The upcoming Katy ISD bond issue was the hottest topic at Tuesday’s school board meeting, but none of discussion came from trustees.
A series of speakers took to the podium during the “open forum” portion of the meeting to admonish board members for their failure to respond to an invitation by the Katy Tea Party Patriots to take part in a public information session about the bond issue.
Moments after trustees voted to call the bond election during last week’s work study session, the Tea Party issued an invitation to all board members to take part in an Oct. 16 informational session at the Cinco Ranch Branch Library.
In the week since the invitation was issued, only one board member, Eric Duhon, responded. In an e-mail last Thursday to Tea Party Patriots President Jennifer Heiden, Duhon said he would be out of the country.
“The reason for declining your invitation is the date conflict (sic) with my job responsibilities. My current work plans call for me to be out of the country during this event,” Duhon said in the message.
Heiden was among those who addressed the board Tuesday night. She took the rest of the board to task for ignoring the invitation.
“As you can tell, the citizens have questions,” Heiden said. “Have you considered our invitation?”
Heiden’s question was met with silence from board members.
“So you’re not going to give me a response?” Heiden then asked.
Again, no one spoke up.
“You’re not going to make this easy on me, are you?” Heiden quipped.
Finally, Superintendent Alton Frailey spoke up to acknowledge that each board member had, in fact, received the invitation.
Heiden then said the board’s lack of response could only be interpreted as a refusal to participate.
“You are denying the citizens an opportunity to learn more about this bond issue,” Heiden told the board. “This just shows your deliberate intention to avoid open dialog.”
Heiden also said claims that trustees are prohibited from taking part because of state ethics regulations “a smokescreen to avoid complete transparency” on the bond issue. She also renewed the invitation to the Tea Party meeting, asking trustees to take part “as an individual citizen.”
“We elected you as our representatives; we count on you to represent us,” she said. “But you guys are not representing us.”
District resident Kate Diehl blistered both the board and Frailey, noting the superintendent’s controversial comments about the bond issue to school staffers at last week’s convocation sessions.
“After reading John Pape’s article about the intimidation of KISD teachers and staff last week at InstantNewsKaty.com, I am somewhat surprised that you have the gall to show up here tonight. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, though, because you are all so clearly out of touch; after all, you hired (Frailey),” Diehl said. “And, Mr. Frailey, who and where do you think you are? This is not Dallas, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York or Washington, DC, and you will not pass a one-half-billion dollar bond issue without a clear, fiscally responsible plan to repay what will now be almost a $1.5 billion (total district) debt.”
Diehl also took Frailey to task for reportedly suggesting teachers and staff would lose their jobs if the bond issue did not pass.
“And while we are all aware that this bond money is for capital expenditure, you would frighten and coerce district employees into voting for it by threatening their salaries and jobs. Their salaries come out of an operating budget that’s already in the red. How do you plan to pay for the additional staff for these new buildings?” Diehl remarked.
She also said the school board seems to “think you were elected to say ‘yes’ to whatever the superintendent you hired wants.”
“Your job is to oversee the district, looking after the education of the children and insuring that the district is financially responsible,” Diehl told the board. “This school district is showing a dangerous trend toward indebtedness and fiscal irresponsibility.”
She also pledged that district residents and taxpayers will be watching.
“We will not sit idly by while you neglect your responsibilities. We will be watching and questioning every decision you make,” Diehl said.
Diehl also cautioned Frailey not to use the district and its taxpayers as a stepping-stone in his career.
“We do not believe KISD should be a rung on Mr. Frailey’s career ladder. Some of us do not believe we need to upgrade to a ‘bigger or better’ district, Mr. Frailey,” Diehl said. “If you are looking for your next job, perhaps now would be a good time to start.”
Tea Party member Renee Herath urged the board to consider what happens when taxes get so high a person cannot, or will not, pay their tax bill.
“You should all ask yourselves if item ‘X’ is worth confiscating someone’s home over,” Herath said.
She also said the board needs to show more “common sense” when making decisions on the needs of the district.
“In my observation, there seems to be a lack of common sense in deciding between needs and wants. These are not needs for public education; these are desires,” Herath said of the bond projects. “I think you all should be ashamed of yourselves.”
Resident Michael Ryan, who conducts fiscal and technical analyses for a living, questioned the amount of overhead in district operations.
“I’m not your friend; I’m not your enemy. I’m just here to speak the facts,” Ryan said.
He told the board the district currently had a 57-43 percent ratio of teachers to “overhead” positions. Ryan said 15 percent was considered “a lot for overhead” in the business world, and the district’s 43 percent would be considered extremely high.
Ryan also said the amount budgeted for information technology in the bond issue was enough to give each of the district’s 60,000-plus students a new laptop computer.
