Texas Leg to Strengthen School Board Trustees' Ability to Govern

Among the many bills filed for the 83rd Texas Legislative session is HB 628, "Relating to the right of a member of the board of trustees of a school district to obtain information, documents, and records."

The bill has strong bi-partisan support, and was authored by a coalition of Republicans and Democrats.  (Authors are Reps Tony Dale (R-Cedar Park,)  Marisa Marquez (D-El Paso,) Poncho Nevarez (D,) Dan Huberty (R), and Ed Thompson (R).) 

If passed, HB 628 will merely codify a 1983 ruling by the Attorney General which states that elected school board trustees must be given district information and documents without having to file open records requests.  

"I think if you're an elected official you need to have access to documents so that you can understand what's happening in your government organization so you can govern," said Dale.

The issue came up recently when it was discovered that El Paso ISD Superintendent Lorenzo Garcia had been engaging in fraudulent activity that resulted in his conviction and incarceration in federal prison.  Garcia was able to hide his criminal activity for a lengthy period since he refused to give El Paso school board trustees documents regarding the district.  Now, it also appears that even some of the trustees may have been complicit in hiding the district's illegal activity, and the U.S. Department of Justice may approve a board of managers to replace the trustees until new elections can be held.

Locally, Round Rock ISD Superintendent Jesus Chavez insisted at a November 27, 2012 Board meeting that he had the right to withhold district information from the elected trustees.  In this case, Superintendent Chavez is trying to prevent certain trustees and the public from scrutinizing the $25,000,000 campus they are building for at-risk (of dropping out) students.  Although Chavez denied trustees access to the relevant documents, someone within the district anonymously provided information to Trustee Terri Romere revealing that attendance in the so-called "Success High School" program averaged 40 students a day.

In an ironic parallel to the El Paso ISD scandal, several RRISD trustees seem determined to turn a blind eye to some of the recent revelations about Superintendent Chavez' activities.  Instead of holding him accountable for setting up a School Health Advisory Council (SHAC) that unequivocally violated state law, they have merely swept the issue under the rug and even allowed Chavez to blame the board in recent news accounts.  And when Trustee Terri Romere shared the truth about the daily attendance numbers in the "Success" program, several fellow board members not only ignored the data, but voted to censure Romere. 

HB 628 is likely to pass, but will not take effect until September 2013.  In the meantime, it is likely that school superintendents will continue their clandestine activity.  Even after passage, it will still be incumbent on local school boards to govern their respective districts appropriately.  The El Paso trustees did not perform due diligence, and now will be removed from office.

Proposed text of HB 628:

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1.  Section 11.1512, Education Code, is amended by adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:

(c)  A member of the board of trustees of the district has an inherent right of access to information, documents, and records maintained by the district, and the district shall provide the information, documents, and records to the member without requiring the member to submit a public information request under Chapter 552, Government Code.

SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.

Round Rock Push Poll Backfires

Political activists are quite familiar with 'push polls' in which a question is asked in such a way so as to 'push' a particular point of view.  After pushing an answer, the pollster happily trots out the results to support the chosen narrative.  But every once in awhile the public gets informed and the 'push' attempt backfires. 

It is so blatantly obvious that the newspaper's question is designed to skew votes against Romere, (and doesn't even mention the issue at stake!)  Shameless, but happily the people rejected the 'push' this time. 

And the print media wonders why they have lost the public trust.

Powerful Voices Speak at Round Rock School Board Meeting: Updated 12/15

While I was unable to attend last night's Round Rock ISD board meeting, one nationally-known activist did:  Texas Americans For Prosperity Director Peggy Venable.  Venable presented an open letter to the Round Rock School Board on behalf of Americans For Prosperity, in which she reminds the trustees that they work for the taxpayers and citizens and have no right to censure elected officials with whom they disagree. 

She also noted that similar behavior on the part of the El Paso ISD Superintendent prevented that board from gaining information about illegal activities that eventually led to jail time for Superintendent Garcia.  Venable correctly stated that public records belong to everyone, including elected members of the board.

