Common sense trumps spin at Lancaster ISD meeting

by Brian Allen of Best Southwest Citizen

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At its June 16 meeting, the Lancaster ISD Board of Trustees voted 5-2 (I suspect that’s going to be the vote count for the foreseeable future on controversial issues) to hire an investigator regarding allegations about Superintendent Larry Lewis. The recently released TEA audit painted an unflattering picture of district finances, alleging misuse of bond money and attendance inflation to receive state monies.

It also questioned the legality of a partnership between LISD and the Lancaster Today newspaper under which the district pays the newspaper to serve as its newsletter. TEA wants to know why the district didn’t pursue other bids for the contract, which has been under a great deal of scrutiny since its October approval. Lewis told the board that most of the TEA’s recommendations have been put in place and the others are being worked on.

The board, by that same 5-2 margin, voted down a public reprimand of President Carolyn Morris for violating a board policy preventing members from releasing controversial information. Apparently a couple of board members object to Morris talking to local media outlets about the audit.

I don’t know where this comes from. It’s not as if Morris suddenly began doing this. She’s been the voice of dissent on that board for years now. The only thing that’s changed is now Morris has the allies and votes to create the changes she’s been seeking. I may have just answered my own question about where this is coming from.

Why would the board even have a policy that serves as a “gag order” for its members? Things like this are simply easy ammunition for Lewis’ numerous critics. Couple this with a consent agenda that’s become increasingly vague in recent months and it looks like the administration is trying to hide something. Often perception is reality. If people think you’re trying to hide something, good luck convincing them otherwise. A school district can’t succeed without teamwork. You need everyone in the community to be a part of it.

People won’t participate in a process they don’t feel some ownership of. They won’t offer help if you act as if you don’t need it. And they most certainly will not give you more bond money if you can’t (or won’t) explain what happened with the previous bond money.

Board members subject themselves to public scrutiny and scorn for zero pay. They shouldn’t also be asked to surrender their freedom of speech. It’s not only Morris’ or any other board member’s right to speak as a citizen, it’s their sworn responsibility as a public servant to answer questions. Reporters aren’t doing this for the sheer pleasure of making politicians squirm. We’re asking these questions for the taxpayer that can’t attend a meeting with a nearly four-hour executive session. I’m no legal expert so I can’t say that such a policy violates the letter of any law. But it surely violates the spirit of laws designed to give citizens more access to and understanding of their government.

I’m one of the few print journalists in the area that can claim to have ever defended Lewis on anything. I’ve learned over the past two years that in many cases he has higher expectations for these students than their own parents. But one has to question the way he goes about it. Even through the most rose-colored of classes it’s obvious there are problems in LISD.

It’s ludicrous to think everything in a nearly 300-page document indicting the district’s policies is a mistake by the TEA. It’s ridiculous to think that the district’s former chief financial officer being convicted of embezzlement has “nothing to do” with LISD. And it’s the height of folly for anyone to think that an attempt at forced silence would suddenly inspire others to sing the district’s praises.

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estherspeaks, says:

It has been the practice at Lancaster ISD to ensure that the only news concerning the district came from the lips of Larry Lewis. Lewis has threatened his staff with termination if they spoke to the media and the last Board let him continue in this mode. This new board wants to try and become more transparent in its dealings with the community and that is something some are scared to death of.

Lewis will continue to have problems with this Board if he thinks he can carry on business as usual. Yes, he has his supporters, but most of them have not been inside the schools to see what is really happening. Low tests scores, low teacher morale, lower in standards of behavior are just a few of the problems that are in the campuses. This does not even touch the financial problems that are continuing throughtout the district. It is time for new leadership and a fresh start-we have started with the Board of Trustees and now it is time for the administration to get a new leader.

Anonymous

1 year, 5 months ago
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interestedcitizen, says:

There are two dictators in this world who serve as a warning and as a model. One is Hugo Chavez of Venzuela and the other is Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe. The first step in controlling a population is to control the flow of information. Chavez controls the press. Tell people what they want to hear, and spin the truth. Make it difficult for them to obtain the information they need to know. Mugabe shows us that when the people rise up and attempt to retake their government, a desperate man resorts to intimidation and threats.

