After dustup over budget, gag order, the Crusade for Voters lashes out at School Board. by Chris Dovi
Less than three months after assuming office, some newly minted Richmond School Board members may have run afoul of one of their key endorsement organizations.
“As leader of an organization that just last year endorsed the candidacies of many of the current school board members, many of our members have great concerns with the votes that took place last week,” says Richmond Crusade for Voters President Antione Green.
Green’s own misgivings are with the Board’s March 16 approval of a proposed budget despite continuing objections from two board members that Superintendent Yvonne Brandon had not provided any detail with her $270 million proposal. The board also passed a so-called “gag rule” provision that potentially prohibits board members from speaking against issues and holds them “accountable by … the district’s chief legal counsel.”
“We do have some great concerns,” Green says, particularly about the budget issue. “It’s important to me, just in terms of transparency and making that information available not only for the School Board members, but also making that information available for the taxpayers of the city.”
Two newly elected members, Don Coleman and Norma Murdoch-Kitt, voted in favor of the budget, as did all veteran board members, including Chairwoman Chandra Smith. Two members who won election in November, Kim Gray and Dawn Page, voted against the budget proposal, citing objections similar to Green’s. Adria Graham Scott abstained.
Green said he has heard from an overwhelmingly negative field of complaining Crusade members, many frustrated that the new board has failed to provide the transparency and accountability it promised during an election that saw more than half the School Board replaced.
The new board’s passage of Brandon’s budget is troubling “in light of what happened around this time last year,” Green says, referencing one of a handful of damning audits of schools released by the city’s auditor, Umesh Dalal. “We learned $14 million was mismanaged by the school system. That being said, that’s all the more reason why … there should be transparency and we should know detail for detail where the money is going to be spent.”
Brandon’s predecessor, Deborah Jewell-Sherman, announced her early retirement shortly after results of one such city audit were published.
Green says his members also are expressing themselves about the board’s adopted “communications protocol” -- an pledge that board members are to sign agreeing to not disagree publicly with the board’s majority. Those who violate the pact are subject to disciplinary action from the board’s legal counsel.
Bravo Wolf and Bridges! I have to thank Carol Wolf and Kim Bridges for being the only two board members who had the courage to speak their minds and use their real names in this exchange. Clearly, there have been other board members taking personal shots at these two ladies, but Wolf and Bridges maintained decorum and grace. I happen to agree with Wolf on this issue and must commend her for treating Bridges with respect, despite disagreeing. I also commend Bridges for stating her position and not making it personal. Too bad the rest of the people on this blog, and on the board, don't have the class these two demonstrated.
Friday, April 03, 2009 11:16:40 AM by Nobody's Fool
Q: What has this board done to improve graduation rates? Increase enrollment? Improve SAT scores? Get mold out of the schools? Fix leaky roofs? Hold administrators accountable? Get rid of bad teachers? Hold principals accountable?
A: Took a vow of silence.
Q: What has this board done to help educate our children?
A: Take every trip out of town that comes their way in order to drive up the per pupil costs and further insult all the hard working families and teachers who bust a gut every day!
NO MORE EXCUSES! Get the schools right or get out of the way and stop wasting our children's minds and taxpayer money! I am very proud of the Crusade for standing up to these lazy board members! Gray, Page and Scott Graham can stay .... the rest are just wasting our money and our children's futures.
Friday, April 03, 2009 9:56:53 AM by Anon
Ask a board member about why there is no line-item budget and see who starts making excuses first! Any money that board members and administrators spend on travel, hotels, meals out etc.... is money that they are taking away from the classroom and our children.
How much has each board member been reimbursed for travel, hotels and meals? How can they justify cutting field trips in order to keep their "expense accounts"?
And, as far as bullying goes, consider the way they attack anyone who asks a hard question? No .... the Crusade is just holding them accountable ..... Why don't they want to be transparent? What are they hiding?
When the crusades...and the stylers write and print a"admonishing" letter to an elected body..by the people. I wonder who is bullying who? ? to ask what have either stylers or the crusaders done for education lately?
Anonymus. "Someone should FOIA their charge account cards and the costs that they get reimbursed fore thru the School Board office and thru the Supt. accounts." You so silly, school boards member haven't had credit cards since the Malone and Johnson days...that was a mess I heard... Can we talk about educating the children NOW!...ask board member questions about EDUCATION!!! and see who responds first !
----------------------------- Alumni
Thursday, April 02, 2009 9:32:46 PM by Anonymous
You should look into finding out how many School Board members had their "Leadership Metro" expenses covered by taxpayer dollars .....
Thursday, April 02, 2009 1:44:36 PM by Taxpayer2
Old politics? Nope.
