Gilbert Public Schools is having a work study session for the Governing Board where one of the topics will be a new demographic study — so the board can make a decision on April 26, 2016 about which school to close so that Gilbert Classical Academy can have a new campus. The problem for the board is that the new demographic study says what the other (April 2015) demographic study said: the number of junior high school students in GPS will grow in the next few years. So, OF COURSE Superintendent Christina Kishimoto wants the board to close a junior high school. What could go wrong?

In typical GPS fashion, the new demographic study literally covers up the growth and new construction in the area where one of the junior high schools will close. Yeppers, they stuck a chart over that part of the GPS map so they wouldn’t have to talk about new construction on the west side of the district. Seriously, they did that! The public should not be told that there is new construction at McQueen and Warner, a gated community that’s part of the Islands, directly across McQueen from the new Charter school. There’s another neighborhood by the new fire station on Warner between Cooper and McQueen (southside). The third is a new neighborhood at McQueen and Elliot. There is a 105 unit condo complex going up this year at Baseline and 24 St/Burk just north of Gilbert Junior High School; the location is in Mesa, but within the GPS boundaries. There may be more… but GPS covered up the map because the truth doesn’t support the decision Christina Kishimoto has already made. See slide #12 of the new demographic study.

Here’s the crux of the problem:
The GPS Governing Board is approaching this whole situation with a “Ready – Fire – Aim” methodology. 

The misfires: “continue to seek community input.” What happened is that GPS Top Dog administrators and two board members (not a quorum, see?) met with GCA *stakeholders* to identify all of GCA’s wants, needs and desires for their new campus. As you can imagine, the list of requirements grew exponentially after those secretive meetings; the rest of the GPS community, and the people who pay the taxes that support GPS were not invited. No sirrreeee.

Another misfire: “Governing Board reviews additional information.” Apparently, this was the information gathered from GCA *stakeholders* and any research GPS administrators did. They all strove mightily to keep that information away from the public, and Christina Kishimoto is continuing to limit what information GPS gives out in response to official requests for public records: “No, you can’t see an actual traffic report. We’ll tell the board about traffic problems AFTER they tell us which school to close.”

The message to the public from a PUBLIC SCHOOL district: the people who are desperate to save their neighborhood schools can just suck it. GPS won’t answer questions; they say, “Make a request.” If someone makes a public records request, GPS delays as long as they think they can get away with, or GPS produces information other than what was requested. It’s like musical chairs, except the stakes are very high for citizens trying to preserve their neighborhood schools against Christina Kishimoto’s *reform* agenda.

The GPS Governing Board was supposed to “approve one specific option” at the January 26, 2016 board meeting. Except, Christina Kishimoto didn’t follow Arizona law or even GPS policies, so she asked the board to suspend the GPS regulation and make the decision anyway. Jill Humpherys was all for that: “I’m ready to make a decision,” she proclaimed. Fortunately,  Good Old Charlie Santa Cruz decided not to play the illegal game. Thank you, Charlie! As a result, Christina Kishimoto was forced to follow Arizona law, district policy and district regulations, and boy is she p*ssed!

Notice the very last step: “Governing Board develops policy for facility development and educational specifications for construction.” So no one knows what is required to give GCA a new campus, but the GPS Governing Board will figure all that out AFTER they decide what they’re going to do … which is the vote at the board meeting on April 26, 2016. Before they  make their final decision, Christina Kishimoto is giving them some new information that wasn’t available to the public at the time of the *official* public hearing in March and the *unofficial* public hearing in February. Some board members are just so sick and tired of all these people who are trying to make sense of this situation, they just want to get on with the vote.

Funny thing, the same work study session has a presentation and discussion among board members about the upcoming budget, and there is not a single word or number in there about GCA’s new campus. Nope, the board has no idea what it will cost, other than a couple of round numbers Christina Kishimoto pulled out of her nether regions, so they’re not going to actually PLAN for expenses or budget for them. The attitude seems to be, “We’ll give the GCA snowflakes anything they want. They’re worth it. They told us so.”

Watch and listen to GCA principal Dan Hood tell the GPS Governing Board why GCA simply must have its own campus rather than share, which is the school within a school concept that’s on the list of possibilities. He won’t come out and say that GCA kids should not come into contact with the unwashed hordes of lesser students; no, he says *uniforms* and something about how the GCA snowflakes might be tempted to want something in their lives other than homework:

Notice the setting: this is a work study session. The public can watch, but the public cannot say a word. The public cannot ask questions. This is what will happen again at the April 12, 2016 work study session. Then the GPS Governing Board will vote on April 26, 2016. In other words, “Suck it, public! Just pay your taxes so we can spend more, more and more of your money!”

As for GCA, their principal said they would rather stay put than have to share a campus. Even though the GCA population will be barely 50% of campus capacity. That’s right in line with the GCA graduation rate: somewhere around 50%. Snowflakes. Here’s some of the commentary that Christina Kishimoto doesn’t want the board to hear:

Our kids don’t have homework and don’t have a push to achieve their academic goals? “There’s a peer pressure to achieve… being on another campus where there are other alternatives is kind of a drawback.” Does Mr. Hood truly not see how demeaning he is towards other students and faculty in the district?
*****************

The best way to support families and communities is to make sure that the schools that are in the neighborhoods stay open. The numbers do NOT support closing a junior high! The demographic study the board commissioned says that Gilbert and Mesquite Jr Highs will GROW over the next 5 years by 41%. If a school is closed, it is overcrowded immediately. The growth will cause further problems and overcrowding. Please listen to the community. NO SCHOOL SHOULD CLOSE.
*****************

And it should be remembered for the future: If this board had let everyone know that GCA was the top priority with this override, I sure as hell wouldn’t have been campaigning and advocating for it. I thought that money would benefit ALL the students and ALL the staff.  Don’t get me wrong, we desperately needed the funding, but the goals weren’t exactly honest, were they?
*****************

This year should have been about giving staff raises and keeping teachers working at Gilbert schools and keeping students at Gilbert schools and attracting more students and teachers to our schools instead we could lose more teachers and students because of the 1% want a new campus.

This should have been the year for a morale boost and not two junior highs’ staff members wondering if they will have jobs. They are already cutting special ed positions. I am so disappointed in this school board. I hope they decide to not do anything and start over and do it right.
*****************

There should not even be a vote. The “goals” of this board are so backwards they make your head spin! 36,000 students, over 2000 have left in the last two years, boundaries so out of whack no one knows what’s where, board members and administrators too afraid (or pompous) to make real decisions with real research, but this is one of the top goals? Seriously?! A school of 500 kids across 6 grades where less than 50% finish what they started! Good work GPS. Creating excellence. <snark>

You could have had Westie for Superintendent… BTW, GPS Top Dogs: we noticed you have a presentation about the most recent GPS audit, and we are well aware that you’re hiding the actual audit report. We can guess why.

We’re seeing a crisis in Gilbert, Arizona as a result of Gilbert Public Schools losing its way in the past few years. One of the biggest problems with the current plan for shoehorning Gilbert Classical Academy into the ruins of a once-vibrant neighborhood junior high school is the fact that the neighborhoods were never designed for the increased levels of traffic that will result from GCA due to parents, school buses and student drivers.

It’s a major problem, but the official stance of the GPS administration was to ignore it, like they ignore any data that doesn’t conform to the results they want. Neighborhood streets are narrow and congested. Elementary schools are nearby. Most students walk or ride bikes to school, which was part of the plan for a neighborhood school. Adding more traffic will foreseeably result in traffic accidents. Yet GPS administrators try to deny the truth staring them in the face, and Christina Kishimoto’s Three Votes won’t look at anything they’re told to ignore. The community will pay the price for this travesty. It’s already happening.

On April 13, 2016, a child riding a bike to Houston Elementary School was hit by a truck at the intersection of Baseline and Burk Street. He was on his way to school; time was 7:40 AM. The child did everything right: he waited until the crossing light came on and started going. The driver was stopped on Burk (the light was red for him). The driver started turning right when the traffic was clear. Unfortunately, the child had already started crossing. The driver clipped the back end of his bike. The child was not seriously injured – but that is purely a matter of luck this time. Many students cross at this intersection for both Gilbert Junior High School and Houston Elementary School. Traffic concerns are not going away because they’re inconvenient.

A terrible accident on February 29, 2016 illustrates the dangers of another intersection: Gilbert Road and Houston Avenue.  It happened at the time of greatest congestion: when schools were dismissing students. The classic Volkswagen Bug was damaged, perhaps beyond repair. The driver of that car was hospitalized for weeks with life-threatening injuries. This is the type of accident that puts experienced drivers into Intensive Care; what will happen with young, inexperienced drivers on these already congested neighborhood streets will be far worse.

Residents contacted GPS board members with their serious concerns. It appeared that no one had considered traffic safety implications before the board voted to review three options for repurposing a campus to give to GCA. This type of situation will be the future of the neighborhood if GCA takes over Gilbert Junior High School.

When GJHS was built, it was designed as a walking school, meaning the majority of students were within walking distance. Its campus lacks proper parent drop off lanes. As it stands now, the few buses that bring students to the campus must travel around the U-shaped building, along a small road that serves as a fire lane, drop off their students and then exit the parking lot onto Burk Street. Currently, parent traffic is routed through the parking lot where there is only one entrance and only one exit. In between the one entrance and one exit is a crosswalk where children who walk to either Gilbert Junior High School or Houston Elementary School cross the street.

Houston Elementary School is located less than 500 yards from Gilbert Junior High School and is at an intersection that is controlled by a 4-way stop. It too was built as a walking school and does not have much in the way of bus or parent drop off lanes. Currently, Houston Elementary uses the curb and sidewalk in front of the school, on the north side of Houston Avenue, as its parent drop off lane, in essence clogging up the flow of westbound traffic.

Dangers are obvious: Burk Street from Baseline to Guadalupe is two lanes with a center turn lane and dedicated bike lanes on each side. Houston Avenue is a two lane street with no turn lane. Going west from Houston Avenue to Gilbert Road the north side of the street is lined with homes whose front yards and driveways face the street. On the south side are a series of cul-de-sacs which open onto Houston Avenue. Going east, excluding the area where Houston Elementary sits, are more homes with front yards and driveways facing the road. There is also a crosswalk in this area. The only designated school zones are just east of Burk on Houston (where the crosswalk is) and just south of Houston on Burk in front of Gilbert Junior High School. The posted speed limits are 25 miles per hour on Houston and 30 mph on Burk.

Finally, on April 4, 2016, Superintendent Christina Kishimoto issued one of her famous BS  communiques brushing off citizen concerns:

We do know that these three options all have transportation implications for our students. We will have to add buses in some instances and a campus will have more parent drop off and pick up traffic. We have begun working on traffic flow and bus issues with an internal team and representatives from the town. We are also in process of completing a full traffic and safety study from an outside source for all of the options being presented.

A resident sent that letter to traffic staffers at the Town of Gilbert. On April 5, 2016, the Town of Gilbert replied: “Yeah, yeah. Because you complained, we met with the GPS Superintendent’s team yesterday about traffic, but only about one intersection: Houston and Burk. Here are some statistics we threw together to shut you up. Now go away. After GPS decides what they’re going to do, then and only then will we observe traffic conditions. We assured GPS, whatever they want to do will be fine with us. After all, the Mayor’s kids are GCA kids. So sit down and STFU.”

This is how it’s going, folks: GPS Governing Board members, led by the nose by Christina Kishimoto, will close a neighborhood school because they can. There’s nothing the community can do or say that will change their minds. In other words, “Suck it, community. You’ve already slowed down this process, and it’s interfering with the *fabulous* Christina Kishimoto’s national reputation. So sit down and STFU.”

The bottom line from a resident who knows the neighborhood well: 

There is nothing they can do at the intersection of Houston and Burk and the 4 way stop sign. NOTHING. I don’t care what a traffic count says. There is no way to reconfigure that intersection. You aren’t going to be able to move the schools. There will still only be only a few entrances into this neighborhood. Any access to either Houston Elementary or Gilbert Junior High School will have to be through that intersection.

Turning left onto Houston is a nightmare, whether it is from Gilbert and the heavy traffic or from Lindsay where you have that funny curve that makes it hard to gauge how close and how fast oncoming traffic is coming.

I have looked at traffic counts for all of Gilbert. Gilbert Rd, Baseline Rd and Guadalupe Rd have some of the highest counts in Gilbert. Chances are, if you are coming into this neighborhood it is from one of those streets. It is just beyond irresponsible to not consider all of this.

What is relevant is that there are 900 opportunities a day for children crossing that intersection to get hit. 

It appears that the Town of Gilbert is happy to assume the risks of placing GCA in a neighborhood school, knowing full well the attendant traffic dangers that GPS is ignoring. We’re really proud that residents are putting it in writing, making it a public record, that the Town of Gilbert KNEW the dangers in advance and were just fine with them.

Apparently, the Town of Gilbert is equally at ease with the fact that the FIRE LANE at Gilbert Junior High School will most likely be used as a parent pick up lane. The fire lane is narrow, with sharp 90 degree turns. The fire lane is between the locker rooms and the athletic fields. Students burst out of the locker rooms without looking. Finally, the road itself isn’t in the greatest repair. That is the reality now. It will be worse if the fire lane is used regularly as a street. Except that GPS probably will fix the fire lane if GCA takes over the campus. Anything for the snowflakes, right? <gag>

This is a line in the sand for anyone injured because Gilbert Public Schools and the Town of Gilbert don’t want to deal with obvious safety issues as GPS goes full speed ahead with one of the most disastrous, ill considered, dangerous decisions the Governing Board could make. 

Sign the petition: No School Should Close – Keep Gilbert Jr High School and Mesquite Jr High School Open

#SAVEGJHS

Gilbert Public Schools targets vulnerable kids: Special Education students who are turning out to be inconvenient because they need special resources. Never mind that GPS receives additional funds to provide these students with access to a Free and Appropriate Public Education. Never mind that it’s the law of the land. Since when has GPS cared about things like laws?

