BUT, the shrewd politician that he is, I also have no doubt that he saw what happened to his predecessor who was practically drawn and quartered for supporting a prior School Committee's efforts to bring financial accountability to the Community School.
As we have seen over and over, if you cut reading, writing, or arithmetic, people might quietly bitch among themselves, but generally the only public outcry is a stifled yawn.
But, if you propose any changes which may impact Pool Users, The Community School, Sandwich Youth Soccer, or any other private group which benefits from the use of publicly-maintained facilities -- God help you, you mean-spirited SOB!
Meeting rooms would immediately fill with uninformed elderly swimmers and equally uninformed angry sports parents. Nobody cared that Sandwich tax dollars were being diverted from the K-12 education budget to support the entertainment of a small group of people (many of whom did not even live in Sandwich).
The Angry Crowd would just storm in, have their tantrum, and then storm out. Nobody bothered to stay for the part of the meeting where the budget cuts were discussed -- they only heard that they might be asked to pay for the extra services that other taxpayers had been providing to them for free.
Unfortunately, nobody ever speaks out against the Angry Crowd. The few School Committee members that have spoken out either got fed up and left, or were targeted to be replaced by inexperienced, unprofessional, drones whose sole purpose was to represent the special interests of their supporters, and seek vengeance for any perceived effort to change the status quo.
Canfield is no fool.
He installed new management at the Community School, and waited until folks got comfortable, --- and then he raised the issue that has been obvious to the (maybe) 6 people who have paid any attention.
He has even been framing it nicely --- the pool is a wonderful asset to the entire community. But, if the Town's taxpayers want to continue to provide this benefit, than they will have to vote the funds to pay for it. The School Department will no longer redirect dollars from the K-12 education budget to subsidize pool operations.
And, by the way, no more Community School people wandering around the building during the day
The last time this public access issue was raised, there was a public outcry against the former Superintendent and some School Committee members. We could spend thousands on Building security -- but for $50 you could buy a pool pass and wander around the locker room naked with the high school kids. "The Hell with security --- "SHE" won't let people in the building!"
This time, the silence is deafening. Maybe because the Emptyprize "forgot" to put these items in their story last week? Where's the bitchy editorials, the interviews with the usual suspects, and the one-sided, half-assed stories which seem to have been written before meetings even happen?
It seems allowing strangers to wander around the school (even with their clothes on) is frowned upon by the group that handles high school accreditation. Gee, could they have the same concerns about school safety that the prior Superintendent and School Committee members had raised?
I like the Groundhogs Day analogy. We are right back to where we were three years ago. Except, we have wasted three years of effort, and tens of thousands of dollars on legal fees which could have have gone into improving the school system.
And, somebody's professional reputation was trashed.
Nice work.
19 comments:
Kudos to Dr. Canfield for working on a solution to the problem in a professional and thoughtful manner. We are very lucky to have him!!
The Truth Maker would comment in regards to 247. Dr Johnson also was working on the same problem, in the same manner three years ago and look where it got her.
It is true we have one less obstical in the process that was voted out and not placed in office by the citizens of Sandwich, that saw through the chirade.
The balance on the present School committee, will prevent any happenings again, that brought distrust to the whole school system.
Now if only the teachers would put in place a leader that represents the whole and not the image of a dictator.
ok.....so it looks like Dr. Canfield is on the right track. Can we please leave the past behind....let the man do his job (FOR THE KIDS BY THE WAY) and let Dr. Johnson go once and for all! IT IS OVER.....GET OVER IT ALL OF YOU. MOVE ON....PLEASE.
I agree -- but I think his point is that we have come full circle.
After 3 years of screaming nonsense, we are now back on track towards what was trying to be accomplished 3 years ago.
Unfortunately, its not over. There is still a very expensive lawsuit hanging over our heads.
And, unless people are aware of the trouble these idiots caused, they may get re-elected again!
IDIOTS ????? PLEASE DEFINE BECAUSE DR WEBSTER'S DEFINATION DOES FIT ANY ONE ENVOLVED WITH THE PAST OR THE FUTURE. THE ONLY IDIOT IS THE ONES MAKING THOSE TYPE OF COMMENTS
I agree, time to move on.
Dr. Canfield is heading down the right track and I appreciate the fact that he is willing to once again start tackling the "ugly" issues that need to be faced.
I hope the School Committee supports and encourages the beginning of these reform efforts. I also hope that the general public gets behind his efforts so he won't get out-yelled by the usual suspects.
I also hope some members of the public with professional backgrounds and common sense .... People who really want to work for the benefit of ALL students and taxpayers ... Step up and run next year.
