Last week I attended the Greenville City School board meeting with an idea on how a committee could present the idea of a new school to the general public and how to fund it. It was received very well and I was later advised that we would probably move in that direction.
I didn’t realize that later on the fiasco over the non-renewal of the contracts of two coaches was going to put the community in an upheaval larger than anything I’ve ever seen. Letters to the editors, chat boxes, shout boxes and just people talking on the street has continued now for over a week. Did someone hit a nerve? It would seem so.
The one thing that has really gotten to me is people saying things like, “after that, I’m never voting for anything again for the Greenville City Schools”. Indeed! The wise or unwise decision of the board of education has very little to do with the real problem. WE NEED A NEW SCHOOL BUILDING! It is untimely, at the very least, that this all happened when it did. I felt very good about the chances of getting a funding mechanism in place and construction finally starting on the project. The work load of the facilities committee just doubled. Not only now do we have to explain why we need a new school, we also have to explain why people should vote for it in spite of the board of education we have, not because of the great job they are doing.
If people in high places use their office as a bully pulpit, then shame on them. If they voted with out all of the information, that’s too bad, did you learn a lesson? If the personnel weren’t rehired because of misfeasance, nonfeasance, or malfeasance, so be it. If for any of the five, it was a personal vendetta, then man up, say it was and let’s move on. As in any case with a public officer, elected by the people there are a number of recourses that can be taken. First, make sure at the polls that they never get elected to any office again. You have to wait a while, but it’s the cheapest for the general public. Second, go to the board of elections, get a recall petition, get the number of signatures you need to get it certified and on the ballot, and yank them right out of their chair on that board, the day after election.
The largest thing that anyone can do is become informed on the issues. Don’t say that we aren’t going to vote for school issues because of an ill-advised decision someone made, that won’t fix a thing. Had they done that in 1911, there would be no South School.
The uninformed statements, (I wanted to say stupid statements but it’s not politically correct), that people have made are incredible. “Greenville is just jealous because everyone else got a new school and they didn’t” was the one that got me. Have you been in the buildings that you send your kids to every day? If not voting for something is how you feel, please get all the facts first. Take a piece of paper and put two columns on it and head one with “for a new school reasons” and the other “against a new school reasons”. Fill both columns as best you can and see what you come up with. If there are questions you can’t answer, go find out before you make the decision.
It was said that the coaches in question can re-apply for their jobs... and they would want to for what reason?
We’ll start over and hope nothing else happens. We have an overabundance of lemons at this point, let’s hope we can make some incredible lemonade!
Bob Rhoades
Greenville School Facilities Committee.
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I just want to remind people that you do not need any excuse to vote no on the school. If you feel it is too costly or you just cannot afford it you are more than within your rights to vote no. I will be voting no because we are in a recession and this economy stinks. Many people have to make sacrifices and cuts. Bash me all you want but I hope it fails once again.
ReplyDeleteI will be voting a resounding yes!
ReplyDeleteWhen are we going to stop putting blame on a fallen economy and man up to developing our community?
Great write Bob!
I, too, will be voting yes. I don't really care for the current school board. My paycheck isn't a large as it once was, and the money I have is stretched for sure.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I have been in all the buildings in question. I have talked to the superintendent. I have made myself informed through asking questions and NOT relying on chat room or heresay.
I just believe that this would be the right direction for the school, the community and the future.
I will be voting no. The school district needs new buildings for the students. The collapse of the walls at the junior high was due to decades of neglect. The financial situation within the school district is due to decades of administrative raises and superintendent buyouts. I would like to see the school district band together to get rid of the self promoters and outright thievery that is taking place. I believe that with the right management, the people of Greenville would get behind their schools and pass a new building(s) levy. They will not under present circumstances. I encourage everyone to contact the school district and find out the current administrative salaries and what new positions and pay raises have been given out recently. It is a shocker.
ReplyDeleteMr. Rhoades how many basketball games you been to this year. If you never seen it with your own eyes, dont jump on the bandwagon. Shame on you, I do however think we need a new school, but we NEED JOBS in Greenville. Maybe City Counsel need to do there job or resign.Seems to me they care more about replacing sidewalks then replacing all the jobs that have left Greenville. Bob
ReplyDeleteRudy,
ReplyDeleteSalaries are available to the public at www.buckeyeinstitute.org. I would encourage you to compare the salaries with those in neighboring districts.
Further, I'm assuming you're referencing Mr. Peltz. In prior years, Mr. Peltz held the position of principal over grades 5-8. There were also 2 curriculumn directors. 1 for K-6 (i believe) and the other for 7-12 (or some other similar distinction. Those two positions were combined into one and Mr Peltz now is the curriculum director over K-12.
While on the surface this is a raise from one year to the next, there is significant savings in merging 2 positions into one. It's not a raise for doing the same job for more days, it's move into a completely different position, and it reflects a savings to the district.
I know this, because I asked about it, rather than relying in information from McDonalds.
To Roy:
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting way to save money. You are saying that you combined two positions to give Mr. Peltz his new job with much higher pay. What two people lost their job to create these openings? Ah, nobody. I'm curious if the school's budget is anywhere online that we could verify these savings empirically.
Another example of this might be Mrs. Zumbrink. She was the school psychologist for 60k. She then became the principal of east and the school psychologist at the same time for 100k. These are both full-time salaried positions. Both jobs cannot be performed to their extent by one individual. This results in either a poor principal, poor psychologist, or both. The effect is poor no matter how you put it.
The belief that you can "put on another hat" internally and get huge pay increases while campaigning on personal sacrifice is offensive. I don't know whom you asked for your information, but next time rely upon fact rather than conjecture from someone who is benefiting from this pirating masked as "job restructuring".
I will vote yes in support of the levy.
ReplyDeleteWhat I don't understand are the comments about neglect. The operating funds for bldg maintenance are pretty tight so if neglect is a factor, the lack of money for proper upkeep is the blame. Residents fail to factor in the additional costs associated with the most up-to-date preventative measures. Budgets that allow for chewing-gum-and-duct-tape-only spending for maintenance can expect that level of upkeep.
The State has already condemned or deemed most of the buildings "unfixable" based on the cost of renovation, to bring up them up to the standards of the 21st century and beyond. The State will have no choice but to step in and "dictate" the solution. Do you remember when the State closed several of the bldgs in the Dayton SD because of poor conditions? Citizens of GSD will find themselves in the very same situation.
I have heard about the "over the backyard fence" conversations supporting realignment, mainly from the retired/elderly folk of GSD. Let GSD revert back to the city limits and rest of students attend the county school closest to their home. A viable solution, eh?
Citizens in the city limits will still need additional funds to cover the loss of state money that followed the students to respective county SD. The citizens now pay the taxes/levies of their respective, newly defined county SD. Go and take a look at the amount of taxes, etc are paid by the citizens of the county SD. Citizens in GSD pay quite a bit less than fellow Darke Countians do in support of their schools.