New board members should be seen and not heard.
That's how the adage goes, isn't it? Well, at least in the world of Superintendent Nancy McGinley and the obsequious chairman of the Charleston County Schools Board of Trustees, Chris Fraser.
Fraser posits the unusual idea that when new members are elected, they should stick with the opinions of those they replaced instead of representing the taxpayers who elected them. Rather like President Obama's announcing that, despite being elected as a Democrat, he intended to reinforce all of the policies of the previous administration (admittedly, some would say that he largely has! Still).
Why did Fraser sent an email to all board members asking them not to revisit old issues (at the bequest of the Superintendent, no doubt)? Because Mary Ann Taylor and Cindy Bohn Coats are asking too many questions that were ignored in the past and remain unanswered. Why, good grief, Taylor and Coats even set up a meeting with Bill Lewis, Michael Bobby, and Troy Williams to get some answers. Heaven forbid! That one had to be nipped in the bud before causing too much "work" for the district.
Where have we heard this song and dance before?
Sample questions include such old chestnuts as
- What are the benefits of rebuilding versus retrofitting Sullivans Island Elementary?
- Have any contract service providers (such as Heery) ever been approached by any CCSD employees or school board members (past or present) seeking and/or initiating favors?
- Where are the demographic data to support CCSD's choices for where to place schools? To size them?
- What is the CCSD transportation bus cost?
- Where have Fraser students been transferred since its closing? What tracking data have been kept on each to see if the new school's program is effective?
It's a good list. Fraser and McGinley will do their best to ignore it.
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6 comments:
It looks bad when the public school district works to prevent its own board of trustees from getting an education about how to effectively do their job. This is about too much public money and power being moved around behind closed doors. So much so that even elected representatives of the public are being told to back off. Sounds like a few people are trying to hide a thing or two. Mr. Fraser owes the public an explanation or he needs to step down.
If the internal auditors caught a $100,000 error that began a year ago (see today's P&C), where was the outside auditor who just turned over the report on the year end audit as of June 30, 2010? I forgot, we're not supposed to ask questions about things that went one in the past. This would apply to the superintendent's descretionary spending account and any number of other unaudited accounts that each spend annually a good deal more than $100,000. Who can ask questions if the board members can't?
Open the travel accounts and you might see some interesting things. Especially out of Human Resources.
With so many lay offs taking place, why is HR so top heavy with recruiters and travel expenses? How many other departments have travel expenses and for what? Why does the director of communications need an extensive travel budget for out of state events?
McGinley should be the one answering questions. She works for the board. The board doesn't work for her. It looks more like she is hold up in her office or using her staff as a line of defense against the public. Fraser is looking more like one of her staff members than as chairman of the board of trustees.
Way too much going on in executive session. Nothing like direct sunshine to restore health to a sick system. Not going to happen with NJM sitting at the head of the table.
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