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Letter to the Editor - February 29, 2008
Follow the Money
February 29, 2008 - 3:19PM
Apple Valley
Recently, Colleen Hoover wrote a letter to the editor disparaging the current HUSD School Board. How hypocritical! Colleen should examine her own actions. She personally made thousands of dollars "double dipping." She got paid her regular salary as a classroom teacher on days she was traveling to Nashville and other places while working for a private corporation. She and many of her friends who are trying to recall the current board made a lot of money leaving their classroom to a substitute teacher. They hate the fact that the current board cut off their money. This little moneymaking cartel included former superintendent Richard Bray's wife along with the wife of ousted board member Eric Swanson.
In addition to ending this debacle, the current board members put an end to illegal bids. Gott Construction, a company owned by the husband of Diane Gott, Director of Facilities Planning for HUSD was awarded a contract to build Mission Crest Elementary school. This improper contract was awarded by the former board and correctly overturned by the current board. Former board member Nellie Gogley, who approved this arrangement, is actively involved in attempting to recall current board members. Finally, re-bidding Mission Crest saved HUSD close to a million dollars.
This sheds some light on why Colleen Hoover, and ousted board members Nellie Gogley and Lori Neilson are so strongly motivated to recall this board. Just follow the money ... this recall election will cost tax payers about a quarter of a million dollars.
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Reader's comments
| If you really are a district employee, then you know that the last time we faced a RIF we had a deputy superintendent who was a lawyer, who was paid a monthly stipend to serve as in house counsel, and an outside law firm working on the issue. The solution these highly paid lawyers came up with? Pink slip EVERY certificated teacher in the district. Let's hope we get more for our money with the personnel we have working for us now. |
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| really? - Mar 06, 2008 05:15:10 PM | Remove Comment |
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| Talk about a waste of taxpayer's money, on Wednesday, March 5th, the District Attorney spent the entire day at the District Administration building helping our incompetent staff draft pink slips for potential teacher layoffs. At 250 per hour, that's 2000 that went to the attorney's pocket. Hopefully, we didn't have to pay for his lunch as well. By the way, his comments at the last board meeting were paid for as well. |
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| District Employee - Mar 06, 2008 08:15:05 AM | Remove Comment |
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| Does anyone believe Charles Roedell? He's making up all of his so called "facts" and he knows it. The Perb he refers to was against the district not Mr. Samuels. It was brought against the district for their unfair treatment of Samuels and at trial the district was found guilty of a number of labor law violations. The purging of Samuel's file was part of the result of that trial - as Roedell well knows. As for the buying out of Samuel's contract - just how in the world can Roedell know anything about that. The answer. He doesn't. Facts are meningless to this man. Lies, slander, and innuendo should be exposed not trumpeted about by the cynical manipulators of public opinion who are behind this recall effort. |
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| teacher - Mar 05, 2008 09:28:53 AM | Remove Comment |
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| NO |
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| LBO - Mar 05, 2008 09:02:38 AM | Remove Comment |
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| Taxpayer doesn't mind spending school dollars on a election based on lies and false information. That is interesting. So if the taxpayers don't support this recall drive and it fails, does that mean this group of malcontents will stop this harrassment of elected officials? One can only hope. |
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| geez - Mar 05, 2008 06:37:50 AM | Remove Comment |
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| I'm tired of this garbage about the recall costing the tax payers thousands of dollars. The only way the recall election will happen is if enough taxpayers ask for it. Welcome to democracy. Unfortunately Kirk thinks this is an autocracy. |
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| Taxpayer - Mar 04, 2008 05:26:43 PM | Remove Comment |
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| ExCEL became just another conduit to funnel money to another Kirk choice, the new law firm. I'm sure it's just a coincidence. |
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| HeRE - Mar 02, 2008 08:44:50 PM | Remove Comment |
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| If pardon me has read all he says he has, he would know that when the Institute ceased to function under the name Hesperia Institute for ExCEL, there was almost one hundred thousand dollars in the ExCEL account. It has been determined that the Institute owes the district twenty seven thousand dollars, for what I am not certain. This SHOULD leave over seventy thousand dollars that still could be used for our kids. But wait. The new board members wanted YET ANOTHER report for which the Institute account paid about thirty thousand dollars. The district also got a van when the Institute closed. So, there is still a substantial sum which could be used to fund grants. Where is it? |
