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3.01.2008
Alvord ISD
Got a couple of emails today calling my attention to this.
Edit: I've not posted a few comments because they make conclusions that may not be true. And all those comments were anonymously submitted.
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50 comments:
This is not right! Evem though I support Tison, this is over the line. I don't think any employer should misuse an employee mailing list for anything, especially for political ads. It is worse if the letter used school employees, premises, equipment, materials and postage. Wow! On letters like this, isn't there some law that says it should have a notice like, "Sponsored by Alvord ISD"?
The Alvord ISD superintendent supports Joe Tison because he will do a better job than Phil King. He has a right to support Joe Tison.
There is NO way any employee or teacher can be punisihed for voting for Joe Tison, we vote in secret.
As far as Hillary or Obama supporters being upset, a core value of the Democratic Party is education.
The blog site reveals it is a group of taxpayers that don't want to pay taxes for public schools. They will love it if Phil King is re-elected and works toward funding public education with a regressive sales tax. Then they will whine about that.
Public school leaders in Wise County should want to hold on to their tax base because we have a lot of oil/gas money coming in!
What is wrong with these people? If they get in control, heaven help the kids. Football will have to go.
These people have been around for ever and I hope the kids in school refuse to pay for their social security when they grow up.
Was it done on school time and/or using school materials? If so, it is illegal. Was it done on his own time and using his own supplies? If so, then there is no problem. Not a hard thing to figure out now is it?
I received a phone call (recorded message) from a Paradise ISD faculty member supporting Tison, and urging me to do the same. Hmmmmm......
9:47AM You're absolutely right...
each of us is entitled to support the candidate of our choice and vote our convictions.
However, although I and I'm sure most of us here weren't on the premises or in the building, I have been told by some who are in a position to know that at least school time, equipment and premises were used.
This cannot say "Sponsored by Alvord ISD" It is just plain illegal.
Ruh roh!
That's almost as bad as a local principal getting a hold of the voter's log several years ago and chastising teachers for not voting in a local bond election.
The nerve!!!!!!
4:54, I believe that was the DISD Superintendent... McKay?
To anonymous 7:46am:
You don't vote totally in secret. Which primary you vote in is public record, forever and ever, and the Trice/Wilson piece specifically asked teachers and AISD employees to vote in the Republican primary.
7:44 - EXACTLY! If a boss asks employees to vote on a political ticket, he can check the public record to see who didn't. The employee is then under the gun. That is why such antics are not allowed in public offices. What is the next step? Is there a complaint out there somewhere?
No, 5:03, it was not McKay. It was after he was long gone from DISD. McKay was a superintendent. This incident belonged to a principal, a high school principal.
Life is really sucking in Wise County lately. Seriously...so much negativity. I'm channeling Don Williams right now:
"Oh Lord, let this day be good,
I'm feeling empty and misunderstood...."
8:35, I still believe McKay was involved in something like that. However, if it was AFTER McKay and was a DHS principal, that leaves only two who qualify. John White or Melinda Reeves. Either wouldn't surprise me. Why not just say who it was.
I think this goes alot deeper than just this letter, there are several alligations flying around town regarding this election and others. If you read the letter and all the post on texasinsider.org, it is quite interesting.
Surely this is illegal. School Supertindents sending letters to teachers, telling them how to vote. Are we in America? How is this reported to TEA and who do I report it to?
Each has his/her own vote. Mine will be against King by voting FOR Tison.
Well, I suppose that after Tuesday, folks will typically let the Texas dust settle on this stuff and it will be forgotten ... until next time. There are good reasons to be outraged over Phil King's relationships with regulated industry moguls and possible electioneering violations in Alvord ISD. But I think questionable politicians depend on Texans having very short memories. After all, it was Texas that gave us the super-criminal president, LBJ, and he could have been jailed back when he was barely old enough to vote!
1:07:
Don't believe everything you're told. I don't recall being told we had to vote one way or the other.
No school supplies or property were used to generate this letter, so get over it.
Oh, and how much have your electricity rates gone up under Mr. King? Who pays for his lunches and other living expenses? His campaign fund, funded by the industries he is entrusted to regulate...
11:25 - How about a proprietary list of school employees? Was that used (abused) huh? You try to get over that one.
Oh, it's okay for the Parker County Republican Chair to robo call all Republicans and encourage them to vote for the incumbent. And it's okay for utility companies to host parties for the incumbent. But God forbid schools support one of their own. We live in a land of hypocrisy.
11:25, I'm told a very different version by an AISD insider. School time, employees, supplies and equiptment were used.
I'm definitely no fan of King Phil, but you just can't do this kind of stuff.
To anonymous at 11:25am:
How do you know school property and resources weren't used? Where's your proof?
This isn't about Phil King and Joe Tison so much as it's about the abuse of power.
Now I know why we've always pronounced it Alvoid.......it's void of any intelligence.
After I married my spouse, we were driving to Gawd's Country where I was raised. We passed through that little nothing of a town, and I said "Honey, we're in Alvoid".
My spouse looked at me like I was phonetically challenged, and said "Alvorrrrrddddd, it's spelled A-L-V-O-R-D, so it should be pronounced Alvord."
I just smiled and said, "Nope, it's Alvoid, always has been, always will be. There's nothing to see here, let's just move along."
We still laugh every time we drive through Alvoid.
Well, rest assured the Homeland Security scamps can figure this one out.
IF any of said "propaganda documents" were produced on school-owned equipment such as HP laserjet printers, Xerox copiers, etc., secret watermarks were simultaneously imprinted, viewable only under specially-designed blacklights, owned only by said Homeland Security Agents.
I kid you not.
1:43 - Political parties exist to promote candidates. Duh! It is expressly against the law for public school officials to engage in electioneering. Get the difference?
Furthermore, it is an abuse of school (public) property to create promotional materials of that kind. Yes, in their letter, Trice and Willson DID ask their employees to vote republican and for Joe Tison.
9:05 - well it wasn't John White, and there are still some (not many) teachers here who remember, and a LOT who are in neighboring schools who also remember, and were called on the carpet for not voting.
1:43 says it all, "one of their own". If Phil King can not meet and talk with energy/utility companies, then I assume that since Tison in "one of thier own", he can not meet and talk with teacher organizations? As soon as "one of their own" is in office, watch for attempts to remove objective measures for school districts.
Every industry, and I include education, has its own agenda.
11:25:
You ask for proof. I ask where is your proof that anything was done illegally. Did you see them use school materials to produce and mail this letter? Have you actually read the letter? I have read the letter, and I have a totally different take on it. Everyone is so quick to jump on the bandwagon and assume something was done wrong. Based on whose information?? Go to the source and find out the information first hand, not second, third, fourth....
So, why don't you copy and paste (or post) this letter for all of us to see?
My nickname is "anonymous" which is not much different from "rpm" or any other nickname on here.
Alvord ISD letter:
http://txpayervoice.blogspot.com/2008/03/alvord-isd-letter-if-youre-curious.html
Barry - Have you sent this letter John Trice and Larry Wilson wrote to Wise County Messenger?
RPM,
If you're going to bitch about people posting as "anonymous," then perhaps you should come out from behind your own wall of anonymity first... Absent your revealing your identity, stick to the arguments and quit using other posters' "anonymous" monikers as some sort of trump card.
Jarhead
Thank you - I would like to thank Peggy V and MLSAMUELSON for giving us this forum. We do not have much of a voice and it is extremely difficult to do your job when you have all this going on. I'm sad to say most of what I've read is true. Our leadership at AISD is gone all the time and not involved with day to day goings on with the school. I hope this wakes Mr Trice and principles up and makes them realize some of their actions are just wrong. I also hope we get a new school board. Anyone interested in running? We need to get organized with parents and turn our school around. We can make a difference.
Where is the Alvord school board? Asleep at the wheel? They just don't care? Guys, our district is being run for the benifit of a few!
Please, someone step up to the plate........and return our district to the kids!
When is deadline to run for schoolboard? Does anyone know if John Trice and Larry Wilson will be prosecuted? What's the next step for AISD?
If the board is on their side, then no one will be prosecuted until someone makes a formal complaint to TEA in Austin.
Anyone (parents, teachers, students, administrators, concerned citizens) can contact TEA about anything, and you may do so anonymously, too.
Who do we write in TEA to report illegal activities in schools?
Start here first: www.tea.state.tx.us
For those who asked about contacting the Texas Education Agency, please go to this post: http://txpayervoice.blogspot.com/2008/03/contacting-texas-education-agency.html
Well the deadline to run for school board was the 10th of March, and I hear this should be a good one 2 of the women I have seen at some school board meetings have thrown their names in the hat!! This could get very interesting, all of the talk of NEW board members just might come true. I respect you both for at least putting your name on the ballot... Glad to see some are willing to stand for what is right and not only "yap" about the problem, but "step up"!! Good Luck to you both!
Education Code
Subtitle C. Local Organization and Governace
Chapter 11. School Districts
Subchapter A. General Provisions
§ 11.169. ELECTIONEERING PROHIBITED. Notwithstanding
any other law, the board of trustees of an independent school
district may not use state or local funds or other resources of the
district to electioneer for or against any candidate, measure, or
political party.
Added by Acts 2005, 79th Leg., Ch. 1109, § 32, eff. September 1,
2005.
Renumbered from Education Code, Section 11.168 by Acts 2007, 80th
Leg., R.S., Ch. 921, § 17.001(11), eff. September 1, 2007.
You can read all these rules, codes and others by going to the TEA website and the State Board of Education.
The SBEC you will be able to see all who is certified and what they are certified to teach. If there name doesn't pull up then that usually means they are not certified or you don't have the correct name or spelling.
The best defense we have, is to educate ourselves, to find out what our rights are and to know what rules our schools are required to follow by law.
Has anything come of this issue? Is there going to be an investigation into these allegations?
He's at it again! Mr Trice was seen at the track meet in Chico yesterday trying to influence voters to elect Calvin Baker and Kerry Clower in the upcoming school board election! (Kerry was approached by Trice to run) Did he NOT learn anything the first time? Jeannette Ward is running against Baker, and Tracy Lodes against Clower! These two ladies want to see positive changes in our school system, not stir up trouble like Mr. Trice is accusing them of! Do we want things to stay the same? I say no! (It's also been rumored of Mr Trice saying "if Lodes wins he will step down the next day")
Is that a promise?
Let it be known I have nothing against Clower and Baker. They are respected retired men in our community. We don't need "safe" school board members at this point! We need people who have children in our school system who know what is going on inside the school, who are not afraid of positive changes to make things right! Many issues never make it to the school board by way of Mr. Trice!! I just think it's time to have the school board run by the rules and not controlled by Trice.
Alvord Community,
Is this the way the Alvord ISD School Board engages the Alvord Community? If not, CHANGE IT and elect the two, who have invested interest in the school system. They want positive change and most important they believe the community needs and should be involved.
This article came off the National School Board Association and it was written by Mike Resnick & Anne Bryant:
How School Boards Engage the Public
A closer look at the concept of elected school boards and their governance function will show what they bring to the engagement process. One reason we have elected school boards is so that decisions affecting children
and the school environment are shaped and approved by people who
represent the community. In addition to being the school system’s policymakers and governing authority, school boards hold superintendents accountable for managing the schools. School board members, in turn, are themselves accountable to the public. In effect, elected school boards are the way by which the public schools belong to the public. When the school board becomes involved in community engagement, people know that the effort is being directed by their elected leaders. They also know that their elected leaders have access to the system and will, with the recommendations of the superintendent, make policy decisions based on the public discourse that takes place. In other words, when school boards engage the community, people know that their involvement counts and that decisions will be based on a wide range of views. A school board’s capacity to engage the community extends beyond the formal actions the board may take. Indeed, local school board members
engage the community as individuals every day in their personal lives, serving as a unique set of eyes and ears attuned to the schools and the public alike. They talk with parents about their children, meet with reporters, address local clubs, and bring together citizen groups on a wide range of issues concerning the schools and their impact on the community. In effect, school board members connect what the school system is doing with what the community expects for young people ingeneral and for individual children in particular. This is constituency representation at a personal level, a level that truly counts for individuals. How well a school system engages the public and how the public believes its involvement will be received depend on the school board’s
policies and the priority it places on community engagement. It also depends on the overall climate of welcome and accessibility that the school
board establishes and on its day-to-day engagement with constituents. In addition to informal engagement, a school board conducts formal and highly focused activities that take citizen involvement to a higher
level. Through these structured activities the community can help to shape the basic mission of the schools by asking crucial questions: What do community members want their children to know and be prepared to do when they graduate from school? What services do they want their
school to provide? What kinds of curriculum and extracurricular offerings should be available beyond the required subjects? What size should classes be? What special qualifications should be expected of teachers? What values, character traits, and twenty-first-century skills should their
students possess? And what do the schools need to look like and do on a daily basis to fulfill their mission? The public can be formally engaged to help identify and solve—and ultimately to assume ownership of—a wide range of issues, from raising graduation rates to school construction, from the academic program to drug abuse, teen pregnancy, and sex education. The list goes on. There is no one best way to engage the public, but a number of proven practices merit discussion for what they contribute to the school system and, ultimately, to the democratic process.
Attention Alvord ISD Parents and Taxpayers,
I came across this report on the TEA website and was wondering if anybody out there would like to enlighten me on who the Vice-Principal is see #1?
I looked on the Alvord HS website see #2 but when I looked at the State Board of Education teaching certificates I found see #3:
Interesting reading on the requirements on the SBEC see #4. Funny thing is they require our children to pass the TAKS before going on to the next grade or graduate but they don't require certain people to be certified in the area in which they are receiving a salary for! Something is VERY WRONG and STINKEN with this picture.
1) 2007-2008 Staff Salaries and FTE Counts -- Excluding ESC Staff
Totals by District for District: 249901
-----------------------------------
Region: 11 County: WISE COUNTY District: ALVORD ISD ( 249901 ) Staff FTE Count Total Base Pay Average Base Pay
ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF
ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL 0.60 $33,528 $55,492
ATHLETIC DIRECTOR 0.78 $38,810 $50,000
INSTRUCTIONAL OFFICER 0.68 $42,659 $62,642
PRINCIPAL 2.48 $175,348 $70,668
SUPERINTENDENT/CAO/CEO/PRESDNT 1.00 $99,000 $99,000
TOTAL ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF 5.54 $389,345 $70,245
***********************************
2) Alvord High School:
Campus Administrator
Carla Bullard - Principal
Ron Holson - Admin Assistant
Tracy Randall - Secretary
***********************************
3)
Texas Educator Certificate
This certifies that
Ronald D Holson
has fulfilled requirements of state law and regulations of the
State Board for Educator Certification
and is hereby authorized to perform duties as designated below:
STANDARD
Description Effective Date Expiration Date Status
Classroom Teacher
All-Level Physical Education 10/17/2002 12/31/2007 Expired
Grades (PK-12)
All-Level Physical Education 01/01/2008 12/31/2013 Valid
Grades (PK-12)
Generic Special Education 01/01/2008 12/31/2013 Valid
Grades (PK-12)
Generic Special Education 06/26/2004 12/31/2007 Expired
PROVISIONAL
Description Effective Date Expiration Date Status
Secondary Health Education 07/22/1997 Life Valid
Grades (6-12)
Secondary Physical Education 06/19/1994 Life Valid
Grades (6-12)
EMERGENCY PERMIT
Description Effective Date Expiration Date Status
Elementary Physical Education 08/11/1998 08/31/1999 Expired
Grades (1-8)
Secondary Physical Education 07/28/1993 08/31/1994 Expired
Grades (6-12)
Official Record of Certification
Monday, April 28, 2008
***********************************
4)
Texas Administrative Code
TITLE 19 EDUCATION
PART 7 STATE BOARD FOR EDUCATOR CERTIFICATION
CHAPTER 241 PRINCIPAL CERTIFICATE
Rules
§241.1 General Provisions
§241.5 Minimum Requirements for Admission to a Principal Preparation Program
§241.10 Preparation Requirements
§241.15 Standards for the Principal Certificate
§241.20 Requirements for the First-Time Principal in Texas
§241.25 Requirements for the Issuance of the Standard Principal Certificate
§241.30 Requirements to Renew the Standard Principal Certificate
§241.35 Assessment Process Definition and Approval of Individual Assessments
§241.40 Implementation Dates
Mr. Neighbors,
No disrespect to you sir, but I believe some of your comments in your letter to The Gazette are found to be untrue. Sounds to me like you are listening to Trice's FUZZY MATH!!! A SMALL district like Alvord in NO WAY can be compared to Birdville, Dallas, Ellis, Galveston, etc. etc. etc....Alvord only has 3 schools with a enrollment of barely 700 and the other cities have many. Below you will find from the TEA website the Gold Performance Ratings for all school districts in the Wise County area. Each school is listed individually on the TEA website and you can even see ratings of past years, should there be anybody who is interested in seeing it in black & white.
DISTRICT ACCOUNTABILITY RATING HISTORY
DISTRICT NO. DISTRICT NAME 2007 2006 2005 2004
249901 ALVORD ISD RECOGNIZED RECOGNIZED RECOGNIZED RECOGNIZED
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
DISTRICT ACCOUNTABILITY RATING HISTORY
DISTRICT NO. DISTRICT NAME 2007 2006 2005 2004
249902 BOYD ISD ACADEMICALLY ACCEPTABLE ACADEMICALLY ACCEPTABLE ACADEMICALLY ACCEPTABLE RECOGNIZED
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
DISTRICT ACCOUNTABILITY RATING HISTORY
DISTRICT NO. DISTRICT NAME 2007 2006 2005 2004
249903 BRIDGEPORT ISD ACADEMICALLY ACCEPTABLE ACADEMICALLY ACCEPTABLE ACADEMICALLY ACCEPTABLE ACADEMICALLY ACCEPTABLE
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
DISTRICT ACCOUNTABILITY RATING HISTORY
DISTRICT NO. DISTRICT NAME 2007 2006 2005 2004
249904 CHICO ISD ACADEMICALLY ACCEPTABLE ACADEMICALLY ACCEPTABLE ACADEMICALLY ACCEPTABLE ACADEMICALLY ACCEPTABLE
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
DISTRICT ACCOUNTABILITY RATING HISTORY
DISTRICT NO. DISTRICT NAME 2007 2006 2005 2004
249905 DECATUR ISD ACADEMICALLY ACCEPTABLE RECOGNIZED ACADEMICALLY ACCEPTABLE ACADEMICALLY ACCEPTABLE
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
DISTRICT ACCOUNTABILITY RATING HISTORY
DISTRICT NO. DISTRICT NAME 2007 2006 2005 2004
249906 PARADISE ISD RECOGNIZED RECOGNIZED RECOGNIZED RECOGNIZED
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
DISTRICT ACCOUNTABILITY RATING HISTORY
DISTRICT NO. DISTRICT NAME 2007 2006 2005 2004
249908 SLIDELL ISD ACADEMICALLY ACCEPTABLE ACADEMICALLY ACCEPTABLE ACADEMICALLY ACCEPTABLE ACADEMICALLY ACCEPTABLE
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Again Mr. Neighbors no disrespect to you sir, but you have been misinformed again by somebody's FUZZY MATH.
I believe in 1999 was the year the $5,000,000 bond was passed to build the new high school and elementary.
If I am not mistaken, the new elementary was completed December 2000 and the new high school was substantially complete November 2001, so again if I am not mistaken, there is no way there has been schools built in the last 10 years.
According to March 1, 2007 front page of The Gazette Mr. Hale (School Board President) is quoted as saying: The additional classroom space is due to the 63% growth rate at the high school in just seven years. For Trice to get the 63-69% growth (depending on what day and who you talk to) for the 6,000,000 bond of May 2007 election, he went all the way back to 1997-98 & 1998-99 school years to get his figures! These figures was taken before the new Alvord High School was even built.
I'm no Math Major but by my calculation, Trice should have taken AHS (my enrollment was taken from the TEA website) enrollment 2001-02: 188 & 2006-07: 247 for a truthful total: 247-188 = 59 then take 59 divide it by 188 = wellll you get a 31% growth instead of the 63-69%.
Those figures and number of years that was given to the Alvord Community and Taxpayers, to pass the $6,000,000 bond, was FALSE INFORMATION.
The cost of the new middle school and addition to the high school is costing the taxpayers $6,349,000.00, unless it has changed!
Now do you get a warm and fuzzy feeling from all this or does it make you hotter than Hell to know WE allowed this to happen!!!!!!
What does all this mean, it means before you believe everything that you've been told or heard, you need to check it out for yourself!
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