Deficit Spending kills schools... something to look forward to Cleburne Texas!

from another poster on here... (CL)

"Obviously I don't have a dog in the hunt. Y'all can tell me to mind my own business if you want. I've been a casual observer of the man or woman or individuals who've posted over the last few years in my opinion what was a fairly well documented case of financial corruption. Based on the writing styles of the posts it appears to me to be at least two individuals. I'm not sure what in the heck is going on down there in Johnson CO but somebody needs their cage rattled and I mean like years ago. Somebody should've called the Texas Rangers, the State School Board, T.E.A., the A. G.'s office, somebody for an audit. The whole premise I'm sure of building a premier showcase multi-million dollar football stadium and sports-plex is to attract high caliber athletes, football players, and coaches to the program and increase the profile of Cleburne ISD. Meanwhile as the "princess" has pointed out and as she has been derogatorily referred to, the bait and switch will be on, and that new high school and other outdated facilities that were so desperately needed? Bye bye."

Hm. I guess someone cares after all. Turns out, if you keep bringing scams out into the light, sooner or later, enough people will say 'enough'. 

For all of you who ponder if the kind of financial scams happening in Cleburne ever happens anywhere else, read this! Sound familiar?

"Burlington College, which took on heavy debt during the tenure of Bernie Sanders' wife, is closing down.

The closure of the liberal arts college in Vermont was blamed directly on Jane Sanders, who bankrupted the school as president from 2004 to 2011.

"Founded in 1972 as an informal gathering of students, Burlington College grew into a small, regionally accredited liberal arts college, but financial strain and academic probation created by an ambitious but ill-fated expansion under then-President Jane Sanders onto a new campus on prime waterfront land led to the school's demise," the Burlington Free Press reported.

Dean of Operations and Advancement Coralee Holm said it was impossible to pay back the debt from Sanders' land deal.

"I believe the vision was enrollment would grow, which it did, but not at the level that would have allowed us to manage the financial debt we had incurred," she said. "So here we are."

Well, isn't that hilarious: after Bernie Sanders spends his entire presidential campaign pushing "free college" for everyone by increasing the national debt, his wife bankrupts a college into oblivion through deficit spending.

"When a socialist runs a program, this is what happens when they can no longer steal money from the 'greedy capitalists' as they call them," news commentator E.T. Williams said. "This is what happens when you put socialists in charge, just look at Venezuela."

***************.... so Cleburne, when our town turns into Detroit, you'll know why. 

Remember! Pictures of the new construction at CISD can be emailed through Craigslist, and we can compare them all on the blog, along with Freedom of Information Act requests to get copies of any expenditures that didn't show up on the CISD website. It'll be pretty easy to add up what's been done, vs what's been spent, and when the two don't add up, that's when the calls to the state, TEA, and all the rest start happening. 

Must be a bummer to have lined up the perfect scam / bank robbery, and then be forced to use the money in the manner in which it's use was sold to the taxpayers, right? I'm pretty sure that if you guys pop up and say 'It's a miracle! We found a way to save $60 Million Dollars, and BUILD THAT NEW FOOTBALL STADIUM!' that somebody is gonna be GOIN' TO JAIL.

Name calling doesn't change the fact that the Cleburne Texas ISD School Board has LOST CONTROL

It is always nice to get a response from the other side. However, when all they can do is name calling, and have no response to facts, you know, and that THEY actually know, that their position is untenable. Folks, these are the type of people you have given $130 Million Dollars to. If you're reading these posts, or going to the '2016CleburneISDSchoolBond blog' on blog spot, and know someone who might be older and ISN'T computer or internet savvy, print this and all the other posts off, and give it to them. Spread the word. Because this scam and incompetence in Cle burne can't exist in the light of day if enough people know about it. 

How do I, and the others fighting this incompetence and potential thievery know that we are doing some good? Because of responses like this..

"Well, Princess, in your own words, "A lot of folks in Cleburne aren't very computer savvy and thus don't read social media..." Yet, here you are, still posting! Makes perfect sense! Guess it IS a lot easier (and safer) for you to just sit behind your keyboard and post your nonsense than to actually DO something IN YOUR COMMUNITY where it might actually do some good, right? What's that they say about doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results? LMAO! Just goes to show that you really AREN'T playing with a full deck; you're a JACK OFF!"

Sounds like we've poked the monkeys quite a bit, right?

Now, experience has shown us all that if you march down to the newspaper and voice your opinion against the supposed 'status quo', you'll have people do background checks on you trying to find anything in your past that is negatively newsworthy, such as what happened to Pete whatisname there in Cleburne when someone slipped a news article from 16 years ago under the door at the Cleburne Times Review to try and make Pete look bad and intimidate him. Another fella there in town, Harold, has had the temerity to try and hold the school to task for their expenditures over the years, by doing Freedom of Information Act requests, and calling TEA when the CISD gets out of hand, and he's been treated pretty badly by the morons in charge since he's tried to keep them from spending money like drunken sailors. Anyone else who has written an editorial against the bond has received shitty emails and texts. It's like a bunch of abusive 12 year olds somehow got in charge.

The last time that happened on a large scale, the Cleb urne ISD was spending federal funds so fraudulently, they had to give back $300,000 dollars or so, and the people from the State of Texas stopped doing their audit after only doing 10% of the books, because they were afraid that if they continued, they'd break the school financially. 2006 I think that was.

So really, all we're seeing now is just the latest band of incompetents in charge of the school, who can't get the kids to test out of the lower 10% of the state, and before ever talking about the sorry state the school buildings are in do to their malfeasance with the maintenance budget, had the gall to ask for $150 Million Dollars for a football stadium first. 

In the spirit of spreading the good word, if you know someone in Cleburne, heck, email this to them, print it off and stick it on the business card wall of the local restaurant, print it off and stick it on windshields in town. 