Meet Ryken. He is a vivacious, curious, sweet kindergartner. He loves his friends, baseball, his family, playing board games, and swimming. Ryken happens to also have Down syndrome. Next year Ryken wants to go to first grade with his friends, at his school, Ashland Ranch Elementary. Gilbert Public Schools wants to bus Ryken away from his friends and place him at a different school. To save money, a lot of which is being spent on feeding the Top Dogs in the GPS administration and on the Governing Board. Thousand dollar lunches for Superintendent Christina Kishimoto and her pals, a bus to who-knows-where for the Kindergarten child they consider *inconvenient.* That’s the way it is in GPS these days.

It’s not fair:

** A different school means that Ryken will be spending time on the bus instead of learning.
** A different school means that Ryken will not go to school with the kids in his neighborhood.
** A different school means that Ryken will not go to school with his sister.
** ALL of this means that Ryken is not being given the same choices and opportunities as his classmates, simply because he learns differently.

And it’s not lawful. Local media have picked up the story, and they don’t mince words: 

A Gilbert family believes their special needs child is being forced to leave his school so the district can save money. This past December, his parents said they were notified Ryken would be switching schools in 2016. Ryken’s parents said they were never given an explanation for why.

The family believes Ryken would be better off in a school that integrates special needs students into classrooms. They said Ryken’s new school would segregate the special needs students into their own classrooms.

The media asked GPS for their comments.  GPS’s response: Crickets.

The Gilbert School District did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Apparently, GPS thinks it’s less expensive to warehouse and segregate SpEd students than allow Ryken to stay in the same school as his friends and neighbors, and most of all, his sister. GPS was famous throughout the valley a few years ago for its fabulous SpEd program. It was so good, families moved to Gilbert, Arizona so their kids would be able to attend GPS schools. GPS attracted many excellent teachers who happened to have children with special needs; that was a win-win for all.

No longer: now GPS seems to do its level-best to force SpEd families to take their kids elsewhere. GPS has lost some exceptional teachers as a result of this ridiculous stance, but the Top Dogs don’t care. “Get lost!” is their mantra and message to SpEd parents and their kids. “Go away!” If GPS doesn’t drive families away with that, they take out frustrations on the most vulnerable students in the district. It’s sickening.

Here’s the hypocritical message that Ashland Ranch Elementary School has on its website:

Our Mission:  Every Kid, Every Day
Ashland Ranch Elementary provides an environment of acceptance and high standards for students and staff.
Ashland Ranch is dedicated to building a welcoming, collaborative atmosphere that is student-focused and community-oriented. We strive to be current, both academically and technologically, in pursuit of creating lifelong learners.

Hey, GPS, it’s more than a law or two that you’re dismissing as inconvenient. It’s the right of these students to receive an education, including specialized instruction and related services, that prepares these children for further education, employment, and independent living.

It’s obvious to all that GPS doesn’t like following the law or doing what is right. GPS prefers to make life miserable for the parents of disabled students, many of whom are not really *disabled,* but *differently abled.* GPS loves to cry about how hard it is to craft a budget with the ONE THIRD OF A BILLION DOLLARS that the district spends each year, and we hear all kinds of excuses about how the district just doesn’t have the money to do everything they would like to do.

Westie’s calling BS, because GPS has no choice about providing Special Education services. It’s the law. The government gives GPS plenty of money to follow the law. It’s more of the same old stuff with these GPS Top Dogs, isn’t it? Special trips to resort locations for Superintendent Christina Kishimoto and her Top Dogs, at taxpayer expense, while the most vulnerable students are sacrificed on the altar of balancing the GPS budget … AFTER the thousand dollar lunches and all-expense paid boondoggles for the favored few.

GPS has sunk to a new low, which if you follow Westie’s posts, you know is the deepest circle of Hell. Moving SpEd students is something GPS does on a whim, it seems. A whim that deprives those SpEd students of the Free and Appropriate Public Education that is their right.

We’ve posted many times about how Gilbert Public Schools has targeted a different group of kids, hoping that they’ll just give up and leave the district. These are the students whose junior high schools are on the chopping block to give the incredibly fortunate students at Gilbert Classical Academy a new campus … at the expense of a student body that has the largest component of minority students and those who qualify for free or reduced lunches. Now we learn that Special Education students are getting the same treatment.

Westie has another petition for you to sign: RYKEN BELONGS.  Join Ryken’s family and many more at the GPS Governing Board meeting on April 26, 2016 at 7PM. Make the world a better place … and force GPS to recognize that this community does not take advantage of the most vulnerable kids in the school district. It’s a public school district, and we are the PUBLIC!

Ryken Belongs in Our Community!

Gilbert Public Schools held a work study session so a hired demographer could come explain to the board exactly what we believe he had been paid to say: “Give a junior high school to Gilbert Classical Academy, because…” He got stuck on the “because” part of that sentence, apparently because what he had been paid to say didn’t match the data he presented. Meet Rick Brammer, co-founder of Applied Economics, who was paid $15,000.00 by GPS for a demographic report in April 2015. We don’t know what he was paid to do the same report again in 2016, but it’s not difficult to figure out what he was paid to say.

Watch as Governing Board member Daryl Colvin calls out GPS student losses for what they are, a self-fulfilling prophesy. That’s exactly what has been happening in GPS with the nasty attitude from the top toward Gilbert Junior High School. Starve the school for resources, scare families away by trying to close the school and then try it again a few years later. Keep Gilbert Junior High School employees on pins and needles awaiting their fate: will they have a job at all if Superintendent Christina Kishimoto succeeds in closing the school this time? Rick Brammer, the demographer dude, was rendered speechless by the level-headed common sense of Daryl Colvin’s remarks:

GPS lost 900 students this year, but GPS does not know why. Superintendent Christina Kishimoto and her gang of over-paid chief officers pulling down six-figure paychecks don’t really want to know why GPS lost 900 students last year. Their hair is on fire to reform the district, so who cares about students? They must believe “If we build it, they will come.” Gilbert locals know better than that, but Christina Kishimoto and her band of carpetbaggers and scalawags don’t know about the failure of Gilbert’s Big League Dreams adventure. Of course, Big League Dreams also is losing money at a fast clip in Redding, California. Sorry, we wandered away from the point, which is that Gilbert Public Schools is losing money, too, but the administration is clueless. Maybe they figure the public will approve another tax override and bond, since the present situation is being managed so well. <snark>

With absolutely no data, because there isn’t any data about why students leave GPS, Rick Brammer blamed the loss of 900 GPS students on charter schools. Brilliant, dude! That must have been part of what he was paid to say this time. It’s been well known for a long, long time that GPS doesn’t do anything like exit surveys–well, genuine exit surveys–to determine why parents take their children out of GPS schools. Or why parents don’t enroll their children in GPS schools to begin with. Nope, GPS just says, “Charters” like it’s a dirty word and that’s the end of it.

Basically, Rick Brammer says in a couple of different ways, there’s no rhyme or reason for why GPS loses students. He gets all wonky about trend capture versus stable capture before he gets to what he was told to say, “Current and future enrollment by school shows trends that may require modification of attendance areas as the school-age population continues to shift eastward.” The slides show a mixed bag of data:

** Since 2009/10 enrollment has declined by about 2,700 students (1.2% annually), with a loss of about 900 students this year alone.
** Out of District enrollment declined by 708 students (5,357 to 4,649), while the loss from within the District was somewhat less than projected.
** Greatest external losses from the Higley and Queen Creek areas.
** No clear pattern to gains and losses in the western part of the District.
** Addition of nearly 10,000 households over the next 10 years.

Don’t take Westie’s word for it, watch for yourself:

Hey, Rick Brammer and Applied Economics: we’d be a lot more impressed with your work if you hadn’t neglected to change the metadata of your Powerpoint presentation from the “Balsz School District” title. Also, we noticed you covered up the area on the map of the construction going on within the Mesquite-Gilbert Junior High School boundaries. See slide #12 of the new demographic study. Cheap trick, huh? Then there’s the fact that you covered up the most important data of the entire presentation, the projections of school age population and enrollment. See slide #14 of the new demographic study.  Then your Powerpoint slide show didn’t function correctly … those projections just stayed hidden during your presentation, didn’t they? Sheeesh. And you’re supposed to be data nerds … we figure you probably kept the data hidden because it didn’t say what you had been paid to say. Bazinga!

Hey, board members who are going to vote on closing a neighborhood junior high school and give the campus to Gilbert Classical Academy: the numbers you have been given suck, but it’s worse that you don’t know why those numbers suck. For one thing, losses on the east side of the district were most likely influenced by the new schools opening in the area, not all of which were charter schools. You know, there are other school districts like Higley, Queen Creek and Chandler. Yes, Chandler School District goes way east to Sossaman Road, with shiny new schools on the east side. All of those areas are growing. But GPS is dwindling. BTW,  we noticed the presentation did NOT use the 100 day Average Daily Membership … you know, the numbers that would show just how many students GPS actually lost between semesters this year. Nope, Rick Brammer and Applied Economics used the 40 day ADM and we’re *sure* there was a statistically valid reason. <more snark>

What GPS doesn’t want to accept is that those other school districts are enticing a lot of GPS students, just as the many nearby charter schools are doing, and it’s not just on the east side of the district. Nope, the western area that was covered up on Slide #12 has some serious construction happening now, and more coming in the near future. Chandler School District knows it, and has been sending around some seriously attractive marketing communications to those residents. And gee, for an area GPS derides as *declining,* Legacy Traditional School sees a bright future there. This time, the charter school is going for the whole enchilada, K-12. And GPS sits holding its    (fill in the blank, more than one word if you want)   .

Some direct quotes from Rick Brammer, the high-paid demographic consultant from Applied Economics…

“I’ve seen districts try to do the same thing [as Legacy charters] and it HASN’T helped…”

“There’s no ‘always works’ kind of thing that I’m aware of.”

“I think it’s very interesting that some do, and some don’t [succeed]”.

“But you have to try.” However, he further stated that it’s hit or miss, and even schools with high satisfaction ratings will lose to charters.

The best example of “pocketed success” he gave was the Kyrene Spanish immersion school where 2/3 of the students were from out-of-district. It also happens to be located 2 miles from the town of Guadalupe.  But at least they knew their market and played to it. GPS is just grasping at straws, and doesn’t have a plan that would lead to success. GPS admins and board members have been too busy being hyper-focused on one single issue for the last almost six years: Gilbert Classical Academy. GPS is pushing students and families out of the district. On purpose.

If the GPS Governing Board votes to close a neighborhood junior high school, it won’t be based on data. It will be based on what Christina Kishimoto wants, so she can burnish her national reputation. Somehow, we don’t think Christina Kishimoto will have a new school named after her, like Chandler Superintendent Camille Casteel has.

******************
*Big Fat Asterisk: No, we did not make this up: lies, damned lies, and statistics.

Sign the petition: No School Should Close – Keep Gilbert Jr High School and Mesquite Jr High School Open

#SAVEGJHS

“School Design” is the new mantra of Gilbert Public Schools, and that’s what’s driving Superintendent Christina Kishimoto’s determination to close a neighborhood school so she can turn the campus over to Gilbert Classical Academy. When three new elementary school principals were hired at the March 2016 board meeting, they repeated the mantra “School Design” in their effusive thanks for their new jobs. “School Design” is what got Christina Kishimoto fired in Hartford, Connecticut, so of course, that must be exactly what she is doing in Gilbert, Arizona. 

Highly respected educator Diane Ravitch sums up what’s happening in Gilbert Public Schools: “Education is in crisis because of the calculated effort to turn it into a business with a bottom line. Schools are closed and opened as though they were chain stores, not community institutions.“  How did Diane Ravitch know that Christina Kishimoto was nominated by the Gilbert Chamber of Commerce as *Business Woman of the Year*? [rhetorical question] It’s not like Christina Kishimoto wasn’t fully and personally participating in that business process – look at what Kishimoto had to do to be named an *honoree* after being nominated by her peers (not that Christina Kishimoto thinks anyone is her equal, but we digress):

To be considered for these awards, men and women are nominated by their peers. Once nominated, they must submit a written questionnaire and participate in a personal interview. The questionnaire is reviewed and the nominees are interviewed by a panel of business professionals. This panel submits their recommendation for each award to the Chamber’s Board of Directors for final review and approval.

Yep, Christina Kishimoto is  proud of being a business woman first and last. She is not licensed in the State of Arizona as a school district superintendent because she has never, ever taught in a K-12 classroom. But she sure can tell you that the “educational leaders” she has installed are working on a “School Design” that she approved, most likely with a business point of view! Of course, a fiasco like Kishimoto’s Great Payday Melee would get most business leaders fired, but hey, it’s for the kids, right? Anything goes in GPS while Christina Kishimoto is superintendent, like thousand dollar lunches for board members and favored staff … at just about every meeting, it appears. After all, corporations can buy lunches for employees and give the CEO an unlimited expense account – why can’t GPS do the same? Oooops, there’s this concept called *public funds* that is at stake in GPS, and the rules are different for public entities. That must distress Christina Kishimoto to no end … not that she pays attention to things like *public policy* or cares that her position is endowed with *public trust.*

This is how members of the public see Christina Kishimoto’s latest “School Design” initiative: as a scam. Notice that the superintendent ignited this public storm and disappeared from view. Did you really believe she would ever look at any of the communications being sent by outraged members of the community? Or even just *concerned* members of the community? In a nutshell: “More deception and lies from the administration. And a board that refuses to do their job and act as a check and balance.”  More:

It would be nice to be able to talk about facts but the lack of transparency shown by the district makes it almost impossible not to speculate. If GPS wanted to put rumors to rest then they would have done their due diligence from the beginning. Let’s start here:

**They would have had a committee studying options that was not composed of just those that had something to gain.

**They would have publicized far and wide the very existence of that committee and the meeting times and dates so all of GPS got a say in the matter.

** They would have not tried to suspend their own policy regulation regarding notification of a school closure.

** They would have made public real numbers with real estimates and detail about what each option would cost and had those numbers available at the forums.

I could go on and on and this is just a small portion of what GPS could have done differently so that the public would not be left to speculation. This is a public school district. The public should know what is going on.

