image and control of the message, whether it be about the tornado, the bond issue, travel expenditures, or a lawsuit filed by an Atlanta company against the school district.

The e-mails also raise questions once again about the need for the destruction of the original East Middle School building and blame design changes made solely for appearance as a reason for increasing costs for the new East.

The concern for appearances is also spelled out by two e-mails sent by officials other than Huff that begin this post. The first, from his former Assistant Superintendent Angie Besendorfer five weeks before the tornado, lets faculty know that even though students would not have to make up three snow days, the faculty would be required to attend three days of professional development so the taxpayers could get their money's worth. In the final paragraph of the e-mail, Besendorfer is clearly excited by the idea that the media would provide heavy coverage since Joplin was the only school district that was having its teachers make up the days.

The second e-mail, from Traci House five days after the tornado follows up on the warning C. J. Huff sent by a recorded message to teachers three days earlier- if you talk to the media, you are guilty of insubordination and you will be fired.

The rest of the e-mails are from Huff.

(From April 11, 2011- The Joplin R-8 School District and others in the area had missed so many school days, that three of them were forgiven, meaning the students did not have to attend classes. Administration decided, in a departure from all other area school districts that teachers would have to attend training to make up those days. In the last paragraph of this message, Angie Besendorfer reveals how she planned on turning this into a media event. As it turned out, teachers never had to attend the professional development days because of the Joplin Tornado.)

I wanted to take a moment to provide some information about the ending to the 2010-2011 school year.  I'm sure you are aware that with the snow days students have been forgiven three days of school.  Therefore, the final day for students will be a half day early release on Friday, June 3rd.

Im sure you are aware by now that teachers will be completing the final three contract days after students are finished with their year.  Additionally, we are working on optional ways that classified staff can earn pay for the three days they missed as well. Those plans are still in development

We want all teachers to know that our final three days are scheduled for June 6, 7 and 8.  On June 6 and 7, we will be hosting a conference brought to you by Joplin Schools and community.  The conference is titled 21st Century NOW! A Global Thinking Conference.  We will have speakers from the International Center on Leadership in Education on these two days.  We are confident you will find this professional development opportunity worthwhile as we plan for the future.  Be looking for additional details as we get closer to June.  The final day, June 8th, will be reserved for building level activities.  Certified staff will be expected to attend like any other normal work day.  Regular board policies will apply in relation to personal leave.

Additionally, support staff who missed work days will be provided the option for special assignments either in professional development or special cleaning assignments based on their normal work day.  Due to the various roles within our classified staff, we will be communicating with subgroups about your options for participation in the additional work time.  These plans are still under development so please be patient with us as we work to make the best options possible.

We do plan to have media and fanfare with our final three days celebrating the fact that Joplin staff work harder so that our students can be more successful.  Thank you for all you do for our kids!

Angie

Dr. Angie Besendorfer

Assistant Superintendent

Joplin Schools

***

(Two days after the Joplin Tornado, R-8 teachers were greeted by a recorded message from C. J. Huff warning us that if we talked to the media without permission it would be considered insubordination and we could be fired. Another district official repeated that message in this e-mail from May 27, 2011. At this point, the only messages we had received from administration had been warnings about talking to the media. These came at a time when employees were more worried about their homes, their friends, and their neighbors )

Per Dr. Huff:

We have reports of district employees continuing to talk to/give interviews to media. ALL MEDIA COMMUNICATION MUST BE DIRECTED TO KIM VANN, WHO IS CURRENTLY LOCATED AT NORTH MIDDLE SCHOOL. NO EXCEPTIONS.

Traci D. House

Director of Technology

Joplin Schools

***

(From June 12, 2011)

Just wanted to take a moment and thank everyone for your resiliency and commitment to the Joplin Schools these past 22 days. I know this has been a trying time for everyone. We have all been impacted in our personal and professional lives in some way. My thoughts and prayers are with each of you.

A few quick notes...

