A positive message from a 20 year old

Amidst all of the bad news about our school administration, we need to keep in mind that we are raising a new generation. We need to keep their future at the forefront of all of our decisions and do whatever is necessary to keep their pathways clear. They deserve a solid education and the necessary tools to live as positive contributors to the future. This video reminds us that these kids are good and we need to lift them up -- every day.

But Wait! There's More!

This just in... Well, a couple of hours ago. An alert reader clued us in to the latest AJC report by Tim Eberly.

Moody's role in DeKalb construction case a twisting tale

A Lithonia construction company owner caught up in a DeKalb County criminal investigation into school construction projects heads a committee that oversees such projects, documents show.

David Moody, owner of C.D. Moody Construction Company, has been chairman of the Citizens Advisory Committee since August 2008 and has served on the committee since July 2008, documents show.

The committee monitors construction projects, primarily focusing on whether the projects are on time and under budget. The committee informs the DeKalb school board of any delays or overruns, but does not get directly involved in the projects.

School officials do not plan to remove Moody as the group’s chairman — no criminal charges have been filed against him — but some members of the oversight committee are questioning whether he should remain while the investigation continues.

Moody is one of three business owners or businesses being scrutinized by the DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office in its criminal investigation of the district’s former chief operating officer, Patricia Pope.

Authorities are probing whether Pope broke Georgia law by allegedly steering construction contracts to her husband, architect Tony Pope, Moody and a third company, Turner Construction, according to school district documents. In October, authorities searched the homes and offices of Moody and the Popes.

Pat Pope is friends with Moody and officials at Turner Construction, her husband has told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Moody, who declined to comment for this article, has worked on 19 DeKalb school construction projects since 2003, collecting nearly $40 million, documents show. All those projects had been completed by the time Moody joined the board, according to Garet Hayes, a public relations specialist who spoke to the AJC on Moody’s behalf.

Moody has previously said through Hayes that he is cooperating in the investigation.

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Click the link above for the rest of the story. And then, if you still have energy, come back and discuss your thoughts. (This is all wearing very, very thin.)

Georgia Education 2010: No money

From Maureen Downey's AJC blog, "Get Schooled"

I think this is a terrific post by Maureen. The intro goes like this:

Education 2010: No money. Zip. Nada. None. Go fish.
January 24, 2010, Maureen Downey

I was at the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education program for education writers most of Friday. Here is the message of the day in a single line:

THERE IS NO MONEY. NONE. NOT EVEN A DIME IN THE COUCH CUSHIONS.

Among the presenters: Kathy Cox, state school superintendent, Erin Hames, education policy director for the governor, Alan Essig of the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute and Herb Garrett of the Georgia Superintendents Association. The teacher of the year was there as were many state people and representatives of the state’s education groups. Without tax increases, Georgia schools will most certainly take considerable hits in the next two years. How deep is the financial hole at the state level? So deep, said Essig, that even wiping out 20 state agencies and the legislative branch and firing the 13,000 employees in those agencies wouldn’t plug it.

Click the "Get Schooled" link above to read Maureen's whole post at the AJC. We really do need to keep our eyes on what the state is up to. It's pretty scary for Georgia's schools.

Our Superintendent: A Weasel?

(Some may find the term "Weasel" to be harsh and offensive, and I apologize for the severity. But please read the entire post first, especially if you pay DeKalb property taxes, 70% of which go to the school system)

Another day, another front page headline in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution about the DeKalb County School System, which will be read by hundreds of thousands of people and potential teachers throughout the state.

This one is shocking. It starts out about Pat Pope funneling business to her husband Tony Pope, and in doing so, costing the school system and taxpayers almost $1 million from the state. But it quickly raises questions about the competency of our superintendent, his competency to renew contracts, his lack of approval regarding large contracts, his allowing the school system to lose a million dollars in state funding, and his withholding of information on possible crimes from law enforcement authorities.

