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Now what? The teachers and students will be the ones that suffer. Who will be held accountable for the incompetence? Add more competition with innovation schools etc....that will solve the problem?? THIS IS MADNESS!
This is ridiculous. They want to open 3 new innovation schools with a 3 million dollar deficit. These people are irresponsible fools that will destroy the district. A no confidence vote should be organized against the school committee. I have never been so ashamed to be a part of a city that runs their school district with such incompetence. This is simply disgusting.
Great lets hire some more new people to fill offices downtown, better yet let's keep paying those we threw away while we look for more, oh yeah that is what we are already doing! Well guess class size will increase again. Teachers will be told to do more with even less! Amazing. Maybe our financial advisors need to pass MCAS to prove they are actually proficient !
I thought our education mayor was going to solve all of our problems when he fired Francis. I guess not. Since he's the one who really runs the school system, one could say that he's been asleep at the wheel. But let's not fret, the cost neutral innovation schools will solve all the problems facing NBPS. Thanks Jon, you are doing a great job.
I thought Marlene pollock and jack innovation were the fiscal watchdogs on the school committee. I thought wrong. Those two clowns have been sniffing the innovation glue and have bee not paying attention to anything other then the innovation schools. In the end, the children will suffer.
How many times did we hear John Fletcher praise and thank Deb Brown for the wonderful job she was doing? Where are all the millions that Marlene Pollock was going to save when she took control of transportation? One last question. Are we still paying $75 an hour to a former PRAB administrator in order to help supplement his huge retirement?
Let's not point the finger at Mayor Mitchell. You think this deficit just happened overnight? Let's look at the former mayor and former superintendent first! And Let's be grateful for Supt. Shea for finding all these mistakes that have taken place for a long time.
school committee, school committee, school committee.
They are supposed to be running a billion dollar operation ( 100m py X 10 years) and yet we have to put up with their pet projects, platitudes, and PR ( when the cameras are running).
pet projects: Anyone believe that we saved money with members wacky bidding and layoff ideas? Now, the same members talk about cost neutral funding. Before this group, we had another who claimed she could help the budget because she handled a checkbook at her former business - this member even forced the adoption of a finance class at NBHS - regardless of state curriculum or MCAS needs. platitudes another member claims that one day Bonner was going to be a national figure and made a big deal of the travel the committee took to CT and FL to find us an 18 month paid off super. Members then install another super for even less time and give her glowing marks before dumping her in the middle of budget and contract ($$$$) negotiations.
PR? That's to come when they find anyone else to shift the blame on to.
Yes, we need to point the finger straight at Jon Mitchell. Why should he be treated differently then the way he treated Francis? If I recall correctly Francis was superintendent for less then two years but that didn't stop the Harvard genius from blaming her for everything that was and continues to be wrong in New Bedford Schools. He was in such a hurry to get rid of her he wouldn't even allow her to finish off the year.
The current budget was developed and voted on after Francis and Lang were gone. His excellency, the mayor, should have been doing his job. To deny that fact is to stick your head in the sand. The buck stops with Jon Boy, but if I read him correctly he'll look for a way to blame someone else.
@ Mike - and who exactly hired Deb Brown? and who hired Francis as Supt?
Right! there's those fingers pointing at the same two again.
Firing Francis and getting rid of her asap was the best thing Mayor Mitchell could have done for his City and the school department employees. They suffered long enough. Two years felt like an eternity for most.
Wasn't the Business Manager job posted twice? What happened to the candidate the Interview Committee recommended the first go around? Was Deb Brown really the most qualified out of everyone who applied?
Francis hired brown and she turned out to be a boob. We hired Mitchell and he turned out to be a boober. Regardless, no excuses for Francis, no excuses for Mitchell. He must accept full responsibility since he's the smartest guy in the room.
Wasn't the Business Manager job posted twice? What happened to the candidate the Interview Committee recommended the first go around? Was Deb Brown really the most qualified out of everyone who applied?
The unfortunate errors are being discovered. The Mayor hired the right person to be Int. Super. The Int. Super. found the right people to help with the budget. Let's give everyone a chance to correct the problems and make way for a new Super. to move the dept. forward. Looks like many of the problems are being solved with this mayor leading the way.
Yes, of course Mitchell is completely responsible for all the damage caused by the wonderful world of Francis. Take her out of the picture (finally!) and he has no choice but to clean up the mess she left behind.
It is an easily verifiable fact that every principal and top administrator Francis hired was hired late and half assed. Some were the right choice ( but adopted late) but some were horrendous ( and came too late to check).
I wonder what PR scheme or burning issue the sleeping beauties on the school committee were pondering while this mismanagement was underway?
Just a reminder to everyone, several years ago the school department had a $4 million deficit. The person who was the Businss Manager at the time was never dismissed nor did the person resign but instead the person was moved into a different position in the school department. I believe the school department was on a spending freeze for one or two years.
This deficit should end the talks of innovation schools. We can't afford to buy what we need now. Never mind throwing away much needed money on something that is going to take away from the rest of us.