Operation Rising Eagle is in full swing. As you have heard, we have identified locations to have school this next year. (You can find this information on our web-site) Finding locations that could house 4,200 displaced students in such a short time was quite a challenge. I'd like to thank Dr. Besendorfer for her diligence in making sure our kids have a place to call "their school" this fall. We are still in the process of finalizing lease agreements, but all parties we have been working with have been sensitive to our needs. Construction work has begun on all sites as we prepare for school in just a couple months. Additionally we are working closely with FEMA and the Army Corp of Engineers to secure and place modular classrooms on various school sites across the district.

For those of you that were unable to attend the faculty/staff meeting last Wednesday we will be meeting again this Wednesday at Memorial Education Center at 10:30. I'll give you an update on where we are, the progress we have made, and upcoming challenges. I'll also take the time to answer questions as well. I'd estimate we had roughly 150-200 at the last meeting. This Wednesday we will also be distributing Joplin Schools t-shirts to those in attendance. It's important to keep you informed as I'm sure there are lots of questions in the community...especially among parents.

For those of you who lost your classrooms to the storm, Bright Futures has initiated an "Adopt-A-Classroom" program to help you back up on your feet. Educators and individuals from across the nation are wanting to help and the Adopt-A-Classroom program is going to make that happen. If you would like to receive some assistance through this program, please contact kvann@joplin.k12.mo.us to sign up.

As we wrap up securing the space for school and as construction begins, we are shifting our focus towards equiping those classrooms and preparing for the start of school. One thing to keep in mind is that we are on a VERY tight time schedule. For those classrooms/schools being relocated, there is going to no doubt be a MAJOR push the last few days of school. We are going to be seeking volunteers to help us out. If you are one of those people who have your classroom ready to go by August 1st and would like to volunteer some time helping a fellow educator who is making a move, stay tuned. We will get information to you soon. The last week or so it is going to come down to manpower as to whether or not we are ready to go on August 17th. We will enlist other volunteer organizations in this effort as well.

Donations continue to come to our district in support of our children, teachers, staff, programs, and facilities. We are committed to making sure that the funds that are donated are designated to the program/facility chosen by the doner. This is a big task given the shear volume of donations that are coming to us in the form of cash, check, supplies, equipment, personnel, etc.

As far as the rebuilding process is concerned we are also beginning to shift our focus towards new construction. Prior to May 22nd we were in the beginning phases of selecting architects, engineers, and construction managers for the development of a long-range facilities plan for the construction, renovations, and new additions at the elementary and high school level. Certainly post tornado those plans have changed a bit, but we are beginning to move forward with developing the design and construction team for these projects. As I'm sure you understand, rebuilding is going to be a long process. We get one chance to do this right. Depending upon when we settle with the insurance company, we could see new construction beginning as early as late winter or early spring.

Summer school starts tomorrow. I'm so excited to have the kids back in school...have missed them dearly. Thank you to those of you who are teaching and leading summer school this year. If a parent asks if their child can still sign-up, the answer is YES! We have also extended summer school through the last Friday in July to help our families get back up on their feet, give our kids an opportunity to play with their friends in a safe environment, and to give us the opportunity to begin accessing the emotional well-being of our children.

Again, I hope all of you are recovering from the losses we have suffered. Just know that if you need any help, we are here to support you as well as we do our part to rebuild our community. I'm worried about our kids, but I'm also worried about each of you. Let us know if you need anything.

For our kids,

CJ

***

(From Sept. 20, 2011)

Just wanted to give a quick update on how negotiations are progressing around the old JHS. At the end of last week there were four owners with whom negotiations had stalled, today there are two. Eminent domain has only been initiated in one case, that being the property where the home was being built on Iowa. Since that time, I have been in direct contact with the owner and have no doubt we will be coming to closure in the very near future. The owner has been very willing to work with us now that they understand the overview of our plans related to the property purchased to date in the area. That is good news and a conversation that may not have happened had we not begun the first step in the process of eminent domain...that being the opening of a 60 day window for negotiations to continue. Although eminent domain has not been filed on the two properties remaining, I can not be certain as to how negotiations will progress in the next week. Our goal of negotiating a fair and reasonable price for properties has been successfully achieved with nearly 90% of the property owners in that area. No small feat in a normal market.

