(This comment came through a few moments ago and I thought it well worth a post of its own. The reader is referring to last night's Turner Report post featuring a video of Joplin R-8 Superintendent C. J. Huff telling a St. Charles audience that Joplin was in bad shape when he arrived in 2008.)
The turnover is ridiculous and speaks for itself. Stapleton is where my children attend. As far as front office staff goes, this past year saw a new principal, assistant principal, counselor, and secretary. Indeed, last year's TLC replaced what was a good principal. The assistant and counselor that are gone were very good as well. Hard to be engaged when the people we trust and have built relationships with are replaced with kiss-up kick-down suits, not unlike Huff and his most loyal companions (Flowers, Besendorfer, Sexson, Johnson, etc.) - birds of a feather.
Some grades are comprised of almost entirely new teachers, some of them being fresh out of school (lower salaries, eh?). I am aware that even more will be leaving next year - including some of those first-year teachers.
Huff keeps spinning that B.S. What kind of ridiculousness is it that he refers to parents as disengaged but also made it harder for them to be involved at the board meetings, where decisions are made. Please note that we were engaged enough to give Debbie Fort more votes than any other candidate, and the guy who was Huff's Heinrich Himmler on the board (Flowers) got sent packing. There's a message there, should he choose to accept it.
It says everything that the guy calls himself a conservative but spends as if the coffers were not almost empty. That is consistent with the other self-contradictory opinions and actions. Blame others, accept no responsibility. "Why don't they love me?" blubber blubber.
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(It's a work of fiction, but No Child Left Alive tells the story of a dysfunctional high school in a school district run by a self-absorbed, publicity-hungry superintendent. With its tales of lack of discipline, an anything-goes mentality to get students graduated, whether they have earned it or not, and administrators running roughshod over teachers and saying that everything is "for the kids" it may have a familiar ring to it. The book is available at Amazon.)
11 comments:
This commentor has hit the nail on the head. CJ will not admit failure, so he does not self-correct. Hence, problems continue to grow until they cannot be fixed. It's ridiculous that this man is still in Jopiln. What school district keeps such a horrendous manager? The lack of student performance, the terrible financial crisis, and the loss of staff and low morale should be all it takes to fire him. The new board needs to have a plan in place immediately to remediate this situation, or they also will have to vacate. We voters made our voices heard and we will no longer be denied.
I saw Debbie Fort on the News saying we needed to fix serious problems at our established schools instead of building a New child care for now what has become 10-14 million! That's not what HUFF-N-PUFF says !!What is she thinking??? Did she come up with this on her own?? No cue cards provided by THE BOARD? Is she not a puppet? We voted to put her on the board and should have her back!
I'm already loving her common sense approach and for once looked at a board member without shaking my head and saying what I usually say! They must have a B.S. DEGREE or is that a degree in B.S.???
Debbie Fort definitely deserves our support and encouragement because I am sure it is not easy to be in a room with people who don't necessarily all want you there. I'm sure it would be nice now and then if you see her to just say thanks and tell her she's appreciated. Having encountered her a bit here and there (she's very busy!) I'm impressed at how hard she works and how much she does for her job, her family, and the community. It's also nice when you come across someone who is in a high-profile position that isn't one of those schmoozy smarmy political types, Fort is pretty straight-forward but also cares and tries to be encouraging to others. I wish I had even a portion of her energy.
They have enough empty building in the district if they chose to make a Early Childhood building. Why not just use one of them instead of building a brand new one?
I don't think this person actually understands that being a conservative DOES NOT mean being fiscally responsible. Conservatives love to spend as much money as possible on defense, big business, the oil companies, big banks, etc...
Actually 5:56, conservatives do generally maintain that fiscal responsibility is part of their platform. To the extent that there is a gap between ideals and practice, this is a reflection of individuals. Just as individual liberals tend to characterize themselves as socially progressive and tolerant but often end up being prone to generalizations such as yours when it comes to groups they don't agree with. When we get into that tit-for-tat stuff, there is plenty of hypocrisy on both sides.
I want to stress that here we are talking about Huff and his administration, which is a specific example. As Huff characterizes himself as a conservative, and because the conservative ideology tends to stress personal responsibility (generally understood to include fiscal), it is a worthy point of contention on this very narrow example, and one that we can all get behind whether we think of ourselves are conservative or liberal.
What is not helpful is leaning on these stale talking point generalizations that lead to people dividing and turning on each other when really they are more in agreement than not. For instance, you may agree with the criticisms of Huff, but if you start pulling this "all conservatives are bad" stuff, you are alienating people who would otherwise be on your side on this issue.
It doesn't even matter if your actual position is "all conservatives and all liberals are bad," because even then you would be representing yourself as the self-imagined independent wise man who is one of the few that sees things clearly. You'd be making the same mistake as every destructive belief system (political or religious) since the beginning of time, the mistake of thinking that you have all the answers. I assure you that anyone who places themselves in such high esteem almost certainly does not have all the answers. Those who build and unite are the ones well-remembered in the long run.
When Huff and Co. were selling the bond issue, the were already back pedaling on the long range plans. At first, Columbia and West Central were going to be taken care of but the closer it came to time to vote the more they said it probably wouldn't happen.
Teachers, principals and others who have cared for and worked hard for our kids have been driven away in droves. Sometimes quietly, sometimes in a ridiculously public way.
It's time to be and get real.
He has a three year contract that is renewed annually. Why does the board continue to do so? If he is fired, won't he still get paid for his entire contract? Fire him anyway.
You don't want to do that. Then you will be like the only school district in the area in more trouble than you are, Diamond. The incompetent school board took this approach and are now paying two people and the district is in an elevated state of chaos with teachers fleeing. If they simply do not extend his contract he will look to leave. You can't pay him over $400000 to go away. That is a lot of taxpayer money.
Extraordinary provisions in Susquehanna Schools superintendent contract aimed at controlling critics on the board
Pennsylvania, but wow.
I am also pleased to have Debbie Fort on the BOE. Finally, we have a school board member willing to be something more than another pathetic sheep following the flock led by CJ. I sincerely hope she will be able to withstand all the mud CJ and his followers will most certainly throw at her.
I may be the only person who doesn't want CJ fired just yet. I want him to be here when JHS/FTC eventually opens so he will have to face the backlash that I believe will come. CJ thought his 15 minutes of fame after the tornado would launch him into a higher position at the state or even federal level and he could be gone before all of his overspending, etc. was realized. He needs to stay just a little longer.
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