The new Board of Trustees for the Harris County Department of Education has called a special meeting to be held Monday, January 9, 2017 at 1:00 pm. They are going to elect officers and do a couple other things, some good, some not.
1. Consider election of President and VicePresident of the Board of Trustees
The easy money is on Don Sumners being elected President and Mike Wolfe Vice-President. I’m not so sure about that. Wolfe has his own ambitions and would love to be President. With the new board being 5 R’s to 2 D’s, it is going to be one or the other. Wolfe was instrumental in getting George Moore and Eric Dick to run, perhaps they swing their allegiance to him. If that is the case, he only needs to persuade Louis Evans to support him. On the other hand, Dick is very independent minded. Will the two D’s decide that Sumners is the lesser of two evils and back him, with Dick being the wild card?
2. Consider appointment of Board delegates to the Public Facilities Corporation
Who cares?
3. Consider terminating the contracts of current political consultants Pat M. Strong and Hill Co.
Good. This should have been done years ago. The idea of elected officials spending taxpayer funds to lobby other elected officials is repulsive. Don’t let the door hit ya where the good Lord split ya.
4. Consider rescinding prior authorization for expenditure of funds for the recovery high school previously approved by the Board and consider action directing that no HCDE funds be spent on the recovery high school project, employment or improvements, without subsequent Board approval, until a comprehensive feasibility and development plan is completed and approved by the Board
What a waste of time and money. These studies have already been done, this is the direct result of the changing composition of the board. The HCDE has been in Republican hands for years and is one of the few examples of Republicans actually governing well. Now the new board is determined to screw it up so that they can claim the ‘conservative’ mantel which these days means the inability to govern. Lord have mercy.
5. Consider action directing that no additional HCDE funds be spent on the new ABS West campus without Board approval until a comprehensive feasibility and development plan is completed and approved by the Board
Ditto #4.
6. Consider changing the regular January 2017 Board Meeting from January 19,2017 to January 25, 2017
Most likely so that Mike Wolfe can attend the inauguration in Washington, D.C.
7. Consider changing the regular Board meeting dates to the third Wednesday of the month, including possible revision to Policy BE (Local)
I liked it when the meetings were on Tuesday afternoons. Oh well.
In case you have forgotten what the Harris County Department of Education does, here are a couple of videos.
https://youtu.be/XZ8cAgnOjW0
The choice between Mike Wolfe and Don Sumners for president is NOT the less of two evils. These two patriots have been the only two voices who have consistently stood against this out of control government entity that should not even exist. 2017 will be a very interesting year and a GOOD year for conservatives.
Dave, sometimes I think if I say that the sun is shining you’ll say no, it is a star.
Go back and read what I said about the lesser of two evils in context. I saidErica Lee Carter and Diane Trautman might think that. I don’t have a problem with either one of them, although I think that Sumners is the better choice because of his long experience in Harris County politics.
The HCDE is not “out of control” and is functioning quite well under Republican leadership. You say that they shouldn’t exist. Four of the board members are on record campaigning that they shouldn’t exist. And yet….look at the agenda for the first meeting.
Where is the resolution saying they want to shut it down?
😉
Why does the appointment of Board delegates to the Public Facilities Corporation (PFC) matter? Because the PFC is how HCDE issues bond debt WITHOUT an election!!!!! And it is controlled by HCDE EMPLOYEES, NOT our elected officials. Not acceptable to conservative Republicans.
I attend every monthly HCDE Board meeting, and no comprehensive feasibility or development studies or plans were presented to the public for either project. HCDE does NOT even have written agreements with the school districts guaranteeing they will use these alternative schools if we go into more bond debt to build them. Again, not acceptable to conservative Republicans.
Colleen,
I didn’t say it didn’t matter, I said ‘who cares’? The 5-2 edge on the board will take care of this. I’m not concerned about it.
I do know that you attend the meetings. I don’t exactly know why. It appears to me that you attend solely to say that you attend so that you can criticize the dept as a whole and specific individuals. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you propose a single thing that would actually help the dept function better. Perhaps I missed that.
The HCDE does a whole lotta good with a very limited amount of Harris County taxpayer dollars. Seems to me that any conservative Republican should support that.
DJ
David: You should know by not I do not initiate actions without a reason.
