March Board Meeting Comments

It was standing room only at the school board meeting tonight.  Twenty-four people signed up to speak in the open forum.  The vast majority (15) were people speaking about being embarrassed by last week's walk-out by Proctor & Huckaby, and asking for the grandstanding to stop.  Three spoke in support of Proctor & Huckaby's actions, one spoke in support of naming schools after educators, one spoke about a playground in the district needing additional sidewalks, a candidate for State Board of Education introduced herself, Mr. Huckaby attacked me personally, and Terri Majors and Cynthia Blackman "passed" and chose not to speak.  (Odd, since they came out last week and spoke in support of Proctor & Huckaby.  I wonder if Bill is angry they didn't follow his directions?)

Here are my comments from tonight's school board meeting:

This whole week of shenanigans has not been about Teacher and Administrator Contracts—it’s about the upcoming election.  

Here's the proof:  A mass e-mail from Mr. Proctor saying, and I quote:  “I believe that we now have another election issue.  I think the item below should appeal to taxpayers, teachers, etc.  Our candidates must say that they are committed to passing a Local Policy…”

So, taxpayers, teachers, and voters:  don’t allow yourself to be manipulated!

And Mr. Proctor:  You must decide:  Are you a campaign manager or a School Board Trustee?  If you want to be a trustee, then explain to me how walking out on a school board meeting in order to prevent the orderly process of school district business fulfills your fiduciary obligation to the students, taxpayers, staff and residents of this district.

The e-mail I referred to is here (Yellow highlighting is mine):

----- Forwarded Message ---- From: Lesa Trapp Sent: Mon, March 26, 2012

8:17:57 AM Subject: FW: Personnel Contracts

Education Support Complex, Merrell Center, Katy, TX

Katy Tea and Save Our Teachers PAC needs you to

show up at the Katy ISD BOT Regular Meeting,

Monday, March 26 at 6:30pm to support Katy ISD

teachers and BOT members Dr. Bill Proctor and Terry

Huckaby.

I need you all there tonight. It is time to take back our

schools. Lets show our signs. No more will we take it.

Thank you,

Lesa Trapp

Patriot & HC PCT Chair 618

www.lesatrapp.net

From: bproctor@consolidated.net 

To: bproctor10@gmail.com 

Subject: Personnel Contracts Date: Mon,

26 Mar 2012 06:23:09 -0500

Everyone,

I sent the information below to a few people. I am going

to follow through on the legality of this issue.

In the event that Joe is correct, I believe that we now

have another election issue. I think the item below

should appeal to taxpayers, teachers, etc.

Our candidates must say that they are committed to

passing a Local Policy that gives the Board the

responsibility for reviewing and approving the language

in all personnel contracts. They want ensure that the

Board exercises its fiduciary responsibility for contracts

and budgets.

Everyone,

I find Joe’s explanation very hard to believe. We may

have been following this procedure over the years but it

does not seem legal to me.

Bill

How School Boards Work, Part III: Who's the Boss?

Saw a comment in that other blog that Bill Proctor is Alton Frailey's boss.  I'd like to clarify that misconception.  Alton Frailey's boss is the Board of Trustees acting as a body corporate.  Think about how horrible a band would sound if instead of having a single conductor, the brass, percussion, woodwinds, and horns all had separate conductors.  If each section played at different tempos, and the horns wanted to play a waltz instead of a march, the music would be a mess!  State law is pretty smart in this instance:  Having 7 trustees ensures the values of the community are woven into all decisions, but by insisting they act as a single unit, they avoid the total confusion of superintendents getting 7 sets of directions.  


The job of the Superintendent is, in a nutshell, to educate students and manage the resources of the district.  Since Alton Frailey has been in Katy ISD, student test scores have improved, the district continues to win awards for financial management practices, transparency, and for achieving significant student academic growth while keeping spending relatively low, and in 2010 he was awarded Superintendent of the Year for Region IV.  


My hope, as a taxpayer and as a person concerned about the students of this community, is that Alton Frailey will focus his energies and talents on running the district, rather than baby-sitting a board that is dysfunctional because two of its members' goal is to derail the business of the district for an election-time publicity stunt.  I also hope that the board will get its act together before they "distract" this district to disaster.

So, Why DID They Walk Out?