Obamanomics 101:
Along with "Audacious Hope" we need some AUDACIOUS TRANSPARENCY and ACCOUNTABILITY
As a parent, I would rather send children on "field trips" than pay for School Board members to travel to various conferences
Thursday, April 02, 2009 1:16:21 PM by Anonymous Taxpayer
"Alumni" .........Nothing personal whatsoever.
WHAT ARE THE FACTS?
Are you suggesting that School Board members have been paying for their trips out-of-town from their own pockets?
Are you saying that these trips were NOT paid for by taxpayer dollars?
I think a straight-forward list of all board members (past and present), complete with destinations, travel expenses and reimbursements for each, would be most interesting.
Also, a list of trips and expenses for administrators would be equally interesting. I am sure the taxpayers of the city would appreciate knowing this information.
Perhaps this is why the board and administration don't want to produce a line-item budget? Hmmmm........
Wow, now its getting personal...slandering board members for attending events out of town? what trips are they taking? Be brave when you attack people and give your real name and not Anonymous. so you can be sued like Style for liable. Its a great day in Richmond, when people who attend meeting for the board they represent and get slapped for it.!!old politics in action.
----------------------------- Alumni
Wednesday, April 01, 2009 5:09:28 PM by Anonymous
I wish Evette Wilson and Chandra Smith would explain why it is that let the RPS administration do all their thinking for them. Maybe it is because they go on expensive trips and get to charge them to the taxpayers. Someone should FOIA their charge account cards and the costs that they get reimbursed fore thru the School Board office and thru the Supt. accounts.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009 11:02:46 PM by Constant Reader
"igorant"?
Oh, dear ... it sounds as if you have been sipping some of the "green-with-envy" jealous juice. Even though I have not always agreed with the people you name in your rant, I am grateful for the courage they have demonstrated on behalf of the children and taxpayers of this city.
Perhaps you and the other members of the school board should get together after the next meeting and take turns reading the U.S. Constitution to one another. Slowly. Very slowly.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009 10:21:57 PM by Read for yourself
It is amazing how ingorant and lazy most of you "readers" are. Why not read the document yourself and stop relying on the most misleading rag ever and attention seekers like Carol Wolf and Antoine Green to interpret things for you. Of course Gray will call on the vote to be rescinded because she is spineless and is more concerned with public appearance than being effective.
School Board: Run the schools and ignore these ignorant attention seekers. Cooperate and get the job done rather than have the constant in-fighting you had with Wolf, Malone, Braxton and Ballard. Good riddance.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009 8:14:04 AM by anon
School Board should have known better than to take a vow of silence at a time of great change and with the public out cry for transparency and accountability at all levels of government.
Monday, March 30, 2009 10:39:34 AM by Constant Reader
It would seem that the board would have plenty to occupy itself with improving. What plans does the board have for improving the lousy DROP-OUT rates? The highest suspension rates in the Commonwealth (HIGHER even than DC Public Schools)?
** unfortunate typoes**
Monday, March 30, 2009 10:31:14 AM by Constant Reader
Does City Council have a similar set of rules? The General Assembly? Congress? I don't know why the minds at School Board think it is proper to attempt to control the behavior of their colleagues when other legislative bodies don't.
It would seem that the board would have plenty to occupy itself with improving. What plans does the board have for improving the lousy out rates? The highest suspension rates in the Commonwealth (high even that DC Public Schools)? Lousy graduation rates? Lack of advanced diplomas given at graduation? Highest per pupil costs and for what? RPS is quite possibly the worst-managed school system in terms of operations and finance in the Commonwealth and there are plenty of "studies" and "audits" to support this statement.
It is so typical for "Alumni" to think the problem is other board members' "behavior," when in reality the propblem is a poorly managed school system in dire need of some tough love to straighten it out.
The school boards"protocol" is getting a lot of attention. I suggest a copy is printed in "Style" for the reader and Crusaders?to see and decide if it violates anyones "rights".
----------------------------- Alumni
Sunday, March 29, 2009 3:41:15 PM by Carol A.O. Wolf
These school board members need to understand WHY protecting the First Amendment is so vital to our well-being as a society. As a member of the Crusade, I am grateful to the Crusade leadership for speaking out.
In times of national stress — real or imagined — First Amendment rights always come under enormous pressure. During the Red Scare and tumult in Russia in the early 1920s, thousands were deported for their political views.
During the McCarthy period, the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) used the infamous "blacklist" to ruin lives and careers.
Similarly, leaders of the Civil Rights movement were frequently jailed (or worse) as they sought to exercise their First Amendment Rights in this nation in the struggle to end segregation and Jim Crowe.
The Founding Fathers were indeed prescient. The First Amendment exists precisely to protect dissent from government suppression.
