Seven candidates for Bossier School Superintendent were interviewed yesterday. Here are some of their comments and our take on them.
D. C. Machen said that ‘we’ve had some bad media, press, some things have been a negative reflection’ . . ‘based on incidents that have been beyond our control.’ He goes on to say that ‘we have attacked these issues’.
How do you attack issues that are beyond your control? As to the bad media causing a negative reflection, allowing a million dollars to disappear from under your nose is not likely to bring favorable media coverage.
Timothy Gilbert says that ‘events in the past few years have given some members of the public – and indeed gotten a little commotion from that from some media outlets, that would indicate we have not administratively or even as a board always ensured the public trust. . . I think that's the first thing we must repair: that image that we have’.
That image is well deserved.
Scott Smith, principal at Benton High School, spoke in general terms of ‘getting that cleared up, getting new people in there that have a new vision.’
Hopefully, that new vision would not include stealing a million bucks.
Debbie Hays seemed to be willing to step up – and she didn’t even blame the media.
‘We need to ensure that we have high quality fiscal responsibility maintained in all departments. I would like to take over the finance department. I would like to be the No. 1 person in charge and with that I would like for you to assist me and hire a chief business officer that would answer only to me and to you. And this person will be the overseer of all of our funds, how they are distributed, how they are managed so that we know they're managed effectively, efficiently and responsibility over all areas of department areas.’
The board will announce the finalists for the position next Monday.
Complete coverage of all candidates in The Times
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
15 comments:
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What about the outsider? A new pair of eyes could be our answer.
ReplyDeleteHe had some good things to say, unfortunately he doesn't stand a chance with this school board. In my opinion, he is the 'token outsider'. I wish I was wrong.
ReplyDeleteSo, when does it come down to the best candidate. We need a GREAT leader to get us out of this mess...Why do we promote people who can not do their job or do it dishonestly. It is time we had accountability for all - Our students are being held accountable and face consequences if they fail to make the grade - what about the leaders?
ReplyDeleteI heard the same builder who built the son's house also built the dad's house - who were on contract with the system. It is unfortunate - very unfortunate.Tokens are for Chuck E Cheese.
What we need to do is throw this entire board out on it's ear when they come up for reelection.
ReplyDeleteI guess you have time to wait and do not have kids in the system.
ReplyDeleteWhatever your views, I hope you have been in contact with your school board members. If they know that the people are watching, they are likely to make the best decision.
ReplyDeleteIt would be nice to think that the board members actually listened to the candidates and would make choices based on: experience, knowledge, public presence, confidence, character, and poise under pressure. Those characteristics are very visible in one candidate. VERY visible--It seems to me that people are trying to destroy her credibility by linking her to her brother--who is a well-known public official. Since when does having a brother who is successful make you less qualified in your field. Doesn't seem fair--!!
ReplyDeleteMismanagement has always been a problem with the Bossie Parish School Board. An outsider will never be allowed because if all the shenanigans are ever uncovered it would change everything. Most parents are voting by moving thier kids out of the Bossier School System, you will see a drop in numbers over the next few years. No one wants to drop their kid off at a school were the AC workers are not going through $20 background checks. What if these air repair guys had been pedofiles instead of just murderers on parole. This group of leaders does not care about out kids at the level they should. They are more concerned with getting jobs for them selves and getting their friends high paying jobs with the board.
ReplyDeleteyou're right, anon, everyone on this board has their sights set on a bigger and better political position-- they are not going to upset a sitting representative or a sheriff. My bet is that dean's sister or Jane Smith's husband gets it. That way everyone gets a better retirement and the back scratching can continue.
ReplyDeleteNO outsider will ever be selected by this board. This board is scared of an outsider who would bring in an auditor. This is every politcal/government entities nightmare-- AUDIT. This baord does not have the political courage to vote for an outsider, they are moving fast before anyone even knows what they are doing. They should appoint an interim and do a national search.
ReplyDeleteThis board's agenda was crystal clear when they manufactured a way to disqualify Dr Raines within 24 hours of opening applications. This board lacks the intelligence and owes too many powerful people favors to do anything other than elevate D C Machen to "arrogance in chief".
ReplyDeleteBossier schools are the best in the area. Caddo brings in outsiders and look what is going on in those shools. Children at the better schools in Caddo see all types of violence. Keep the outsiders and the bad kids in Caddo.
ReplyDeleteWhat, and keep the theft and lack of supervision in Bossier Parish? Why not have the best of both worlds - good educational standards AND good administration that protects the taxpayer's money?
ReplyDeleteWell, it's official. The 8 names that will be on a recall petition starting tommorrow are, Mosura, Wiggins, Slack, Knotts, Brigham, Bockhaus, Smith & Darby. They voted to include D C Machen as a finalist for the superintendent job. Three of the 8 lied to members of the public by claiming they wouldn't vote for Machen who has been in charge of the finance, purchasing and maintenence depts for the last 5+ years.
ReplyDeleteLet us know if you would like to participate.
It's a shame that everything has become so political (well it has really been that way for a long, long time) and there is really no way to fight it. Forget about the best interests of our children, let's just vote for someone who is not going to upset the apple cart and will basically sit back and do nothing but let dishonest acts and immorality continue. What happened to our Christian values in this country and where are our Christian values when electing a new superintendent!
ReplyDelete