Regarding the School Health Advisory Council (SHAC,) it seems the Superintendent finally got around to reading the state's education law code and created a new presentation that includes detailed information.  The new document is in stark contrast with the sloppy and unprofessional work submitted by Superintendent Jesus Chavez' administration for 2011-2012.  Of course this battle is far from over; Planned Parenthood CEO Cecile Richards' group, "Texas Freedom Network," has been trying to use local SHAC's to impose radically leftist sex education programs in Texas schools.  Watch for the RRISD Superintendent and the liberal-progressive members of the school board to try to stack the district's SHAC with TFN activists.

If you are not too busy with those Christmas preparations and would like to send a note of support to Peggy Venable and the two board members who are standing up for transparency in government, here is their contact information:

Texas AFP Director Peggy Venable:  Comment on her Open Letter here.
RRISD Elected Trustee Terri Romere:  terri_romere@roundrockisd.org
RRISD Elected Trustee Pauline Law:  pauline_law@roundrockisd.org

Update:  It seems I missed another powerful message that was delivered to the RRISD Board of Trustees on December 13.  A Round Rock citizen by the name of Scott Campbell addressed the board and circulated a copy of his comments.  Campbell's well-written letter reminds me of the scare-mongering perpetuated by RRISD Superintendent Jesus Chavez during the 2011 Legislative session, and the erroneous information he put forth.  Regarding recent board conduct, Mr. Campbell notes that five board of trustee members "have fallen short" of our trust.


Scott Campbell's letter to the RRISD Board of Trustees.
 

Thank you for the opportunity to address the Round Rock ISD Board of Trustees.

Our message this evening is about "trust", the root of the word "trustee", the trust we as parents and community members placed in you when electing you to make decisions maximizing our children's quality of education while optimizing the use of funds financed by the taxes we pay. Recent decisions by five board of trustee members have fallen short of this trust.

The board member these board members have censured on multiple occasions represents a minority viewpoint within the board of trustees. The legitimate concerns she raises on behalf of the community stakeholders are being marginalized. She asks questions and digs deeper for data in the interest of making informed decisions. This due diligence is met by resistance from other board members with statements such as “I/we don't or can't ask those types of questions". While community input is solicited, these board members generally vote with the administration's recommendation.

During the 2011state legislative session, as the state budget proposal was becoming clearer, an error in calculating the remaining RRISD budget impact, including the benefit of $7m additional federal funding, forecasted a $33m deficit rather than a $13m deficit, a $20m error. The board approved a tentative action allocating $15m from the available fund balance to reduce the $33m deficit, while continuing to communicate fear and anxiety to the employees, students and parents. I brought this error to the attention of the board president and superintendent. Rather than examine the numbers more closely, the board president's only response was that the state hadn't finalized the budget. Ms. Occhiuzzi called me at the superintendent's request and after I explained the error, she had Mr. Flores call me who confirmed the error in the district calculations. That day, the incorrect information was pulled from the district website, thereby reducing stakeholder anxiety.  At the time the board of trustees acted on this data, a basic ''gut check" should have exposed the magnitude of the error. In the course of this process, I contacted Ms. Romere. She took the time to understand the data in the interest of making informed future decisions.

We further know that incorrect data was presented during the boundary alignment process and that the recent Student Health Advisory Committee was not formed according to state education law. The Student Health Advisory Committee is only one example where the RRISD Board of Trustees and persons at various levels in the administration are unaware of state and federal law that should be guiding the decision process.

Data is "hard". This is why it is incumbent on each board member to ask questions to ensure they are    making informed decisions based on correct information.  

   

The recent censure of Ms. Romere resulted from her quest to ensure valid data. Based on data provided after the August vote allocating $25m for the Success High School, I calculated the cost per student to be 2-3 times that of the recently built Cedar Ridge High School. With more recent data, the cost per student appears to be on the order of 4-5 times. While we believe it is critically important to meet the education needs of the Success students, a more affordable option meeting these education needs would be  to allocate funding from this $25m to complete the final phase of Round Rock High School without the need for an additional bond election; and rather than tearing down building 100, remodel this facility to house the Success program. This will save taxpayers millions of dollars. Thus, Ms. Romere's request for more accurate data was justified. I have requested analysis of this approach from Mr. Albers and Dr. Chavez. I first shared this approach with Dr. Chavez at the August community meeting with the superintendent and more recently during the December community meeting with the superintendent.