No one individual or entity has all the answers. Reasonable people should be able to disagree and work together. This doesn't mean someone has to essentially take a vow of silence.
But when the board moves to silence its own members by various punitive methods, they are crossing the line.
Persuasion, not coercion, is the solution.
And, as Dwight Eisenhower once noted: "May we never confuse honest dissent with disloyal subversion."
Sunday, March 29, 2009 9:25:40 AM by Nan
Gee whiz....! It's amazing how out of touch you are Kim Bridges. How is the weather on your planet?
Saturday, March 28, 2009 6:34:24 PM by Anonymous
Why do you keep "minimizing" the problem that stems from those few words? It isn't the "number" of the words. It is what those words mean. And, it is shameful that you and your colleagues don't seem to get that.
Perhaps you don't see this as a problem since you happen to live in the West End and are accustomed to the perks and privileges afforded to people in your zip code.
Do us all a favor, please. Stop talking down to people, making up excuses for administrators who don't do their jobs very well at all and blaming everyone from the media and your own colleagues for actually thinking that they are supposed to have a voice and heard.
There are too many people on this school board who just don't understand that there are more important issues to contend with other than who leaked a story or who said such-and-such to someone who said something else to someone else.
I am tired of hearing you tell parents that they should try their neighborhood schools. Perhaps you are such a champion of "neighborhood schools" because you don't want to change the "demographics" of the schools in your district.
You have no clue how "separate and not equal" schools in the city and surrounding counties really are. Instead of wasting your time posting links onthis website, you should be figuring out how to truly improve schools.
Y'all need to get over yourselves already. Until you do, you are just one more talking head full of your own pomposity. But, you used the 'open enrollment' policy to make sure that you wouldn't have to deal with our children of color any more than you absolutely must.
Saturday, March 28, 2009 9:30:05 AM by Kim Bridges
I encourage Crusade members to contact their school board representatives with suggestions for improvement in transparency and the school board's communication efforts. When I look at the online budget postings of RPS and compare them with Henrico, and Chesterfield the level of transparency is similar, so if we want RPS to be more transparent, specific ideas from the Crusade and others on how to take things to the next level would be helpful.
Crusade members can also weigh in on whether it's best to change the few offending words of the communications protocol or to eliminate the whole thing. Lost in Style's report on the issue is the full content of the document, which includes a major increase in communication efforts between the Superintendent and school board members. I know I am weighing the best approach to fixing the confusion over the 19 - 39 words in this document, so hearing members' opinions on the rest of the information would be helpful.
Contact the school board by clicking on "members" at: http://www.richmond.k12.va.us/schoolboardnew/index.htm
Compare the budget transparency of the 3 localities at: http://www.richmond.k12.va.us/indexnew/sub/Departments/Budget_Reporting/index.cfm
See the full communications protocol at http://www.richmond.k12.va.us/schoolboardnew/index.htm
Saturday, March 28, 2009 9:29:39 AM by Kim Bridges
I encourage Crusade members to contact their school board representatives with suggestions for improvement in transparency and the school board's communication efforts. When I look at the online budget postings of RPS and compare them with Henrico, and Chesterfield the level of transparency is similar, so if we want RPS to be more transparent, specific ideas from the Crusade and others on how to take things to the next level would be helpful.
Crusade members can also weigh in on whether it's best to change the few offending words of the communications protocol or to eliminate the whole thing. Lost in Style's report on the issue is the full content of the document, which includes a major increase in communication efforts between the Superintendent and school board members. I know I am weighing the best approach to fixing the confusion over the 19 - 39 words in this document, so hearing members' opinions on the rest of the information would be helpful.
Contact the school board by clicking on "members" at: http://www.richmond.k12.va.us/schoolboardnew/index.htm
Compare the budget transparency of the 3 localities at: http://www.richmond.k12.va.us/indexnew/sub/Departments/Budget_Reporting/index.cfm
See the full communications protocol at http://www.richmond.k12.va.us/schoolboardnew/index.htm
Friday, March 27, 2009 11:05:00 PM by Constant Reader
Evidently, the majority of the members of the School Board are not aware of the First Amendment nor their own policy against "bullying."
If their lawyers think they can "discipline" a board member for violating this "Communications Protocol," the School Board needs a different lawyer.
This business of thinking they can legally enforce this protocol is asinine. Clearly, they all need to get together at a meeting and read the Constitution.
Slowly.
On a more positive note, it appears that at least one school board member "gets it." Kim Gray (2nd District member and vice-chair) told people at community meeting this week that she will call upon the board to rescind the vote on the so-called "Gag Rule."
Let us hope that the other members can support her effort in this regard.