No-bid deal costs DeKalb schools

Embattled DeKalb County school official Patricia “Pat” Pope cost the school system nearly $1 million in state matching funds when she awarded a multimillion-dollar contract to a construction company without competitive bids, a move that resulted in more work for her architect husband.

State officials say they withheld the money because Pope broke state law when she awarded the contract to Merit Construction Co. in 2007 and because she failed to get state approval for the school renovation project.

It's just not about Pat Pope; the article becomes infinitely more interesting. On November 26th, 2008, Crawford Lewis was being interviewed on an entirely separate matter by the DeKalb District Attorney's office regarding his questionable purchase of his DCSS vehicle for one third the blue book value:

"But midway through the interview, he veered off topic to discuss Pat Pope and what he had recently learned about her. Lewis said the school district’s internal affairs office had been investigating Pope for several weeks, after one of Pope’s employees “made lots of allegations about Ms. Pope and other things that she had seen in the office that are not right, about contracts.” Lewis also said that internal affairs had been investigating allegations that Pope had tampered with the competitive bidding process on construction projects. Then he quickly focused on the Columbia High situation."

Crawford Lewis and Internal Affairs Chief/State Senator Ron Ramsey were aware of improprieties with Pope and the loss of a million in state funds, but did not bring it forth to authorities UNTIL Lewis was being grilled on his questionable vehicle purchase. A school system employee reported allegations about Pope on Nov. 6th, 2008. But Lewis and Ron Ramsey sat on it until Lewis was on the hot seat, er, being investigated himself.

It gets much worse.

But, three months later in February, while the investigation into Pope was under way, Superintendent Lewis chose to continue Pope’s employment and gave her a new contract making nearly $200,000 a year.

Yes, despite the fact that Crawford Lewis brought to the District Attorney's office multiple allegations, Crawford Lewis RENEWED HER NEW CONTRACT...at $200,000 per year!!

Note: In Georgia, an employer can chose not to renew the contract of a contracted employee without any penalty. Pope would have had no legal recourse, but Lewis decided to keep paying her $200,000 per year (?). Why would he keep an employee on staff when he went to the DA with alegations regarding that employee (hmm...would Pope do or say something damaging in retaliation to her contract not being renewed i.e. the Heery Mitchel lawsuit). Pat Pope is being investigated for "possible racketeering, mail fraud, wire fraud, theft concerning programs receiving federal funds, theft by taking, theft by deception, flase writing, false swearing, subordination of false swearing, and big rigging." Yet Crawford hired her back. He and he alone renewed her contract.

It gets worse. Tony Pope received $1.43 million for work at Columbia High, a huge amount for an architect for a renovation. Crawford Lewis was aware of this, but made the decision not to tell authorities, until he was questioned on a separate matter.

It gets worse. Pat Pope is still on payroll making $200,000 per year. But she was removed from her duties as chief operating officer and assigned to special projects. She was replaced by five consultants making $1,000 per day. Yes, five people making one million per year total, to replace a person making $200,000 per year.

It gets worse. Pat Pope was allowed to make all decisions regarding school construction and contracts without gaining approval, without any checks and balances. I though Crawford Lewis was head of the school system? I thought the Board of Education had to approve contracts?

Apparently not. Lewis did nothing to make sure Pat Pope followed a chain of command, or made sure contracts went through a proper approval process. Only after Lewis was being investigated himself did he bring information to the authorities. How many other contracts and large purchases have been made in such a manner? Is the Board of Education completely out to lunch? Does Crawford Lewis think so little of taxpayers that his staff can approve million-dollar contracts with approval? Does he think so little of taxpayers that DCSS doesn't need a million dollars from the state for a school renovation project?

We taxpayers should question Georgia Dept. of Education oficials Lyn Jackson and Gregory Snapp, for being aware of the Columbia High situation, and not taking any further steps. Absolutely no one involved with this mess thought of taxpayers/students/parents, including Jackson and Snapp.