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| What to Believe - Mar 02, 2008 02:56:52 PM | Remove Comment |
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| Sorry, I meant to say that the Excel Institute was poorly run. It owes HUSD thousands of dollars that it can't repay. This institute couldn't function without HUSD subsidizing it with money that could have gone to all our kids. |
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| pardon me - Mar 02, 2008 01:44:42 PM | Remove Comment |
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| A report, not audit, was presented at the last Excel Institute Board meeting. Obviously you are not aware of these records. You need to get the facts before you make accusations. The Excel Institute was poorly. The Excel Institute actually failed to collect 50,000 dollars from participating districts. According to you that is money for the kids but didn't get to the kids. |
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| pardon me - Mar 02, 2008 01:37:39 PM | Remove Comment |
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| To what report do you refer? There was no report save an unnecessary audit to drain money away from ExCEL and my kids. The books are non-fiction high interest books and novels to support my reading program. My union did nothing but badger this program that was helping teachers and kids because they disliked the Superintendant and the NEVER proved that anything untoward occured. I saw the audit. Money to teachers, money to kids. Period. |
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| Teacher - Mar 02, 2008 12:07:48 PM | Remove Comment |
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| Excel Institute was a parasite on HUSD. It took more money away from the district than it paid to the district. It was a nonprofit that was used as a profit for a few. Read the report and see for yourself how Ed Code was violated. By the way, if your students don't have the books they need you should file a Williams violation. Give us your principal's name and actions will be taken to get the books your students need. |
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| pardon me - Mar 02, 2008 08:27:06 AM | Remove Comment |
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| I will never receive my promised stipend for the books I needed for my kids. With the budget being cut, I won't get them from any other source. The ExCEL Institute benefitted me and it benefitted kids. I'll miss my books, and because we'll have to cut from everywhere substatially even if we do go to a four day work week, I miss every penny the kids of the district should have had that was provided by ExCEL. |
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| Teacher - Mar 01, 2008 10:56:45 PM | Remove Comment |
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| Did read the report. Ed code violations were noted. You are not dealing with a full deck. |
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| what? - Mar 01, 2008 07:51:49 PM | Remove Comment |
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| Here are some more facts regarding the ExCEL Institute. Trainers were paid a stipend from the schools they trained. This covered the hours of EXTRA time these teachers put in planning for each training and going well beyond their "work" hours. Ask to see the thirty thousand dollar lawyer's report and you'll see that there was no edcode violation whatsoever. The extra money might have been nice, but the best part was sharing professionally with other teachers something that is proven to be good for kids, AND satisfies the new Federal RTI requirements. Bottom line is this. The Institute made a ton of money which benefited the students of HUSD. Now they've lost that benefit at a time when, due to budget cuts, it would have been put to good use. |
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| Even More Tired - Mar 01, 2008 06:13:15 PM | Remove Comment |
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| For TRUTH, JUSTICE, and the AMERICAN WAY, HeRE, HeRE! The POWER MAD obviously can't stand it! |
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| towncryer - Mar 01, 2008 05:08:42 PM | Remove Comment |
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| heRE you should read that PERB ruling. you are ill informed. But I think you know that you are just trying to spew hate and discord. How sad. |
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| what? - Mar 01, 2008 11:41:21 AM | Remove Comment |
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| Your point would be well taken if it's about his ability as a teacher, which it's not. It's about received something you didn't earn, given to you because you have friends who misuse their influence to get a PERB ruling regarding misconduct set aside with a large cash bonus for being bought out. That's why people are justifiably angry. |
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| HeRE - Mar 01, 2008 11:23:28 AM | Remove Comment |
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| Once again I post that Lee Samuels was teacher of the year several times. That fact seems to be omitted in your conversation. |
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| again - Mar 01, 2008 06:44:23 AM | Remove Comment |
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| Lee is really proud of being able to get it, so I imagine that he's shared it with someone. Whether it's half a mill or 250,000 or whatever, it's an amount that the retirees of Hesperia who retired at the appropriate time didn't have access to, and neither would he if he didn't have a couple of friends on the board. |
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| Teacher - Mar 01, 2008 06:33:36 AM | Remove Comment |
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