Apparently, this chaos in the school district, the biggest employer in the Town of Gilbert, is perfectly fine according to the present Mayor and Hopeful Future Mayor. Westie would like to know how many free meals John Lewis and Jenn Daniels have received from GPS, but we digress. Members of the community are not amused at this laissez-faire attitude from these two Town leaders:

I would think that our town’s elected officials would be bothered by the fact that its district feels the need to downsize. At a time when post-recession growth is so critical, that’s not a metric — I would think — that town officials would like bantered about. If I recall, they did get involved with school board issues a few years ago — even going so far as to come speak at a meeting and writing a letter in the newspaper. But, maybe they want to stay out of it now.
**********************

Mayor Lewis and Councilwoman Daniels did weigh in about the schools. Some felt like the Op Ed was chastising the board during a time when there was a fair amount of contention between the board members. Many votes then were 3-2 with Burk, Colvin and Smith on one side of an issue and Humpherys and Tram on the opposite side. Funny, we have the same situation now, except the board majority has completely shifted. There is still no consensus. I would think that Lewis and Daniels set a precedent with this Op Ed and if there were ever a time to speak up about the impact of what is going on within GPS on the Town of Gilbert as a whole, this would be it. Much of what they said is still very relevant today.

The Op-Ed mentioned above is titled *Community Voices: Quality education draws many people to Gilbert.* 

In Gilbert, we are fortunate to have three A-rated public school districts serving our vibrant community, with nineteen charter and three private schools that offer unparalleled education for our youngest residents.

… There are, and always will be, challenges in education. It can be difficult to see through our passion for children and our desire to give them the best chance at a successful future. As we look past the emotion, rhetoric and politics, we will find practical, viable solutions for our students, teachers and staff; solutions that will benefit this community now and well into our bright future.

Superintendent Christina Kishimoto is hell-bent on establishing her *national reputation* through reforms that no one wants in this formerly A-rated school district. That doesn’t matter much, because Christina Kishimoto has Her Three Votes on the Governing Board who will do whatever she wants.

In the present case, the community has again turned against the administration and is well on the way to turning against the elected officials who parrot what they’re told to say. Remember what happened last time?

The bottom two vote getters so far are Anderson, director of community partnerships at Rio Salado College and mother of five, and Sacha, an SRP engineer and father of two GPS children.

At the next board meeting, they’ll vote, most likely to close a neighborhood school, because that’s what Christina Kishimoto decided to do … probably before she took over the Gilbert Public Schools district.

#SAVEGJHS

Westie again yields the blog to residents of the Gilbert Junior High School community. The topic is traffic safety, or lack thereof, associated with giving the campus of Gilbert Junior High School to Gilbert Classical Academy, a 7-12 specialty school whose population is very pompous about their privileged place in the hierarchy of the Gilbert Public Schools Governing Board and administration. Westie would like to say that parents of GCA students seem to be arrogant, but we defer to the fact that no one can match the arrogance we’ve all experienced from GPS Superintendent Christina Kishimoto.  Click here for Traffic Concerns #1.

First, let’s watch a video that shows exactly what the traffic safety situation is now. A text narrative from the person driving the car appears below the Youtube video:

You cannot appreciate the problem until you actually see it.  I pulled out my phone and recorded on a whim; it was not planned and it showed every single thing I have a problem with regarding safety around here. There was a line of cars behind me trying to get a spot at the curb to pick up their kids. It is insane and the Town and district’s flippant attitude makes me think they did not do a field observation like they said they would. Traffic counts are one thing, but actually witnessing the problems first hand would be another.

Notice the kid who tries to cross as I am going through the intersection. He was not paying attention AT ALL to the crossing guard and decided he wanted to cross even though it wasn’t his turn. What this video failed to show was the car that almost hit me then swerved around me on my right side because I was stopped to let the kid cross in front of the cul de sac.

Over the years we had some tense moments at the 4 way stop sign as many drivers seem to forget or disregard the fact they are supposed to yield to pedestrians in a cross walk at Burk Street and Houston Avenue. In the race to get through the 4 way stop, many drivers don’t even notice pedestrians on the corners attempting to cross the street. The crossing guards that are at the 4 way stop sign at school drop off and pick up times could probably attest to at least one near miss a day. If someone needs to cross outside of the times when there are crossing guards or in the evening or morning when it is dark, they are literally taking their lives into their own hands.
**********************

I want to detail a few of the traffic and safety issues I encounter on an almost daily basis. My main concern is that if we already have these issues, what is it going to look like with the increased traffic that a larger school like GCA will bring.

If GCA moves into the Gilbert Junior High School campus it will no longer be a walking school. Its students will have to be bused, driven by parents, or the most concerning to me, drive themselves. Additionally, there will be increased bus and parent traffic because the neighborhood students that were displaced from GJHS will have to go to another school that is not within walking distance. At the same time, Houston Elementary will remain a walking school, so those young children who walk to and from Houston will have to pay the consequences for the havoc that it will wreak on the roadways in this neighborhood.

• Many drivers disregard the posted speed limits, especially on Houston Ave. Almost every single time I drive down Houston I am tailgated by someone who thinks I should be going faster. Yesterday, as I attempted to turn right into my cul de sac I was almost rear ended by a driver who was following too close. I had to come to a complete stop before turning because there were students crossing the small street at the entrance to the cul de sac. There are no crossing guards at these entrances so children must cross on their own and hope that drivers notice them and stop to let them cross.

• The bike lanes on Burk have clearly posted signs forbidding parking or stopping but, because Gilbert Junior High School has very little in the way of a parent drop off lane and that drop off lane gets congested with traffic, cars and buses alike, they stop and let their children out of the car in the bike lane. It creates a very unsafe situation for the students and the other cars on the road.

• When traffic backs up at the four way stop sign, drivers on Houston like to create their own right hand turn lane. The street is just wide enough so that they can squeeze in next to the cars that are already waiting at the stop sign. I have seen drivers fly into that space with their tires inches from the curb where a group of students are standing waiting to cross. I have seen two cars jockeying for position to turn right when really only one should be there. I have also almost been t-boned turning left into my cul de sac from Houston because a courteous driver gave me a break to turn in, but an unsafe driver decided to make a turn lane where there wasn’t one and I could not see them and they could not see me and we came mere inches from colliding.

• Many parents, to avoid having to deal with the four way stop and school zones will use the cul de sacs as their own pick up and drop off points. Because they are in a hurry they often pull in at speeds that are not reasonable, whip around the cul de sac and come to a screeching halt at the stop sign. Their kids jump out and they go on their way, often not even noticing or stopping for the walkers who are trying to cross the roads at the end of the cul de sacs.
*************************

I understand that the Town of Gilbert does not have a vote and that they do not control what the GPS Governing Board decides. The Town of Gilbert, however, has responsibility over the streets, roadways and safety of our neighborhoods. To my knowledge, GPS has not requested or performed on its own a traffic study that will look at the impact of their decision on the neighborhood residents and their safety.
***********************

I know the decision has not been made to close Gilbert Junior High School, but it is, in many people’s minds, the most viable option. Waiting until after the decision is made to even study or address these concerns would be irresponsible, as the safety issues a move like this would create should be factored into any decision. The negative impact on the safety of the children and residents of this area cannot be understated — the potential decision to repurpose Gilbert Junior High School as Gilbert Classical Academy is far more dangerous than town or district officials will admit.

Hey, Governing Board: the community does not support closing a school. Any school. Your own data shows growth, not decline. 

#SAVEGJHS

As the Governing Board of Gilbert Public Schools prepares to vote on whether to close a neighborhood junior high school and give the campus to Gilbert Classical Academy, we know that there is a serious problem with communications from GPS, where Superintendent Christina Kishimoto and members of the GPS Governing Board are talking out of both sides of their mouths. They just won’t be honest with the community, as proven by the double talk about how any student can be accepted into GCA. We all know that’s not true: GCA Principal Dan Hood acknowledged records are scrutinized before students are accepted. Then there’s the inconvenient fact that GCA kicks out any kid who fails a class. 

The truth about the decision to give GCA a new campus was revealed by accident a year ago.  That was when board member Charlie Santa Cruz and Chief of Staff Alexander Nardone patted each other on the back about the deal made behind closed doors to close Gilbert Junior High School. They chortled that the displaced students could go to GCA as their neighborhood school; if families did not choose GCA, well it was their CHOICE.

In a moment of candor, not knowing that their microphones were on or that there was a video recording of their comments, Nardone and Santa Cruz revealed the hoax that was in the works about closing Gilbert Junior High School:

Nardone: It also I think offers the ability to incorporate those neighborhood kids into GCA so you could grow GCA……the neighborhood kids who wanted to stay and participate in GCA would have that option of staying in their neighborhood.
Santa Cruz: And those who chose another school it was because they chose it.

 This was in total contrast to their words spoken in the official board work study session moments before. This is pretty much the same thing that happened with Christina Kishimoto’s reforms that ruined neighborhood schools in Hartford, CT. Destroy the community school and *redesign* it as an academy for 1% of district students who have powerful ties to former district officials and the current mayor of Gilbert.

Who do they think they’re fooling? Now Superintendent Christina Kishimoto and Her Three Votes are pretending to evaluate whether to close Gilbert Junior High School or Mesquite Junior High School. That happened because GCA weighed in and said Gilbert Junior High School was not what they wanted. GCA wants more … they want everything on their wish list. Because they deserve it, they say.

The photo below shows members of the Gilbert Junior High School community who called out the double-speak and untruths being bandied about as the board pretended to listen in a public hearing. Let’s revisit what members of the community are saying.

This is not a tough decision. It’s a bad one. Fix the boundaries. Find out why we are losing kids. Do not close a school.
*********************

This entire issue has turned into a circus. My children attended GPS schools and now my grandchildren. I live in the area of Gilbert Junior High School and my neighborhood will be affected by this closure. Gone are the days when my children attended GPS schools and the board/superintendent had integrity. Closing a school has ALWAYS been THE option. Why else wouldn’t the board start budgeting for a permanent location a long time ago when GCA was in the “trial” phase? Because the plan was most likely to always “repurpose” an existing school. The area of Gilbert Junior High School  is saturated with children. “But parents are choosing other schools out of boundary with the open enrollment policy,” they cry in mock alarm. Well, yes. Perhaps they fear their child’s junior high school education will be interrupted because the district can’t get their crap together, so they avoid GPS out the gate. And it doesn’t take long to look at Gilbert Junior High School  and see how the district has neglected it. It’s probably the poorest kept school in the district at the junior high level, which makes one wonder how deep the neglect runs beyond what the eye can see. GPS has no business closing a school. Any school.
*********************

I’m an alum of both Gilbert Junior High School and Gilbert High School. The Town of Gilbert continues to grow and needs to keep the schools open to best serve the community. Gilbert was just listed as a best place to live for saving money. The town is included in many lists/ranking showcasing the benefits of living in Gilbert. Closing a school is counterproductive. How can the town pride itself on being a great place to live if they don’t support a solid school system for all students?
*********************

I do not agree with the closure of any school. I still cannot believe that this is still even being considered. When you look at all the facts and the issues this would create, it does not make any sense to close any schools. GPS has gone through some rough times the past few years and closing one of these schools is only going to make that worse!!!! I feel that GCA should find their own location and do things the right way. Find another location for GCA that will not displace other children so EVERYONE can be happy!!!!
*********************

I care about the kids and teachers not in GCA. I don’t want classes at GCA to be 10 kids to 1 teacher, while public schools become 60 kids to 1 teacher.
*********************

GCA students are getting a free ride at our expense. Students at GCA also have a higher number of credits to take in order to graduate: 28 vs. 25. They do not pay for this, the district pays for it.  Plus, 22% of GCA’s population is from outside of district, and our district pays the extra expenses for those students. Anyone in other GPS schools who has had a music/band student the last couple of years who takes an A hour class knows that the $160 class fee was tough to stomach, particularly during the first week of school.
*********************

When you take away classes offered that promote a “comprehensive” high school, you lose students to schools that offer them. The teachers were there, they were told that they couldn’t make the classes! Those teachers left! Just like many of the teachers I have spoken to are planning to do. It’s so sad … a once amazing district, sinking into the abyss!
*********************

GPS is not treating students equitably, they’re lavishing all kinds of extravagances on GCA and starving the other schools. AP classes and other classes throughout the district are not offered because schools other than GCA do not have staff certified to teach them. AP classes aren’t being offered at Mesquite High School. The exact list is pending, but I know for a fact the ones my student can’t get into. This is not a GCA issue, not a Mesquite High School issue – it’s a district and funding issue. The problem becomes when these classes are offered at GCA, who wants to district to spend money on moving GCA to a new home, when equivalent classes can’t be offered at other schools because of funding. I don’t see how anyone could think that is fair or equitable.
*********************

Ultimately, it is the responsibility of the Board and Administration to recommend what is best for the ENTIRE district regardless of what a very small and limited committee recommends.
*********************

There has been so much deceit and deceptive practices on the part of the GPS administration, nothing would surprise us at this point. This whole process has been dirty, dating back to 4 years ago when the administration promised to find GCA a new home. It’s a very sad situation and we are the folks in the middle of it all as it directly affects our kids, our teachers and our families. My heart goes out to the next neighborhood GPS decides to go after. Once the smoke clears on this issue, it won’t surprise me one bit when they go after the next target without repercussions. This whole situation is wrong and something needs to be done about it.
*********************

No school should close.

#SAVEGJHS 

*************
* Big Fat Asterisk: Nope, Westie didn’t make this up. Will Rogers did. 

If you thought it was odd that Gilbert Public Schools superintendent Christina Kishimoto put a local architect as a *community member* on the Gilbert Classical Academy Takeover Committee, you’re in good company. We’ve scratched our heads about what nefarious plan was underway since we saw the name of Paul Holland on that GCA committee. Paul Holland is an architect with HDA Architects:

Paul’s specialty is the development and implementation of “prototype” educational facilities. These prototypes utilize a standard floor plan and incorporate customized features for each particular district’s needs.  Paul has completed numerous prototype schools for districts such as Gilbert Public Schools…

Now we learn that there’s an architectural rendering of a planned auditorium for the campus of Gilbert Junior High School. Maybe all that talk about how GCA lusted for Mesquite Junior High School was a feint to throw off the public. Otherwise, Paul Holland and his company, HDA Architects, would not get a contract for a new auditorium at Gilbert Junior High School, because Mesquite Junior High School already has an auditorium. After all, in the past twenty years, HDA Architects has $53,186,508 of experience in Middle and Junior High School Additions and Renovations, out of $1.5 billion worth of educational construction completed and/or in the design or construction phases. More: 85% of the company’s work is in the educational sector. Sleazy, isn’t it? Actually, it’s much worse than that. But we digress.

