Among the bills listed for approval of the Joplin R-8 Board of Education when it meets at 7 p.m. today in the Memorial Administration Building is one for $44,529 to the Polsinelli law firm from Kansas City, which is representing the district in a lawsuit against the P1 Group, the Lenexa, Kansas, firm which handled the electrical work for the high school.
Expecting a lawsuit for unpaid bills, the district sued the P1 Group, which then countersued, claiming that it is owed more than $6 million for the overtime and increase in personnel needed to get the building open on time to meet former Superintendent C. J. Huff's timetable.
Some other interesting bills on the list for this month:
-$55 to pay for Bright Futures Donation Center coordinator Melissa Doura to join the Joplin Area Chamber of Commerce's Young Professionals Network
-$428.70 for Chik-Fil-A, $294.25 to McAlester's Deli, $279 to Orient Express, and $228.93 to the Red Onion Restaurant for lunches during the laptop checkout time at Joplin High School
-$265 to Fourth Street Bowl for a staff team builder
-$354.75 to Chicken Annie's listed under "supplies"
-$320 for a table at yet another Joplin Regional Business Journal awards dinner
-$15,495 to Simpson Sheet Metal for wave panels on a press box at Joplin High School
-$1,078.55 to cover Kelli Price's costs of attending the National School Public Relations Association meeting in Nashville.
-$660 to cover Kelli Price's membership dues and attendance at the fall conference of the Missouri State Public Relations Association Fall Conference November 5 and 6.
Paying $320 for a table at yet another Joplin Regional Business Journal awards dinner is a conflict of interest because the father of Joplin R-8 employee Whitney Warren is the publisher of the Joplin Regional Business Journal. The only way the Joplin Regional Business Journal is keeping its doors open is to sponsor these bogus "15 Under 40" awards.
ReplyDeleteWhy can't Bright Futures Donation Center coordinator Melissa Doura pay her own dues to join the Joplin Area Chamber of Commerce's Young Professionals Network? It's a personal membership, not a corporate membership.
Can no one in the district brown-bag a lunch during a computer check-out event/extravaganza?
ReplyDeleteI don't understand. Why do we need a PR person in a school district? And teachers pay their OWN dues to professional
ReplyDeleteorganizations. They don't have the school board pay it for them. I had hoped that a change in leadership would mean a
change in spending. I was obviously wrong. Very disheartening.
I thought all this was supposed to end when Huff resigned? Looks like the new guy isn't worth pitcher of warm spit.
ReplyDeleteTeachers not only pay their own dues for professional organizations, they often pay to attend conferences.
ReplyDeleteI thought all this was supposed to end when Huff resigned? Looks like the new guy isn't worth pitcher of warm spit.
ReplyDeleteI suppose it depends on whether he actually authorized these things in advance, or at the other end of the scale, if they're being added to people's files to finish building the case to fire them.
We'll see in due course.
What budget is Kelli Price's PR Conferences coming out of? These budget items are an affront to all certified staff who have to pay their own dues for membership in professional educational organizations and associations. If the district can't pay for all certified staff's professional memberships, it should not be paying for any classified staff's memberships. Kelli Price is a very nice person, but how is spending over $2000 on PR conferences going to improve student achievement? We see where the focus on PR approach has brought the district.
ReplyDelete