Tea Party member Bill Proctor also spoke to the board, stressing attendance at the Tea Party event was completely allowable under Texas Ethics Commission guidelines. To illustrate his point, Proctor gave the board copies of a pamphlet from the ethics commission entitled “A Short Guide to the Prohibition Against Using School District Resources for Political Advertising in Connection with an Election.”
Proctor stressed the event was “not a debate,” but a chance for board members to provide information on the bond issue, which is allowed under state ethics regulations.
“We want information and we want facts. We’re asking you for communication and information,” Proctor said. “I don’t view us as confrontational; I view us as informational.”
He stressed the Tea Party had not taken a position for or against the bond issue and urged board members to participate in the informational meeting.
“I encourage you to participate with the community. We’re not asking you to violate the ethics law in any way,” Proctor said.
Only one person, Jack Moller, spoke in favor of the bond issue. Moller, who was a member of the board-appointed Bond Referendum Task Force that developed the bond proposal, said the district needed the improvements included in the bond issue.
“We need this; we need this for the future of the children,” Moller said.
He also called criticism of the bond proposal “a smokescreen.”
“I support the bond and I will vote for the bond,” Moller said.
As is their practice, board members did not respond to the public comments.
My hat’s off to the good Katy Tea Party citizens who went to the board meeting and participated in the Open Session.
You can bet the next open session will be packed/stacked with the other side, and it won’t be just Jack Moller.
All parents and taxpayers should make it their business to attend both a Work Study session of the Board as well as the following Regular meeting at least once a year–especially if their children are in the schools. Parents need to see who it is that is taking their money and “educating” their children.
What Mr. Frailey likes to tell all of you who come to the Regular meeting is that “all the discussion of the issues took place at the Work Study session” because he knows most of the audience wasn’t at the Work Study session.
In fact, precious little discussion occurs anywhere at a board meeting outside the back room. The Board voted in 2006 to restrict their own ability to make motions and make comments on issues. Their action is practically unheard of by other elected officials who are incredulous that the KISD board members would so restrict themselves. Such behavior stems from the fact that the NGO, the Texas Association of School Boards, regularly holds sessions for board members where “just getting along,” “presenting one face to the public,” and voting as one are all preached to “Team of 8″ members.
And if they don’t vote on things at the Work Study session (which they used to never do,) what they DO vote on at the regular session is usually hidden in something they call the Consent Agenda. Even board members sometimes don’t know for what they are voting.
Would the ordinary person not be alarmed somewhat when he realizes that the financial and policy activities of a half a billion dollar organization can transpire in less than ten minutes sometimes? Show me another such organization of this size that can rip through the business part of the meeting so fast!
And if one goes to the Regular meeting, don’t leave after the Hoopla for the students. Stay and listen to those folks who have a concern for something associated with their children. You’ll learn a lot.
Usually the board has a recess after the students are honored, ostensibly to let all the visitors and students leave. That recess is also to make you think you’ve seen everything there is to see. Not so! The best part usually happens after the public leaves. Stay til the last dog dies, so to speak.
And never think there are lots of citizens at the board meetings. Most of those folks are administrators and teachers who have, for one reason or another, been asked to come.
KUDOS and more kudos to those individuals that took the Board and the Superintendent to task last night!! If I had known that there were going to be such fireworks I would have attended the event! For years I was the only one that would speak at the open forum portion of the meetings. And I usually had NO one supporting my efforts other than my fellow Watchdog leaders. I am absolutely thrilled to see more of a grassroots movement to change things around here taking shape in our community. My biggest problem when I was heading the Watchdog$ was getting more of our community engaged and involved in the discussions and debates. I guess all I can say is better late than never!!!
I am so glad to see that our Board and Superintendent are conducting themselves just like they did when I was calling them to task. Their unresponsiveness during Board meetings used to annoy me to no end. So Ms. Heiden, please don’t be surprised by their lack of response. This is typical and what the KISD Propaganda Ministry will tell you is that they are prevented from speaking to “patrons”. Ms. Heiden’s comments of that being just “a smokescreen to avoid complete transparency” is absolutely right on point! But it’s not just that, everyone needs to understand that these Trustees are some of the most immature, unprofessional and arrogant people you will EVER meet! I got a huge dose of it for many years!! Remember Trustee Adams’ comment during the election – I believe it was something to the effect that board meetings are meetings in public not for the public. That alone tells you everything you need to know about this Board.