The light bulb comes on: Was Paul Holland on the GCA committee just as a member of the community? Answer: This is GPS. Do you doubt for a minute that this was another setup? But if we give Paul Holland the benefit of the doubt, perhaps he was there to get a head start on the design/build contract that Christina Kishimoto always intended to offer to HDA Architects. Paul Holland was just as *genuine* as the superintendent’s *alleged* boyfriend was; we have learned that Charles Stevin Smith, former Executive Director of Technology, was the mastermind for the whole kit and kaboodle. Sleazy Steve Smith even pretended to be *just a GCA parent* when he told the Governing Board to get on with the voting.

Citizens asked for public records indicating what GPS plans to do to accommodate the ever-increasing *needs* that GCA loudmouths are screaming they must have for their snowflakes. Thus far, the reaction from GPS has been something along the lines of “there are no auditorium plans” and “repurposing GJHS would not build a new auditorium.” Sure… that’s exactly why Christina Kishimoto created a *Superintendent’s Committee* to do all the planning for GCA. That keeps everything *off the books* until GPS is ready to start building. We predict that date to be on or about May 1, 2016, after the GPS Governing Board votes on April 26, 2016.  We’re sure there will be a slight delay *to be kind.*

Apparently, Christina Kishimoto never expected ANY information to come to light about this nefarious closing of a neighborhood school for the benefit of GCA. Nope, Christina Kishimoto expected it to be a done deal at the February 23, 2016 board meeting. By then, her plans were so completely off track, students had already registered for next year at the junior high schools being considered for closing, and there was an Arizona statute looming over the shambles of Christina Kishimoto’s great plans for GCA. She had successfully conned Her Three Votes into doing everything else she wanted, so why would Christina Kishimoto doubt for a minute that the GPS Governing Board would just roll over and do her bidding once again? Thank goodness Charlie Santa Cruz saw the light and refused to play the *Suspend the Regulation* game.

Nonetheless, real actual people have seen the plans. The drawing below shows where the auditorium will be located, according to those plans. All that blather about GCA needing more athletic fields was just a ruse, since the new auditorium will take up the space now occupied by one of those fields:

Never mind that the GCA Permanent Facilities Report dated December 1, 2015 shows a lot of blueprints depicting changes that will be made to Gilbert Junior High School. Never mind that GPS demolished the community swimming pool on the Gilbert Junior High School campus last year, GCA will need more parking spaces. Never mind that GPS says there are no plans to build an auditorium for GCA: “No, no, there’s nothing to see here, move along.” From community members:

So when I asked the board specifically not about “capacity” numbers but actual numbers of empty classrooms the information always was there in the GCA report. Even so, GPS said they did not know. Since when is it okay to lie to the public?
*****************

Plans show that GCA will have 2 teacher work rooms, teacher lounge, 4 computer classrooms, exercise room, 2 health rooms, choir room, orchestra room, band room, career center room, large elective room, gym, stage and all fields needed. It must be okay for the rest of the GPS kids to be in classrooms with 35+ other kids and/or in portables on the fields.
*****************

I call the GCA folks greedy! What person in their right mind says…”I urge the board to look past the number of families impacted” ? GCA wants what they want and they want it NOW!
******************

I have been at this since 2012, along with a lot of the people in my neighborhood. The only people that are probably more tired of all of this than I am are the staff at Gilbert Junior High School. Imagine what going to work every day must be like for them.

Secrecy. Refusing to listen to the community. Balls to the Wall and Damn the Torpedos, Full Speed Ahead to give GCA a new home by closing a neighborhood junior high school in an area projected for growth by the district’s own consultants. It’s part of the dangers of inflexibility and self-importance. *I’m a Lighthouse* illustrates Christina Kishimoto’s arrogance:

This is the transcript of a radio conversation of a US naval ship with Canadian authorities off the coast of Newfoundland in October, 1995. Radio conversation released by the Chief of Naval Operations 10-10-95.*

Americans: Please divert your course 15 degrees to the North to avoid a Collision.
Canadians: Recommend you divert YOUR course 15 degrees to the South to avoid a collision.
Americans: This is the Captain of a US Navy ship. I say again, divert YOUR course.
Canadians: No. I say again, you divert YOUR course.
Americans: This is the aircraft carrier USS Lincoln, the second largest ship in the United States’ Atlantic fleet. We are accompanied by three destroyers, three cruisers and numerous support vessels. I demand that YOU change your course 15 degrees north, that’s one five degrees north, or countermeasures will be undertaken to ensure the safety of this ship.
Canadians: I’m a lighthouse. Your call.

#SAVEGJHS

*******************
*Big Fat Asterisk: In the spirit of being *Authentic and Informative,* we have to confess that the transcript is a joke. A famous joke. The *faux* transcript supposedly was released by the Navy Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Mike Boorda. We served with Admiral Boorda. He could always take a joke, or make one. The photo at the top of this post is real: the Costa Concordia ran aground off the coast of Italy in January 2012.

When Westie wondered if Paul Holland’s presence on the GCA committee was a set-up giving cover for the GPS governing board to close a neighborhood school for the benefit of the unique and exclusive snowflakes that attend Gilbert Classical Academy, we never expected what some very tenacious members of the community turned up against all odds: an email exchange between Paul Holland, HDA Architects, and Alexander Nardone, Gilbert Public Schools Chief of Staff, an exchange that originated with  Mike Pilkington, a Preconstruction Assistant Project Manager at Core Construction, and copied to Todd Steffen, the Director of Preconstruction Services at Core Construction. See how the dots connect? Right back to GPS Superintendent Christina Kishimoto, who is grabbing as much power as she can to shut out the public and the governing board as she dismantles what once was an A-rated school district.

Just so you know: the new auditorium at Gilbert Junior High School will cost $8.2Million to $8.4Million. The email is shown below. There’s not much of anything more to say about how Christina Kishimoto and her equally corrupt minions have been colluding with contractors who will make millions of dollars while she is superintendent of Gilbert Public Schools. After all, voters gave Kishimoto $18.6 Million annually for 5 years as an override, plus a $98 Million bond, and she’s in a hurry to spend it all before she’s out the door!

Please take three minutes to view the Youtube video below the email. Will the Gilbert Public Schools Governing Board actually govern? We’ll know on April 26, 2016.

#SAVEGJHS 

The Governing Board of Gilbert Public Schools has a board meeting tonight, where they will vote on giving into the raucous demands of the unique and exclusive Snowflakes at Gilbert Classical Academy: “We deserve it!” Isn’t it wonderful when Karma steps in and kicks those Snowflakes in the asterisk? The ratings from US News and World Report are out, and the Snowflake School  GCA  experienced a precipitous fall in the *national* ratings. They’re #71. We’re sure they’re bragging now. <snark>

Imagine this…. You drop 61 places in the national rankings, you lose 50% of your enrollment every year and then you ask for a blank check to move into someone else’s school. Nice, GCA. Real Nice. We can’t post anything more on point than the video below, which shows the demands GCA has made. Will the GPS Governing Board continue to give GCA students more resources than any other students in the district?

Imagine more…. $200,000. That is the amount GPS will be spending per kid currently attending GCA if they spend the $8 million on them from the bond. $200,000 per kid. Some kids are more worthy than others? We’ll know after the GPS Governing Board vote tonight.

GPS lost the media this go-round — it’s just a taste of what the future will hold as a result of this catastrophe:

The three options on the table — to close either Gilbert or Mesquite junior highs and repurpose the building for GCA; or to cram GCA into Mesquite, along with a second academy for Mesquite students — aren’t good options. Pretty much everyone agrees on that.

So, how do we solve the problem? By choosing not to solve it. Not on Tuesday, at least.

Citizens are still speaking out. Will the GPS Governing Board listen to them?

Before the vote occurs on April 26th, I ask you to think of one, simple question: will the vote I make benefit the ENTIRE district of 36,000 students, or will only a small handful realize any significant gain?

I am not speaking of the cost. We all know that the GCA move will encompass the greater part of the $8,000,000 that’s been set aside. I am speaking of the students having a direct betterment of their educational goals. Will the majority of the 36,000 realize this move as an asset to them?

If you cannot speak to the larger gain for the district, then you must support a motion to table the GCA move, and truly listen to the community’s ideas. Because unless the movement of GCA is a boon to the district as a whole, it is irresponsible of the board and administration to continue to push the Gilbert Unified School District community to accept it.
**************************

The community has come together and is unified in the fact that the data, your data, does not support this closure. It is absolutely wrong to close a junior high in our district at this time. It is morally wrong, it is ethically wrong, and it is substantively wrong. You should absolutely not push this through to meet some unvetted priority list of an immensely unpopular superintendent. The timelines are arbitrary and the vote to close does not have to happen.

The community has spoken, even shouted at you to listen to them. There are hundreds of varied career specialties within the community who have taken the time to comb through and analyze the data and have seen that an eviction notice to one of two west Gilbert junior highs is completely unwarranted. You are elected officials who represent the voters who put you in office. How long will you ignore them? How long will you continue to press forward on a path that the community doesn’t want?

This isn’t about a community not accepting change — you mustn’t be so arrogant. There are more sources of ideas for good direction for the school district than the superintendent and her loaded committees. Committees who were made entirely of individuals who stood to benefit in one way or another from this outlandish plan. This is about a community in an uproar against an educational force that is pushing the wrong thing.

Surely you remember the pushback from an attempted school closure last time? Certainly EJ Anderson and Blake Sacha remember. You have to know you have angered now two communities and hundreds of others who are affected and sympathize with the cause to save a school. Our community needs to come back together.

You threatened a school closure if you didn’t get a bond and override passed and yet here you are, trying to close a school with all that money in your coffers. Go back to the drawing board. There are other unexplored options for GCA that do not involve imperialistic tactics. You have a chance to do this right. I’m sure you don’t want this debacle to be what you’re remembered for.

There is only one way this community outrage goes away and that’s to cast your vote so that no school closes.
**************************

Dear Mrs. Humpherys,

I am writing to ask you two pointed questions regarding the upcoming vote to close a Junior High School at the next Board meeting.

I want to know why, as a Governing Board Member, you have not spoken out publicly – not even once – in the last two months to correct the erroneous and deceptive information provided to the public by the Superintendent?

I have seen no updated material from the District, received no emails with corrected information, nor heard comments during official Board meetings that offered up corrected, factual information. As a member of the Surplus Space committee you are already aware of the error of using the SFB capacity numbers that were used to calculate and communicate to the public the current utilization of both Gilbert Junior High School and Mesquite Junior High School. This was done deliberately and intentionally to deceive the public into thinking that the schools are less utilized than they actually are. Also, at the first Community Forum in February, the Superintendent quoted new utilization numbers that were a complete and total fabrication – both schools being less than 50% utilized, when the actual District numbers are 69% and 70%, even based on mid-year attendance.

This deception and lie were meant to mislead the public, and as a Governing Board member, I would have expected you to correct this misinformation. You were made aware of it several months ago. Your lack of response can only mean that you are on board with the lie. Do you not want the public to know the truth? A decision that requires deception to persuade the public is a bad decision, period. A Governing Board member who refuses to correct the missteps of a Superintendent who has clearly lied to the public is unworthy of the public trust. The superintendent works for YOU. The buck stops with the Governing Board. Your silence speaks volumes about your ethics, and your commitment to transparency and truth in GPS.

Why did you vote in February to suspend the Board Regulation JC-R that clearly had been violated? 

You used the justification that “…life isn’t perfect, I’m ready to move forward…” and best of all, “…work to make really good decisions for kids, that will give them good education, THAT WILL GIVE THE COMMUNITY AN OPPORTUNITY TO SPEAK, AND BELIEVE ME, I’M LISTENING…” to suspend a policy that would actually give the community…well, you know…an ACTUAL OPPORTUNITY TO SPEAK.

Your justification that the end justifies the means, and that hard work and a difficult decision negate the Board’s obligation to follow its own policies and regulations is again another breach of public trust. If you vote (and you did) to change the rules in the middle of the game to make a decision, then the decision isn’t capable of standing on its own.

How do you reconcile these two actions with the guiding principle of dealing honestly with your fellow men in the Gilbert Unified School District? It’s OK for someone else to tell a lie if you (as a leader) just stay quiet? And the end justifies the means? Is that what GPS under this Board has come to?

Additionally, after hearing the Superintendent’s off-the-cuff estimate of “several hundreds of thousands of dollars” to send out notifications, and Mr. Nardone’s outlandish claim on only being able to handle a small amount of postcards at a time, I can only say, “Seriously?” Several Board members and everyone at the meeting knew that answer was another whopper of a lie. It literally only took seconds of thought to debunk that claim. There are only ~190,000 households in GPS, and this decision only affects half of them at best, call it 100,000 at the very uppermost, likely far, far less. For you to fall in line with the cost estimate of over two dollars per notification is preposterous. I understand that you are obsessed with cost control, and that is good, but there are good expenses and bad expenses. Public notification is an example of a good expense. Catered lunches for District executives and staff that are continually approved by you is an example of a bad expense.

The data do not support closing any Junior High School. That was made evident by the updated demographics study. Instead of overcrowding less than 500 students, you will be overcrowding a thousand or more, while leaving the new GCA campus significantly under capacity. How on earth is that a “good decision?” Even the most pessimistic Trend Capture projections predict growth at Gilbert Junior High School and Mesquite Junior High School in the next five years. And the consultant said the truth was likely in between the Stable and Trend capture rates (@59:25 on 4/12/16 WS), likely adding several hundred students to a campus that will be instantly overcrowded by this decision.

The fact that the Superintendent has to lie and deceive the public in an attempt to sway public opinion further demonstrates that this is a bad decision. Will you be on board with it?

There ARE other options for GCA. How this Board got this far down this specific path is indeed bizarre. There isn’t, and never was, space at a Junior High School for GCA. It was a promise that Mr. Allison should never have made. The data don’t support it.
******************************

It’s a matter of public record: Why students leave GCA has nothing to do with their current campus. These new demands are made because GCA knows that Superintendent Christina Kishimoto thinks GCA will be a feather in her cap when she finally gets that national reputation she obsesses over. Maybe now that GCA is not quite as highly ranked, this will fall by the wayside.