The former ex officio of the school committee refused to be told no. Larry Oliveira was not a yes man. He told both Fred Kalisz and Mike Longo no many times. Scott Lang couldn't take no for a answer therefore Larry Oliveira was not renewed and Deb " rubber stamp " Brown was hired to make all of Scott Lang's wishes come true.
The reason Mr Oliveira was not brought back was his “brusque” way of telling the former chairman of the school committee (SWL) the truth. That’s something the ambulance chaser can’t handle. Therefore Mr Oliveira’s non renewal and the hiring of Deb ” rubber stamp ” Brown to please his magesty SWL every wish even if there was no $. Scott Lang controlled the school committee. He decided not to renew Larry’s contract. And kudos to the sheriff for swooping in. Lang wanted a yes man. That’s not Larry. The school committee gets what they deserve.
How much has district paid to cover community organization use of school facilities? Why did the waiving of fees only start after the election of Pollock, at the behest of Lang, over the objection of Oliveira. Why did Oliveira not get a new contract shortly after that?
The mayor never mentions the interim superintendent in his comments. The last time I checked the superintendent was responsible for the school budget. Not some mid level manager who was in the job for a year or an accounting clerk. Take responsibility for the mess you created. Next time you formulate your $100 million budget count the index cards twice.
With this latest deficit, not the first time just go back to 1997, why didn't the Mayor, members of the School Committee, and Acting Supt. go over this budget carefully when they created and approved it last August. Why didn't they question overtime wages, money for a potential contract settlement, waivering fees for events held on and in school department property, and other unexpected costs that might have incurred? I guess they were asleep at the wheel. Some of the blame is resting at their feet. Isn't that their responsibililty? I guess some of them are only focused on those two innovations schools which WE CAN NOT AFFORD!
No matter how brusque people thought Larry Oliveira could be, he knew the numbers better than anyone. Just compare school committee meetings. He didn't even need a piece of paper in front of him to give them all extremely accurate numbers. Deb the great Brown could mumble a number even while reading off a stack of papers. All this was to be expected. We have a school committee that thinks they know all when they actually know very little except how to promote their own agendas and a central administration who only think of themselves. We're in the hole because this district can't tolerate competent people. Let Marlene take over the business office. Aft real, hasn't she saved a ton of money on transportation?
27 comments:
Now what? The teachers and students will be the ones that suffer. Who will be held accountable for the incompetence? Add more competition with innovation schools etc....that will solve the problem?? THIS IS MADNESS!
This is unreal. Makes sense now why dumb dumb left her post as Business Manager.
This is ridiculous. They want to open 3 new innovation schools with a 3 million dollar deficit. These people are irresponsible fools that will destroy the district. A no confidence vote should be organized against the school committee. I have never been so ashamed to be a part of a city that runs their school district with such incompetence. This is simply disgusting.
Great lets hire some more new people to fill offices downtown, better yet let's keep paying those we threw away while we look for more, oh yeah that is what we are already doing!
Well guess class size will increase again. Teachers will be told to do more with even less! Amazing. Maybe our financial advisors need to pass MCAS to prove they are actually proficient !
I thought our education mayor was going to solve all of our problems when he fired Francis. I guess not. Since he's the one who really runs the school system, one could say that he's been asleep at the wheel. But let's not fret, the cost neutral innovation schools will solve all the problems facing NBPS. Thanks Jon, you are doing a great job.
I thought Marlene pollock and jack innovation were the fiscal watchdogs on the school committee. I thought wrong. Those two clowns have been sniffing the innovation glue and have bee not paying attention to anything other then the innovation schools. In the end, the children will suffer.
Are we any better off since jack and Marlene have been on the school committee? We all know the answer, don't we?
Marlene Pollack is on the school committee to serve her own agenda not NBPS.
How many times did we hear John Fletcher praise and thank Deb Brown for the wonderful job she was doing? Where are all the millions that Marlene Pollock was going to save when she took control of transportation? One last question. Are we still paying $75 an hour to a former PRAB administrator in order to help supplement his huge retirement?
Let's not point the finger at Mayor Mitchell. You think this deficit just happened overnight? Let's look at the former mayor and former superintendent first! And Let's be grateful for Supt. Shea for finding all these mistakes that have taken place for a long time.
school committee, school committee, school committee.
They are supposed to be running a billion dollar operation ( 100m py X 10 years) and yet we have to put up with their pet projects, platitudes, and PR ( when the cameras are running).
pet projects:
Anyone believe that we saved money with members wacky bidding and layoff ideas? Now, the same members talk about cost neutral funding. Before this group, we had another who claimed she could help the budget because she handled a checkbook at her former business - this member even forced the adoption of a finance class at NBHS - regardless of state curriculum or MCAS needs.
platitudes
another member claims that one day Bonner was going to be a national figure and made a big deal of the travel the committee took to CT and FL to find us an 18 month paid off super.
Members then install another super for even less time and give her glowing marks before dumping her in the middle of budget and contract ($$$$) negotiations.