I do not see how the Board of Education can continue to pay Pat Pope, and continue to employ Crawford Lewis as our superintendent. This article exposes his lack of competency and poor decision-making abilities. The article exposes just one situation. How many other similar situations have occurred or are occuring now? How many other contracts were awarded without his approval, how many dollars in state funds were lost on other projects, how many other examples of nepotism such as Pat/Vincent Pope occurred or are occurring? What does it say about a state senator/head of Internal Affairs, Ron Ramsey, that he withheld allegations of possible criminal behavior to legal authorities?

Clearly, our Board of Education must make a change and find a new superintendent, chief operating office and head of internal affairs. Is our Board of Education in place to "protect" the superintendent and upper management, or are they in place to oversee a high achieving school system that wisely and frugally spends taxpayer money?

No-bid deal costs DeKalb schools

Sigh. Here we go. Apparently while Dr. Lewis was being "interviewed" by the DA about his car purchase and questionable P-card purchases, the heat must have gotten to him as he decided to 'mention' to the DA that the school system was conducting its own internal audit of Pat Pope.

Read today's front page of the AJC (oh great) about our completely unruly, embarrassing school system leadership. This isn't going to end anytime soon, I'm afraid.

Some excerpts:

Embattled DeKalb County school official Patricia “Pat” Pope cost the school system nearly $1 million in state matching funds when she awarded a multimillion-dollar contract to a construction company without competitive bids, a move that resulted in more work for her architect husband. ...

The six school construction projects being scrutinized are valued at more than $110 million, and county authorities are investigating whether Pope broke the law by allegedly steering contracts to her husband’s architecture firm, her friend Moody’s company and another construction company, Turner Construction.

DeKalb schools Superintendent Crawford Lewis alerted authorities to Pope’s actions on the Columbia High project during a taped interview with a District Attorney’s Office investigator on Nov. 26, 2008.

In the interview, obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Lewis suggests that Pope could have been trying to direct business to her husband.

Lewis, who has declined to talk to the AJC about the criminal case, told the investigator that Pope should have allowed construction companies a chance to compete for the multimillion-dollar contract.

But by giving it to a company that had been working on two previous phases of the project with Pope’s husband, “it means that he [Tony Pope] keeps getting paid.” ...

But midway through the interview, he veered off topic to discuss Pat Pope and what he had recently learned about her.

Lewis said the school district’s internal affairs office had been investigating Pope for several weeks, after one of Pope’s employees “made lots of allegations about Ms. Pope and other things that she had seen in the office that are not right, about contracts.”

Lewis also said that internal affairs had been investigating allegations that Pope had tampered with the competitive bidding process on construction projects.

Then he quickly focused on the Columbia High situation.

“The bottom line is we know that Ms. Pope should have re-bid the third phase of the Columbia High School project,” Lewis told the investigator. “She was told to do that by our construction attorney and by Lynn Jackson, who is the director of capital outlay for the state. I’ve talked to these people. They all tell me they told Pat to do it. Lynn said that Pat is very stubborn. She does things her way.”

In the interview, Lewis said he confronted Pope about the Columbia project.

“So I called Pat the next day and said, ‘Pat, were you told to re-bid that project by Greg Morgan [the school district’s former construction attorney] or by Lynn Jackson?’ And she said no. Now I’d already talked to them, so I know that they told her to do it.”

Less than two weeks after Lewis’ interview, school system police officers and information system employees examined records from Pope’s office, and school officials began interviewing Pope’s employees.

But, three months later in February, while the investigation into Pope was under way, Superintendent Lewis chose to continue Pope’s employment and gave her a new contract making nearly $200,000 a year.

Did you catch the date of this original "interview"? -- Nov. 26, 2008. That was 14 months ago. I have no hope anymore that this will be resolved. It's all just smoke and mirrors. There are no laws against what Pope did. These people will walk. Thus - the Cheshire Cat smiles.

I am crushed - crushed to think that really, no one is actually looking out for the education of our children. How can they? They are far too distracted investigating their own, selfish, materialistic actions.

Again, sigh.