Gasp – could it be that GCA is now a FAILING school??? Or is it just falling? It’s certainly not what the citizens of Gilbert, Arizona want.

#SAVEGJHS

Bringing you up to date on the newest antics of the Gilbert Public Schools Superintendent and her captive Governing Board: Christina Kishimoto obviously had it all worked out to move Gilbert Classical Academy to Mesquite Junior High School to form a School Within a School. The audience was stunned at the swift saber strike that destroyed a neighborhood junior high school for the benefit of ungrateful students at GCA who demanded the entire school be dedicated exclusively to them.

The Governing Board was eerily quiet. President Lily Tram appeared by phone; since she is running again for a seat on the board, there probably was no way she was going to preside over this particular atrocity. There was a truly disgusting maneuver by Jill Humpherys to prevent audience members from speaking about GPS Special Education retribution against defenseless students. We’ll go into great detail on that issue in the future, which included despicable antics on the dais, including Christina Kishimoto’s call for Security when someone yielded their public comment time to persons who turned out to be Ryken’s parents.  Unbelievable.

The vote was 4-1. Discussion was simply regurgitation of some talking points and disputed *facts* related to what GPS Superintendent Christina Kishimoto had already decided to do. You can watch the Livestream video to see the obviously choreographed dance, with board member strings pulled by Christina Kishimoto, who didn’t even attempt to disguise her *coaching* that was needed to get Jill Humpherys through the meeting. Be sure to read some of the almost 800 viewer comments under the video, which has already been viewed close to 2,000 times. The kids from GCA commenting during that board meeting have shown their true faces to the world. A few adults tried to tamp down some of the more egregious comments by crass GCA students; for their efforts, they got called out by other adults and more boorish GCA kids. Sheeeesh.

Gilbert Public Schools decided not to close a school, but what the people who tried to save Mesquite Junior High School are learning is that their neighborhood school has been destroyed anyway. Birdies chirped that Jill Humpherys joined Mesquite Junior High principal Dan Johnson in explaining to parents and staff just what will happen. Mesquite Junior High will become an academy, whatever that means – we all know this is what Christina Kishimoto calls *reform.*  Kishimoto’s letter to the community outlining this *reform* is here (click this link to view).

Be very worried, Mesquite Junior High: GCA kids say, “Screw this. We’ll take over the whole school.” They mean it, and the table has already been set by Christina Kishimoto and her captive board. News flash: you GCA malcontents were never worthy of all the money GPS has poured into indulging your expensive proclivities and you have shown you are not worthy of the millions of dollars Christina Kishimoto is going to lavish on your new campus.

These are some of the scant details that have been revealed thus far:

** Mesquite Junior High School ACADEMY attendance will be capped at ~300-400 students.
** Mesquite Junior High School ACADEMY will specialize in sports medicine.
** Mesquite Junior High School ACADEMY students will be required to wear uniforms. [Bet they’re purple: Spartangs. Bow down before GCA.]
** If a student chooses NOT to attend Mesquite Junior High School ACADEMY, maybe they can be accepted at a regular GPS junior high school; no details are yet available.
** Gilbert Junior High School also will become an ACADEMY; no details are yet available.
** Transportation issues have not been addressed.
** Attendance boundaries for Mesquite Junior High School ACADEMY and the rest of GPS have not been addressed.

Be very worried, Mesquite Junior High teachers and support staff: there never was a promise that your jobs, even if transferred elsewhere in the district, would be safe. Given that there’s a big election on May 17, 2016 about Proposition 123, funding for schools, your jobs were never secure. There’s also the matter of *current year funding* which the educartel says will reduce state money to districts like GPS. As always, GPS employees are the last priority in any GPS budget, despite the lip service of the unscrupulous jerks who set up and pulled off this massive deception on the GPS community.

GPS still has no friggin’ clue why students and families do not choose GPS. They’re having another highly paid consultant do a survey, but apparently, those consultants will call only people whose phone numbers are supplied by GPS, according to the GPS website. Sure, they’ll get reliable data with this approach <sarcasm>.  If GPS doesn’t like the data, they’ll just ignore it or lie about it, like they did with the demographic data.

WestGroup Research of Phoenix has been commissioned by GPS to conduct a telephone survey with current parents of children attending District schools, parents who have recently withdrawn their children from a GPS school, and parents who live in the District but send their children to non-GPS schools.  The purpose of the study is to measure attitudes toward the District and its schools, as well as factors that influence school choice.

Finally, Mesquite Junior High School community, employees and students, did you know that your principal Dan Johnson was in on this from the beginning? He agreed to every bit of this deal that destroys your neighborhood school. He was one of Christina Kishimioto’s first hires back in 2014, and he always will do his master’s bidding. Otherwise, he’ll end up like (_fill in the blank, it’s no secret_) who apparently did not agree to betray his own school. BTW, GCA principal Dan Hood was hired in that same group; his letters to  GCA parents show that he misled them about what he had already agreed to for GCA.

Gilbert Classical Academy students, you should be ashamed. Those comments on the Livestream video absolutely, without a doubt, are proof that your attitude of entitlement is repulsive. Now you have almost everything you wanted, and you’re still unhappy. GCA students who were taught to be unique and exclusive snowflakes have proven that the negative community perceptions about you were right on target and well deserved.

As the unintended wildfires relating to the decision to give Gilbert Classical Academy a new location at the expense of a neighborhood junior high school were being tamped down, the good people of Gilbert, Arizona were told that there will be two new *academies* in the school district. Mesquite Junior High School will become an academy sharing a facility (with multi-million dollar improvements!) with Gilbert Classical Academy, and Gilbert Junior High School also will become an academy of some sort. So sayeth Superintendent Christina Kishimoto, who apparently didn’t completely communicate all of her plans to the GPS Governing Board beforehand. Once again, GPS is reliving the old Cool Hand Luke aphorism, “What we’ve got here is failure to communicate.” Once again, failure to communicate is creating unintended consequences and controversies.

We’ve already shared Christina Kishimoto’s letter – the letter that came out of nowhere stating that Gilbert Junior High School also will become an *academy.* Good people who fought so hard for their schools, Mesquite Junior High School and Gilbert Junior High School, are striving mightily to put lipstick on that pig, but the fact remains: Christina Kishimoto makes plans she doesn’t bother to reveal to her bosses, the elected members of the GPS Governing Board. The community is left wondering who is in charge of Gilbert Public Schools when things like this happen.

For some unfathomable reason, board clerk Jill Humpherys has become the information maven of this latest GPS fiasco. She went to Mesquite Junior High School to lay down the law about the board’s decision to make Mesquite Junior High an academy, with uniforms, capped enrollment and a sports medicine focus.  There was such an uproar from the community that Dan Johnson, the principal of Mesquite Junior High School, sent out a letter to MJHS parents walking back the main contentions. “Never mind,” he says. There won’t be uniforms unless WE want them: “That is not a planned requirement for MJHS…” He went on to say sweet nothings such as the school design won’t be sports medicine; we’ll decide together. No enrollment cap. Collaborate. Yeah, sure. The good people who worked so hard to save their school (and by extension, their neighborhood high school, Mesquite High School, for which MJHS is the only *feeder* school), are not amused. Read on, Dan Johnson: your one-sided *collaboration* on behalf of MJHS already is being dismantled by your BFF, Dan Hood at GCA. (Click here for a larger version of the letter below.)

Remember what Westie told you, Mesquite Junior High School parents: GCA wants the whole enchilada. Apparently word came down from on high (GPS Chief of Staff Alexander Nardone, most likely) telling GCA to cool it. We’re sure Nardone’s words were accompanied by a wink, wink, nod, nod.  “Just get us through until summer,” he must have pleaded. “That’s when the board will do all the dirty deeds we have requested … while no one is watching.”

Nardone’s pleas would have fallen on deaf ears, because these GCA parents, administrators, teachers and students suffer from Special Snowflake Syndrome, and they don’t want to play ball unless they can change the rules in the middle of the game. If that brings to mind Christina Kishimoto’s request that the board suspend a regulation because she already violated the reg, the policy and the law, well … GPS history repeats itself at every opportunity for failure.

Special Snowflake Syndrome is a malady wherein the afflicted will demand special treatment, conduct themselves with a ludicrous, unfounded sense of entitlement, and generally make the lives of everyone around them that much more miserable. This condition, if left untreated, can radically alter the carrier’s demeanor, to include any of the following: a complete devolution to child-like behavior, temper tantrums, and/or fits of narcissistic rage.

GCA parents, administrators, teachers and students will not cool their jets or suddenly become reasonable. It’s not in their DNA. Exhibit number one: GCA principal Dan Hood’s follow-on letter to GCA parents about their victory over Mesquite Junior High. Principal Dan’s communication emphasizes, “We are going to do our very best to make sure we are the same school but with a new address.” Yeppers, they’re going to “preserve The GCA Way.”

To hell with all that touchy-feely collaboration!  Dan Hood and his GCA Snowflake Narcissists^BS  already “discussed uniforms for both academies.” Dan Hood told GCA parents the two schools going to *share* certain appealing activities as long as they can *take advantage of them.* Dan Hood also is telling Mesquite Junior High School that he has decreed they will wear uniforms … so his GCA snowflakes feel better about wearing their silly khakis. [It’s a harder sell every year, isn’t it, Dan Hood? Those ridiculous *uniforms* from the 1990s on today’s nerdy kids. Sheeeesh.]

The reason *academy* is a four-letter word in GPS is because, as Jill Humpherys explained, “The word academy just means a school with less than 1,000 students that has some innovative programming.” If you believe that, Westie has a bridge to sell you.  To understand what is about to happen to Gilbert Public schools, all you have to do is review Christina Kishimoto’s history of *school design.* As Yogi Berra said, “It’s deja vu all over again.”

Watch Christina Kishimoto discuss the four schools she *redesigned* in Hartford.  “First, all of the adults in the building leave.” Christina Kishimoto thinks it’s just *uncomfortable.* Notice that she redesigned a school into “Latino Studies Academy.”  It’s worth spending five minutes of your life to see the truth issue forth from Christina Kishimoto’s mouth. Be very afraid, GPS communities. Especially later in the summer when Christina Kishimoto and Her Three Votes think no one will be watching them as they finish dismantling neighborhood schools by *redesigning* them.

Think about what Christina Kishimoto has already done, for example, giving Gilbert Junior High School a new principal before she entered into any communication with the GJHS community. The “To hell with all that touchy-feely collaboration!” attitude starts at the top.  The reality is all buzzwords and made-up metrics: “Ten per cent improvement” means that what got *measured* improved. How it was *measured* is irrelevant. You must accept this as true because Christina Kishimioto said so.

Jill Humpherys thinks it’s all just great. She self-confessed she “doesn’t do numbers very well.” Who needs numbers when you can just make something up as you pull it out of your nether regions? All you folks who are getting recruited by or are applying to GPS for jobs, pay attention! There’s a reason the *mass exodus* of employees continues.

How did Governing Board Clerk Jill Humpherys become the de facto spokesperson for Gilbert Public Schools? The community long wondered when GPS would actually start communicating with the public in a meaningful way, but the answer has been: “Irene Mahoney-Baloney Paige says sit down and shut up!” Even the most die-hard community enablers of GPS incompetency had a hard time accepting at face value the news that she won a communications award; we helpfully archived the discussion for your perusal. In this case, *perusal* means you must get up off the floor and stop laughing long enough to actually look at the photos of the awards and read the comments … obviously, GPS did not expect educated and experienced members of the community to point out just HOW those awards were won and who won (or didn’t really win) them.

Hint: pay to play.  Former GPS Finance administrators and Professional Development Departments had this scheme perfected a long time ago. Ditto for GPS lawyers, apparently. Sheeeeeeeesh.

Thus, Silly Jilly stepped in to fill a GPS communications void. That void has existed for about two years, but who’s counting? As you can well imagine, when someone named Silly Jilly steps into anything, the results will not be what she expected. But, man oh man, what blog fodder she creates! We predict a fun-filled summer for all you Westie fans out there.

Let’s peruse Silly Jilly’s silly words about Proposition 123, which is going to Arizona voters on May 17, 2016. There’s a lot of pro and con information out in the blogosphere and in the news, so we’ll just zero in on Silly Jilly’s explanation of why you should vote Yes for Proposition 123: trust the Governing Board to do what’s right.

How the money is spent is left to local control–that means your locally elected school board. That is a plus! Who better to make that decision than locally -elected leaders who know the needs of the district, who can listen to input from the community, and who can be held accountable by voters for their decisions?

Okay, pick yourself up off the floor again and wipe that grin off your face. Silly Jilly was being *serious* in response to questions about why GPS has been silent about how the district will use funds from Proposition 123, if it passes. Some of the questions Silly Jilly wanted to answer include:

** Other districts are putting the bulk of Prop 123 potential funds into salaries/additional teacher hires. Our board’s been mum.
** If GPS is getting $8 million from Prop 123, why are employees only getting $500?
** How many employees are there in the district? Even if it’s 4,000 that’s only $2 million at $500 per employee, and that’s only if student attendance stabilizes.

Here’s another example of your tax money being frittered away on Silly Jilly’s watch: GPS paid Heinfeld and Meech, the BFF district auditors, $242.76 for “reproduction of CAFR.” In other words, GPS paid more money for making copies of a report that GPS had already paid Heinfeld and Meech a sweet five-figure fee to write; apparently, each member of the governing board, plus some very important members of the GPS administration (we presume) needed a personal paper copy of this basically indecipherable financial report to toss into the *circular file.* In addition, GPS paid Heinfeld and Meech a bunch of money for application fees, for what appear to be MORE awards, which GPS seems to receive each year. AASBO Application Fee, $1,285.00. GFOA Application Fee, $725.00.

The GFOA website is all agog over their next conference, which is where public entities like Gilbert Public Schools pay astronomical amounts for what is basically an all-expense paid boondoggle for the same public employees year after year at swanky hotels in various resort locations: 

Don’t delay – register today for GFOA’s 110th Annual Conference! Join thousands of your peers in Toronto for the largest gathering of public finance professionals in North America. The GFOA conference provides a great opportunity to network, attend sessions, visit with exhibitors, and enjoy Toronto.