In closing, we ask the five board members who represent a majority on the board to reevaluate their actions and ensure they are acting with the 11trust" placed in them by their stakeholders starting with a reevaluation of the plan for the Success High School, including community input.

Thank you for your time.

 

Round Rock School Board Meeting December 13: Chock Full of Fun!

For those who have been following the many "interesting" issues surrounding the Round Rock School District, you might consider attending the December 13 Board meeting scheduled for 7 P.M. at the Round Rock High School Lecture Hall.

According to the posted agenda, during the open session the Board will be discussing the School Health Advisory Council (SHAC).  Last month the Superintendent acknowledged that his administration had not followed state law in conducting the 2011-2012 SHAC, so now the Board must reformulate the council.  It will be interesting to see if they re-appoint Mr. Lynn Williams, the gentleman who called attention to the improper proceedings of last year's SHAC.

Also listed on the agenda is a Superintendent's report on "School Vouchers/School Choice."  In November, the administration invited the anti-choice group "Raise Your Hand Texas" to present a 'workshop' to the trustees, but as of yet the board has not heard from both sides of the issue.  It appears that the Superintendent is pushing the board to take an official stance on legislative issues.  If they do so, Superintendent Chavez will be free to lobby the State Legislature during the 2013 session.  (And we thought we paid him over $300,000 per year to run the school district.)

Finally, while the $25 million campus for drop-out students is not on the agenda, the Bond 2013 Study Decision is listed as an "Action Item."  Although the district is very much in need of elementary and middle schools, the board spent some $74 million on pet projects they knew voters would not approve.  Now, however, the RRISD can plead poverty and convince voters to approve new bond debt and tax increases.  Fitch reports that RRISD debt is already "Above Average" at $703 million, but this seems to be just fine with Fitch and our government culture of borrow and spend.(Supposedly RRISD isn't anything like Leander ISD with $1.3 billion in debt and a CAB Fiasco in the works.  Time will tell.)

Regarding the Success High School program for drop-out students, the district continues to maintain secrecy and only point to 'enrollment' numbers.  Voters should be aware, however, that students only need to show up for one day to be considered 'enrolled.'  Whether or not these students actually attend the program is another matter altogether.  As Trustee Romere discovered last month, average daily attendance hovers around 40 students per day.  At $25 million, taxpayers are spending $625,000 per student just to build the campus, never mind the maintenance and operation costs that will come after completion. 

Considering all of these issues, one finds it very difficult to trust the RRISD with such ample financial resources and/or the education of the majority of the community's children.  (Remember, RRISD academic rating has fallen from "Recognized" to "Acceptable," and now has several schools rated "Academically Unacceptable.")

Taxpayers and parents should be asking this board and administration for transparency and honesty.  The citizens of the community are entitled to the truth, and perhaps we need to be a little more vocal in asking questions.

If you wish to contact your elected board members, please strive to be courteous and respectful.  

Pauline Law:  pauline_law@roundrockisd.org

Brian Sellers:  brian_sellers@roundrockisd.org

Diane Cox:  diane_cox@roundrockisd.org

Catherine Hanna:  catherine_hanna@roundrockisd.org

Chad Chadwell:  charles_chadwell@roundrockisd.org

Glen Colby:  glen_colby@roundrockisd.org

Terri Romere:  terri_romere@roundrockisd.org

RRISD Tries to Silence Whistle Blowers?

At the Tuesday, November 27 meeting of the Round Rock ISD Board, 5 of 7 members voted to censure Trustee Terri Romere, apparently for asking too many questions. 

It seems that Terri Romere has been asking Superintendent Jesus Chavez to provide attendance data for the RRISD “Success High School” program for at-risk students. Success High School plans have been much in the news since the RRISD Board voted to spend $25 million from the general fund to construct an entirely new campus for the program. Taxpayers have questioned the fiscal soundness of the decision when the district is in dire need of new middle and elementary schools. At issue is how many students will attend the $25 million campus?

When Trustee Terri Romere initially requested the attendance data from the Superintendent, he refused to comply.  She then asked RRISD Board President Chad Chadwell for the data, who told her that even though she was an elected official, she would have to file (and pay for) an open records request. Ms. Romere did as Chadwell suggested and filed the request. In the meantime, someone from within the district anonymously left copies of RRISD documents on Romere’s doorstep containing the relevant data, which Romere then showed to Superintendent Chavez on November 15.  (Chavez had been claiming the documentation did not exist.)

