Taylor Schools Financial Status Questioned.
Blogger lookingfortruth opens following discussion:
What is going on with the local school board finances? How does an organization who operates using public monies have a deficit of almost one million dollars? Who is responsible for financial oversight? If it is the five "elected" officials who sit on the school board or the superintendent of schools, then maybe we should be saying, "Lucy, you have some esplaining to do!" Explain to us how you managed to get so far in debt and why we should re-elect you if you can't handle public monies any better than this?
What is going on with the local school board finances? How does an organization who operates using public monies have a deficit of almost one million dollars? Who is responsible for financial oversight? If it is the five "elected" officials who sit on the school board or the superintendent of schools, then maybe we should be saying, "Lucy, you have some esplaining to do!" Explain to us how you managed to get so far in debt and why we should re-elect you if you can't handle public monies any better than this?
Interesting. I did not read about that in the paper. How did you come about that information? I am asking because I don't see how they could be operating in a deficit with a budget. At the beginning of the fiscal year, they are given a budget to work with unless it is because of that State Account that has been under such scrutiny that is causing them to show a deficit. Regardless, I would like to hear from someone that knows before we start pointing fingers. Someone shed some light.
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A friend of mine attended the school board meeting last Tuesday and told me about it. She said she did not see anyone from the paper there that night--very interesting!
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HMMM, that is interesting. It is amazing what we don't hear about in the media. I want to know why the deficit too!!
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A copy of the auditor's report is now public record.
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There is a detailed article about this situation in the local paper. It was on the front page.
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Is the financial mess the real reason that Oscar Howard is not running again?
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that is the whole reason what else do you think it is. He was all about school unity and now all he wants to do is get out as fast as possible. Since I work with the school system and see how he is treating us, makes me glad I did not vote for him to begin with.
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Get real....Oscar has served and seved us well...His parents are aging and well up there in age...he wants to be able to take care of them and enjoy the final days with them...He also wants to spend time with his new grandbaby...Am I happy with all the decisions he has made? No, but I do respect his position and appreciate what he has done...
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I am as real as it gets... you are entitled to your opinion. I guarantee that there are other people that share your opinion. I have been messed over by his decisions personally, having lost my job and 2 jobs that my family had. I do not believe that the bumping was done fairly and that a lot of good people lost their jobs when just because of seniority, people that have no qualifications kept their jobs. Since you do not like all of his decisions, I can agree with you on that, but unless you have first hand experience of how he handles his "business", please do not tell me to get real since I am trying to figure out a new career path since mine was snatched from me by the POWERS THAT BE!
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I have had an experience with Oscar I did not appreciate...However I respect the position he is in and whether or not I agreed with his decision it was made. Good luck in your job search...
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I can not respect or sit quiet with most of the decisions made by Oscar Howard. I have read other post about the "good ole boy" syndrome. I have personally seen hired 2 people for positions in the last school year which their were more qualified applicants but he gave to close personal friends that were not qualified in these positions. I will be the first to admit that my pride gets in my way and I could have had help and had a better job than I have now, but I also have had the upbringing that you have to work for what you get and knowing that these positions were just handed to these two individuals, just made all respect for Oscar go out the window.
I appreciate the good luck sentiment but as I have also seen on these blogs, I will be looking somewhere besides Taylor County for my employment since we have no jobs here. I look on the website Employ Marketplace Florida daily, and have to look to the districts not the county. I hope the rest of my school family is faring better than me. On that note, I have a job interview to go to and hope that Oscar can sit back in his big house and feel good about the situation that he has helped get this county in.
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The decisions Oscar made are no different than any other decisions made by other superintendents through the years...I remember from Mrs. Glenda Hamby's tenure right on down through today that favoritism was given...But these people were entrusted by us the voters to make decisions and not all decisions will everyone agree on. Am I happy to see another citizen leave ? No...But you answered this yourself...Our district is not the only one having to make tough decisions...If that were not so then you would be finding gainful employment easily....I have been doing searches daily and see where school districts NATIONWIDE are faced with the same decisions we are here locally. Like I said, I too have been affected by some of Oscar's decisions through the last few years...