After a busy couple of days, relax and have fun in downtown Toronto! Enjoy an evening filled with food and entertainment at the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts before heading back to your home town. An event headlined by Dennis DeYoung and the music of Styx.*

The AASBO website is dedicated to their upcoming conference, as well, featuring their golf tournament … which we’re sure helps educate students. <snark>  AASBO’s theme of “Release Your Inner Super Hero” sounds like something Silly Jilly thought up. Oh wait, she did, at one point, or she was parroting someone else, but … never mind. AASBO very helpfully wrote down the criteria for awarding the awards the organization invited folks to apply for, including such professional attributes as attend a conference; write an article for our special-interest magazine, take a class. Yeppers, those awards are awesome, aren’t they, Irene?

The answer MIGHT be forthcoming at the GPS work-study session on Tuesday, May 10, 2016. Yes, we know it’s difficult for citizens, parents and even teachers to attend this meeting due to rampant scheduling conflicts with other GPS activities, which probably is why the district wrote the agenda to include discussion of Proposition 123 fund spending, hoping for little or no public scrutiny.  Since Christina Kishimoto has been Superintendent of Gilbert Public Schools, avoiding public scrutiny has become the primary objective of governance. Take a look at the latest GPS spending plans by clicking here.  As usual, if Proposition 123 passes, Christina Kishimoto wants more people working in the White Castle doing heaven-knows-what with more new software and technology, all at taxpayer expense, while she attends meeting after catered meeting.

Some of the GPS spending that defies logic, but sounds just fine to Silly Jilly Humpherys is all that catering for the Top Dogs in the district, including the Governing Board, of which Silly Jilly is not only a member, she’s in charge of reviewing GPS expenditures each month. We’ll be reporting at length on some of these expensively catered meals.

We’ll share information about GPS spending as it becomes available. We know you can hardly wait. Especially you teachers … you’re either delighted to be leaving or feeling duped into another year of watching GPS Top Dogs, the superintendent and her board members being gluttons in the Third Circle of Hell.  While teachers still wait to be fairly compensated for their work. And support staffers wait to be paid … literally. Sheeesh. What a district!

*****************
Big Fat Asterisk: Westie adores Styx. Even back in 7th grade, DWestie had no doubt that her classmate Tommy Shaw and his guitar were a phenomenal pair. (Yes, Tommy’s guitar went  to school.) Tommy Shaw is now a Super Hero in Montgomery, Alabama … has the keys to the city, too. For your enjoyment, watch Jimmy Fallon and Paul Rudd replicate a Styx performance.

The school year is almost over. Fresh-faced graduates from Gilbert Public Schools are ready to take on the world. Over the summer, evil plotters will labor in secrecy in the bowels of the GPS White Castle to *reform* whatever catches the superintendent’s fancy. In other words, everything old is new again in Gilbert, Arizona!

Superintendent Christina Kishimoto’s reforms of what was once a reputable school district will continue to bleed student enrollment, devastate teacher recruiting and bludgeon taxpayers for more money. You will be hearing cries that the sky is falling, which will lead to new budget cuts since GPS already had plans to spend every dollar they hoped to get into their hot hands, including dollars the district won’t receive due to the aforesaid student losses. These happenings on Christina Kishimoto’s watch are a result of her blind ambition for a national reputation and her tone-deaf *leadership.*

It’s all part of her plan, and Kishimoto’s Three Votes on the Governing Board are fully supporting every effort to loot the GPS treasury, with the usual brief respite while Top Dogs party all around the country on taxpayer-financed vacations. In addition to the usual mid-summer celebrations in Tucson, Arizona, members of the GPS superintendency and their favorite administrators will party hardy* in Baltimore, Maryland this year with their buxom bosom buddy, Robyn Conrad-Hansen. Christina Kishimoto, lavishly spending taxpayers’ money to show how much she cares about her staff, cries out to the public, “Let them eat cake!”

At least it will be a break from all their meetings catered by the GPS Food Service Catering Department. If you ask why a school district needs a catering department, Governing Board Clerk Silly Jilly Humpherys will not listen to you. Her pal, GPS Governing Board President Lily Tram, already decided that anything this superintendent wants, she gets, even if it takes dollars away from educating students. Of course, the only reason the Governing Board exists is to educate students. If you didn’t know that, obviously you were not cut out to be Lily Tram’s BFF or fellow board member.

Since everything old is new again, it won’t surprise you to learn that high school seniors have been up to their annual playing tricks and pranks, and a few of them made international news. One such occurrence involved a senior at Red Mountain High School in Mesa, AZ, whose prank involved a teeny weeny exposure in a football team photograph that school authorities had not noticed during all the months that the photo was distributed in various venues. The student’s poor choice landed him in some scaldingly hot water: he was charged with 69 misdemeanor counts of  indecent exposure. No, we did not make up that number; the Mesa Police Department did, seemingly with no awareness of its racy double entendre. There was one felony charge for this kid, which the Maricopa County Attorney declined to prosecute, a decision applauded far and wide, especially after a petition supporting that conclusion went viral on the Internet. The Mesa Police later dropped the case, perhaps because the so-called victims urged them to do so. BTW, Playgirl Magazine was impressed!

The way the dots of that incident connect to Gilbert Public Schools probably is a mystery to the scalawags and carpetbaggers in the GPS superintendency. Here comes Westie to the rescue, with the corporate memory that seems to no longer exist in the GPS White Castle of Doom. The principal of Red Mountain High School is Jared Ryan, the guy who opened Campo Verde High School in GPS. Birdies chirp that he jumped to Mesa School District in the Great Exodus of 2014, shortly after Christina Kishimoto was announced as the new GPS superintendent. Good move, Jared! This move is especially interesting in hindsight, since Jared Ryan was spouting the same *national* thingy that Kishimoto pushes:

I have maintained a philosophy of surrounding myself with individuals focused on exceptionally high standards and a desire to be a nationally recognized example of what a community school can be. Red Mountain and Mesa Public Schools are filled with the type of students, staff and community members it takes to achieve that vision.

Returning to the Red Mountain High School yearbook photo mess to connect the dots to GPS: the spokesperson for Mesa Public Schools is Helen Hollands, a former member of the GPS Governing Board. Good old Helen Hollands told the press that Jared Ryan calling the cops who then arrested this high school senior was *mandatory,* meaning no one thought for a moment about what would happen next. It appears that Helen Hollands believed the yearbooks would be *edited* with a sticker covering the offending area. This is really rich, considering who was in the Loose Zipper Brigade in Gilbert Public Schools when Helen Hollands was on the board.

Helen Hollands, a spokeswoman for Mesa Public School[s], said Tuesday that it was mandatory for school administrators to report the offense to police and that the district was pursuing its own disciplinary actions, which officials would not share. It was “highly recommended” by the district that those who had received yearbooks return them temporarily so the photo could be edited, she said.

A senior prank at Highland High School, a GPS school, went awry recently. Principal Melinda Murphy may not be amused that the reporter thought she was a he:

Videos posted online shows students starting a water balloon fight in the middle of campus as part of a senior prank. The school’s principal walked out into the middle of the fight to stop the prank. He then closed off parts of the school.

That’s not nearly as bad as pranks at Highland High School and Gilbert High School in the past, when cats and pigeons were killed as part of a football game prank. Hey, lookie, Good Old Charlie Santa Cruz was principal at the time! Isn’t it amazing that Charlie dealt with his delinquents, while the Highland kids were arrested? That’s the way things still seem to work in GPS: it all depends on who you know.

Gilbert police on Tuesday detained three Highland students, all 17-year-old boys. Each faces one count in juvenile court of criminal trespassing, and two of the three face animal-cruelty charges for killing the cats. Gilbert High Principal Charles Santa Cruz is preparing to discipline two students for the pigeon killing. Police aren’t involved.

There was another incident garnering international media attention that, to a casual observer, seemed to involve a Mesa high school, but it was really GPS Desert Ridge High School.  The flyer that gained worldwide media coverage reads:

So you think you come to school looking pretty cute > but what the boys see is meat, and it’s distracting > so they make lousy grades > but you end up with one of them anyway because he thought you looked HOT! > and then he ends up under employed because he learned nothing in school > so you get to support him … forever… > but it’s okay … because you look cute today!

The student who first posted an image of a misogynist flier and wrote “so it’s the girls fault, right? #feminism” on it was treated to an unusual reaction: “my librarian claims I’m the only one offended by it,” and that “when I asked her about it, she dismissed me, folded the written part, & put more staples in it.” The way that Irene Mahoney-Baloney Paige dismissed the incident on behalf of GPS was *interesting,* to say the least:

A flier calling girls “meat” who distract boys and ultimately cause men’s failure brought international attention to Desert Ridge High School in Mesa when it was found hanging in the library in late April. Students began to call the flier into question on social media, and soon it went viral, getting coverage from news outlets including ABC, the Daily Mail, the Guardian and Mic… “The poster in question has been in the library for some time (not hung up) so it is unclear when it was made or by whom,” said Irene Mahoney-Paige, director of communications for Gilbert Public Schools.

Gilbert Public Schools — never miss an opportunity to prove incompetence and/or ignorance. 

****************
*Big Fat Asterisk: Yes, we know the correct term is *party hearty,* but the definition appears at the incorrectly spelled link. Sheeeeesh. We know what these guys do when they’re at a conference!

The Gilbert Public Schools email server was hacked on Saturday, May 14, 2016. A student used a teacher’s login information and sent pornographic emails to students, teachers and parents on Saturday night. Entirely predictable and preventable: parents have been trying for the entire school year to get Gilbert Public Schools to do something about the pornography problem, but the official GPS response has been something along the lines of The Three Stooges — a comedy of blunders and missteps by Superintendent Christina Kishimoto. 

As the email message from the principal of Highland Junior High School quoted below shows, the Mesa police and FBI were contacted about this incident of “Internet fraud.”

Date: May 14, 2016 9:24 PM
Subject: HJHS – Teacher email account hacked

Dear HJHS Parents and Students,

I am sorry to report that one of our teachers, [name redacted], had her Gilbert Public Schools email account hacked into tonight. There were two very inappropriate messages sent out to her students without her knowledge before district could deactivate her account. If you or your child received one of these email messages, please delete it immediately without opening. We are working on suspending all our student accounts right now to prevent further students from viewing these messages.

Gilbert Public Schools takes situations such as this very seriously. I have reported the crime to the Mesa Police Department and also the FBI since they are the ones who handle all internet fraud. If you have any information regarding this crime, please contact us as quickly as possible so we can report it to the proper authorities.

Again, I am sickened by this horrible act and am working as diligently as possible to take care of the situation. Your continued support is appreciated.

Sincerely,
Marcie Taylor
HJHS Principal
This is an automated email.  Please do not reply to this message.  Click here to access the portal.

The school district and Mesa police have screenshots of the pornography disseminated as part of this hack. Although Principal Marcie Taylor worked with GPS Technology Service staffers to suspend student accounts, there were many, many copies of the email messages that were not deleted.

Apparently, a student gained access to the internal GPS email system by using a teacher’s district-issued Chromebook or by seeing the login information on the screen of the teacher’s device. Although GPS bought thousands of Chromebooks for the rollout in the district’s junior high schools this year, administrators failed to anticipate the failure rate and maintenance requirements, such that by the end of the year when Chromebooks were needed for standardized testing, there were not enough Chromebooks for every student to take those tests. Word went out from on high that teachers should lend their Chromebooks to students for testing.

You know it’s bad in Gilbert Public Schools when STUDENTS are chirping to Westie. Whoever thought this Chromebook initiative would work without having a rollout plan and the fifty thousand known glitches identified and fixed doesn’t know much about kids, mischief making, education or technology.
First problem: network logins. These Digital Native kids know all about how admin-issued usernames and passwords are standardized in GPS. In the real world, kids  use their admin-assigned logins one time, and then the kids set their own usernames and passwords. For security, you know.
The current situation confronting the serious Digital Native students is that GPS won’t let them set up their own secure usernames and passwords. Nope, if kids try to change their admin-issued login information, the GPS system resets to the default that the techies dreamed up. Of course, Digital Natives figured out how to use the back door to set up their own secure username and password.  Note to Superintendent Christina Kishimoto: there’s ALWAYS a back door into the network.

The school district’s ineffective technology security has been a widely-known issue for the entire school year. Christina Kishimoto made technology the theme of her superintendency at GPS and rushed through Chromebook implementation, ignoring resultant problems identified by parents of junior high school students that began shortly after the devices were distributed in the junior high schools.

Worse than just ignoring those parents, Christina Kishimoto had her henchmen organize appearances at a board meeting to demonize their parenting skills!

Parents were appalled by pornography issues and failures by GPS Technology staffers to prevent the spread of porn on student Chromebooks, in addition to the exorbitant costs and GPS failures to track expenses or return on investment. An example from the public comment segment of the February 2016 governing board meeting:

Once again, Christina Kishimoto’s alleged *inappropriate relationship* with her subordinate Steve Smith, Executive Director of Technology, who resigned in January 2016 after their alleged relationship became public knowledge, is implicated in this pornography incident in Gilbert Public Schools. Many members of GPS and the community believe the superintendent’s alleged *inappropriate relationship* was the reason that technology projects in the district have been poorly planned and clumsily executed. For example, the rollout of new financial software in January 2016 continues to adversely affect GPS employee payroll and benefits administration.

Public comment about the superintendent’s alleged *inappropriate relationship* from the January 2016 governing board meeting:

By the way, Christina Kishimoto was in Austin, Texas with the Association of Latino Superintendents and Administrators on May 14, 2016, when this incident occurred. Got to focus on that *national reputation* thingy!

In closing, Christina Kishimoto wants parents of students in Gilbert Public Schools to know that she thinks their parenting skills SUCK! Take a gander at her letter to parents. Notice that the font color changes near the end, where she informs you about underage drinking of alcoholic beverages. That’s probably because some ghost writers were involved, and they, too, think GPS parents don’t know how to raise their own children. Because no one in Gilbert, Arizona knows this parenting stuff, right??? Click here or click the letter below for a larger image.

