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August 29, 2003.
Many thoughts at the moment, as we all wait for the verdict on superintendent Jack Patton. That decision may come today, as I write.
First of all, the Comptroller’s Report I suppose was OK. Very little real news there. We all knew there were no controls on spending…on change orders…on purchasing…unless it had to do with teacher’s supplies. We knew this. All one had to do the past two years while observing a school board meeting was to see there were no questions ever asked by board members. This by a Board that was too compromised, too scared, or too dumb to ask. Likely all three.
The Comptroller estimated that should LISD make all of the changes needed, it would save $1,500,000 over 5 years. 5 Years? What the devil is that? $300,000 a year over each of the next five years? When the school board has just passed a budget $2,800,000 less than last years’ !!! Why didn’t the Comptroller say the savings would be $3,000,000….over 10 years….or even better, $6,000,000.00 over 20 years. What a bag of hot air!
I realize that there are still people in Llano County that are not happy with the extra ciricular side of our school system. They feel it is too much. Start with sports, then band, then Agriculture. Just a few facts, and then these critics need to stop the bad mouthing and come forward. And be brave about it. Write a letter to your favorite newspaper and go on record with your complaints… but a few facts.
LISD, from the 7th grade on thru the 12th, has 16 sports programs. Eight boys, and eight girls. Only less than a decade ago, it had half that number. But some Title ##### Federal Program said that was against the law, so, Llano, like many others played catch-up. Added volleyball, and softball for the girls. Even State Champion Llano found cross-country a nice sport. Boys and girls. So with 16 sports, six grades, less the baseball in junior high, you have about 90 teams! 90 or so classes. Even with Llano’s numbers growing, several times during football season, the coaches will split the freshman team and Junior varsity, and play with four teams when competitor schools also have more players. Are sports important? More important than anything else? Or they needed at all? Some would answer No, No and No.
But for those that say no, they do not want to realize that our top kids, all grades, are the same top kids in the extra-curricular areas. They are the most talented, the smartest, the ones with the most energy, and the same ones that go out and make a real life for themselves. Those same nerds are our extra-ordinary band students…our future doctors, ranchers, and some even turn back up in Llano. But more important to a school system is the example that these kids show. They are the most disciplined, the best behaved, and the ones with the most savvy and class. There are few exceptions. Take the extra-curricular programs away from LISD, and you would have mass exodus to Marble Falls and Burnet.
Your discipline in the schools would become uncontrollable. If you don’t wish to believe me, ask any junior high or high school teacher.
I read with interest the couple that wrote a letter to the editor and
they had to force themselves to enjoy paying LISD property taxes. May
I comment
on your
Letter?
Paying LISD property taxes has not always been so painful. Granted the abuse
of the system the past three years is hard to take. But, we move on. The person
head of the technology department has said he did not know better than to buy
goods out of the back of a mans’ garage. He didn’t even know he was
supposed to take bids. But, let me tell you something he would have known, had
he been able to read. My office gets hundreds of special computer deals from
the computer companies every year. Dell computer alone has more $999.00 computers
than they know what to do with. Can you believe had only I have had the good
sense to have sent all of that material to LISD for the technology department
to look at, Llano would have close to $1,000,000.00 more money today, than we
had two years ago? LISD over paid by that much, according to my sources. I suppose
two things here. When it is not your money, you really just do not care. And
when you have school board members that don’t care, the results are where
we are today.
This is not time to throw the baby out with the bath water. But it is time to finish the job at hand, and get rid of the dirty water. And to take a great school system that was built over 125 years, and not the last three, and return to a responsible time, managed by people that care…people that worry…people that may not know, but will take the time to find out. When we have that, maybe paying LISD property taxes may not get to the point of being fun, but maybe it will get back to the point where you are proud of what your tax dollars are doing!
Well, it is 2:25 PM, and all is quiet. When the verdict comes in, I’ll
write again.
Friday, 8 AM…Patton convicted for lying about the credit cards, not guilty
on the “change order”. This conviction was a misdemeanor…$1,000
fine…6 months probation.
The testimony of Patton is, by all accounts, why he was convicted. He was caught lying on the stand in regard to the “never were any credit card receipts” to his own words, “referring to the receipts” was his waterloo. Jack just could not help himself. He lied, and it is now been proved in court. He may appeal, but Patton has more problems over the horizon. The felony accounts are coming up soon. With his probation, and a conviction on just one felony account, prediction here is he will serve jail time.
Patton’s problems are just beginning. The brave efforts of District Attorney Sam Outman’s office have kept the balls in the air. Expect more indictments, and the word is that someone may be talking load, and pointing fingers. When that happens, we will see what Phyllis Henderson, former “worker” at the Llano Buzz, and many others have known for over a year. We will hear about the compromises. We will find out what drove the school board members to behave in ways they would have not in different circumstances.
Phone records, more hotel room bills, may all soon be public record.
But, important today, is the school board will meet Monday morning; early,
and likely end Patton’s employment with LISD. Let him sue. Let him stand in
front of the people of Llano and tell us all, that he has earned the right to
be our Superintendent.
We Actually Made It!
According to today's regulators and bureaucrats, those of us who were
kids
in the 30's, 40's, 50's, 60's, 70's or even the early 80's, probably
shouldn't have survived.
Our baby cribs were covered with bright colored lead-based paint.
We had no childproof lids or locks on medicine bottles, doors, or
cabinets, and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets.
Not to mention the risks we took hitchhiking ...
As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts; air bags weren't
even a concern!
Riding in the back of a pickup truck on a warm day was always a special
treat.
We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle. Horrors!
We ate cupcakes, bread and butter, and drank soda pop with sugar in
it,
but we were never overweight because we were always outside playing.
We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle, and no
one
actually died from this.
We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then rode
down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into
the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.
We would leave home in the morning and play all day , as long as we
were
back when the street lights came on. No one was able to reach us all
day.
No cell phones. Unthinkable!
We did not have Playstations, Nintendo 64, X-Boxes, no video games at
all,
no 99 channels on cable, video tape movies, surround sound, personal
cell
phones, personal computers, or Internet chat rooms.
We had friends! We went outside and found them.
We played dodge ball, and sometimes, the ball would really hurt. We
fell
out of trees, got cut and broke bones and teeth, and there were no
lawsuits from these accidents. They were accidents. No one was to blame
but us. Remember accidents?
We had fights and punched each other and got black and blue and learned
to
get over it.
We made up games with sticks and tennis balls and, although we were
told
it would happen, we did not put out any eyes.
We rode bikes or walked to a friend's home and knocked on the door,
or
rang the bell or just walked in and talked to them.
Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who
didn't
had to learn to deal with disappointment.
Some students weren't as smart as others, so they failed a grade and
were
held back to repeat the same grade. Horrors!
Tests were not adjusted for any reason.
Our actions were our own. Consequences were expected.
The idea of parents bailing us out if we got in trouble in school or
broke
a law was unheard of. They actually sided with the school or the law.
Imagine that!
This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers, problem
solvers, and inventors, ever.
We had freedom, failure, success, and responsibility --- and we learned
how to deal with it.
And you're one of them! Congratulations.