$chool Board Decision$

Wayne Bolla has always been in the Superintendent's dog house. Owens and the other board members have not liked him since Bolla's first meeting as a board member when they realized he would not fall in line. 

At that first meeting, Bolla was told by more than one member "That's the way we've always done it." Followed by "You'll understand better the way it's done after your orientation workshop in Orlando."

Still Bolla continued to ask questions at the first meeting. By the middle of the meeting the rest of the board members were rolling their eyes at Bolla. They still insult him at each meeting and they have the eye rolling down to a fine art.

Funning thing is, Bolla keeps on rolling, rolling, rolling like the energizer bunny and doing what he should be doing for the good of the district and the children. 

Let the beat of his drum go on as a board member! 

Yes, Pioneer.........Wayne Bolla has been and is a thorn in Owen's side, in fact the entire school board.  And I agree, he'd doing what he should be doing for the good of the district and the children.  It's reassuring to see an individual who won't yield to the "way we've always done it."  Bolla has completed his orientation workshop in Orlando and is now recognized as a certified board member, according to an article in the Dec. 20th, 2007 issue of the Clay Today. 

I keep an assortment of batteries on hand should he ever run low .  Gotta keep him charged!

Stryker

I met Wayne Bolla when he was first running for CCSB through a mutual friend.  He is the real deal, said he was not afraid to look at things objectively, and has proven it time and time again.  Great for him that he challenged the status quo regarding raises and salary.  Would love to have seen that!! 

Now, if he could question all the Associate Assistant Superintendents for Developmental Instruction ad nauseum ... salaries, there might be some money to pay algebra teachers!  Imagine that!

 He is the best elected official to be on School Board in 25 years. What impresses me most is that he was able to not appear too controversial or combative while he was running. In fact many thought he was the fair haired chosen one. HA HA HA. He has what few people who run for office have..... Street Smarts.

It's about time someone questioned the questionable decision making of our county school district.  I'm sickened every time I look at newer schools in this county.  What a waste of my money and yours.  Not only in outlay, but in ongoing needless expense in upkeep. Don't forget the 209 cattle land fiasco either.

Perhaps we need more new blood than just a couple of county commissioners.

Someone told me they received a telephone call last night that was a recorded message from "School Superintendent David Owens," who wanted to set the record straight about some things that had been written on a local blog.

My initial reaction was to wonder whether the phone calls (I'm just assuming the message was recorded for more than one call) were paid for by Owens' campaign funds or whether our tax dollars were being spent for "public education."

My second reaction was that it was nice to know MCS has another fan.

Michael S. Mann

Yes, I remember that Bolla was the superintendent's and board members " chosen one" during the last election. That sent up a red flag to me, and I did not vote for him because they were pushing him!

Well, Owens and SB got what they wanted, and by the middle of the first meeting after he was elected when he wasn't playing their games and falling in line, they have done nothing but ridicule him in public, on camera, and behind the scenes.

The citizens of Clay have had numerous chances to elect a new board and superintendent. It's sad to say that at times they run UNOPPOSED. We even elect people that aren't at meetings or in the country! 

Well, I'm glad Bolla was elected and look forward to supporting him as a board member or superintendent.

He may be a thorn in the Superintendent's side, but he's a rose to the children of clay. 

OneMann:

Please share more details about the call... 

Mike,

The School District is testing a new automated call system for parent notification in the event of an emergency. The test call was supposed to be from Superintendent Owens saying, "Merry Christmas."

The system is supposed to call every number listed on a child's emergency card until someone can be reached.

I was at a soccer game last night when parent cell phones were ringing off the hook. I didn't receive my holiday greetings. Wonder if that's because I ran for School Board against one of the incumbents? Hmmm.

And Mike, thanks for the School Board update. I was going to ask if you'd be willing to summarize the meetings for us (you beat me to the punch, again). I know it takes an investment of your time and energy but it really is informative and appreciated. I hope you'll do it again.

The 2008 election season will certainly be interesting. The next six weeks should give voters an idea of what choices we will have. I certainly hope Mr. Bolla is in the mix. He's a straight shooter.

I received this call last night and it seemed at the time a very straight-forward test of the system.  I didn't give it a second thought.  However, after reading the above blogs I wonder as I have not had a child in the Clay County System in over five years so they either have some bad data or the calls went beyond those parents with children in school.  Just wondering!

If I were a politician, I'd be reading MCS blogs.  We're often informative and, frankly, quite entertaining at times.

Pioneer, I gave all the details I got from the person who told me about it.  I haven't gotten a call myself.  But I am hoping to find someone who still has it on their answering machine.  Even a simple Merry Christmas message is a good example of the power of incumbency, isn't it?

The School Board, by the way, holds the water-boarding of government meetings.  If not for Bad Boy Bolla speaking up once in awhile, the Geneva Convention wouldn't allow the meetings to be shown to prisoners at Gitmo.

I'll be happy to write something when I catch the meetings and I'm in the mood, Karen, but my job right now is running for County Commissioner.  Volunteering to do the job of what a paid, professional journalist should be doing doesn't fit into my schedule.

Michael S. Mann

We received the phone call also - one at home then one on Ray's cell phone. 

Thanks for clarifying what it was Karen.  You know Ray - he just said 'yeah it was something from David Owens about testing a system". 

I will be very interested to watch the upcoming politics in the school board.  I'm glad to see there is at least 1 person that doesn't follow along with the rest of them.  I have spoken with Wayne a few times about a middle school option in Keystone - which as you know I have said for years we need since our 12 yr olds (7th grade) are in school with 18 yr olds (Seniors).  David's take is "Vanessa" You went through it.  Well, yes I did but things were a lot different when I graduated 21 years ago. AND when I started school in 75 that was the first year they moved the high school "across" the street...before that they were all in one location.  Wayne has always been willing to listen to me "harp" on this issue and he's always been sympathetic...without throwing out the excuses the I get from our rep. 