PR?
That's to come when they find anyone else to shift the blame on to.
Yes, we need to point the finger straight at Jon Mitchell. Why should he be treated differently then the way he treated Francis? If I recall correctly Francis was superintendent for less then two years but that didn't stop the Harvard genius from blaming her for everything that was and continues to be wrong in New Bedford Schools. He was in such a hurry to get rid of her he wouldn't even allow her to finish off the year.
The current budget was developed and voted on after Francis and Lang were gone. His excellency, the mayor, should have been doing his job. To deny that fact is to stick your head in the sand. The buck stops with Jon Boy, but if I read him correctly he'll look for a way to blame someone else.
@ Mike - and who exactly hired Deb Brown? and who hired Francis as Supt?
Right! there's those fingers pointing at the same two again.
Firing Francis and getting rid of her asap was the best thing Mayor Mitchell could have done for his City and the school department employees. They suffered long enough. Two years felt like an eternity for most.
Wasn't the Business Manager job posted twice? What happened to the candidate the Interview Committee recommended the first go around? Was Deb Brown really the most qualified out of everyone who applied?
Does anyone know?
If getting rid of Francis was wise, then why are we in this mess?
Francis hired brown and she turned out to be a boob. We hired Mitchell and he turned out to be a boober. Regardless, no excuses for Francis, no excuses for Mitchell. He must accept full responsibility since he's the smartest guy in the room.
rinse and repeat:
Wasn't the Business Manager job posted twice? What happened to the candidate the Interview Committee recommended the first go around? Was Deb Brown really the most qualified out of everyone who applied?
The unfortunate errors are being discovered. The Mayor hired the right person to be Int. Super. The Int. Super. found the right people to help with the budget. Let's give everyone a chance to correct the problems and make way for a new Super. to move the dept. forward. Looks like many of the problems are being solved with this mayor leading the way.
Yes, of course Mitchell is completely responsible for all the damage caused by the wonderful world of Francis. Take her out of the picture (finally!) and he has no choice but to clean up the mess she left behind.
It is an easily verifiable fact that every principal and top administrator Francis hired was hired late and half assed. Some were the right choice ( but adopted late) but some were horrendous ( and came too late to check).
I wonder what PR scheme or burning issue the sleeping beauties on the school committee were pondering while this mismanagement was underway?
Just a reminder to everyone, several years ago the school department had a $4 million deficit. The person who was the Businss Manager at the time was never dismissed nor did the person resign but instead the person was moved into a different position in the school department. I believe the school department was on a spending freeze for one or two years.
This deficit should end the talks of innovation schools. We can't afford to buy what we need now. Never mind throwing away much needed money on something that is going to take away from the rest of us.
Tighten your belt.
The former ex officio of the school committee refused to be told no. Larry Oliveira was not a yes man. He told both Fred Kalisz and Mike Longo no many times. Scott Lang couldn't take no for a answer therefore Larry Oliveira was not renewed and Deb " rubber stamp " Brown was hired to make all of Scott Lang's wishes come true.
The reason Mr Oliveira was not brought back was his “brusque” way of telling the former chairman of the school committee (SWL) the truth. That’s something the ambulance chaser can’t handle. Therefore Mr Oliveira’s non renewal and the hiring of Deb ” rubber stamp ” Brown to please his magesty SWL every wish even if there was no $. Scott Lang controlled the school committee. He decided not to renew Larry’s contract. And kudos to the sheriff for swooping in. Lang wanted a yes man. That’s not Larry. The school committee gets what they deserve.
How much has district paid to cover community organization use of school facilities? Why did the waiving of fees only start after the election of Pollock, at the behest of Lang, over the objection of Oliveira. Why did Oliveira not get a new contract shortly after that?
The mayor never mentions the interim superintendent in his comments. The last time I checked the superintendent was responsible for the school budget. Not some mid level manager who was in the job for a year or an accounting clerk. Take responsibility for the mess you created. Next time you formulate your $100 million budget count the index cards twice.
With this latest deficit, not the first time just go back to 1997, why didn't the Mayor, members of the School Committee, and Acting Supt. go over this budget carefully when they created and approved it last August. Why didn't they question overtime wages, money for a potential contract settlement, waivering fees for events held on and in school department property, and other unexpected costs that might have incurred? I guess they were asleep at the wheel. Some of the blame is resting at their feet. Isn't that their responsibililty? I guess some of them are only focused on those two innovations schools which WE CAN NOT AFFORD!
No matter how brusque people thought Larry Oliveira could be, he knew the numbers better than anyone. Just compare school committee meetings. He didn't even need a piece of paper in front of him to give them all extremely accurate numbers. Deb the great Brown could mumble a number even while reading off a stack of papers. All this was to be expected. We have a school committee that thinks they know all when they actually know very little except how to promote their own agendas and a central administration who only think of themselves. We're in the hole because this district can't tolerate competent people. Let Marlene take over the business office. Aft real, hasn't she saved a ton of money on transportation?
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