We heard Dr. Lewis use the police to intimidate the audience Monday night. When people groaned when Lewis made an irresponsible statement, he threatened to remove them from the room. However, when his cheering section groaned in opposition to the failure of the board to reprimand Morris, his police force didn't move a muscle, and Lewis didn't utter a peep. Watch his police force. Once they discover who opposes Lewis, they glare at the Lewis opponents in an intimidating manner. They clearly show favoritism. Just as Mugabe is using the military to intimidate his political oponents, Lewis is using his police force to intimidate his opponents.

Marxists know that it is possible to say something often enough and people will believe it. Propagandists know this. Instead of meeting the burden of proof with hard facts up front, make unsupportable statements and put the burden of proof on one's detractors to establish the falsity of the assertion. Lewis does this. His favorite words are "show me the data." It is his burden to show us the unfiltered data, yet he makes outlandish statements with insufficient supporting data, then makes it difficult to pull the information out of his office to test the truth of his statements.

One such false statement that Lewis has repeated is that property values in the former Wilmer Hutchins increased 82% in one year. He makes that outlandish statement to prove that we were foolish not to take over Wilmer Hutchins. Neither the taxable values nor the market values from 2005 through 2007 support this statement. Using the numbers for Wilmer and Hutchins alone, we find that combined taxable values increased 19% and 28% in 2006 and 2007 respectively from the prior year, and that market values increased 36% and 34% respectively for those same years. We don't know how Lewis computes that 82% number. Until we know the data upon which he relied in reaching that number, it is impossible to refute what he is saying. It is his burden to prove, not our burden to disprove, his outlandish and irresponsible public statements.

Once we can agree on a common set of data from a public source, then we can have a debate as to what that data means.

It is possible to gain control over people by having greater access to the information outlet and having the means to control the flow of information.

There is a reason why Dr. Lewis doesn't want to post the check register online. That would make his administration too transparent. He needs to control the flow of information, so he can spin it in his favor.

An advantage of having a conservator in Lancaster would be that the conservator would have no reason to filter information and spin the truth. The conservator could insist on access to information immediately. If Lewis made it difficult for the conservator, the conservator could suspend Lewis.

I don't know if an attorney or the conservator would be cheaper. The conservator costs $60.00 per hour. I suspect an attorney will cost $300.00 per hour or more. Unless the attorney works quickly and finds enough information to fire Lewis for cause, so that we don't have to buy him out of his contract, we might have been better off financially with a conservator.

Anonymous

1 year, 5 months ago
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remoned, says:

It's amazing the amount of false inuendo that people knowingly and purposely put out to the public, knowing full well that most folk are like sheep... they'll believe what they read (usually on the internet orr through newspapers seeking controversial headlines), and they'll believe what they're told (usually lies and or half truths depending on which party one favors).

I encourage anyone concerned to attend the board meetings for themselves and you might just find that the majority of what you read, hear and see televised regarding LISD and or it's superintendent is a slander campaign.

Case in point, one reader syas they HEARD that Dr. Lewis used the police to imtimidate the audience at the June 16 school board meeting, I attend the meetings, the only time Dr. Lewis has the police to have anyone removed is for disorderly conduct, be it by supporters FOR or AGAINST him. There is no bias per partisan supporters.

Also, according to the Dallas Morning News... test Scores are on the rise, according to teachers and principles I've spoken with personally, the cause of low morale is due to the people running the board not with the superintendant.

Matter of factly LISD lost 3 teachers to the Desoto ISD district this year, and one of the teachers remarks were that they would've loved to stay but they simply could not tolerate the new board president. Who, coincidentally, has a history of threatening employees with job loss if they dont jump at her beck and call, dating back to when she worked at SMU, and a practice that still continues today. And finally the low standards of behavior has obviously been curtailed by virtue of the fact that the alternative school participation numbers are down from 300 last year to 45.

Point is, you can play with the numbers any way you want, but what you can't mask are the results. No matter how many times Dr. Lewis bashers find a media outlet to spew their lies to, detailing their firsthand knowledge of how LISD is a fast sinking ship, regardless of what the statistics, dare I say (THE DATA), shows.