Superintendent McGinley presented her ideas in regard to the use of the Rivers Middle School building at tonight's CCSD school board meeting. I will update this post when I have more information.
Meanwhile, your comments and analysis are welcome.
Monday, August 13, 2007
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39 comments:
See? You shouldn't have left it wide open like that, Babbie. You encourage me to say things I shouldn't say...like where were Nancy and Gregg?? Nancy loves to play that game...we've seen it before...
And Mayor Riley is a tiny, little, man.
Orange Grove and James Island Charter School are only charged $1 a year rent by CCSD. Toya Green and that crowd are trying to kill the school by charging "market rate" for a public school that our grandparents tax dollars built. It will be interesting to see what happens.
This reminds me of how West Ashley, Mt Pleasant and now North Charleston all have public Montessori schools. Downtown always gets the short end of the stick by CCSD. Why? Is it only racial discrimination? CCSD seems to have it out for downtown. How many of the new children at the now well funded Memminger will actually be downtown children? These are important questions to ask.
To be technical here, Mt. Pleasant has a public Montessori school because a group of people formed a charter school committee and started the school. CCSD had nothing to do with it, other than approving the charter.
The phone-in from Gregg Meyers and Nancy Cook was a joke. Nancy didn't understand half of what was going on between the lost connections, the mute buttons and the noise from the crowd at the Subway store. (So much for our worthy Board Chairman.) Toya Green was Gregg's shill when she ammended the motion to propose a lease for the Charter School to occupy Rivers with an adjustable rental rate provided they meet certain racial quotas and income tests. After the US Supreme Court's decision in the Seattle case this summer disguarding quotas, how idiotic can this board's reasoning get? Hillery said it all when he deferred to this new knot created by Toya and Gregg when he said "They are lawyers, so they must be right." Brilliant, Hillery! It looks like we can expect a lot more idiocy from this group of lawyers and sycophants on our county school board.
Is it legal to phone in a vote?
Of the 9 sitting school board members, if they were struck dead for lying about or manipulating a vote (having meetings before the meetings; meeting with Major Riley privately; or voting conservative only after making sure the other liberals have the five votes they need to get a liberal "more money" outcome), only 3 would be alive. Guess which 3. Hint: Don't listen to what they say or even their votes. Look at their alliances. It's all being done behind closed doors. They arrive at the meetings knowing the outcome.
Well, the word is out on McGinley and she's been in the super's office just barely two months. She's been caught trying to play groups and individuals against each other. Kinda reminds you of her predecessor. Does she actually believe that she can speak to people about controversial issues and not expect them to compare notes with others? That's exactly how it came out that Sallie Ballard has corrupted the Buist admissions process.
Just like Goodloe-Johnson (and all those others barricaded within the ivory tower known as 75 Calhoun) never got it. This community is a complex network of groups that understand more about cooperation and mutual self interest than CCSD can comprehend. McGinley is falling for the myth that race, political labels and income make alliances between disparate groups impossible. Wrong! When it comes to squandering our public schools and throwing away our kids' futures, some pretty odd coalitions will come together to fight a common enemy.
Local black civic leaders and parents are offended by the downtown school sell outs that have been supported by Hillery Douglas and Toya Green. Liberal Democrats are appalled with the inequities between Buist and CPA that Gregg Meyers defends. Private school parents are sitting down with Burke parents with a common goal to create excellent school choices open to their kids county-wide but that won’t exclude downtown kids like what CCSD has allowed to happen at Buist and AMHS.
The reality is that Nancy McGinley, Toya Green, Joe Riley and Dot Scott can't expect everyone to "keep quiet", no matter how secret they try to keep their meetings. As it should be with the public's business, the walls have ears.
I believe that Toya Green will one day wake up and understand that she made a mistake a aligning herself with the people that neglected downtown for so many years. Gregg Meyers, Hillery Douglas and anyone else that has been on the school board for any length of time should be ashamed. There could be no excuse for the allowing the corruption at Buist Academy to grow and the cruel neglect of all of the other schools in District 20.