The schools use of eminent domain will continue to be a topic of discussion in the community as long as we continue to purchase property. My personal fear is that people will forget our losses within the scope of the discussions and lose sight of what we are trying to accomplish as a result of the attention being focused away from the real issue. That being that this morning we will have around 3,200 kids who will walk into the doors of their temporary school. 2,500+ of these kids belong to Joplin High School and FTC that is now split into three campuses. Although I'm proud of what we have been able to provide our kids in the way of quality temporary facilities, it is certainly not a permanent solution that is acceptable for our children long term. I don't see a problem in rebuilding our middle school and elementary schools on time. JHS/FTC is a different situation all together. Every day we are delayed in our ability to begin developing site plans for that campus is another day we don't have to get the facility constructed. We move into new schools in the summer or over Christmas break. In my opinion, JHS/FTC may be too big to move in to over a Christmas break. It would certainly be a logistical challenge. If we don't get moving soon, starting school in August 2014 will become an impossible deadline to hit. The next possible date would be January 2015 then August 2015.

Today we are working on a fact sheet to help people understand the eminent domain process and the details surrounding our particular issue. Hopefully that will help. I'm also meeting with various community members and school personnel over the next few days to update them on our progress and future plans. Additionally, the information that was sent to you via e-mail last Friday will be posted on our district home page. Communication is key and we will continue to keep you informed.

I just ask that everyone do your part to keep the focus of this issue where it belongs...on our kids and doing right by them. If you feel there are questions that need answered that would help you explain what is going on or would help people understand what we are trying to accomplish, I'd appreciate the feedback. Thanks so much for all you do...we continue to look forward.

For our kids,

CJ

***

(From January 12, 2012)

FYI. The Joplin Globe is running a story on travel expenditures related to the investigative trips we have taken to various schools across the country. As an aside, I expected this to be an issue at some point, so my early directives were to obviously be frugal and hit as many schools as possible to collect the information we needed on each trip. To say the trips have been beneficial would be an understatement as we put together our plans. The link to the initial article is below, but I expect a larger article in the very near future. All total we have spent about $15,000 to send 66 parents, community members, staff, and administration to 22 different school sites in 8 states. These were obviously working site visits with little down time. In a nutshell, we are about to spend in excess of $150 million in new construction to get our schools back on line. Neither you or I would by a car without "kicking the tires" and we certainly aren't going to build new schools without walking the halls and talking to the end users in districts who have had the opportunity to experience new design methods. We will continue to be frugal and continue to research best practices in design and construction as we work to get our 3,200 kids who are in temporary schools back in to permanent buildings by no later than August 2014. You just need to be aware so you can have educated conversations with people in the community if the question comes up. Thanks...and let me know if you have questions or hear anything you think I need to know. CJ

http://www.joplinglobe.com/local/x2145132115/District-sends-faculty-administrators-on-site-visits

C.J. Huff, EdD

Superintendent

Joplin Schools

***

(From Jan. 27, 2012)

Dear Fellow Educators,

This e-mail is lengthy. I'd ask that, if you don't have the time to read it fully now, you would save it and spend some time reading it later. Never in the history of our district has there been a more critical period of time than right now. Over the next few weeks and months, we will be educating our community on the complex issues surrounding the funding of our rebuild efforts. Without question, we will need some level of community support in the form of a bond issue to bring us back to a pre-storm condition. I cannot put into words the complex nature of our rebuild process related to state and federal aide that is available to support our efforts. We are wading through the rules and regulations and are working diligently to fulfill our promise to rebuild our schools.

I am going to keep my comments here as simple as possible so you can best explain the district's situation as you talk to friends, neighbors, and families who may have questions. I've had enough feedback from the community that I believe I have a clear picture of the concerns that are floating around out there.