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If its all about accountability, which it should be, shame on Oscar and the Board members. It's easy to point the finger at the former Finance Director who is equally culpable. Guess they should have hired someone who was familiar with school finances other than just auditing them. And if the former Finance Director was doing such a poor job for four years, why did the Superintendent and School Board members not terminate his employment or ask him to resign? Instead it appears they continued to allow his inability to do a good job result in the financial fiasco the district is now in and has been for a couple of years. So in my opinion, Oscar and the Board are responsible. Unfortunately, its the employees, not administration, who are paying the price. Granted the state and Gov. Crist (who said he would hold education harmless!!!) didn't help the situation by continuing to decrease the funding provided by the state to fund education. Especially since the results provided by the DOE yesterday indicate Florida made significant gains in educating our youth. Teachers, support staff, and students must have been doing something right. Finally, congratulations to Taylor County for making the grade of "B" in all of the district schools.
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If he did such a good job, why is the district in the financial position it is? I think his lack of management skills caught up with him and now he is bailing. He makes $90+K a year, he didn't offer a month's salary when he had to tell people "sorry your jobs have been eliminated, this is the hardest decision I have had to make." The Board members at least make gesture of good will. One month of his salary is almost as much as the Board members combined! He's out and that's that. I don't believe he would have made it another term with the district's finances the way they are (before the State's cuts). But blame where it belongs: Oscar and the five board members!
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Get over that. Have you ever known of a boss who gave up his salary, regardless of why someone's position was cut? Don't you people understand the defecit was because of overstaffing...and the only way to fix that is get rid of those positions not absolutely necessary???
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What about getting rid of the Director of Personnel, who was in charge of staffing and kept hiring more and more people even while student enrollment dropped year after year?
But no, he has been reappointed to serve yet another year to the tune of around $80k. So obviously the superintendent and board don't hold him accountable.
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This school district has been in trouble for years, the last finance director couldn't move money around and cover things like the one before him could. People have been promoted to jobs they couldn't do, demoted or taken a lower job, at the same pay as thier promotion. You just can't run things like that. The people that should have been watching weren't, I think they were all elected, one quit, fire the rest next chance you get. Don't Forget. Ask the candidates what they plan to do, find out about them, vote for the best qualified candidate, in all the races.
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An alternative option that a number of counties have chosen is to hire superintendents rather than elect them.
Perhaps it's time for Taylor County to consider this.
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Interesting thought.
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Then who's gonna watch him, this same board that didn't watch anyone else?
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Whether a superintendent is elected or hired, the board's responsibility is to watch him and provide a system of checks and balances.
The difference would be that if he were hired, the board could get rid of him if it turned out that he wasn't doing a good job. With an elected superintendent, the board can't do anything--he's there for his whole term.
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I personally like the thought of them being elected so no one can say that so and so on the board hired a friend....If we are so unhappy with a elected official we can always have a recall election...
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Well, the board would vote on the hired superintendent--so no one board member could hire a friend.
This process is not unheard of. Not only do a number of school districts do it, but so does every public corporation. The board of directors is responsible for hiring the CEO.
And that's what a superintendent is--a CEO. Even in our small county, that's quite a job; the district's CEO is responsible for managing a multi-million-dollar budget and around 500 employees.
The question is, who do we want to be the CEO of this organization? A manager, or a politician? By limiting ourselves only to politicians, the odds of us getting a great manager are significantly reduced.
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Does anyone know whether or not the school districts who hire their superintendent are in the State of Florida? That is an interesting thought. Then maybe that individual could be on a year contract and if that individual is not doing the job, the board could choose not to renew his or her contract. Sort of like Mr. Darby at the hospital. His contract was not renewed. Maybe the Board would have more qualified candidates to choose from. It shouldn't be a popularity contest but one based on experience and qualifications. Good luck Dr. McLeod!
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I don't have a list of the districts that appoint superintendents, but I can tell you that there are definitely some in Florida.
A district that hires rather than elects a superintendent immediately has access to a much larger pool of candidates for the job because anyone from anywhere can apply.
The flip side is that the superintendent may be less likely to butt heads with the school board, since the board has the authority to fire him. That somewhat reduces the system of checks and balances that our current method provides, but shouldn't be a huge problem so long as the voters hold the board members accountable for their actions.
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