Dr. McGinley is playing the same games Gregg Meyers and his crew like to play. Shame on you, Dr. McGinley. Anyone reading the paper this morning with half a brain should realize the manipulation taking place. You are NOT enforcing any attendance lines at Buist. Yet 10 children are suppose to live on the peninsula and 10 children are suppose to live in low-performing school zones when they apply and enter the school each year. What is the purpose of those lists if you only have to live in the county to attend the school?
The District 20 Board gave YOU and every board member the list of numerous parents who had falsified addresses and no one did anything. That's what Alice Paylor, Sallie Ballard, and Dr. Goodloe told them to do. Yet, according to Mr. Meyers you don't have to live at the address you provide when you go to Buist. You only need to live in the county of Charleston because "people have a constitutional right to travel."
Meanwhile at St. Andrews...well, they have a real attendance zone and evidently they're finally going to follow it. We've known there was a fake address issue over there for a while, so maybe we're finally making progress. Unfortunately, there are more. It's easy to change the name on the identification requirements CCSD is using for residency verification and we all know it. Concerned citizens have shown us examples of that on this blog and others.
I think it's time the citizens of Charleston get off their computers and speak out.
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Here's a news break: CCSD hasn't been enforcing attendance zones for most of its 79 schools for many years. That's why they are so reluctant to review address records. Nearly a third of those attending some failing schools downtown and in North Charleston aren't legally assigned to attend those schools. CCSD has transferred thousands of students without bothering to follow its own legally required procedures or informing the parents of those students that they may be entitled to have better school choices than the ones they are being steered toward by CCSD. That's the big dirty secret CCSD is trying to cover with this story.
When was the last time there was any discussion of redrawing ANY school attendance zone in Charleston County? That should have been a red flag because most other public school districts anywhere else have to do this often and it’s not easy. CCSD just decided to move kids around as it wished. Rich parents (or those with influence) get the schools they want while poor families (or those who don't know how the game is played) get dumped in schools decided by CCSD bean counters. It's all about politics, manipulating school report cards and fooling the public. New school needs, renewal of old schools and designating what’s considered surplus are all factors of school attendance growth within certain districts or zones. How can CCSD say they need a new school when they don’t know where the students they have live?
Before CCSD starts making its pitch for voters to support another school building program that may cost taxpayers as much as $500,000,000 next year maybe we need to know who's going to the wrong schools now. (Oh, they didn't tell you about the new Bond Referendum yet? Well, it's coming.) We have overcrowded schools that shouldn't be and empty schools that should be occupied. We also have tens of thousands of kids in buses and on the highways every morning because they can't go to the schools in their neighborhoods. Why? And how much more is transporting these kids adding to the costs? What about the time and money that could have been better spent in the classroom?
As a taxpayer, I'm furious over the idea of another bond referendum.
Who are Bill Lewis and Mark Cobb? And what role do they play in all of this?
Bill Lewis is the double-dipping retired Navy bureaucrat who is responsible for negotiating with contractors for hundreds of millions of dollars worth of new school buildings all over Charleston County. He determines time tables, which schools get build, where and when. His list of priorities is remarkably in line with whatever developers want. New close-in middle schools in St. Andrews (West Ashley)? Forget it. More schools near raw land at the edges of Charleston's urban sprawl? Sure, how many do you want?
Mark Cobb is the facilities maintenance director. He's the one that cuts the contracts for outsourced janitorial & repairs. Gone are the days of custodial or skilled tradesmen on staff who are loyal to schools and the people they serve. It's now all about how cheap we can do it and cut corners whenever possible with padded contracts. The poorest maintenance is reserved for the oldest buildings so the need for total replacement becomes more of a necessity.
Lewis & Cobb are in charge of buying & selling CCSD's most valuable real estate. They are the friends of the biggest developers & contractors as long as they keep churning the tax dollars for make-work projects & waste. Together Lewis & Cobb hold more power than the county school board & the superintendent combined. They just have to keep a majority of them hoodwinked most of the time.
If what you say is true, what can we do to stop them? Does anyone care?
They are preparing for a public appeal in support of a bond referendum next year or the year after which will put between $400-$500 million more on the taxpayers of Charleston County. It would seem that they public would want to ask some tough questions about where the other ONE BILLION DOLLARS has gone since 2001. Otherwise, I'm sure we can again expect to be treated like sheep before the slaughter. These people don't like questions or the people who ask them.
FYI, St. Andrews sent out a letter to all parents who's kids are not in the district, but are Magnet students to show proof of residency. I only know of Magnet parents that got that request.
So here's a question for y'all...
Are you opposed to those families that follow all the rules, live in CC, and win a lottery slot?
I have a child that is at Pinckney in Mt. Pleasant, and he is so far above and beyond the curriculum that I am trying to find something for him other than shelling out $$$ for private school which I cannot afford. I mean, he's 99% on all PACT scores, BORED with SAIL, loves all things Math-related and reads just about anything (he's 9).
Will Buist be able to keep him occupied and challenged? That's my question.
No. Buist will bore him as well. Our public schools are in a mess and Buist is no exception.
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