Posters have already named political cronies of board members that were allowed to get into Buist with false information. It is also well documented how many board members actually have their own children in magnet schools like Buist, SOA, and the Academic Magnet. We will never know how many friends, neighbors and cousins of sitting board members also were given slots at local magnet schools. These are our tax dollars. Perhaps board members should be paid more so that they won't fill justified in taking advantage of these "perks."
Robert and Tina Graves, the parents of Sydney Graves, used 22B Mary Street to enter Buist. But, they claim 4% at 1514 Middle Street, Sullivan’s Island. The family never lived on Mary Street. Moreover, the Minutes of the Sullivan's Island Board of Zoning demonstrate that Charleston County School Board attorney Alice Paylor heard the Graves Appeal and knows they live on Sullivan's Island. See,
http://www.sullivansisland
Has anyone noticed that CCSD and Bill Lewis has moved the scheduled completion for the long planned renovations of Rivers back from August 2009 to August 2010. And the costs have been increased first from the original $9 million already funded in the 2004-09 capital improvements cycle, to $10 million, then to $15 million a few months ago when it looked like the charter school might make a play for the building. Suddenly, this week it is revealed by Don Kennedy and Bill Lewis that the Rivers renovations will cost $24 million. Not even county board members knew this before Monday night. Hell, the totally new Sanders-Clyde is only supposed to cost $17 million. Sounds like a bait and switch to me. The charter school didn't request a renovation. I'm told they like the school just the way it is, well maybe with just the renovations called for in the first estimates. Sounds like CCSD is actively stonewalling the whole thing. Say it will cost too much and maybe everyone will just crawl back into their respective holes and forget about it. This is certainly an example of some mighty daft leadership on the part of our well paid school experts.
Zoning variance favors Riley--Zoning Board members Betsy Richardson, Jimmy Hiers and Middaugh voted against the variance. Keenan, Brian Hellman, Alice Paylor and Smith voted to approve the request. Log on to
http://www.charleston.net/news/2007/aug/10/zoning_variance_favors_riley12656/
How long do you think Paylor could keep losing cases in Dorchester and Charleston County and still be district attorny if she did not approve Riley's request for a variance?
In fairness to Riley, Paylor always votes in favor of her friends--including her law partner Brewton Hagood.
The county board discussions were all about how much to charge the charter school rent. Did anyone of them think it important to discuss how they intended to fund the Advanced Placement Academy at Burke or the new vocational training programs they plan to set up for 400 students that won't be at Burke? BTW, Dist. 20 doesn't have anywhere near 400 kids that need or want a vocational diploma. Maybe 150, but it looks like CCSD intends to bus in and dump the rest. What about how they intend to fund the 7th and 8th grade middle school programs they're planning to add at Memminger, James Simons and Mitchell in the next two years? What happens to the existing 7th & 8th graders at Burke?
Sorry, try the following link to view the Graves Appeal.
http://www.sullivansisland-sc.com/BZA/BZA%20minutes%20051205.pdf
What resources are they committing to better prepare downtown kids to enter the proposed AP program at Burke starting in 2010? Oh, I forgot to read the fine print in their motion. Did anyone notice that the AP Academy at Burke would be open to students county-wide? Aren't those are the code words used by CCSD to lock Dist. 20 kids out of Buist and other magnet programs while steering minority kids into deadend programs before they enter first grade. How are Dist. 20 students able to compete in such rigorous academic programs if they aren't being prepared in the elementary schools they attend? McGinley and Meyers are no better than the racists of the 1950's.
Someone should check on this but I think the terms "AP" and "Advanced Placement" are registered trademarks owned by the Educational Testing Service. Unless CCSD has an agreement with them, the proposed Advanced Placement Academy at Burke might be forced to pay "rent" for the use of this name.