1. Donations.

There is a perception that we have received all the money we need to rebuild our schools through donations. We have been our own worst enemy in creating this perception by doing the right thing – publicly thanking our donors. The majority of the funds we have received to date ($4.3 million total) are earmarked by donors for programs to directly help our children, families, and/or staff to take care of basic needs and to provide additional financial support to the uninsured or underinsured members of our school family. In short, we made the decision early on to take care of people before buildings. We have done and continue to do everything we can to support every member of our school family who was impacted by the storm. Second, a significant amount of funding was secured to support teachers and students in the classroom through the adopt-a-classroom and adopt-an-eagle projects. Third, the United Arab Emirates donated $1 million that was matched by another $500,000 for the implementation of the 1:1 initiative at JHS. So, to put it in perspective, of the $4.3 million we have received, around $750,000 has been donated for reconstruction of new facilities. Further, to honor every donor, we thank them in various ways...one of the most popular being press releases that attract local media coverage including print, radio, TV, and social media. We highlight the donors in a positive way, which is the right thing to do, but it creates the perception that we have generated 10's of millions of dollars in donations. We will continue to honor our donors appropriately regardless of this perception.

2. Insurance.

This is where it starts to get complicated. We had OUTSTANDING insurance coverage on our buildings. We had a $5,000 deductible for the entire loss, and I feel very good about our settlement. This should be finalized within the next few weeks with the exception of the contents side of the loss. Obviously when you are negotiating the number of paperclips vs. the value of a building, it becomes a little more tedious, but we are getting close.

I'm going to give an example in the next section that combines the complexity of insurance with the FEMA/SEMA funding that will illustrate the complexity as it relates to East Middle School and the rebuild. But first, let’s focus on insurance. What you need to know is that insurance will pay to build back what we had previously. This is an important point when you talk specifically about JHS and FTC. JHS was a 226,000 sq. ft. facility that was much too small to serve the 2,200 students housed in that building. The rooms were small and the hallways narrow. I'm sure our JHS staff can give you a clear picture of the space challenges. To serve our current student population at JHS we must rebuild bigger. We are combining JHS/FTC and constructing a modern 450,000 sq. ft. facility to accommodate current enrollment and future growth. It is going to be a wonderful facility when it is complete. The estimated cost of construction will be roughly $200 per sq/ft., which is very much in line with the local construction market related to high school construction. It will look great, but it will not have gold-plated doorknobs. Again, insurance will pay to build back what we had...a 226,000 sq. ft., 1957-model building with consideration to the additions, mechanical systems, etc. This is far short of what we need (notice I didn't say want) in the way of a 21st Century school, so the difference will have to be made up somewhere. In addition, insurance does not cover the remediation of the 65 acres of grounds, fields, and outbuildings district-wide. This is, in part, where the bond issue will come into play. We need to do this right the first time and we need to do it now.

3. FEMA/SEMA. (Federal Emergency Management Agency and State Emergency Management Agency)

There are disaster funds available to help with rebuilding. It’s complicated, so bear with me. I am going to weave a little insurance into this to help illustrate the challenge that can be applied, to a degree, at each site. I'm going to use the rebuild of East Middle School as an example.

East Middle School took a direct hit...two-year-old building that cost $18.5 million to build. Is East repairable...yes. It was 70% destroyed and our insurance settlement on the facility was around $15.5 million. That is what insurance will pay. That is the easy part. Now for FEMA. FEMA looks at the building and says it was over 50% destroyed. And because it meets their 50% rule, in their eyes, it is totaled. Therefore FEMA gives us the opportunity to partner with them for a complete reconstruction. This partnership is basically a 75/25 percent cost share for the DIFFERENCE between what the insurance company paid ($15.5 million) and what FEMA estimates it will cost to rebuild with FEMA picking 75% of that part of the bill and the Joplin Schools picking up 25%. If you get the opportunity to drive by East, take a look at the brick repair (same brick, same brick layer that built the building) on the east side of the building...can't miss it...I think that will clarify why we are taking the opportunity to start over. We are going to be out some local funds to rebuild it. Additionally, we are taking advantage of available SEMA funds to construct a community safe room on that site...again a 75/25 percent cost share. So again, the district will need to come up with the 25% match, but we gain sq. footage and the state picks up 75% of the cost. In fact, we are planning on building Community Safe Rooms at multiple sites across the district using this 75/25 percent cost arrangement.

Lastly, the Joplin Schools did its due diligence to get a sense of community support for a possible bond issue. A scientific phone survey with a + or - 5% standard of error was conducted to get a sense of where our community stood on various projects. Keeping in mind that you can't get 100% of people to agree the sky is blue, the response was overwhelming supportive of our efforts....with a worst-case scenario tax increase, we had 66% approval (apply the + or - 5% and that puts us between 61% and 71%), which is OUTSTANDING. You should be very proud of the work you have done to garner that kind of support from our community. You are going to hear some negativity, but I know the support is there.

If there are three key pieces people need to know it would be these...

1. Insurance will pay to build back what we had but not what we NEED. East and JHS are good examples of this.

2. The district is currently seeking additional funding sources through donations, FEMA/SEMA, zero interest bonds (QZAB), CDBG (Community Development Block Grants) funding, Economic Development Administration and others to complete the projects, offset costs, and minimize taxpayer burden.

And the most important point that I sometimes fear people forget....

3. We currently have more than 3,200 kids in temporary facilities and are paying annual leases in excess of $2 million to provide the temporary facilities we need for our kids and staff.

Let us not forget...

•       Our East kids and staff are in an industrial park.

•       Half of our JHS kids and staff are in a mall and the other half are in an old middle school. The voters already said they wanted our middle school kids out of that school in the election of April 2007.

•       Our Irving kids and staff are in a elementary school that was "moth balled" and was being considered for demolition.

•       We have children and staff in trailers everywhere.

                ...just to name a few.

Right now my leadership team and Board of Education are sorting through the complexities of the various funding streams that are available. We know we need some support, we just don't know how much. The $62 million being reported in the media was a worst-case scenario we developed for school board and community consumption back in December. We have several questions posed to various agencies and are awaiting answers that will clarify what we can and cannot do.

I apologize for the length of this e-mail. Hopefully it brings some clarity to the challenges and opportunities. At the end of the day, I intend to fulfill my promise to you and this community that we will rebuild better than we were before. We will get out in front on this issue in the community when we have a crystal clear understanding of how the funding is going to work out. As we have in the past, we will work hard to make sure you armed with accurate information before anything comes out in the press.

I would appreciate greatly any feedback you receive from the community or any questions you may have yourself. We have a lot to figure out and your thoughts are appreciated more than you know.

Thanks for all you do.

CJ

***

(From Feb. 6, 2012)

FYI. The Joplin Globe is running a story on travel expenditures related to the investigative trips we have taken to various schools across the country. As an aside, I expected this to be an issue at some point, so my early directives were to obviously be frugal and hit as many schools as possible to collect the information we needed on each trip. To say the trips have been beneficial would be an understatement as we put together our plans. The link to the initial article is below, but I expect a larger article in the very near future. All total we have spent about $15,000 to send 66 parents, community members, staff, and administration to 22 different school sites in 8 states. These were obviously working site visits with little down time. In a nutshell, we are about to spend in excess of $150 million in new construction to get our schools back on line. Neither you or I would by a car without "kicking the tires" and we certainly aren't going to build new schools without walking the halls and talking to the end users in districts who have had the opportunity to experience new design methods. We will continue to be frugal and continue to research best practices in design and construction as we work to get our 3,200 kids who are in temporary schools back in to permanent buildings by no later than August 2014. You just need to be aware so you can have educated conversations with people in the community if the question comes up. Thanks...and let me know if you have questions or hear anything you think I need to know. CJ

http://www.joplinglobe.com/local/x2145132115/District-sends-faculty-administrators-on-site-visits

C.J. Huff, EdD

Superintendent

Joplin Schools

(From Feb. 14, 2012)

Just want to say thank for the questions that have come in so far regarding the April 3rd Bond Issue. One that I need your help with is regarding what is being referred to as a "water feature" on the new JHS campus. In the JHS/FTC site design presentation presented to the Board of Education there was a slide that showed what appears to be a creek running through the JHS campus. Some are citing this creek as an example of wasteful spending. The reality is that "creek" represents natural storm water run off that has been an issue at JHS/FTC for years. You will recall that prior to the storm the city and school district were looking at improving storm water drainage in the area between 24th street and 20th street. The solution at that time was an expensive underground concrete box culvert storm sewer system to address the issue. Since the storm, a more reasonable solution is to work with the natural flow of the storm water as a part of the site design. The end result will be a much cheaper solution to a long standing problem and a visual enhancement to the property itself. If you haven't seen the site drawing and the proposed "creek" it is attached. Please keep the good questions coming. CJ

C.J. Huff, EdD

Superintendent

Joplin Schools

(From Feb. 14, 2012)

Dear Educators,

Just wanted to give you a quick update on the week's progress related to our rebuild efforts. It was a busy one, but productive.

We continue to work closely with FEMA/SEMA to maximize disaster funding to aide in the construction of our new schools. We have a great relationship with these disaster support agencies and hope to find additional solutions to help in our recovery efforts. This week I had the opportunity to meet with top aides from the White House. They were very impressed with our progress to date and were attentive listeners as I expressed some of our district's immediate needs to keep us moving forward.

The big news of the week is the Board of Education's initial approval of the new Joplin High School/Franklin Tech site plan. I know many of you have worked MANY hours and have spent time away from family on research missions to help put our vision for teaching and learning on paper. To all of you...JOB WELL DONE!

Last night was a busy night in the Joplin Schools. You may have seen on the front page of the Globe this morning that the site plan and vision of the new JHS/FTC was well received at our first community meeting last night. Additionally, a grassroots committee met last night to discuss a comprehensive community campaign to get the word out regarding our building plans related to the April 3rd ballot initiative. Logan Stanley and Lynda Banwart have graciously volunteered to serve as co-chairs of this committee and will be leading the campaign effort. They are good people and are passionate supporters of our vision for the future of our kids. A third meeting was held last night at the City of Joplin to discuss street closures around the expanded JHS/FTC campus. Adjustments to that plan have been made in accordance to patron feedback and are moving forward towards approval by the City Council.

As far as the bond issue is concerned, I feel we are in a good place. We've been transparent in our intentions and people are asking good questions that we can answer between now and April 3rd. As a district, we will be putting out more information in print and electronically in the coming weeks to help in that effort. Stay tuned.

In closing, I want all of us to keep in mind how hard we have all worked to make good things happen for our children under the most stressful of circumstances. When I am in the community I brag on you and the positive spirit you bring with you each day in spite of the personal challenges we face daily. As fast as this year has gone, I am tired and I know you are too. As much as we try at the central office to show you how much we care for you and appreciate what you do, it will never be enough. Each week I meet with my leadership team to discuss critical issues and work together to problem solve challenges. You might be surprised to know that there are two agenda items that are constant. First, we start every meeting with celebrations...hope you all do this too at your grade level, department, and building meetings. It's just a healthy thing to do. Then we get straight to the heart of the agenda and we talk about what we can do to better take care of our children and our staff. I tell you this because I want you to know that there are going to be distractions in the coming weeks and months. At the end of the day the only thing that really matters to myself, my team, and your Board of Education are the people we serve. The April 3rd bond issue is about taking care of you and our children - it's not about the buildings. In the very near future we will be holding a number of faculty/staff meetings to give all of our Joplin Schools Educators that 30,000 foot view of the vision of our rebuild efforts. Please make it a priority to attend one of those meetings. As I have said many times, all of you are the greatest ambassadors we have to our community and I want you to be well informed so you can continue to answer the questions that I know you are hearing. As you all know, we didn't start this, but it is up to all of us to finish it.

As always, if you have any questions or thoughts, please don't hesitate to call or e-mail me directly.

For our kids,

CJ

***

(From March 2, 2012)

Just a quick update. Things are going well as we continue to educate our community on the issue. Over this past weekend, the Joplin Area Chamber of Commerce voted to endorse the bond request and publicly support our effort. Attached is a letter from Rob O'Brian, Chamber President, outlining the rationale for the endorsement. It is a quick read, but again provides each of you with talking points as you are out in the community related to tax rates and the perception of the business community. I'd also like to remind you of a very important date. March 7th is the last day to register to vote...that is next Wednesday. All of our secretaries can get you registered if you are not currently registered.

Our web-site is constantly updated, so it is a great resource for Q&A related to the bond request.

A question I'm getting asked more and more frequently is the increased cost of the rebuild of East Middle School. Talking points include...

1. It was bid for construction in 2008...labor and material costs are higher now.

2. The estimated cost of the rebuild is a FEMA estimate...it may or may not be correct. We will not know what the actual cost of rebuild is until we bid the project.

3. We have increased square footage slightly to accomodate for design concepts which encourage student/staff collaboration.

Sounds like the issue over donations is starting to fade as is the "creek"/storm drain issue at JHS. You all have done a very nice job of getting facts out to our community. Thank you greatly for your help.

At this time we are spending a great deal of time educating parents and community. This week we held seven parent/community education events. Next week we have eleven. New flyers are being sent home to students again this week...the topic is on the financial side of the bond request. Additionally, a new video related to 21st Century teaching and learning opportunities our new schools will provide our kids will be dispersed via the web.

As always, let me know if you are hearing anything you believe may need to be addressed. Thanks for all you do! Spring break is just around the corner...hang in there! CJ

C.J. Huff, EdD

Superintendent

Joplin Schools

***

(From April 3, 2012)

Happy Eagle Pride Day! Just a reminder to get out and vote today. Polls are open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Try to get 10 friends to go with you!

An example of how important your vote is to our kids...we only won the April 2007 election for the three new middle schools by 141 votes.

A win today means we will be having another Eagle Pride Day tomorrow!!

We will send out an official message via e-mail and facebook this evening as soon as the results are released...expect results by 8:30 but could be as late as 10 p.m. Stay tuned! We will update you as the evening progresses.

CJ

***

I've said it before and I'll say it again. I get a lot of credit for work I don't do. I just want to say thank you for serving as such great ambassadors to our community these past few years and particularly these past few months and months. We won last night by a narrow margin (UNOFFICIAL results attached)...it would not have been possible without the support of all of you and your good work in the community. On behalf of our kids, thanks for your perserverance and effort.

Today the Board, my leadership team, and I will be spending time reflecting on the last four years and taking a hard look at the future. I have no doubt there will be some media coverage on the meeting, but am excited about the opportunity to take stock of our current reality and to begin looking forward. We will take what we have learned from the last four years, what we have learned since May 22nd, and see what we can do to provide a better quality education system for our kids and a better workplace for you. Stay tuned.

In other news, you will also be hearing rumblings about a lawsuit that has evidently been filed against the district by Urban Metro Development who is responsible for the demolition of JHS. We were just made aware last night after 7 p.m. that a suit had been filed in Federal court. Not sure what the allegations are, but I can speculate. Bottom line is there is a lot of "saber rattling" going on between us and them right now as they have slowed the demo work significantly. That has us concerned. Sometimes lawsuits are filed as an effort to position an entity for public perception and/or bullying purposes to try to get what they want. Our position will be to take the high road regardless. Our only motive is to get the work complete so we can hit our 2014 completion date for JHS/FTC. Their motive is profit. I will keep you up to speed as things progress with this issue.

Thanks for all you do!

CJ

C.J. Huff, EdD

Superintendent

Joplin Schools

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