2. Public Facilities Corporation Board- The previous Board consisted of the Superintendent, a Assistant Superintendent, the Facilities Director and two compliant outgoing Trustees. There has be a open controversy about who, the HCDE Board or the Facilities Board, gets to determine the consultants and contractors hired as well as the control of expending the $7 million from the recent bond sale. It has been the administration’s position backed by the outgoing Board President that the Facilities Board has control, not the HCDE Board. To date the Public Facilities Corporation has supposedly chosen the bond counsel, bond underwriter and potential architects, all insiders. The bond counsel contract even states that the counsel’s fee will be determined by the mutual decision of bond counsel and the assistant superintendent on the facilities board that signed the contract. I don’t think HCDE’s position is correct but by replacing the two vacant facilities board positions and one other position, the HCDE Board can gain immediate control of the Public Facilities Corporation.
4. New Recovery High School- The Board did approve the concept of converting an existing underutilized facility losing $400k per year (20 students since Spring ISD created its own school) to a Recovery High School. However, with no formal plan or budget, the Superintendent considered this as approval to proceed with the project . He received authorization from the prior board to spend $900k+ without even disclosing what he was going to spend the funds on. No school district has committed to use the facility and the estimated necessary charge per student is undetermined. This project at this time is truly a field of dreams, (build it and hope they will come), endeavor. Thus the need for the new Board to immediately bring it under control.
5. New ABS West school- I supported the construction of a ABS West School at a new location. The existing building was not designed as a school and has deteriorated beyond practical repair. However, I was not supportive of the site in Alief selected by the Superintendent, which is farther from other school districts than the present location and is without immediate access to a freeway or loop. Coleen is correct. There has still been no formal plan or budget presented to the Board, even after the land has been purchased by HCDE from surplus funds for $1 million. The proposed $10 million cost almost immediately jumped to $12 million with no explanation. The HCDE Board has been excluded from the contracting process and is totally ignorant of the necessary state of project (see 2. above.) Thus the need, (just as in number 4 above) for the Board to take immediate control of the project.
Not mentioned in the Agenda was the $200-300k proposed be the Superintendent for the refurbishing of the headquarters lobby and meeting facility elevator area which required rejection be the Board on three occasions before he would drop the matter. Again, an architect was selected without Board knowledge.
Clarification of my position on the the existence of HCDE appears necessary. I ran on a reform or abolish HCDE platform. During the last two years there has been no sign of the administration being willing to address any meaningful reform. However, continuous inquiry at Board meetings about HCDE missteps, lack of information and misdirection may be beginning to have some effect. The new Board is going to bring reform and do it quickly.
. .
Don,
Perhaps I was too cavalier in my response to #2. As I replied to Colleen, all I mean is that the choices that you make will be fine with me.
Re #4, it seems to me to be an overreaction on your part to say that this is a field of dreams. The HCDE has a track record that people can rely upon and I have no doubt that this will be another successful project. Before leaping, all I ask is for you to rethink your predisposition towards this project.
Re #5, I have no problem with the board getting more involved, as long as you don’t try to micromanage the project. The area in question is projected to grow substantially and would seem to be an ideal place for this project.
As for refurbishing the building, once again I’d ask you to rethink your predisposition towards the remodel. The HCDE has done a superb job in maintaining the headquarters. Most people think it is new. I look at many county buildings that are far newer and are in such a state of disrepair that most people think they need to be replaced. A $200-300k remodel is not much in the big picture and it will maintain the department’s reputation as good stewards of tax funds.
As for your ‘clarification’, I think many will find it a bit…interesting. I’ll let Cypress Tea Party address that without even telling him I told ya so.
I will say that I wish that you would step back for a minute and think about your own representation of the department and how damaging it is when you, with your long service in government, continue to criticize every element of the department without teaching the public about the positive things that the department does.
DJ
David: Thanks for your return comments.
4. Recovery School: I supported the concept of a Recovery School. My objection is to haphazardly proceeding with the project before there is a comprehensive plan in place. Superintendent Colbert requested a $900 thousand expenditure authorization without any explanation of what he is spending it on.
5. Alief ABS School: The Alief site has been purchased. That is no longer at issue. Although Alief ISD currently has more students than any other ISD, my problem with the site was that we have students at the current site that already come long distances from the North. I preferred a site that would have been convenient to more ISDs. We are at the mercy of the ISDs for students. For instance, the Northside school now with only 20 students is hemorrhaging money because Spring ISD pulled out to start its own school. My other objections regarding the school financing and construction are strictly procedural, namely the lack of use of the proposal or bid process. In the issuance of bonds, both the bond counsel and underwriter were paid substantially more than the estimate given the Board just a couple of months before.
As to the improvements to the headquarters building, the proposal was mostly for a repaint with some decorative features of the lobby area and the area surrounding the elevators are the conference center. When two other Trustees joined with us in questioning the $200-300 thousand cost, you know that the project was overpriced. Again there was no proposal or bid process used.
Re: #2 – So who is currently on the Public Facilities Corporation Board