In response to Anonymous 8:57 AM, I wish someone would clear up the issue. I don't really know if it is legal to participate in a county school board meeting requiring a vote before the assembled public and doing it by phone. Few people could understand what was going on for this vote, much less what was being said. It was obvious that Ms. Cook didn't have a clue. (She kept saying "How is Brian Moody voting on this?" and Mr. Douglas as acting chair was more than happy to mislead her.) The irony is that if only the votes present were counted, the charter school would have won on all counts and CCSD would be sitting down with them to iron out the details. Instead it's being dragged out while the county board attempts to violate its own rules by micro managing a charter school. Let it be known that Gregg Meyers and Nancy Cook voted against the charter school with an effort scuttle CCSMS by charging an unheard of rent to a public school for the use of a public school building. And they also voted to violate federal and state laws by placing income and racial quotas on the school as part of its rental restrictions. Without their phone-in votes, the tally for the charter school would have been 4-3 in favor of upholding existing county rental policies together with state and federal laws that prevent descrimination.
I say no to phone votes even though they have become a favorite tool of Gregg Meyers. Don't forget the now infamous budget vote involving Susan Simons while she was supposed to be in Mexico. I wonder if the Democratic Senator who's been in the hospital since last December has been allowed to vote in the US Senate by telephone. Probably not.
Robert Graves did not send his child to Buist in the end. Yes, it's true that Alice Paylor and Gregg Meyers were his neighbors. Sullivan's Island is a small town.
Anonymous said...
"Robert Graves did not send his child to Buist in the end. Yes, it's true that Alice Paylor and Gregg Meyers were his neighbors. Sullivan's Island is a small town."
You must be a friend of either George Kefalos or one of the numerous other beachfront property owners who faked addresses.
Get this clear--4% is where you live.
Not only is Sullivan's Island small enough for these three people to know each other's business, it and the Buist crowd is tight enough to tell Graves to withdraw the application so he can take the fall for everyone else like Kefalos, Hill and others. When Graves withdrew, it allowed Goodloe-Johnson and Ballard to say that there was "no validity" to claims that any remaining Buist admissions used false addresses.
The public records on Graves were so exposed; he turned out to be the only one they chose not to cover. They told the family to withdraw their application and they did. Kefalos, Hill and others were still admitted last fall even though Goodloe-Johnson, Ballard, Meyers, Cook, Paylor and the Post & Courier were all given specific documentation that they had cheated and were being admitted over true District 20 applicants who were qualified.
They knew these applicants were still cheating and the Buist principal was admitting them over others on the appropriate lists because District 20 had given them all the documentation they asked for and more. Still CCSD's superintendent and Buist's principal chose to announce their "findings" to uphold the false addresses anyway. The P&C dutifully printed the story as orchestrated by Jerry Adams and dropped any further investigation.
It only made things worse for the District 20 parents to know that the Janet Rose was the lottery and testing gatekeeper for the Buist principal and Jerry Adams was personally involved with Janet Rose while she blinked and nodded her approval to everything Goodloe-Johnson and Ballard said. It’s a sordid soap opera, folks.
Earl Choice, the Dist. 20 Associate Superintendent, has been nothing more than a stooge in this process. He isn't going to rattle his cage more than he has to. How McGinley approaches the Buist admissions issue will say a lot about her integrity and if CCSD is prepared to start cleaning up its waste and corruption. Tall order but she's no good unless she starts doing it now. As someone's already said, the honeymoon's over.
Buist Kindergarten Class 2006-2007
Buist Fake adresses--there you have it. SO WHAT NOW! Do you boycott the businesses of these people, file grievances with the Bar, picket them?
Probably Joe Riley will continue to skillfully pit Joe Darby against the parents who want Rivers for a Charter School for Math and Science. But, these folks are natural allies with one another and should be working together to take over Burke.
Downtown List
Taylor Coulter
Used 83 Hester Street to enter the school. The house has been for sale and is now under contract.
Sydney Graves
Used 22B Mary Street to enter the school, but parents, Robert & Tina Graves, claim 4% at 1514 Middle Street, Sullivan’s Island. Family never lived on Mary Street.(later withdrew application).
Anna Hill
Used 40 Bee Street #205 to enter the school, but parents, Patrick & Susan Hill, claim 4% at 1386 Headquarters Plantation, Johns Island, 20455. They own and rent out this condo and claim 6% on it.
John Kefalos
Used 28A Addlestone Avenue to enter the school, but parents, Candace Martin & George Kefalos, claim 4% at 306 E Huron Ave, Folly Beach. The family never lived at this address.