Gilbert Public Schools – more screwed up now than ever before! Sheeeeesh.  PS … we heard about your high-fiving in the district offices, GPS dudes and dudettes. A little premature, um, celebration?

Cue the crocodile tears from Gilbert Public Schools again: with the passage of Proposition 123, the school district will receive new $$Millions from the state, all of which has already been budgeted and (perhaps) spent by a profligate superintendent and governing board. The state-wide vote was a cliffhanger, but the change to the Arizona Constitution squeaked through. It’s too soon to know just how many court challenges there will be, but the race to the courthouse has already begun. It appears that citizens who voted YES were almost equally as critical of the measure, but they held their noses and voted for it anyway. The word TRUST has been flung around by all sides, as in no one trusts the politicians or the educrats with this new largess, but … it’s for the kids. 

The crocodile tears will come in the next couple of GPS board meetings when the budget for next year must be approved. That’s because whatever amount of money taxpayers give to Gilbert Public Schools, it’s never enough. If you ask Superintendent Christina Kishimoto why, she won’t answer. She doesn’t talk to ordinary citizens or to parents. Of course, she has some huge messes on her hands, problems that she personally, professionally and institutionally created, so she doesn’t have time to assuage the public. She’s too busy spending all that money!

First up: GPS employment contracts. Crammed into new contracts is a clause that says GPS magnanimously will give employees a one-time $500.00 gift. Who thought that up, who they thought they were kidding and who believes this measly few bucks will earn gratitude, everlasting or otherwise? The answers don’t matter. Surrounding school districts are giving seriously generous and long-lasting pay raises to employees with money from Prop 123, and once again, GPS is sitting around with its thumb .. never mind. There was never a requirement in Prop 123 that the new money actually flowed into classrooms.

NOTICE TO GPS EMPLOYEES: if you want to break your contract, develop a health issue. If you present a medical certificate (i.e. a doctor’s note) to GPS and say you just can’t perform essential duties, GPS cannot and will not inquire further. We know that because Slime Bucket Suzanne Zentner said so during a board meeting a few months back. Also, it’s the law that GPS can’t pry into your medical history without a business reason for asking. We also know that Slime Bucket Suzanne and her BFF Christina Kishimoto make the decisions on who has to pay the infamous Hostage Ransom Payment that GPS built into employment contracts in the past couple of years, even though that is something reserved to the governing board’s discretion. The GPS governing board does what Christina Kishimoto says, so Her Highness doesn’t even bother consulting the board on the hostage clause.

Medical issues. Yours or those of your close family member (it’s best if that family member is covered by FMLA!) are your silver bullet against the GPS vampires and werewolves. BTW, other school districts in the Phoenix Valley have pretty much completed their hiring for the next school year, so don’t wait too long!

GPS, on the other hand, still has hundreds of vacancies and is getting desperate to lasso enough new employees to fill classrooms. If you’re considering GPS as an employer, ask yourself WHY entire departments on some campuses seem to have emptied. Particularly science and math. Also Special Education. There’s a reason for this, and as a prospective employee, you most definitely should look any GPS gift horse in the mouth. Just sayin’…. it’s your professional future ahead. And an incredibly stressful life. That’s “the GPS way” these days.

The *mass exodus* that Christina Kishimoto says she was supposed to stanch is recurring. GPS is desperately trying to keep under wraps the true size of the 2016 mass exodus — having word get out before the end of the school year would surely stymie new hiring. As of Friday, May 20, 2016, when the agenda with employee hiring reports was posted online, there were 75 certified resignations shown, plus 6 retirements. At the same time, the Online Certified Employment List showed 82 vacancies remaining, for a total of 163 certified vacancies, which doesn’t include earlier hires, of which there have been as many as GPS could hoodwink. The point is that GPS is taking pains to keep the real employment data hidden from public view. GPS used a real kabuki dance to hide losses of classified staff: GPS simply failed to upload the complete list; you can view page 1 of 4 pages, but not the entire list. What incredible silliness. Knowing GPS, Christina Kishimoto also wants to keep the governing board in the dark as to the actual numbers … er, dater  data.

Here’s some data that prospective GPS employees should be looking at: the mass exodus of certified employees in 2015, completely on Christina Kishimoto’s watch, was this:

1-5 years: 137 resignations in 2014-2015; 56.85%
6-10 years: 57 resignations in 2014-2015; 23.65%
More than 10 years: 47 resignations in 2014-2015; 19.50%

Note: that’s just resignations, it doesn’t include retirements. You’ve been warned. We’ll update this post when data becomes available as to the size of the 2016 mass exodus from Gilbert Public Schools.

Another *mass exodus* is occurring in GPS: STUDENTS!  GPS still doesn’t know why students are leaving the district by the thousands. The biggest losses are in the elementary grades. So what does GPS do under the *leadership* of Superintendent Christina Kishimoto? Spend $$Millions on “a new home for GCA,” a 7-12 grade facility, for the sole purpose of *competing* with charter schools. Just brilliant, right? <dripping sarcasm>  Specifically: since 2009/10, enrollment has declined by about 2,700 students (1.2% annually), with a loss of about 900 students this past year alone.

Hey, board members…the numbers you have been given suck, but it’s worse that you don’t know why those numbers suck. For one thing, losses on the east side of the district were most likely influenced by the new schools opening in the area, not all of which were charter schools. You know, there are other school districts like Higley, Queen Creek and Chandler. What GPS doesn’t want to accept is that those other school districts are enticing a lot of GPS students, just as the many nearby charter schools are doing.

Belatedly, GPS decided to pay for a phone survey to ask departing families why they left. As if people who already made the decision to leave are going to take the time to give GPS thoughtful answers that might reveal how screwed up the district has become. Nope. After people have left, they generally won’t feel like taking the time and effort to help GPS understand. That’s human nature. The problem for GPS seems to be that Christina Kishimoto and her minions in the White Castle haven’t been human in a long, long time. Their lack of common sense would be comical if the price were not so high, in terms of damage to a once-stellar school district.

Since Christina Kishimoto set an example of inappropriate behavior with her *alleged* boyfriend, who departed in disgrace in January 2016, Westie’s birdies are chirping that the Loose Zipper Brigade has been adding some new notches to their belts. We weren’t surprised to hear the name Brian Yee coupled to that news. [That dude must be phenomenal at something or other! But we digress.] Inquiring minds want to know (and many probably already know the answer) why Brian Yee’s assistant principal left in the middle of the school year. Same old stuff. In both *alleged* cases of inappropriate relationships in GPS in 2015-2016, the subordinate disappeared.

Prospective GPS employees, you’ve been warned … again.

Has Gilbert Public Schools become an alien life form that devours tax dollars as it spits out the ragged entrails of former employees? Many people say the answer is “Yes,” now that the GPS board has scheduled a surprise *special meeting* on June 14, 2016 to approve a new budget. This is a budget that citizens and taxpayers have begged various members of the governing board to oppose.  Those kindly people thought that their heartfelt pleas and well-researched suggestions for a better budget would meet a receptive audience. Those trusting souls were wrong, more wrong than they could have imagined.

After Arizona citizens approved a new source of money for public schools in the guise of Proposition 123 funds, GPS, and especially the shrew known as Superintendent Christina Kishimoto, have turned their backs on the very same folks who installed a Rubber Stamp School Board to serve the despicable demands of *more money* from the administration of carpetbaggers and scalawags conjured up by the shrew. What was a once proud, highly rated school district is a shambles, and it’s about to get worse. 

The *special meeting* on Tuesday, June 14th, is confusing even to the shrewish superintendent and her lackeys. First they call it a *special meeting* and then they annotate the agenda with an item for *Adjournment of Public Hearing.* That confusion is par for the course of GPS these days, where the right hand seldom knows what the left hand is doing. Actually, the right hand probably is unaware of the existence of the left hand, and it’s doubtful either knows about the opposable thumb and its remarkable powers …. sheeeesh, those folks are proving daily that they’re either dumber than dirt or they’re totally disengaged from the community that put them in their positions of power and six-figure paychecks.

The significant item those rogues (both the Superintendent, Governing Board and their enablers) left off the agenda was allowing public comment. The voters who placed the Terrible Trio of Tram, Humpherys and Santa Cruz on the board are hopping mad to be treated this way! Those voters believed the campaign promises of openness and inclusion in governance, valuing and rewarding loyal employees.

The ire of the community has been raised by the plans of Christina Kishimoto and Her Three Votes to squander millions of dollars on *innovations* that no one wants, needs or even likes. Proposition 123 was sold to voters as putting money into teacher salaries and into classrooms. Ha! Like Christina Kishimoto and GPS ever intended for THAT to happen!

Now, we see in the proposed budget that will be passed what actually will happen. It ain’t salaries and bonuses for the people on the front lines of education. Here are some excerpts from the fancy Powerpoint presentation that’s supposed to confuse the hell out of the proletariat, the common citizen so that Christina Kishimoto can dispense millions of dollars to her favorite contractors and consultants:

** FY17 Budget Increase from FY16 Expenditure Projection: $20,789,625.
** Our District’s portion of the $50 million in additional funding from Prop 123 is estimated to be $1.68 million, which will be carried forward to FY17 in the Capital (610) Fund.
** $3,000,000 of the budget balance carry-forward is designed for the one-time staff stipends of $500 per Full Time Employee.
** $5 per day increase in Substitute Teacher Compensation.

An expenditure that’s truly absurd is $100,000 for a *Communications Department Marketing Plan.* Putting THAT item on the budget has generated more calls for firing Superintendent Christina Kishimoto from people who formerly supported Her Three Votes on the board.  GPS is losing students by the thousands and can’t figure out WHY families leave the district. Obviously, GPS is not capable of figuring out how to talk to the people who depart the district with a middle-finger salute, so the answer is to spend $100,000 on a plan to market …. what? Gilbert Classical Academy? Sheeeesh.

Then there’s a slew of new folks slated to be housed in offices of the White Castle, the GPS district offices, when the new budget gets approved:

** Teacher on Special Assignment – Instructional Videographer $55,000
** Teacher on Special Assignment – K-6 Math Coach $55,000
** Teacher on Special Assignment – K-12 Assessment $55,000
** Technology Repair Position $39,000
** Programmer to support ATI and District Data Reports $70,000
** Transition to Office of Community Partnerships $40,000
** Risk Management Coordination (begin mid-year)  $40,000

In the meantime, Reed Carr, a candidate for a seat on the GPS Governing Board, has done some research that shows the public exactly how bad it is for GPS employees: 

Based on my conversations and analysis, teachers indicate they are leaving because of greater opportunities elsewhere. While those greater opportunities have existed previously and many chose to stay because of their history with and love of GPS, teachers have reached the point where our GPS culture no longer outweighs the draw of greater compensation.

…In each case when we compare GPS’ planned compensation to our closest neighbors, the proposed budget results in our teacher compensation falling further behind. Since 2009 GPS has fallen compared to our entire state. In 2009, the state auditor reports our average teacher salary was $47,866 compared to the state average of $45,209. By 2015 (again, the most recent year available), GPS’s salary is only $42,357 compared to the state average of $46,008. Dishearteningly, even with the 2017 raise and one-time payment [of $500], our teachers will remain below the state’s 2015 average.

Watch how members of the GPS Governing Board vote on this proposed budget put forward by increasingly reviled Superintendent Christina Kishimoto. Remember, you could have had Westie as superintendent!

Gilbert Public Schools is playing with fire — fanning the flames of discontent and acrimony among good-hearted voters who gave the school district Million$ and Million$ of dollars to educate children, both at the district level and state level. Voters were sold a bill of goods, empty promises that the new funds from Prop 123 would be used for teacher pay and in the classroom. So what did Superintendent Christina Kishimoto and Her Three Votes on the GPS governing board do? Board president Lily Tram made sure the board took those new Million$ and parked them in slush funds!

The GPS administration will dip into those funds whenever they want to, and the GPS governing board will approve whatever the administration spends, probably with the usual 3-2 vote. Bottom line: GPS teachers, your salaries WILL NOT become comparable to what other school districts in the Phoenix valley are paying their teachers.

In fact, as board member Julie Smith pointed out, you can break your contract, pay the GPS hostage fee, and still make more money by teaching in a different school district. Additionally, former GPS teachers who now work in Mesa and Chandler are telling their colleagues who stayed in GPS that these other school districts treat their teachers much, much better than GPS does.

At the June 14, 2016 board meeting, as Westie warned, the board approved every little budget detail that Christina Kishimoto put before them. Also, just as Westie warned, the board had no use for the emails and phone calls and personal visits of district voters who begged board members to defy the superintendent and use the new funds as voters had been told the funds would be used. The board’s response, like Scarlett O’Hara’s flippant disdain before she endured the Civil War,* was this: “Fiddle-dee-dee.”

The board’s flippant disdain was on full display when president Lily Tram excoriated the citizen who not only asked the board to use the new funding as promised, he researched adjacent districts and used actual data to show the board how bad the situation is regarding GPS’s salaries compared to those other districts.  Tram’s public dressing down of Reed Carr, her opponent for a seat on the GPS governing board, is shown below:

Quoting Lily Tram: “There’s other factors in here that you don’t take into account for…There’s just some pieces missing in here…that doesn’t really show the true picture of we really are trying our best here to give what we can to our employees. It’s just we have some restrictions to our funding level that we have.”

President Tram further attempted to debase her opponent Reed Carr’s reputation and his attempt to persuade the board to increase teacher pay and put more money in the classroom. Tram pointed out that other districts probably received more money in Prop 123 funds. What Tram didn’t bother to clarify is that GPS is a district in decline, having lost at least three thousand students in the last few years.

Tram doesn’t want the public to connect the dots about why more than 3,000 students have left GPS, because the greatest part of those losses occurred on her watch, the last two years that she has been president of the GPS governing board. Instead, Tram repeatedly stated that the district had a DEFICIT of $4.5 Million. Many people who watched Tram’s performance were gobsmacked by her theater of the absurd. Board member Julie Smith calls Tram out being dishonest about any *deficit* and for having the wrong priorities.