Ms. Heiden, you are correct, these people are our elected representatives (even though Trustee Crockett will tell you that a “trustee” is different than a “representative”) but what I can tell you from first-hand experience is that we are ALL being taxed to death without sufficient and competent representation. This has been going on for years; for decades in this community! I loved Ms. Diehl’s pointed comments to our Superintendent. Amen Ms. Diehl, AMEN!! All of those people you spoke to last night are indeed completely and utterly out of touch and what is worse they could care less what you think or say. Their arrogance knows no bounds. And Ms. Diehl I can tell you that there is NO plan to pay any of this debt back. They could care less. They all see this community as pretty much a transient area so they believe that this will be some other taxpayer’s problem when the bill comes due. And while Ms. Diehl accurately pointed out that our bond debt will climb to well over a BILLION dollars, everyone needs to remember that this district continues to pass one deficit school year budget after another. Had they not been blessed with some kind of windfall these past several years or if we didn’t have a “Rainy Day” fund this district would most likely be the horrendous financial condition that Cy-Fair finds itself in.
What I hope that everyone now is beginning to see is that what is happening right now in this country is what has been going on in this district for years. We have a bunch of out-of-touch representatives doing the bidding of a Superintendent that is running this district like his own personal fiefdom. Nothing has changed since Merrell left. Everything has remained the same.
As for Mr. Moller’s comments; well everyone needs to understand that Mr. Moller has never seen a bond that he didn’t like. Why do you think he is always asked to come back and serve on bond committees? The “smokescreen” about these bond initiatives comes from district lap dogs, like Moller, and from the district who believe that this liberal tax and spend mentality is perfectly ok. “Let’em eat cake”; right Mr. Moller? Like I have said over and over again for years; unless this community stands up and replaces our current Board with individuals that believe that our local government should be completely transparent and who believe that they serve the taxpayers and not the Superintendent nothing is going to change.
Say “NO” in November!!!
Christopher E. Cottrell
Something I thought was very telling about Tues open comments was Duhon’s responses. They were very immature. After one speaker, who was clearly upset, he asked sarcastically, “Have we ever taken anyone’s house?” And after another, instead of addressing the accusation of district employee intimidation he asked, again sarcastically, if they were in the red – and my thought was, when you have numbers in parenthesis, isn’t that “under.” Taking the money out of the rainy day fund is no way to run your day to day operations. And then again he asked – didn’t we announce the election this past spring? Excuse me but if only 2,000 people voted out of a population that is over 200,000, doesn’t that indicate a lack of communication somewhere? If I was on the board I would be ashamed of that kind of voter turnout. But then I guess that is the whole point, this board knows no shame.
Mr. Cottrell, I well remember when I was in the PTA how we were often admonished not to pay any attention to uninformed rabble rowsers(sp?) and they would specifically mention the Katy Watchdogs. At the time I couldn’t imagine what they were afraid of. And before every election they would repeatedly remind us to “vote for our school board.” But just as the teachers and staff are afraid to speak their minds, I was worried at the time that my children in KISD schools could be harmed if I spoke out. Now, what kind of community do we have when citizens are afraid of their school board?
I am the mother that Duhon ridiculed. The board states that they “… do not respond directly to comments …” Apparently Mr. Duhon has no problem breaking their stated rules if he has the opportunity to belittle a community member that dare to address the board with their grievances.
“Wildfire”: It is indeed very, very sad to see so many in our community who are utterly petrified of this Board, the KISD administration and our Superintendent. I was not at all surprised by Frailey’s comments at the teacher invocation. This type of Stalinist scare tactics has served this district well over the years. Merrell was the king of this intimidation of teachers and taxpayers. Their problem was that they met their match when I decided to get involved and speak out about what was wrong in our district. I remember when I told my wife that I was going to meet privately with Merrell. I remember her asking me if I was afraid; after all he is the superintendent. I laughed out loud and told my wife that is exactly what the problem is around here; everyone has forgotten that the Board, the KISD administration and the Board report to US, the taxpayers. It’s not the other way around! We are their bosses!! They should fear us!! We should not EVER fear government!!
As far as Duhon’s comments; well I’m certainly not surprised. He’s a serious elitist that thinks he’s smarter than everyone else. The parallels between our Board and our representatives in D.C. is amazing.
The key to changing things in our district is through the ballot box. The Katy Watchdog$ were the first “Tea Party”; we were just a little too early and obama hadn’t come on the scene as yet. But now that the Tea Party is here it appears that more people are waking up and seeing this bunch for what I described in my earlier post. The key will be getting a serious grass roots movement to the polls. These elitist snobs on the Board can be defeated!
We need to defeat this bond in November and then we need to throw out the incumbents in May. Then, and only then, can we begin to take back our schools from those that are leading it down the wrong path.
Christopher E. Cottrell
Your description of Frailey as Stalinist is perfect. He has let everyone know that if we don’t swallow his brand of Kool Aid then we need to work elsewhere. His threats have been in the ESC for a while but became very public this year at convocation.
I hate how horribly this district has handled money because it impacts the students I teach. There are numerous schools with horrible technology. They’re sure to put that in the bond so the community will feel forced to vote in favor of it. Our kids are suffering for the ESC’s poor choices.