Ethan Kessler
Used 33 Calhoun St Unit 236 to enter the school, but parents, Larry and Sarah Kessler, claim 4% at 1246 Old Ivy Way, Mt Pleasant, SC 29466. Parents own this condo and claim 6% there.
Chase Mauerhan
Used 70A Church Street to enter the school, but lives with mother, Maxine Mauerhan, at 55 Eastlake Road, Mt Pleasant 29464. Father lives out of state. Child is listed in directory under 55 Eastlake Road.
Alden Ray
Used 32 Vendue Range #300 to enter the school (1 bedroom, 477 sq ft condo), but parents claim 4% at 1684 Teal Marsh Road 29412.
Alexander Barbenel
Lives at 604 Windermere Boulevard, Charleston 29407 and is assigned to St. Andrews Math & Science.
Low Performing Schools
Adriana Ballinger
Used 17 Kenilworth Ave to enter the school. The house was for sale, had a contract on August 15, 2006 and was sold on October 30, 2006.
Emma Langsam
Used 75 St Margaret St to enter the school. The family never lived at this address and parents, Eric and Elinder Langsam, claim 4% at 587 White Chapel Circle, Charleston 29412 and are assigned to Stiles Point Elementary School, an excellent rated school. Child is listed in directory under 587 White Chapel Circle.
Sibling List
Joshua Cumins
Used 8 New St to enter the school. The house is for sale and vacant. Sibling is listed in directory under 1724 Carterett Avenue which is assessed at 4%.
Margaret Davis
Used 332 Sumter Street to enter the school. Parents, William and Kimberly Davis, claim 4% at 111 Tall Oak Ave, Charleston 29407.
Burgess Dew
Used 338 President Street to enter the school. The house was sold on August 31, 2006. Parents claim 4% at 26 Lowndes Point Drive, which is outside of District 20 lines.
Jordyne Rowlin
Used 891 Rutledge Ave to enter the school. Public records indicate inconsistencies.
Abigail Seinsheimer
Used 37 New Street to enter the school. Public records indicate inconsistencies.
Emily Walters
Used 33 Coming Street to enter the school. Parents, Joseph and Trina Walters, claim 4% at 928 Oceanview Rd and sibling Hannah Walters, is listed in directory under Oceanview Road address.
Is Abigail Seinsheimer related to the Wally Seinsheimer who wrote the following riduculous letter to the Summerville Journal Scene?
If she is that would be classic. The guy cheats to get his relative into the only good school on the Charleston peninsula, then goes to Summerville to try to sell the Jim Jones Koolaid of growth paying for itself.
Dear Editor,
Dorchester County Council, and the Town of Summerville, are on the verge of making one of the biggest decisions they have ever faced, and one that may have disastrous consequences for the community: whether or not to implement an adequate public facilities ordinance.
The Charleston Trident Home Builders Association does not support this ordinance. We have done extensive research, which we have shared with the county, as well as the Town of Summerville. Our research demonstrates that an Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance will have a negative effect on Dorchester County. Similar programs in Florida and Maryland have proven that an Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance does not work as advertised. Instead of improving public facilities, it has slowed or stopped development, pushing it to outlying areas creating sprawl. It also has led to property tax increases, job losses, and affordable housing problems. In addition, Florida and Maryland have found Adequate Public Facilities Ordinances to be a liability in their industrial recruitment efforts.
We believe an Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance in Dorchester County will have a similar effect on the community that the no-growth policies of Mt. Pleasant have had on their town. Since enacting significant growth restrictions in 2001, Mt. Pleasant has suffered from spiraling housing costs as demand has far outstripped supply. In addition, the town is now discussing an increase in property taxes to offset revenue shortfalls resulting from lack of growth. Industry recruitment has also suffered.
Perhaps most significantly, Mt. Pleasant's actions have contributed to sprawling development patterns as developers and new homebuyers have been pushed beyond that city's boundaries by their no-growth policies. Unfortunately, while growth has been slowed in Mt. Pleasant, growth problems have not slowed in Mt. Pleasant as commuters and consumers from outside of Mt. Pleasant continue to travel to, and through, Mt. Pleasant for shopping and jobs.