Got a question from Jenni: (read her entire comment on the posting "Proctor and Huckaby Take Their Ball and Go Home")
I'm so confused here I can't make heads or tails, and I'm hoping you can help. Did Proctor and Huckaby walk out because it was inappropriate to take a vote on that issue (offering administrators the 2-year contracts) at THAT TIME, and would it have been possible for them to publicly protest the vote at the time of the meeting? Could they have had the board delay that vote and then stay to take part in OTHER matters? Do you think it's appropriate to ask to grant 2-year contracts to administrators --with cuts coming down the pike (it sounds like Frailey wants to protect his "cronies"-- is THAT the case?)? It's obvious that games are being played, but I'm not familiar enough with how this is supposed to work to make a clear judgment on who is doing what and whether or not it's "o.k."! 
These are great questions!  
Let's take the last question first and talk about the games being played:  P&H absolutely could have stayed and protested the vote at the time of the meeting.  In fact, that is their duty as Trustees.  A lot of other business needed to be handled besides the 2-year contracts.  From the agenda and my experience, I would guess there were a lot of specific terminations and "RILT" (Resign in lieu of termination) for teachers who are not doing a good job.  Those have to happen at the end of the contract cycle, and by a certain date under Texas law.  You are absolutely right: games are being played here... and when P&H play those games, it derails the business of running the district.  

So, why did they do it that way (walk out rather than vote "no" or abstain)?  This is my opinion:  I don't think it would have changed the outcome of the vote even if all 7 Trustees were present.  So what was their point?  It was for the Theatrics.  We have an election coming up, and they wanted everyone to remember how angry everyone was last year about teacher layoffs, because that is what got them elected, and they are desperate to have two more buds on the board.  Walking out and stealing the quorum wouldn't have changed the outcome, but it gave them an opportunity to get the attention of the press.  On Tuesday, Mrs. Majors sent an inflammatory e-mail to teachers that indicated she and Mrs. Blackman are the only ones running who care about teachers.  Coincidence?  I doubt it... To consider this further:  who REALLY has the best interests of the teachers at heart?  Not P&H: they chose to hold up the contracts of over 4000 teachers with a stunt.  

About voting that night versus later:  It was completely appropriate to vote on contracts at that meeting, and if we put it in context of the school year, it makes better sense.  This is the time of year that teachers and administrators start looking for new positions, because they are all on contracts that keep them from doing it in the middle of the year.  If teachers and administrators are not getting a contract this time of year, it makes jobs in other districts look that much more appealing.  It is the piece of paper they have to have to buy a home as it shows they have employment.  Holding up those contracts does them a great disservice.  


Educator Contracts 101:  All professional staff work under contract.  There are two kinds; "term" and "probationary".  Probationary contracts are usually given to people in the first year or two of a new assignment.  Once they have a "term" contract, they basically have a never-ending job, because in order to fire them, the district has to have documented cause.  In addition, it is very expensive to let a term-contract teacher go because they have  the right to a number of hearings, which are very expensive for the district.  That was why the teachers who were given pink slips last year were probationary-contract teachers, because if the district had let go term teachers and they all pursued hearings, it could have cost the district millions. 


P&H would have you believe everyone working in the admin building get the 2 year contracts, while those on campuses only get one-year.  NOT TRUE.  Of all the "administrator" contracts, only 80-ish are 2-year contracts.  With 50+ campuses, the vast majority went to principals, and the remainder went to heads of departments, like the chief of police or head of operations or accountability/assessment, etc. Here's why 2-year contracts are offered to some administrators:  Who gets one is driven by supply and demand.  There are few people who can do the job of a campus principal or head a department, and they are in greater demand.  By giving those folks 2-year contracts, it locks them in and protects the district from loosing an asset that the district developed and invested in!  How many administrators do you know who left us to find a bigger job at another district because KISD trained them so well!  Tying them to a two-year contract helps to keep them at work here.  It's not about protecting cronies; it's protecting an asset of the district.  


Tragedy is, reviewing the POLICY of giving 2 year contracts now, while the State funding is so uncertain, is a good idea; however I've been told that there was no attempt by P&H to put that question on the agenda  One other Trustee has told me privately he would have supported putting that question on the agenda, but not to hold up the awarding of all the teacher contracts.  But P&H didn't do that.  But it doesn't matter if Bill Proctor has a good ideas or not, if he presents them to the press rather than the board.  His value as a board member is diminished because everyone with any sense is reluctant to deal with him when he chooses to do the business of the district in INK.