Board member Julie Smith lobbied long and hard, trying to convince her fellow board members to follow through with what voters were told the Prop 123 Million$ would be used for: at least 50%, if not 75-80% would be spent on teacher pay and in the classroom:

Long story short: Superintendent Christina Kishimoto’s budget demands were fulfilled. GPS is pouring Million$ of dollars into slush funds that can be raided by the administration at any time. The elephant in the room was the Million$ being spent on a new home for Gilbert Classical Academy, which was Priority Number One for this school board this past year. Any citizen who tries to find out what’s being done, or what’s being spent on GCA will be treated far worse than Reed Carr was treated by president Tram at the special board meeting where public comment was not allowed.

Tram made sure the usual message to the public,  that they should sit down and shut up, is exactly what happened by refusing to allow public comment on Kishimoto’s budget. Tram was on a mission to get that budget passed. She succeeded. The price Tram pays for her perfidy may be steep. One can only hope. 

******************
*Big Fat Asterisk: Growing up in Alabama, Westie didn’t realize until college that most people don’t know about *The War of the Northern Aggression.* As it turns out, everyone else in the country calls that event *The Civil War.* BTW – Scarlett O’Hara is very real to Southern girls.

GPS is in the midst of changing district policies in the *I* series. It has been obvious for a long time that Christina Kishimoto’s superintendency is all about her legacy and her national reputation. *Summer of 2016* is all about cementing Christina Kishimoto’s power structure … mostly in her battles against teachers and parents of students in Gilbert Public Schools. 

The I series is supposed to be all about Instruction, but you know those carpetbaggers and scalawags in the GPS district offices, the White Castle, the White Temple of Doom, are up to no good. Again. You would think that all those six-figure salaried folks would have some level of competence in things like staff work, using correct grammar* and other ways they should be setting an example for the public and students of the district. You would be wrong … again.

GPS students do not have a stellar superintendent; what they have is a dysfunctional pretender to the throne of educational leader: a person who NEVER has taught in a K-12 school. Never. And Christina Kishimoto’s enablers, including the functionally illiterate president of the governing board, aren’t any better. Even Charlie Santa Cruz, the dude who was supposed to ride in on a white horse and SAVE the dedicated employees of Gilbert Public Schools, hasn’t been able to bring the philandering superintendent in line. Good Old Charlie Santa Cruz must have lost his balls somewhere between retiring from GPS and taking his seat on the board.

Members of the community are rallying to the cry “Fire Kishimoto!” ahead of the November election with three school board seats on the ballot. It looks like the run-up to the election might be hotter than the record-setting temperatures of the Summer of  2016. While taxpayers and citizens are trying to cope with triple digit temperatures, Christina Kishimoto is out to make HUGE changes in district policies. Many of of those changes will truncate the rights of parents and students in the district. Teachers don’t fare any better, BTW.

The policies and changes and anything else that Christina Kishimoto tells the governing board will be pretty much private — because the board is meeting as a *committee of the whole.* The very fact that we know about this meeting and its agenda is a triumph for the Forces of Good in Gilbert, Arizona. Previously, the board met with the superintendent in secret, because Christina Kishimoto wrongly told the board these committee meetings were not subject to the Arizona Open Meeting Law. Nevertheless, the meetings now are scheduled during the work day, so few outsiders are able to attend. By design. And interlopers are not invited to eat the fancy catered lunch that Christina Kishimoto and her highly-paid pals enjoy at taxpayer expense.

The agenda for the June Policy Committee meeting is here; you can see all the new policies and proposed changes. Don’t just skim the list. There are some unpleasant surprises in these revisions to existing policies, which you know will be approved by the GPS governing board this summer:

Policy IHAMB – Family Life Education
Policy IHB – Special Instructional Program
Policy IHBA – Special Instructional Programs and Accommodations for Disabled Students
Policy IHBB – Gifted and Talented Education
Policy IHBCA – Programs for Pregnant / Parenting Students
Policy IHBE – Bilingual Instruction / English as a Second Language
Policy IHBF – Homebound Instruction
Policy IHE – District Pride Program
Policy IJJ – Textbook / Supplementary Materials and Adoption
Policy IJL – Library Materials Selection and Adoption
Policy IJM – Advertising in School District Facilities and on District Property
Policy IJNDB –  Use of Technology Resources
Policy IKE – Promotion and Retention of Students
Policy IKEAA – Junior High School Promotion Requirements
Policy IL – Evaluation of Instructional Programs
Policy IMA – Teaching Methods
Policy IMB –  Teaching about Controversial / Sensitive Issues
Policy IMD – School Ceremonies and Observances
Policy IMG – Animals in Schools

Then there are *new* policies to be approved by the governing board:

Policy IE – Organization of Instruction
Policy IGD – Curriculum Adoption
Policy IHAA – English Instruction
Policy IHBHD – Online/Concurrent Correspondence Courses
Policy IHCA – Summer School
Policy IJNC – Resource Centers/Media Centers/School Libraries
Policy IKAA – Tests and Examinations
Policy IKB – Homework
Policy IKC – English Instruction
Policy IKEB – Acceleration
Policy ILE – Evaluation of Instructional Programs
Policy IMH – Class Interruptions

The GPS superintendency is counting on you members of the public to be lazy and not read these policies. They’ll claim they were *transparent,* and the governing board will approve the policies whether or not they read them. 

Here are some hints in the treasure hunt of skullduggery lurking within this latest GPS shenanigan:

Policy IKC- English Instruction is not about *English Instruction* at all! The policy, which doesn’t have a title, is actually this: “Rank in class is required by colleges and universities on transcripts submitted for entrance evaluation. Class rank shall be determined as follows…” If you’re a parent of a high school student, take a look!

Policy IL – Evaluation of Instructional Programs actually is about *Testing Programs,* according to the text of the policy. The revision adds this: “Test Participation All Arizona students in grades three (3) through twelve (12) shall be administered, at least once each year, a standardized, nationally ­normed written test of academic subject matter given in English except that students with disabilities will be included with appropriate accommodations and alternate assessments where necessary in accord with their respective Individual Education Program.” In other words, *Forget about opting out of tests, all you renegade parents, and as for homeschooling parents, tremble before the power of the superintendency!*

Policy IJNDB –  Use of Technology Resources was last reviewed in 2015; this year’s policy revision basically guts any illusion of protecting students from pornography or violation of their FERPA rights. BTW, it’s possible, but not likely, that the sloppy staff work on this policy was unintentional. With the reputation GPS has amassed, the sloppiness is deliberate so that it’s difficult for the public to figure out what’s going on here. Instead of changes being annotated in red font, as with the other revised policies, there are huge sections that are lined through for deletion. The mind-numbing repetition and sometimes-on, sometimes-off editorial marks on paragraphs are confusing, and that’s the point. Try and figure out what’s happening here, beyond getting rid of GPS responsibilities for laws like FERPA and shrugging off content filtering and other protections afforded by the Children’s Internet Protection Act. Nope, GPS just deleted that stuff, probably because GPS hasn’t been able to filter pornography from students’ 1:1 Chromebooks and email accounts. Notice that superintendent Christina Kishimoto’s *alleged* boyfriend got a big promotion for banging the boss.  Any chance Kishimoto wrote Charles Stevin Smith a glowing recommendation in spite of his spectacular failures with technology?  Sheeesh.

Policy IHBE – Bilingual Instruction / English as a Second Language appears in the *revisions* section, but the entire text of the policy is in red font, indicating change. There are no previous policy provisions shown for replacement or deletion. We expect GPS is up to no good, as usual. Doesn’t the following statement make you feel all warm and fuzzy? “Teachers and local school districts may reject waiver requests without explanation or legal consequence.” Yep, IOW, “Suck it, parents!”

Policy IHBHD – Online/Concurrent Correspondence Courses is a brand-new Kishimoto *reform* ensures no parent who opposes high stakes testing (by keeping the child home during testing), can continue accessing the online curriculum and credits for their child.

Policy IKE – Promotion and Retention of Students  and its companion Policy IKEB Acceleration are going to cause a lot of grief. Even parents of really smart kids have reason to worry: “The final decision to accelerate a student rests with the Superintendent.” If you don’t like what superintendent Christina Kishimoto decides (knowing she has never, ever taught a K-12 class), you can appeal to … wait for it … the superintendent! Brilliant, guys. There is a provision to appeal to the governing board, but with Kishimoto’s three votes held captive to her whims, fuhgeddaboudit.

Policy IMH – Class Interruptions is designed to keep parents out of their child’s classroom. The prohibition against *salespersons* is a ruse … this policy is intended to formalize the nastiness that superintendent Christina Kishimoto has employed for the past year.  Parent advocates report that GPS has been denying SpEd parents access to their child’s classroom. Kishimoto says unless you are there volunteering, you are a distraction and not allowed. Ever. Even with an appointment. It doesn’t matter if you are a SpEd parent wanting to have a professional observe the classroom to determine if it’s the right placement or if you as a plain old parent would like to observe your child’s class. It’s about whether or not you are “like minded about education.” BTW, if Christina Kishimoto doesn’t want you on GPS property, she might lie in a secret court hearing to get an injunction against you. 

GPS … always trying to get away with murder. Send your chirps to Westie about the other nefarious GPS plots you uncover!

***************
Big Fat Asterisk: Like all those dangling participles Westie came up with? It took a lot of effort to make them up!

The Gilbert Public Schools Governing Board is self-destructing before our eyes with some of the stupidest stunts ever performed by public officials. We know that sounds like hyperbole, but it’s true. The bar has been set astonishingly low for elected officials, but GPS has been squirming even lower with their recent inanities. Citizens tremble, knowing these elected officials hold in their hands the future of tens of thousands of students. It’s becoming more apparent that GPS superintendent Christina Kishimoto is leading Her Three Votes into a den of iniquity, and Her Three Votes are giddy with excitement at the prospect.

The potential for abuse of power by these *public servants* is frightening. But since it’s summer vacation, we’ll nix the harbinger of doom theme and share some of the comedic gold from past board meetings.

In our last post, we showed board president Tram falsely stating to the public that the GPS budget for 2016-2017 started with a $4.5 Million deficit. Now we’ll show how board clerk Jill Humpherys, who presides over board meetings when Tram is not there, takes the average intellectual quotient of the inhabitants of the dais well below the U.S. average IQ of 98.

Keyboard to Westie: We’re #9 in the world!
Westie to Keyboard: That’s like GCA bragging they have fallen from #3 to #7 in Arizona since Kishimoto has been superintendent. It’s not a good thing.

Did you know that Silly Jilly Humpherys can read? Yes, she can, though she doesn’t read very well. Watch laughter build as Silly Jilly tries to run a meeting when she DOESN’T have a script to read, shown in the video below. Silly Jilly admits that she’s not very good with math, but most people would expect that an adult could add to five. Silly Jilly can’t do that consistently. You’ll be forgiven for thinking, “W-A-Y below average IQ on display.”

There were recent controversies over the GPS board delegating to superintendent Christina Kishimoto contracting authority up to $100,000. Silly Jilly Humpherys was not amused that so many citizens and taxpayers argued against the superintendent’s usurpation of the board’s power. Watch below as Silly Jilly pedantically asserts that $100,000 is not really a whole lot of money.  We found out why, and we’ll share that information after the video.

Back in 2011, at the depth of The Great Recession, while GPS employees had their pay frozen as their expenses soared, Silly Jilly expressed doubt that her husband’s over $100,000 income actually qualified her family as *middle class.* After you pick yourself up off the floor, we’ll cue the violins:

Jill Humpherys is a stay-at-home Gilbert, Ariz., mother with five kids ranging in age from 12 to 24 whose husband earns about $104,000. While that sounds like an upper-middle-class or upper-class salary to some, she said the family lives frugally, pays cash for used vehicles, and clips coupons. She said that is what it takes to support their four-bedroom, two-bath home, maintain a savings account, finance college education for the kids and save for retirement. The two oldest are married, another is at the University of Arizona and two others live at home. “My definition of middle class would be that you can live modestly, own a home, and send your children to college. Obviously, that dream has gotten very expensive,” she said.

All you folks who are not making more than $100,000 annually, perhaps because you’re a young family trying to gain a foothold into the middle class, just are not working hard enough. Or you’re not responsible enough, in Silly Jilly’s eyes, to have a say in your own child’s education or your level of taxation. No sirree, Silly Jilly knows better than you do, so sit down, shut up and give Gilbert Public Schools more tax money!

Accountability? That’s for others, not for GPS. Just try to find out what GPS superintendent Christina Kishimoto is doing as she builds a *new home* for Gilbert Classical Academy. Birdies are chirping loudly that GCA’s Taj Mahal is taking shape with fancy architectural plans and contractor bids already done or under way … gee, everything on this GCA Wish List must cost less than $100,000. Certainly, nothing about these expenditures has been made available to the public!

The usual GCA loudmouths are b*tching mightily about the inconvenience of having to share a cafeteria with the Lesser Beings, students that will be attending Mesquite Junior High. In the meantime, GCA is getting:

There were a lot of people who asked to be on the *joint committee* for GCA and Mesquite Junior High School. So who did the Powers That Be pick as the representative for Mesquite Junior High? Someone who wants their child to attend GCA. You know that so-called representative of Mesquite Junior High School families and students will support forcing Mesquite students to wear uniforms. Otherwise, the GCA Snowflakes might feel *bullied* by hooligans wearing normal teenager clothing. And maybe that committee member’s student won’t be admitted to GCA after all, if the issue of uniforms for Mesquite students doesn’t go the way GCA demands.

So, GPS teachers, you only get a one-time stipend of $500 because Jill Humpherys has other priorities for all those millions of dollars GPS will receive … like the elite junior and senior high school with 500 students. It looks like GCA is getting about $8 million so they can have everything their hearts desire (see wish list above). Silly Jilly Humpherys has lots of other ways to spend all that Prop 123, override and bond money in coming years. She giggles as she ruminates over how many contractors have suddenly become her best friends, now that she controls so many millions of dollars.

You folks who elected Silly Jilly <waving Hi! to Diane Drazinski and Gilbert Education Association members> know that you share the blame with Christina Kishimoto and Her Three Votes for assuring that teacher pay in GPS will never be competitive with other school districts in the area.

Lets laugh some more at Silly Jilly’s proclamation to Let the Idiots Work at Walmart: