"FUDGE"

“Fudge”

KISD Blog by Elizabeth Ramos

12/22/2019

KISD Christmas time panic. I don’t have a constant sarcasm story line to this blog because I have been holding out. There are so many times I’ve wanted to write to let the public know what is going on then I get phone calls that add to the story or change my thought process. Then I go to a board meeting and more drama is added to what I wanted to blog about. So, go grab your hot cocoa, Christmas cookies or tamales, a warm blanket and a comfy chair and pull up for this one. It is about to get random. I won’t edit this. Excuse the horrible typing and the jumping back and forth. This is raw and unedited.

I don’t know what more people are interested in the most so let me try and start from the beginning. KISD tried to put me in a box during the last full board meeting. What a joke. They have every right to do so. I said the word “dick” and everyone has lost their minds! I guess I am a connoisseur of soap! I don’t sugar coat stuff. Sorry, not sorry. I did not prevent or disrupt the board meeting by saying that word. You know what did interrupt and disrupt the meeting? Cory Garza’s frequent personal messages during a board meeting. You know those things that are held in front of the public where they are serving you? Cory leaving the board meeting crying to the lawyer when other board members needed him. That is disruption. Corando Garza Sr. stated that night that people came up to him with concerns about how they can hear people’s conversations on video. And? Do you think he did what he should have done as a public-school board trustee? Hell no! He did what he and many have always done. Come crying and throwing people under the bus during a meeting instead. What Corando Garza Sr. should have said to that person is, “File a grievance.” File a damn grievance like the rest of us poor crapped upon folk. You are not special, at least you should be no more special than the rest of us. Just because you talk to a board member doesn’t mean they should do you any freggin favors. That is one HUGE problem I have come across at KISD. Board members sticking their noses where it doesn’t belong! Doing favors for people because they know them. Brandon Greenwood and Corando Garza Sr. should have told the interim superintendent or the school principal about the internet issue at some school campuses, not in the middle of a board meeting trying to make other people look bad. When you do that you give all of KISD a bad name.

This topic irritates me. I have been told by board members to file a grievance. Why cannot they do the same for their friends?

Little did Corando know that if they did put me in a box, I don’t care. I really don’t care. You know why? People are already seeing the light. You shut them out of that you would just keep proving them right. You would shut them out. I found that agenda topic of removing me from my seat to somewhere else really funny. And to think that he had the decency of throwing that onto Ms. Adams to decide where I go is a childish cop-out. No matter what decision she would have made you didn’t want to look like the bad guy. Corando, next time you have someone complain, instead of trying to throw your weight around, educate them. Tell them what to do and where to go and what paperwork, if any, needs to be filled out to solve the problem or find a solution. May 2020 I will no longer be recording these board meetings. If I happen to get a seat on the board, I will put on the agenda to vote that KISD gets a professional to video live these meetings. An idea that the high school students could do it is also in the back of my mind. Why not give them an opportunity for some experience and something to put on their resume? Even if they fight against me to put this up on the agenda, I will still record the meetings. I want the public to see me fighting for them. I want the public to see transparency at work. I will also stop blogging. Just know, I won’t have to because when I see the bullshittery occurring in a meeting I will call it out, professionally. I don’t want to argue with the board. A board that is floating in the sea, on a raft, just fine, will find land eventually. If I see and hear or know of a board member trying to pop holes in the raft, you damn skippy I will throw that mess overboard.

Greenwood went hella crazy on Corando and Cory about the media fiasco. I kinda felt bad for them. He was interrupting them, talking over them and hurrying up a vote. But, at the same time, they came to the board unprepared as usual with a request that was loco nonsense. They kinda asked for it.

Some board members scream that it is about the kids. I find this laughable. It hasn’t been about the kids for a year. (As long as I have been coming to these meetings and getting phone calls from people.) It has only been about athletes. It has only been about teacher pay (how convenient they do this right before election time). They care more about kids getting sports tee-shirts than the safety of our children at school. It has been less about academics and more about trying to get who they want as principal or other staff to where they want them. It has been more about this stupid grading system then the need to hire a curriculum specialist. It has been more about police departments than helping that kid who is dabbing THC oil in the middle of class and getting him help that he is obviously craving. (No kid does that unless they want attention. Why do they want or need attention? If it isn’t attention then why the need to get a felony in high school?) Most board members are so out of touch. SO OUT OF TOUCH.

The board gave employees a raise thanks to a state bill. Otherwise they probably wouldn’t have given the amount of raise that they did. So, don’t think that is any of their doing. It is the states doing. Staff also didn’t get a raise in insurance rates. They also got a bonus. Staff that has worked there for a year or more got a small bonus last board meeting. I will always say, politicians only do good for people when they need those people the most. They need you for your votes. Why wasn’t this done last year? Or the year before? They care about staff now. How convenient! How about they also care about them with some extra support staff? That would surely make staff members jobs easier and it would employ more people. Their excuse is they want prospective staff to be interested in KISD. Ms. Adams way of doing this is to do a mass principal transfer prior to test results.