It is unfortunate that the special interest groups supporting an Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance have latched on to a proposal that is destined to fail in achieving any of their goals, other than to halt growth and economic development in Dorchester County. A workable solution is at hand, and the 650 members of the Charleston Trident Home Builders Association want to continue working with elected officials to develop solutions that are anchored in the principles of smart growth. We have brought several ideas to the table regarding growth management and hope the county and town councilmen will give full consideration to our proposals. I am afraid,
however, that certain elected officials want to halt growth in Dorchester County and are not interested in managing it. If allowed to continue, they will push through a flawed ordinance without public comment, contrary to the principles of open government. Stopping growth is not smart growth.
What the members of the Charleston Trident Home Builders Association support is real change to the Dorchester County Comprehensive Plan. We must abandon the status quo that has gotten us where we are today and develop a new progressive plan. This step is already in process, at a cost of at least $150,000 that the taxpayers of Dorchester County will pay whether or not a new plan is developed. It seems counter productive to abandon this effort, just when it is about to produce results, to jump into approving a flawed ordinance with the sole objective of stopping development.
Dorchester County leaders must begin now planning growth areas, zoning them and developing a plan to deliver services to these areas. Our association envisions a proactive approach to planning that recognizes that our community is growing, and ensures that growth is orderly and sustainable. Nobody is denying that Dorchester County is experiencing rapid growth.
Clearly, funding will remain a challenge for Dorchester County. New funding sources appear to be necessary to meet the growth in infrastructure demand on the community. We have been working at the local and state level to identify measures that can produce new revenue for the community to use in order to meet our infrastructure needs. We also have challenged elected officials to scrutinize all expenditures made on behalf of the county and town to find places where existing revenue can be shifted to critical infrastructure needs. The more existing revenue we can tap to meet our needs, the lower the burden will be on the taxpayers of Dorchester County to make up for shortfalls.
We believe that growth in both residential and industrial development is vital to the long-term health of Dorchester County. A healthy, viable community must have both. There is no magic solution to fix the issues the community faces, and an Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance is clearly not the answer. What is required is an open debate on this issue in which all voices are heard.
The growth problems in Dorchester County did not happen overnight, and it can't be fixed overnight. Passing an Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance will create far more problems than it solves. A three-pronged approach that includes an updated comprehensive plan, improved zoning regulations, and improved funding will lead to a better plan for the community.
Respectfully,
Wally Seinsheimer, President
Charleston Trident Home Builders Association
Has anyone noticed how many of the Buist cheaters are either lawyers, builders, real estate appraisers, or people who understand the 4% property tax rate for primary residences?.
Cut and paste the following links for info on Trina W. Walters. (I will never use Atlantic Appraisers again.)
http://www.atlanticappraisals.com/trina-w-walters/
http://www.google.com/maps?q=+maps++928+Oceanview+928+Oceanview+drive+Charleston+south+carolina&oi=map&ct=directions-to&daddr=928+W+Oceanview+Rd%2C+Charleston%2C+SC+29412&saddr=101+Calhoun+charleston+29401&rl=1
Looks like a lot of people have been doing their homework. The public record shows these people cheated last year without question. Only when the heat got too much the administration forced the Graves family to withdraw. Word now is that Sallie Ballard has been given the exclusive authority to verify the addresses for 2007-08 admissions, too. With each tuition free slot she is allowed to hand out to whom she wants she is able to stack her allies against a growing number of complaints about her mediocre leadership…not to mention the adulation she receives in the community (complimentary meals, party invitations and freebies galore). The real currency of privilege isn’t cash, it’s power.
Sallie Ballard represents much of what is wrong at Buist. I hope Sallie Ballard’s “Main Line Philadelphia” persona isn’t the reason Nancy McGinley seems to be giving the Buist principal a pass on this continuing mess. Recalling humble roots does little when it is used to divert attention from the current issues. Buist is just a symptom of what is rotten in the Taj Mahl. The Superintendent should understand that if she allows this to go on unchecked at Buist she will be forfeiting her claim to having any credibility with District 20 at all...or does she even care?
