The Recent History Series
The Battle Cry
An Omen of Things to Come
An introduction to the Recent History series
The Master Plan – Not!
Lessons from 2001 & 2002
Renovations to the Landfill
Lessons from 2003
Lessons from 2004
Lessons from 2005
Lessons from 2006
Lessons from 2007
We need more money! Lessons from 2001 & 2002
“Promises, Promises & more Promises of Accountability”
From the blog “Another lesson from recent history”, “The Master Plan of 2001 or Not”, it was pointed out that the city and school leaders lacked accountability from the beginning, but miraculously the voters passed the measure. Now it was time for the appointed school board to get down to business with school leaders to work on their promises of accountability with their Master Plan.
Even though the voters approved the bond issue, they were still very distrustful of the school leadership. Perhaps the voters should have voted no, demanding a Master Plan first if they were distrustful of the school leadership. But unfortunately, that did not happen. The voters were sold on the promises of accountability that were made and the measure passed. After the win, the appointed school board still assured the citizens that accountability would be built into the upcoming master plan.
Link 1
Link 2
It is now October of 2001, and time for a rollercoaster ride.
Hold on, here we go.
Oh no, Hold on! - With two months to go before the master plan is due, Barbara Byrd-Bennett’s has failed to act on one of her promises to let the public play a part in how the money would be spent. Also the numbers are not adding up. The independent facility assessments are not on the same page on their estimates.
Whew, that was close! - But luckily there is some good news from the State. It has raised the city’s equity rating. The State will now be offering even more money for the city to use. There should be no problem now in repairing the schools. And who knows, there may be even money left over!
Oh no, hold on! - But there are problems in putting together the final costs in the master plan. some details were overlooked like the state might not provide funds for new auditoriums and track and fields.
Oh no, hold on! - School officials begin questioning whether to renovate, or build brand new schools. No one knows how much this will cost the taxpayers of the city. The master plan is becoming more and more complicated.
Whew, that was close! - But luckily, because of the State’s significant increase in funding, the money will be there. Thank Goodness! The school board will not have to go back to the voters, everything is under control.
Oh no, hold on! - But wait, the school population is not growing. In fact it’s shrinking. Perhaps the city should rethink their plans before renovating some buildings. This is taxpayer money and it should not be wasted on a school that will be closed in the next couple of years. But no, the renovation must be done. And in a couple of years, some of the renovated schools would be closed and others slated for the wrecking ball.
Link 3
After evaluating the problems of the school buildings, city and school officials begin to realize that the monies from the 2001 bond issue might not be enough. Perhaps if these city officials had their master plan in place before putting it to the vote, they could have had a better idea on what was needed. Unfortunately, there was not time to complete that first step in accountability. Having a master plan prior to knowing how the money would be spent would “take up too much precious time” according to school officials.
Link 4
Does anyone remember the Bullwinkle show?
At the end of a Bullwinkle story, the narrator would give you the title of the next show. There were always two titles. Here is my attempt at this lesson’s title.
We need more money! Lessons from 2002
“The Master Plan stinks!” or “Hey! Speak up, we can’t hear you!”
July, 2002 - Citizens do not like the master plan. They do not trust the information being given to them. They are upset that schools in their neighborhoods may be closed. It’s too bad that city and school officials were not prepared with their master plan before going to the voters. Oh well, too bad for the voters, they should have thought about this before they hastily approved the bond issue.
Link 5
October, 2002 - Some citizens complain that the appointed school board is not being open. Communication with the community is being overlooked by the school board.
Link 6
But rest assured, the Board Accountability Commission is hard at work maintaining the public trust with the taxpayer money.
“Promises, Promises & more Promises of Accountability”
From the blog “Another lesson from recent history”, “The Master Plan of 2001 or Not”, it was pointed out that the city and school leaders lacked accountability from the beginning, but miraculously the voters passed the measure. Now it was time for the appointed school board to get down to business with school leaders to work on their promises of accountability with their Master Plan.
Even though the voters approved the bond issue, they were still very distrustful of the school leadership. Perhaps the voters should have voted no, demanding a Master Plan first if they were distrustful of the school leadership. But unfortunately, that did not happen. The voters were sold on the promises of accountability that were made and the measure passed. After the win, the appointed school board still assured the citizens that accountability would be built into the upcoming master plan.
Link 1
Link 2
It is now October of 2001, and time for a rollercoaster ride.
Hold on, here we go.
Oh no, Hold on! - With two months to go before the master plan is due, Barbara Byrd-Bennett’s has failed to act on one of her promises to let the public play a part in how the money would be spent. Also the numbers are not adding up. The independent facility assessments are not on the same page on their estimates.
Whew, that was close! - But luckily there is some good news from the State. It has raised the city’s equity rating. The State will now be offering even more money for the city to use. There should be no problem now in repairing the schools. And who knows, there may be even money left over!
Oh no, hold on! - But there are problems in putting together the final costs in the master plan. some details were overlooked like the state might not provide funds for new auditoriums and track and fields.
Oh no, hold on! - School officials begin questioning whether to renovate, or build brand new schools. No one knows how much this will cost the taxpayers of the city. The master plan is becoming more and more complicated.
Whew, that was close! - But luckily, because of the State’s significant increase in funding, the money will be there. Thank Goodness! The school board will not have to go back to the voters, everything is under control.
Oh no, hold on! - But wait, the school population is not growing. In fact it’s shrinking. Perhaps the city should rethink their plans before renovating some buildings. This is taxpayer money and it should not be wasted on a school that will be closed in the next couple of years. But no, the renovation must be done. And in a couple of years, some of the renovated schools would be closed and others slated for the wrecking ball.
Link 3
After evaluating the problems of the school buildings, city and school officials begin to realize that the monies from the 2001 bond issue might not be enough. Perhaps if these city officials had their master plan in place before putting it to the vote, they could have had a better idea on what was needed. Unfortunately, there was not time to complete that first step in accountability. Having a master plan prior to knowing how the money would be spent would “take up too much precious time” according to school officials.
Link 4
Does anyone remember the Bullwinkle show?
At the end of a Bullwinkle story, the narrator would give you the title of the next show. There were always two titles. Here is my attempt at this lesson’s title.
We need more money! Lessons from 2002
“The Master Plan stinks!” or “Hey! Speak up, we can’t hear you!”
July, 2002 - Citizens do not like the master plan. They do not trust the information being given to them. They are upset that schools in their neighborhoods may be closed. It’s too bad that city and school officials were not prepared with their master plan before going to the voters. Oh well, too bad for the voters, they should have thought about this before they hastily approved the bond issue.
Link 5
October, 2002 - Some citizens complain that the appointed school board is not being open. Communication with the community is being overlooked by the school board.
Link 6
But rest assured, the Board Accountability Commission is hard at work maintaining the public trust with the taxpayer money.
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