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C. J. Huff fires secretaries; spends $108 for cookies for departing administrator

When the C. J. Huff Administration began firing secretaries, bus drivers, and custodians at the end of the 2013-2014 school year in an effort to alleviate the financial crisis brought on by massive overspending, not only did it cut loyal employees without warning, but it also fought efforts by the former employees to get unemployment benefits

But when one of their own is the one who is leaving, not due to retirement after many years of loyal service or due to illness, but according to an e-mail she sent, she left to start her own business, well, that's a different matter.

According to a check listed in the board packet for the Joplin R-8 Board of Education for its July meeting, taxpayers paid $108 for cookies for a reception for Klista Rader, who was leaving after only a couple of years as director of technology and who had been with the district for 11 years.

Whether any other taxpayer money was spent on the reception was not clear, but at a time when teachers, secretaries, custodians, bus drivers, and others, the ones who are the heart and soul of a school district are being fired without as much as a thank you, you would have at least thought with that many highly-paid administrators in the bunker at 32nd and Duquesne, they could have taken up a collection and paid for the cookies.

And who says administrators can't bake cookies from time to time. They certainly have a lot of experience going through taxpayers' dough.

C. J. Huff to award-winner: I fired you, but please come to our fancy breakfast

Another of the events that Whitney Wright, the newly-minted events coordinator (at $50,000 a year) for the Joplin R-8 School District will likely handle will be the breakfast for the recipients of the Golden Eagle Awards (for top teachers) and the Golden Wing Awards (for the best support personnel), scheduled for August 19 in the Billingsley Student Center Ballroom at Missouri Southern State University.

Some of those recipients are no longer employed by the school district, including a Golden Eagle winner who left to get away from harassment in her building and at least one Golden Wing recipient who was fired in C. J. Huff's money-saving purge at the end of the 2013-2014 school year.

That Golden Wing recipient, Cheryl Burney, who had been a secretary at Joplin High School, wrote on Facebook tonight about receiving that invitation and her photo and message have been shared numerous times already. It is printed below:
I know better than to rant, but when I got this in the mail it just made me laugh, shake my head, and say "bless their hearts"(and if you are from the south, you know what that truly means.

 Last year, I was awarded with a Golden Wing award at JHS. A week after I was told I would no longer have a job, I was sent an email about what a great asset to the school I was and asking me to be recognized along with others at the school board meeting. I shook my head. 

Then, I hear about the $11,000 ribbon cutting they will have, which a few more dollars and that would have been my salary. First, I would have sold you a ribbon for half of that cost.

 Second, I guess I don't see how people donate to that when we have so many good charities to help our community, but it is not my money and to each his own. But if a school is already in debt......never mind I will stop with that thought.

 Also, I don't understand how people draw or live off of unemployment. They never sent one check and try to wear you down to give up and I am not the only person that lost a job that hasn't received money. So, honest workers, who pay taxes, and I immediately looked for a job, couldn't draw...hmmm. So, Friday in the mail I get an invitation to a breakfast for award winners. You fired me, remember? And I step off my soap box and say "bless your heart".

Obama inspired by C. J. Huff: We will secure our borders with a 600 1/2 mile ribbon

Top secret government documents obtained by the Turner Report indicate that well-known conservative (he has a pitchfork and a torch) C. J. Huff has inspired the solution to a problem that has been on the front pages of our country's newspapers and had led many of our national newscasts.

The following comes from a transcript of a conversation between President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden.

"Joe, I just had an interesting conversation with C. J. Huff."

"Who?"

"C. J. Huff from Joplin."

"I don't remember. Oh, wait, the one who cries."

"That's the one."

"What did he want?"

"He wants me to come to Joplin in October for the grand opening of the new high school."

"Are you going to go?" the vice president asked.

"I told him no and that did not go over very well."

"He cried?"

"Yes, and then he told me not to do it as a favor to him, but for the kids. So I asked him to tell me a little more about it. He said there will be a band, lots of speeches, and they may import kindergarten students to have their pictures taken with him."

"What good will that do?'

"He said it was a tradition and he didn't want to let the kids down."