Oh how the District 20 groups want Nancy McGinley to do right, but they will not wait long for proof. As with each of her predecessors, is she friend or foe?
Here are the emails for some of the Charleston city council members. Send them a quick note, tell them they need to help get a handle on what my soon be an national embarrassment to the City of Charleston.
District 1 - Councilmember Henry B. Fishburne, Jr.
E-mail: fishburn@bellsouth.net
District 2 - Councilmember Deborah Morinelli
E-Mail: tamdam@knology.net
District 8 - Councilmember Yvonne D. Evans
E-mail: ydevans@bellsouth.net
District 9 - Councilmember Paul Tinkler
E-mail: paultinkler@tinklerlaw.com
District 10 - Councilmember Larry D. Shirley
E-mail: govlarry@aol.com
District 11 - Councilmember Anne Frances Bleecker
E-mail: afbleecker@bleeckerlawfirm.com
The rest of council only have phone numbers, look here, give them a call.
http://www.charlestoncity.info/dept/cont...
Today the Post and Couier wrote: Budget shortfalls affect area schools. The article says "$10 million for 12 districts, including $1.4 million for Berkeley, $885,000 for Dorchester District 2 and $115,000 for Dorchester 4" are on the block. Nothing is slated for removal in Charleston, but I have to wonder how safe we are. Log on to http://www.charleston.net/news/2007/aug/18/budget_shortfalls_affect_area_schools13380/#comments to read the article.
Add to post by Anonymous 2:53. Councilman Wendel Gilliard's e-mail address is
wgilly@bellsouth.net
I'm not sure what his council district number is.
So much for that "Hold Harmless" $10,000,000 legislative tax increase Goodloe-Johnson pleaded for last Spring along with the P&C's glowing endorsement of the same. As it turns out all CCSD got from the legislative budget giveaway was the right to share a $10 million with 12 other similarly rich school districts. Now it's reported that CCSD doesn't even get to do that. The P&C didn't mention any of these details. Of course not, it would require that they understand the story and its context.
anonymous 6:20 p. m.
The Post and Courier often ignores stories for the same reason the City Paper ignores stories. It's called "conflict of interest."
For example, why would Piere Manigault want to expose Alice Paylor's conflcits on the Sullivan's Island Zoning Board of Zoning Appeals? After all, he got his undeserved variance.
And my understanding is that fired/disgraced City Paper editor Bill Davis played fast and loose with his address to try to get his daughter into Buist, but that Stephanie Barna won't touch the fake address story because she has a relative at Busit.
Maybe Jim French at The Chronicle will cover the story if only because of the inequities that continue to be overlooked at Chas. Progressive Academy where 99% of the students are African-American. I doubt if Dot Scott or Joe Darby will care since Buist isn't on their horizons. CPA isn't either. So they won't threaten his advertisers like they have in the past.
Jim Frech does not have the courage to go against Rev. Darby.
Rev. Darby has the ear of the Governor and all Democratic presidential candidates. If he really wanted to change things he could. But, being in constant protest mode gives him power that he would lose if the boogieman were dead. Glen McConnell is his Castro.
Castro? I don't quite follow.
What I mean is that Rev. Darby spends much time and energy complaining about all things Confederate rather than addressing the real problems facing members of his congregation including, but not limited to, the educational inequities in Charleston. This is similiar to U. S. Government poliicy of carrying on a time-consuming and useless blockade of Cuba. In essence McConnell is Darby's Castro.
Oh, Jim French has the courage to go up against Joe Darby. He just doesn't have the advertising base to sustain it. Darby and others are quick to undercut anyone in the Black community who doesn’t toe the line. In the case of Jim French and The Chronicle, when he opposes them or prints something they don't like, they put pressure on his advertisers. French can only do so much but he still tries to expose these charlatans for what they are.
For the poster who named children who you think cheated - your timeline isn't right. These children whose houses sold in late 2006 applied and were admitted while living in the previous homes. Since when are you not allowed to move after getting into a school?
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