The documents revealed that daily attendance at the Success High School program ran between 37 and 43 students per day. This is very much at odds with RRISD Administration's statements suggesting the new campus would serve more than 300 students.

Rather than address the very disturbing revelation that the Superintendent had pushed the board to spend $25 million in precious education dollars for a facility that would serve an average of 40 students per day, some board members decided to “kill the messenger.” In an obviously prepared statement, trustee Glen Colby accused Romere of conducting her own investigation, violating procedures, and “violating the Superintendent’s contract.” (Huh?) Colby, et al, claim that no one would have given Romere those documents unless she had ‘inappropriately’ asked for them- never mind that the topic has been much discussed since May 2012 and has prompted numerous letters to the editors of local newspapers.  Romere maintained her innocence and continued to ask the single question, "What is the daily attendance at Success High School?"

This whole new RRISD kangaroo court seems to be an attempt to distract the public from some very disturbing developments within the school district. Not only did the Board vote to stifle voter influence over the governance of the district last August, but during Tuesday’s proceedings the RRISD Superintendent stated that he had the right to decide what information the elected trustees could have about the district. And some of us were under the impression that public schools were governed by a local, democratic process! We elect trustees to the school board, and the superintendent should serve the voters via the trustees. Somehow, in the RRISD, we seem to have an unelected king running local public ed.

Just wondering out loud here: considering Superintendent Chavez’ peculiar statement during the witch hunt censure proceeding, is he refusing to comply with Terri Romere’s open records requests? If so, that is a clear violation of the Public Information Act. The Williamson County Attorney’s office has already admonished the ISD once this year, and just two weeks ago Superintendent Chavez admitted that they probably had not followed the law regarding the School Health Advisory Council. But perhaps there are more serious violations taking place here?

Which begs the question: what is the RRISD trying to hide?

Round Rock School District Super-Sizes RRHS, Enjoys Extra Cash On Hand

At last week's Round Rock School Board Meeting, the Trustees and Administration went on an interesting spending spree.  Last year, School Superintendent Jesus Chavez was telling anyone who would listen that any cuts to the State Education budget would be devastating to his schools and that the district would be forced to lay off teachers.  This year, however, the district seems to have discovered some extra money.  Lots of it. 

Apparently the district has some funds leftover from the 2008 bond package, $36.5 million, to be exact.  In addition, board members noted that they have another $22.5 million lying about for spending. 

While some of the funds will go to a roof repair for Grisham Middle School, the board voted to spend $46.4 million to build two additional wings at Round Rock High School.  The reason?  Due to growth and the way the district has been zoned, RRHS is on-track to be over-crowded.  (As is Stony Point High School, and Cedar Ridge High School is already over capacity.)  The new wings will 'super-size' Round Rock High School to 4,142 students.

The solution the board has embraced is a marked deviation from previously stated ISD goals to keep high schools below 2,400 students.  What is especially disturbing about this move is that the board did not hold any public hearings or take public comments about this shift in planning for RRHS.  Do parents want a mega-high school?  Were any studies done in conjunction with the City of Round Rock regarding traffic flow in and around the school?

Oddly enough, Superintendent Chavez told the board last fall that the next most urgent need for the district would be an additional middle school.  Right now four different elementarys are feeding into Cedar Valley Middle School which will very soon be over-crowded.  Why isn't the district using the bond funds to address the most urgent needs?

Could it be that the Administration and some board members know that voters would not approve some of these projects?   Another pet project still on the table is the construction of a $25 million 'Success High School' for about 600 at-risk students (thus boosting academic ratings at other schools).  As one Trustee noted at the April 24 board meeting, voters just "don't understand' about these projects. 

So they have to sneak them in?

Of course, once Cedar Valley Middle School is bursting at the seems, then the voters are more likely to approve a new bond package for construction.

These projects may well be justified, but shouldn't the parents and taxpayers have been involved in the surprise spending of over $46 million?

On a final note, the lone dissenting vote was cast by the ostracized Terri Romere.  Is no one else listening to the families of Round Rock? 

I guess on the upside, it's good to know that RRISD doesn't have any fund shortages...