"If I was in kindergarten, I would rather have a candy bar."

"Don't let Michelle hear you say that.'

The leader of the free world and his vice president laughed, then Obama said, "And they are going to have a six-and-a-half-mile ribbon to wrap around the school and go into the Guinness Book of World Records."

"What good will that do?"

"He says it was the kids' idea and he would do anything for the kids. That ribbon costs $11,500."

"He must be using the same contractors the Department of Defense uses."

"Joe, you don't suppose..."

"We could put a 600 1/2 mile ribbon along our southern border and solve the illegal immigration problem. That is a great idea, Mr. President."

"I was going to say we might stop by Kansas City and have some more barbecue, Joe, but I like your idea even better."

"Are you going to tell C. J. Huff about the ribbon?"

"Not a chance. You tell a conservative like C. J. that you are going to spend a lot of money on a ribbon and he is going to blow his top. And when he finds out we are going to be the ones listed in the Guinness Book of World Records. he may start crying again."

Huff Administration spends $50,000 for special project coordinator

With the possibility of President Obama coming to Joplin to see the six-and-a-half-mile ribbon, it became more important than ever for the Joplin R-8 School District and the C. J. Huff Administration to fill the special projects coordinator position.

So important that reportedly newly-hired Whitney Warren will earn in the neighborhood of $50,000 for a job that was advertised for $32,000.

The $50,000 expense comes at a time when the district has eliminated all of its part-time reading instructors, but then again, there are times when it seems like the Joplin R-8 School District has more special projects than reading taking place.

This was the original ad placed on the district website for the event coordinator:

Position:                      Special Projects Coordinator

Term:                          12 Month

Classification:             Classified/Exempt

Location:                     Administration

Qualifications:             Bachelor's Degree preferred;

                                    3-5 years related experience and/or training preferred

                                    Equivalent combination of education and experience

Skills/Behavioral Competencies

• Excellent communication skills; speaking, writing listening
• Superior organizational skills
• Strong analytical, detailed planning, and project management skills
• Ability to grasp concepts quickly, innovate, and think beyond traditional methods
• Curious and creative by nature
• Proactive, self-motivated, flexible and able to self-supervise/work independently
• Detail-oriented while maintaining sight of big picture
• Personal maturity and good judgment
• Strong work ethic
• Highest ethical and professional standards

Supervisory:               No

Reports to:                  Director of Communications & Community Development

Responsible for coordinating and executing a variety of project based administrative duties which require attention to detail, a proactive can-do attitude, and strong problem solving skills.

General Expectations:

• Supports the mission of Joplin Schools.
• Supports the value of education.
• Complies with the privacy rights of students.
• Safeguards confidential and/or sensitive information.
• Communicates effectively with all the members of the school district and community.
• Provides excellence in customer service both internally and externally.
• Reacts to change productively.
• Keeps abreast of new information, innovative ideas and techniques.
• Maintains accurate records and filing systems for accountability and audit purposes.
• Ensures that all activities conform to district and state guidelines.

Essential Functions:

• Demonstrates an ability to coordinate activities between departments and individuals to produce a desired result.
• Manage calendars, coordinate and schedule meetings.
• Provide project updates and share relevant information.
• Provide administrative and logistic support for all district project-based assignments.
• Assist with special projects and reports as needed.
• Schedule travel arrangements.
• Research various topics; summarize findings in writing and verbally.
• Organize and manage special events and meetings.
• Prepare event budget and manage event finances including check requests, invoicing, and reporting.
• Negotiate event discounts/advantages on behalf of the school district; identify cost-savings.
• Propose ideas to improve the project/event planning and implementation process.
• Solicit and secure sponsorships for events as needed.
• Carry out all other duties as assigned

Physical Demands

Level:  Light

• Occasional Lifting up to 25 pounds
• The individual who holds this position is regularly required to walk, hear and speak and must have close moderate and distance vision ability.  
• The individual must be able to travel between district facilities. The position requires a moderate amount of travel.

Attendance

Regular and consistent attendance is an essential function of this position. 