Funny how this happens now. Funny how Ms. Norma Prado finally got the job she wanted in the first place, Kleberg Elementary. She will be taking over Ms. Moreno’s position. Ms. Moreno will be moved to Harvey. Harvey principal will go to Admin building. Principal at H.M. King, Daniel, will go to Gillett as an assistant principal. She is the only one taking a demotion. Pena in HR at Admin will be the assistant principal at H.M. King. Milheder will be principal at H.M. King. This moves Segovia as principal at DAEP taking over where Ms. Norma Prado was unethically promoted. Ramos stays at Perez and Trevino at Harrell. Of course, I cannot ask Ms. Adams why because it concerns personnel matters. This leaves open an HR position. Maybe they will fill it with someone with a degree in Human Resources.

I wish she knew how many people called me to complain about this move. A lot of people are unhappy again. I foresee some campus transfer requests. I also see campus transfer denials. I also foresee some people leaving because of this move, that is if they have anywhere to go. I have also heard wind of a certain principal trying to get their hands on their new school prior to setting foot in it come new year. Anyone want any boundaries? I am selling boundaries for $100 each! I swear…and no, I didn’t say dick. I sweared some other words. What is Ms. Adams thinking? This makes certain board members very happy. I wonder if she is trying to appease them so they think kinder for her when they go through superintendent applications. That is what it looks from the outside looking in. Did she bend?

Certain board members voted against sooooooo many hires that it took forever to fill positions. They stonewalled the process and didn’t get everything they wanted. Maybe with these transfers they will be happy now that they got some of what they wanted.

Speaking of superintendent. Bera resigned in September. It is now the end of December. It has been over 3 months. Larry Garza got a mention in the Kingsville Record. He states that KISD is moving too fast. Yea, ok. Why he got any recognition in the paper is mind blowing. He is a former board member. Near the end of his trustee residency I have been told is when KISD started to go downhill. So why should we take his advice when he was around when this whole mess started? Oh, and by the way, he is also related to 2 board members. He is first cousin of Corando Garza Sr. I mean, this keeps getting better and better! The stomach chuckles have me burning calories man! Lol. Dude, I mean Larry Garza, it has been over 3 months. How much longer you wanna wait? No big deal. The district has literally been ran by an interim superintendent for many years. The last super lasted 10 months! The one before that did a real bang up job, Carol Perez. Why should we hire anyone? Lets just keep Ms. Adams and interim, she would probably do a better job than the hand-picked superintendent KISD finds on these wasteful searches. Doing searches costs time and money, neither of what KISD has. Who is to say the next candidate is going to do any better? Who is to say this new super won’t get puppetted by certain board members? By doing a search is insulting to Ms. Adams. What Coufal wrote in the paper is a big slap in the face to her. Hey Larry, how much longer does KISD need to go without a super? Another 6 months or after elections? Yea, I see that game being played.

You know she can go be a deputy superintendent or an administrator in a different district and make more money than what a superintendent makes at KISD? BISD was hiring deputy supers for $20k over what a super makes here. (I pulled a Corando Garza Sr. and compared salary to the valley. LMAO!!! Two can play that game.) She is highly qualified to do those jobs. We very well could be losing a very good person for KISD. I have said to many people. If I were a board member, I would offer her an insulting 1-1/2-year contract with KISD. Give her an opportunity to prove herself. If she does a great job in about a year, offer her a sweet 3-5-year contract. She couldn’t possibly fuck up more in a year of what has been done at KISD in over the last 10. I usually lie on the side of ethics, but this is something that ought not to be passed up, especially if she agrees to such a short contract!

KISD ‘B’ Rating. I was sent the Houston article on the questioning of the rating pertaining to military ready. My reply was a GIF that said “Magic” with a guy waving his hands in the air like he made something magical happen. DUH. Some of us knew it was too good to be true. Let me clear something up, Bera had NOTHING to do with that. This was done under a superintendent that was found on a superintendent search like they are doing now, Ms. Carol Perez. I laugh at this too. No one really cares about a grade unless they are thinking about moving to a town, they go look up the grades of the schools in the area and decide on where to plop their home. Otherwise it doesn’t mean crap. At the end of the day you can have an ‘A’ rated district like Brownsville ISD and have a high level of corruption on every level of the district. You had teacher extorting money from poor kids. Now you have a board member that extorted money from people to make a film. Or you can have a district with a trustee that has been accused of child molestation and rape and now abuse of power and have a crappy grade. THE GRADE DOESN’T MATTER. The only fear from that grade is TEA taking over. And lord forbid some board members get tossed to the side because their friends and family very well may be tossed out with them. Either way we are not an F district anymore. At least for now. Many positive things happened for the district with Bera in charge and some not so positive. We will see if Ms. Adams’ principal transfers are positive or not or if she will be here long enough to find out. She could leave tomorrow and there would be no one running the district. I will support her until I smell the BS. It is kinda stinky at the moment because test results did not come back prior to the transfers and Prado got her school she has always wanted.

I feel bad for certain staff at KISD and parents and student that will go to school in January having to build a rapport once again with new principals.

Onto some board policy, something I believe needs an overhaul. I am so disappointed in all trustees when it comes to BBA (LEGAL) Board Legal Status Powers and Duties. “Mandatory Powers and Duties, A board shall: 1. Seek to establish working relationships with other public entities to make effective use of community resources and to serve the needs of public school students in the community.” I haven’t heard one peep out of any trustee of them doing so! I hear about other entities trying to find solutions to KISD’s problem. KISD is just so damn difficult to work with. There are so many issues that transpire on a daily basis at KISD and some of them are more worried about themselves, getting re-elected or lining their own pockets to give a crap.

Same for 15. “By rule, adopt a process through which district personnel, students or the parents or guardians of students, and members of the public may obtain a hearing from the district administrators and the board regarding a complaint [See DGBA, FNG, and GF]” You think I have received my due process and have had my Level 3 grievance against Prado at a board meeting. Hell no. They will push that one off forever until they think they have gotten rid of me. They literally do not have to hear my Level 3 grievance. I would have to hire legal counsel to get their asses to pucker up and listen to me. I am so sick off this. Not because I am going through this. I am sick of it because if someone like me is treated this way, what makes me think they don’t do this to other people, or haven’t. Maybe this is why people have given up! The hell with you!

There have been so many questions asked by the board and none of them follow up on it. I am still pissed they have done nothing about safety. I am still standing in the corner waiting for the day I can say, “I told you so.”

There are people in the community that are very happy with certain board members. They have every right. I mean, they are sort-of related to them. They also get favors. So I cannot blame them. I am sure some board members think I am picking on them. Well, yea. You keep giving me the ammo. Lol. I am not happy with the others. They can very well put on the agenda safety, bullying, crosswalks, grant personnel, SRO’s, personnel, policy, blah blah blah, they chose not to. I refuse to be the fall guy. Get me on the board and I will fight for all of those things. Got a concern, I will ask to put it on the agenda. It really isn’t that difficult. Everyone should be heard! Even the people who said they were going to punch me should have a say. I also think it is important for the board to put on the agenda whose agenda item idea it was instead of having to guess. I wondered who put me on the agenda to put me in a box. Was it Jr. or Sr.? Sr.

What is with Prado voting against what Corey and Corando vote on? He does it every now and again, but not so often as lately. Things that make you go hmmmmm…..

You all know I have been up KISD for months with certain open records requests. One mainly is the monetary value given in the board’s resolution to Bera. I asked for it and they said I was not allowed to have it and they sent it off to TX Attorney General to buy them some time because they know damn well they need to give me that information. It is my right and your right to know how your money is being spent! Here is my request for Bera’s monthly compensation for Sept and Oct. They gave it to me without any problem. They also gave me Item A, amounts paid for settlements freely as well. No problem.

I went back and asked for the correct dates for the settlement amount. I put in the wrong date on purpose. I wanted to see how fast they would give me public information and how quickly they would take it away when I changed the dates. I also asked what Bera got paid in November and they refuse to give that to me as well. They took my entire ORR with several Items on them and combined them. I even asked for information that they have no reason not to give that should be privy to the public. They bunched it all up and threw it at TX AG to buy some time. I know KISD’s lawyer isn’t that stupid. They are stonewalling me. Don’t mess with me. I do follow through. This only excites me! It is kind like I know I have the Ace of Spades in my hand, I could use it now and break spades or I could use it at the end. I will be a thorn on your side until I tear myself off. I am, Karen. Lol

They sent me this in response on the 17th.

I got my Official Daisy Red Ryder Range Model Air Rifle like I wanted dated the 18th from TX AG. This is what it states. “You ask whether certain information is subject to required public disclousure under the Public Information Act….We have considered the claimed exception and reviewed the submitted information….Upon review, we find none of the submitted information satisfies the standard articulated by the Texas Supreme Court in the Industrial Foundation decision. Accordingly, the submitted information is not confidential under common-law privacy, and the district may not withhold it under section 552.101 on that ground.”

I will go to KISD as soon as the doors open to go get your information. I have a feeling they will keep stonewalling me though. They will find another so called law or policy and refute it to them under a new one making me wait for the information longer. Also, if they have to give me that information then they have to give me the information I requested that they denied to me on the 17th. They are playing games. I like games. You on the other hand, probably don’t like being played. Especially when your teacher needs, your kids need, your child’s safety needs, etc.etc.etc.!

Maddox isn’t stupid. He is playing stupid. More to come on this topic.

Would ya’ll like to know the amount paid out? Do ya’ll even care?

I need sleep and it is time to enjoy the holidays. I am sure with my extra time I will be cooking up some stuff to serve to the board. Maybe some ORR complaints and grievances. There is a lot more I am doing that I have not said to yall. Maybe I will throw another quick blog later this week. Something to read if you are traveling or chilling. Hopefully Santa will bring better board members this spring! Happy Holidays everyone! I hope staff is enjoying this time off and getting a nice respite.