I find this blog to be a great way to keep track of the many topics I face on the board. Plus it allows me to state what I really want to say instead of having anyone misquote me or put it into context for their own agenda. It's a great tool to let the community know what is going on with their board. But out of respect for the laws and policies of the board, there are certain things that just can't be discussed -- such as what goes on behind closed door sessions. All I can say is if we could talk about those things that go on behind closed doors the community would see their ISD in a whole different light. Regardless we can't talk about those items.
A resident of Allen, who pays taxes to the ISD, should be aware that the law states that a Trustee who sits on the board is actually only a state official when in session. Anytime before, or after, the Trustee is just a taxpaying citizen like everyone else. We receive no pay, or benefits, for sitting on the board, and thus we maintain regular jobs as the normal citizen would. We aren't some tyrannical team of miscreants that stand upon their high post and preach their needs first. If we are then we need to go. We in fact are just citizens who were elected by you to represent and protect your needs when it comes to the ISD and its expenditures. I can assure you that all of the board members I sit with exhibit a great deal of care when it comes to administering the duties of the office. But we are just humans as well, and humans are easily influenced, especially when in unfamiliar surroundings...and most particularly with the scrutinization of 100's of millions of dollars of taxpayer money. Such responsibilities will intimidate anyone -- if it doesn't then that individual may not be suited for the job.
Since taking the seat on the board, approximately 3 months ago, I have seen many things that concern me. I myself work for a multi-billion dollar company, to which I witness more management control over a $1 Million budget than what has been exhibited with our $360 Million bond allocation. It concerns me that we entrust, blindly sometimes, this ISD and Trustee Board with such an ominous task. It is a system we are endowed with. A system we can not take lightly; a system to which we can not deviate from the rules and laws that maintain it; a system that directly impacts the lives and the futures of our children. But we must also stand vigilant and voice our concerns when we see something amiss....as I am.
It is a fact that through the "Open Records Act" any citizen can obtain the record of charges filed by the Mansfield ISD against a former 9-year employee of the Allen ISD school district. It is also open record that our district even filed its own criminal complaint against the same employee. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand that such charges ultimately beg to question the administrations management of policies and procedures that were in place by this school district, which would have caught the individual in the act. The fact is we got lucky to which another ISD, which had the processes and procedures in place, were the ones that caught it. But more importantly what this indicates to me, as a new board member, is that this mismanagement would have been in place long before this supposedly "Bus Barn" candidate got voted in.
What I have been trying to convey in my recent dealings with fellow board members is that by my interpretation of the facts leads me to believe that indeed mismanagement, and lack of oversight, truly did exist. But what should concern us all is that some of the board members are somewhat confrontational when it comes to their past decisions, which further begs to questions as to why? I didn't create this mess I'm just the one that has the guts to stand up for the community and is willing to bring the issues to light. Which brings up another point as to why the other board members don't, or haven't, made a stand by saying something about it today, or in the past? It's like crickets out here. The fact of the matter is that if the same administration, that lacked enough oversight and control of it's own high-level employees, led to the accusations and criminal charges being filed, which, in my mind, may have ultimately impacted the entire process of procurement and allocation of the bonds approved by the voters. After all the same individual in question was part of the senior executive staff of the ISD. If all of a sudden you got word that the financial management firm that was handling your 401k, or retirement account, was using your money to buy "stuff" and make trips that you had no knowledge of, wouldn't you want to have answers? Why chastise your neighbor who is just trying to warn you by bringing the issue to your attention? Would you rather just shut your neighbor up so that you can stick your head in the sand and hope that it goes away? Or would you be glad that you finally have someone who is willing to look out for you?
Back to the facts though -- it is important to highlight that I am not against the service center. I am concerned about the process and the atmosphere between the administration and the board and how that relationship ultimately impacted the board in it's decisions 4 years ago. How did the ISD conduct its prioritization of student needs? Why was the Performing Arts Center (PAC), the new $53 Million Football Stadium and a $30 Million dollar Transportation Facility prioritized in front of dealing with the overcrowding of the high-school and the sub-par Lowery Freshman Center? If the administration lacked the oversight to control its own staff when it came to the budgets and the financial obligations that this prior board approved, and the voters approved, what impacts did such accusations and mismanagement have on the entire process of procurement? Especially when the same senior staff who mismanaged those allocations were part of the procurement process? We are talking about millions of dollars in contracts administered by the very same staff, and under certain circumstances, under the direct, or indirect, control of the very same accused fraudster. What happens if we find out there was much more to the story and that in fact it impacted the misappropriations of millions of dollars to which this board had the ability to stop but instead went forward with the decisions anyway? Did the administrations lack of oversight impact the relationship between the board and the ISD executive staff to the point of lackadaisical approvals and votes? Was the board truly entitled to all the information that it needed to catch such detrimental decisions? If indeed the accusations of fraud are true how do we know if the accused worked alone? The facts made prevalent to me state just that -- that the administration exhibits mismanagement and the will to manipulate the board decision process -- and I'm a sitting board member. In the end who suffers? I can tell you who suffers -- the students, the staff and the taxpayers - that's who suffers.
I for one am willing to stand up and tell it like I see it -- good or bad. I ran on the platform that I would stand up for the community and do what is right. In this case, and on day one and hour one, I was exposed to this issue. As I stated, I did not create this mess and I for one am appalled at the course this ISD has taken in the past. I will continue to follow the rules and stand up when I know something is wrong -- I would expect no less from someone I voted into office. Any mistakes or issues raised by this ISD you can truly expect that I will be all over it to insure the students come first and that the taxpayers money is well spent. When, and if, I vote NO on an issue you can stand assured that it is for a reason.
Dr Michael Myers
ANY DISTRIBUTION OR COPYING OF THIS MESSAGE IS PROHIBITED WITHOUT THE WRITTEN CONSENT OF DR MYERS.