Nobody should have to argue the definition of "idiot" with a .... well you know!
We are three years down the road, but we do have something to show for it. We have decreasing school budgets and even more lost confidence in our School Committee and School Department from the citizens of Sandwich. The decreased dollars in the school budgets are digging a hole I hope we can get out of. No amount of marketing will help when you have budgets decreasing or barely holding the line the way Sandwich has now had consistently for years. But hey we can hold a bake sale, fun raiser, something and it will all be OK. Oh and we can always charge more fees to the families. You get what you pay for. It is all noise when you look at the numbers.
Why arent any of the local papers talking about this? In addition to admitting they have been using tax dollars to prop up the Community School, the Supt also said they were eliminating adult ed classes during the day -- to keep adults out of the building during the school day!
All hell broke loose when Johnson tried to block adults from using tyhe pool during the day -- now the new guy is blocking people from the entire building -- but nobody seems to care.
I think hes doing the right thing -- but why is it OK for this group -- but BAD when Johnson tried to do it?
The Truth Maker would respond to 420 perhaps those that placed all of the previous concerns in the manner they did , now realize they are no longer unsulated from the actions they took and may well be held financially responsible in the end. A sad commonatary for our school district, that is operating a bare bones budget.
My take is that the "new" guy is doing things the RIGHT way. Previously things were done with a knee jerk reaction instead of with thought and timely implementation. Dr. Canfield was able to see the destruction of the CS from what happened in 09-10, and implemented new changes to help move things forward. To the truth maker, Dr. J
just went about things the wrong way. There was no discussion regarding thought process or reasoning. We have those things now. Therefore it doesn't look like an ambush but more of a solution. As to anon. 11:17, the people on the committee, I feel, were just trying to do right by EVERYONE, not just a select few. I don't find anyone on the board, past or present to be idiots, but just concerned citizens who are trying to deal with difficult issues.The current committee, Andrade excluded (I question his motives - Mr. Sturgis teacher) seem to be on the same page right now. This in and of itself is refreshing.
One thing I do still question is the K12 dollars being used for the CS. I was under the impression that the $ the SC gave to the CS was for the cost of the pool maintainance, not for educating the adult population. If someone could elaborate on how this $ was spent, much appreciated.
Anon 6:07
I respectfully and completely disagree with your comments regarding Mr. Andrade. I think that the town should be doing a happy dance to know that someone from Sturgis is working for our school committee. What in the world could his motives be? He works for a top high school in the United States - do you think he is trying to 'steal' some of our stellar ideas? Just be thankfully that maybe he can shed some light on how to make our high school a better place for the teachers, the students, and the parents.
I agree with 11:29. Sturgis is a fact of life. It's simple -- unless Sandwich can turn out an educational product that people want; students will go someplace else.
Travis is a professional teacher, a Sandwich taxpayer and a parent with kids in the District. He also teaches at a hugely popular public school that is drawing kids from all over the Cape.
Any insights he can bring to the District should be welcomed.
Mr. Andrade might be an asset, but if he were it would be beneficial if he'd show up to some meetings. Maybe I'll give him the benefit of the doubt until we see how he votes on some issues that may directly effect "his" school. (i.e. the stem academy). So far, from the FEW times he's been at meetings, I haven't been impressed.
I'm very interested to see how Mr. Kennedy will be able to progress with his ideas that he stated at the last meeting. They sound plausable and well intended for all. Hopefully the "anti-pool" people will give his ideas a chance and allow him and Dr. Canfield to persue them without interference.
What the hell is going on with The Enterprise?
The Community School is getting booted from the building during the day and the Supt is threatening to drain the pool unless the Town funds it and for two weeks that stupid rag has said nothing?
It will be interesting to see what kind of spin that nasty Kuerig lady puts on this one -- without offending all of her Community School friends!
The spin will be, "Everything WAS fine until THEY got involved!"
Translation: "Everything was fine, until people were forced to admit the accounting was bogus, and the pool really was hemorrhaging cash!"
Poster 7/28/12, 3:44
That Koenig lady was a Charter member of the Board of Directors of the Community School, what do you think she is going to say, if anything.
The abuses at the Community School go beyond just using "school" funds to support the pool. Relationships, special treatment, (remember the CS was in control of school playing fields and scheduling). Also,failure of the Board of Directors of the CS to audit regularly, or even read audits and comply, or implement recommendations.
Ever wonder why your organization may have been bumped, or had to pay a fee while others didn't?
Speaking of accounting , where are the AUDIT results??Just asking...
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