The work conditions and environment described here are representative of those that an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job.  Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions.

Conditions and Environment

The work environment is consistent with a typical office environment.

Note:  The statements herein are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by employees, and are not to be construed as an exhaustive list of responsibilities, duties, and skills required of personnel so classified.  Furthermore, they do not establish a contract for employment and are subject to change at the discretion of the employer.

Primary Location	ADMINISTRATION BUILDING
Salary Range	$32,000.00 / Per Year
Shift Type	Full-Time

Video- Obama weekly message: It's time for Congress to help middle class

C. J. Huff: Tornado-affected Joplin students will be "blown away" by new high school

In an interview with the Joplin Regional Business Journal, R-8 Superintendent C. J. Huff said students will be "blown away" by the new Joplin High School.

Apparently, the reporter who wrote the article also noted that unfortunate choice of words since "blown away' was set off in quotation marks.

"On the first day, I just hope our kids feel the love and support of our city, state, and nation, which made that new school possible," Huff told the Journal.

The interview was featured in the publication's July 21 issue.

(Note: As it turns out, I did not need to use my sources at 32nd and Duquesne to find out about the Huff Administration's contacts with the White House in an effort to bring President Barack Obama to Joplin for the ribbon-cutting in October. In the same article, Huff told the Journal he was in touch with the White House.)

Federal judge accepts Joplin man's guilty plea on tornado fraud charge

A federal judge accepted a Joplin man's guilty plea today on tornado fraud charges.

Sentencing will be scheduled at a later date for Fred Lewis Pickett Jr., 34, who entered his guilty plea July 16 in Springfield.

Pickett's crime was spelled out in a July 16 news release from the Department of Justice:



Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that a Joplin, Mo., man pleaded guilty in federal court today for fraudulently receiving federal disaster benefits following the tornado that struck the city of Joplin on May 22, 2011, killing 158 people and causing more than $2.9 billion in damage.

Fred Lewis Pickett, Jr., 34, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge David P. Rush to one count of disaster fraud.

By pleading guilty today, Pickett admitted that he fraudulently received disaster benefits by claiming that he relocated from one primary residence to another primary residence in Joplin because of damage from the tornado. To substantiate his claim of relocation, Pickett submitted several leases and rent receipts bearing the signature of his purported landlord, Dustin Showalter, 36, of Joplin.

On the basis of Pickett’s representations, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) authorized four rental assistance payments totaling $5,147. However, Pickett’s claim was false. Pickett did not relocate and Showalter was not his landlord. In fact, Showalter had been banned from the residence, which had been occupied by Showalter’s mother before she was relocated to a nursing home. Pickett and Showalter fabricated the documents Pickett used to substantiate his claim.

Showalter has pleaded guilty, in a separate case, to one count of disaster fraud. Showalter admitted that he committed disaster fraud by making false statements to FEMA in an application for disaster benefits. Showalter fraudulently received disaster benefits by claiming to have lived at a residence in Joplin at the time of the May 22, 2011, tornado, when in fact he did not live at that residence. On the basis of his application to FEMA, Showalter received $938 to which he was not entitled.

Under federal statutes, Pickett and Showalter are each subject to a sentence of up to 30 years in federal prison without parole, plus a fine up to $250,000 and an order of restitution. Sentencing hearings will be scheduled after the completion of presentence investigations by the United States Probation Office.


This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven M. Mohlhenrich. It was investigated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security – Office of Inspector General, the FBI and the Joplin, Mo., Police Department.

C. J. Huff to Barack Obama: Please come to our ribbon cutting

If Joplin R-8 Superintendent C. J. Huff has his way, a six-and-a-half-mile ribbon won't be the only big ticket item on tap for the October 3 ribbon cutting celebration and grand opening for the new Joplin High School/Franklin Technical Center.

The Turner Report has confirmed that the Huff Administration has been in touch with the White House and is attempting to get the president to make a follow-up trip to his appearance at the 2012 Joplin High School graduation held at Missouri Southern State University.

(In the accompanying video, C. J. Huff announces to staff that President Obama will speak at the 2012 Graduation ceremony.)