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BTW - so that we don't carry on two conversations on this topic, please leave your comments on O&T's post - "Our Superintendent: A Weasel?"

It's Deja Vu All Over Again!

Check out this report from CrossRoads News on the bloat in the central office of the school system - then do a double-take at the date the article was written.

Downsizing necessary as school system grapples with revenue shortfalls

by Ernest Brown 07.23.08

Downsizing or rightsizing the labor force in an organization is a reality in today’s economic climate. It is not surprising that the DeKalb Board of Education requested that Superintendent Dr. Crawford Lewis review staffing levels at the Central Office.

There has always been a concern by many that our Central Office is top-heavy, hence part of the motivation for this request. Dr. Lewis unveiled his preliminary findings at a called Board meeting on June 30th.

The school interviewed several firms to help assess the staffing levels and overall performance. Evergreen Solutions LLC (www.consultevergreen.com/) was selected to perform this service. Dr. Linda Reico, president of Evergreen, co-presented their initial findings with Dr. Lewis.

Following are some of my recollections of major points discussed:

• There are approximately 1,300 employees in the Central Office. This represents approximately 10 percent of all DCSS employees.
• Salaries currently make up approximately 91 percent of the general budget. SACS suggests salaries should be between 87- 93 percent of the budget. The target set by DCSS is 86 percent.
• There is a hiring freeze for “non-essential” positions.
• Forty-two Central Office positions have been identified for possible elimination. This could result in an annual savings of $2.64 million.
• Considering an Early Retirement Incentive Option that could take effect July 1: Targeted employees would be those who have completed at least 30 years of service. It has been determined this would impact around 170 employees. If this program is approved, it could result in an annual savings of up to $2.3 million.
• Staffing levels should be further studied in the Transportation, Public Safety and Security, Public Relations, Plant Services, and Student Relations departments.
• The Athletics program is not “self-sustaining,” and an evaluation may be needed regarding the number of sports teams currently supported.
• Employee salaries and benefits need to be balanced with financial constraints. Dr. Reico mentioned that DCSS has been “generous” over the years with respect to annual increases and that may need to be reviewed.
• Determine where technology modernization and applications could reduce labor costs. Four-day work weeks should be considered during the summer months. There should be cross training of Service Center employees.
• A Compensation and Classification study is recommended. The last one was done in 2003 and these are typically valid for 5 years.
• After the presentation, board members asked questions to get a better understanding of the initial finding along with the costs for proceeding. One member noted that while staffing algorithms should help guide each school, common sense should be used based on the needs of that school.
• The number of assistant principals at each school seemed subjective to some. Another raised the question whether early retirement should be offered prior to the completion of the Performance and Management Audit.

Two studies proposed

Evergreen submitted a proposal of $475,000 for a Management and Performance Audit. It was estimated this could be completed in four to five months, hence delivered by Thanksgiving if begun during July. They also proposed a Compensation and Classification study for $350,000. This could start in December and would also last four to five months.

Both could be done for $775,000 if the Board used Evergreen, representing a savings of $50,000.

The Board was advised the Compensation and Classification study should be opened to other vendors for consideration before proceeding. Dr. Lewis committed to have a recommendation for a vendor by the August work session. The Board will vote on the Management and Performance Audit at the July 14th meeting.

Dr. Lewis began setting expectations with the Board that the entire process could take three to five years to reach the target of 86 percent. He requested consideration that the study be expanded to the entire school system, not just the Central office.

Dr. Lewis also indicated he would meet with CFO Marcus Turk regarding how the audits would be funded and would present that to the Board.

Hiring an outside firm to help with this process is the right thing to do because reduction-in-force efforts are occasionally met with some litigation. Having proper documentation along with making these decisions based on industry best practices and standards would reduce that likelihood.

With possible cuts to the labor force, expectations should be set with stakeholders that there could be cuts in service. If everyone understands and accepts this possibility, it should be easier to deal with the outcome of this process.

Ernest Brown lives in Lithonia. © crossroadsnews.com 2008