I can't understand how they ... well, I know how... but it's 'frustrating' to watch them give the large bonuses out when you have deserving teachers in need of the money or even the need for supplies. 

Not that it makes you feel any better but it happens on every level.  Here at UF they gave President Machen a $285,000 bonus - total compensation leve now at $727,000!  That makes him the 6th highest paid public university president in the nation!  And ask ANY Staff member on campus if it's "well-deserved"? ....... it's a unanimous ...no.

Yes, Mike. It does speak to the power of incumbency. I heard several comments today at the elementary school that they thought it was a political advertisement from Mr. Owens.

A little advance PR probably could have dealt with that but it's water under the bridge.

Hey Vanessa. Welcome. Tell Ray I'm still planning to have a copy of my car key made so he can hold onto it.

The letter to parents went out today.  I suspect that they initialized the phone system because there would not have been anyone there to see if it really worked if they had tested the system today.  The website of some of the high schools has a copy of the letter posted.  The letter was dated today, but took a couple of days to be printed and distributed to the schools.

For those who received calls who no longer have students:  The student database is updated by the parents who fill out the cards and return them to the school.  A changed telephone number not reported to the school, or a data entry error makes the system less than effective.  There is nothing more frustrating than trying to contact a parent in an emergency and there is no phone number that is accurate or updated.  We had a student get injured and the only number we had was the cell number of an ex-boy friend of the mother who said "why did you call me, I have nothing to do with the student, her mother is an ex-girl friend of mine, goodbye."

It is unfortunate that parents aren't considerate enough to notify the school of telephone number changes.  Yes, data entry errors happen, so the system is not blameless either. 

I have no children in school. So why did I get a call from Mr. Owens too. The outdated information just don't fly in this direction. So whats up!

Of course unless students are filling out this information and giving false information to the schools.

No one checks the authenticity of these records and students skip school and then who gets the call that they were out. Some person who has no clue why they just got that phone call. I think it may be the parents that need to know when these students are not in school.

Looks like someone there should be checking these records not just the parents.

The CCSB emergency notification system has been something in the works for about two years.  This year the state funded the system for each school district state wide. I believe it is mandated by the Dept of Education. The system will be used to send emergency telephone messages to parents of children registered in our schools.

Of course students fill out or change the numbers that the school system uses for parent contact.  Some schools call parents of students who are absent.  So, the student changes the number for contact to their (the students) cell phone number so that contact never goes to the parent phone number.  With such a mobile society, phone numbers, addresses and contact information is constantly in flux.  

If you never had children in school, it is most likely a data entry error.  Its a good system, and properly used a real help in todays world.  However, it subscribes to the old computer adage:  GIGO - garbage in, garbage out.  So if the numbers aren't correct, of course the calls will be to the wrong people.

The system that left a message on my answering machine should be changed to speaking to an individual personally.

In the case of an actual emergency it seems to be imperative they speak to a person not a machine. Depending on the type emergency and parents who work would not have any knowledge of this information until they returned home and found this on their answering machine. If parents learned of an emergency while away from home they would then clog the system with calls to find out more information. That seems to defeat the purpose of the system.

The system should continue to contact people until they speak with someone personally if it is to be effective or does notification stop when the system gets an answering machine.

Would the test of the system alert the School Board of numbers that were not accurate? Should people call and remove themself from the list if you got the call and have no children in school?

No notification system is perfect. Does it know the difference between an answering machine, or voice mail system, probably not. Could it be designed to know if is speaking to a person, yes, but more likely too costly. You could have to press 1 to let the system know that a person answered the phone. How many numbers do you want to have the system try? 1, 2, 3, 4? Most people have at least 3 numbers they may be reached at. Home, cell, or work. Once again, most all these systems have voice mail, so we are back to square one.

I would certainly call the school board and notify them that you have no children in the school system. Perhaps are you listed as a person who can pickup a child at school? There are a number of questions that can be asked, all very good. If you expect a system to be perfect, its not going to be because it was designed by humans who also, by the way aren't perfect.

The system is designed to allay the fears of parents. If you have ever been at a small school and had rescue arrive with lights and siren, you would know how people react. This system will never be used to notify parents of a situation involving their student, but rather like the amber alert system to notify as many people as possible.

Any notification system regardless of what the message contains or how many wrong numbers it reaches is better than none at all. The people who are contacted by mistake can just get over it. The good of the masses outweighs the aggravation caused by a few wrong numbers.  Call the school board and let them know they notified you by mistake.

If this was a private business then our beloved government officials could find a way to punish the general public. Such as the do not call list and other measures they have enacted into law concerning harassing calls by the public.

So I am suppose to understand we have some well paid idiots that run our government and they have no standards or laws and are given a free pass because they try to do their job. "Any notification system regardless of what the message contains or how many wrong numbers it reaches is better than none at all." 

I have no children and am not on a list to pick up or make any decisions concerning any children. However, I do pay taxes for other peoples children to go to school.

As a matter of fact it appeared to be a free campaign scheme, which at best looked bad.

I would be interested to see how many people were contacted by error with his test and Merry Christmas wish. Regardless, I will not be voting for him anyway.

With the smoke coming out of the School Board there has to be a fire somewhere. Usually the top is the best place to go.

I would love to see Wayne Bolla run for Superintendent. I've thought about and looked into running for the school board... I found out that where I live, I couldn't until 2010 and it would be against Vallencourt. I think Bolla is on the right track... he brings ideas to the table that are for the good of the schools and students, not necessarily the school board... he questions things that he thinks are wrong, inappropriate, etc. and I feel that he is truly working for us, not for himself and his political stature.