The facts are that the CISD school board has no control of anything anymore, couldn't act as an oversight committee for a lemonade stand, and has given up their power to approve hiring and payscales, and has allowed Heath to raise the 'don't report to anyone' dollar amount up to $50,000, from the already ridiculous $25,000 it was before. 

If the school board can't be bothered to verify what is being spent and why, why are they there? And who should take their place?

Print it off, and spread the word folks. I see the hits on the blog, so I know this is doing some good, stats don't lie :) And eventually, once everyone in town knows what kind of scam was perpetrated with this double-whammy bond scam, I'm pretty sure that someone will be held accountable. 

Gosh. Sure do hope you administration folks have some good lawyers, right?

And don't forget to take LOT OF PICTURES of the new construction, so we can add up what they did with what they spent! We call the difference between the two 'embezzlement'.

have a nice day! :)

Cleburne ISD school board in Cleburne, Texas has LOST CONTROL.

only in Texas will a town try to pass a $150 Million Dollar school bond for a new football stadium first, and have it fail,  before stating that they actually need $130 Million Dollars for a new high school because the old one is in such bad shape as the same people promoting the bond didn't maintain what they had.  Oh, and no one asks why they asked for a new football stadium first!

Sure, the bond passed, but let's face it.  A lot of folks in Cle burne aren't very computer savvy and thus don't read social media, the Cleburne Times Review actually doesn't have that big of a circulation in Cleb urne since it got sold to an out of town company, and the CISD administration did have $120,000 of taxpayer money to promote the bond.  I bet if about 17,000 more people had known all of the reasons to vote that thing down, more of them would have gone and voted.  People  that were 'low information voters' unfortunately made the assumption that the people in charge wouldn't screw them, but as we've seen, respect for authority, when those in authority are idiots, has gotten us into wars for oil, gave us Obamacare, and resulted in one country being a good start for a world war, not once, but TWICE.

Always always question the action of those in charge, especially when it affects your pocketbook.

Anyway, let's talk about that school board there in C leburne.

Turns out, Heath, the Superintendent, told the school board he felt that he should be able to hire two new Principals for the, what was it, middle school and high school? to replace the folks that left recently, without any oversight, authorization, or input from the school board.   Of course, this applies to what they get paid, too.  No input from the school board, the entity whose sole reason for being is to act as oversight into the expenditure of public monies.

Of course, the reason the school board is SUPPOSED to have a voice in who is hired, is because that keeps a Superintendent from hiring his buddies, who may or may not be qualified for the gig.

Sure enough, Heath hired two people he worked  with in Mansfield, his previous posting.

Word for the day!  'Cronyism'- the appointment of friends and associates to positions of authority, without proper regard to their qualifications.

You should all remember that word, because you're going to need it in the future when describing Heath's hiring practices..

Also, (yes, there's more!) Heath also got the school board to sign off on a change in the manner in which the school board provides oversight regarding the amounts the school can spend without getting approval from the school board.

Until recently, it was $25,000.  That's right.  The school could cut a check to a consultant, a highly paid custodian, a contractor, whoever, and with no more verification on the receipt than 'job done!' that person the check was written to would get $25,000 bucks without anyone outside the administration signing off on it.

Now, cutting checks left and right for a few hundred bucks is one thing, but when you start doing it for $25,000, well, now we're talking real money, right?

Except that Heath got the school board to RAISE the amount.. to $50,000.  That's right. Heath can take the CISD check book, cut a check for $50,000 dollars to whoever he wants, and there is no one to say 1) hey, what was THIS all about?  or 2) catch him BEFORE he cuts the check, to put the brakes on and say 'do we REALLY need to do this?'

The reason that these amounts are so scary, and should be lower, and should have the school board looking into the 'why' and the 'how much' on a lot of these expenditures, is that it is EASY for people to embezzle money from public institutions such as ... Cle burne ISD.  Google it.  Happens at other schools across the country all the time, usually due to school boards who have dropped the ball.

At this point, the good news for the school board, is that there is absolutely no reason for them to bother holding meetings anymore.  Why waste the time?  What's the point?  These people budgeted a hot dog stand at Wheat Middle School for $245,000, which is insane for a kitchen, storeroom, and some bathrooms, at a middle school, where the facility will be used 8 times a year, and the school STILL went over budget, to a total of $277,000 (or more, depending on who you ask).  And who thinks they will do a good job of providing any oversight on $130 Million Dollars?

And the people of Cleburne, through their lack of civic responsibility, just handed an administration without ANY OVERSIGHT whatsoever from this sorry excuse of a school board, $130 Million Dollars.

What could possibly go wrong?

Well, stay tuned to 2016cleburneisdschoolbond.blogspot.com, or google 'Cleburne School Bond Scam', because I have a feeling, the drama, the incompetence, the lyin', cheatin' and stealin', it ain't over yet!

P.S.  Want to have some real fun?  When they start construction on the school and sports plex, take LOTS OF PICTURES of the construction, every day now!  We can all compare pictures later, and they will come in handy when the numbers don't match up on what they spent vs what was done, and the state comes in to AUDIT this project, and they'll want to see pictures of what is physically there at the construction site, to match to the checks they wrote for materials and labor.  Why, just imagine!  If someone cut a check for $100,000 on $50,000 worth of work, well, I guess all those pictures and an audit would catch that wouldn't it?  We don't need no stinkin' school board, we can be our OWN oversight committee!

2016 Cleburne ISD School Bond passes due to a better campaign and a budget of $120,000 of TAXPAYER MONEY.

Assuming that there wasn't some type of vote fraud on Saturday, it looks like the taxpayers of Cleburne, at least those who voted, have spoken, at least for all the others who didn't vote, and this $130 Million Dollar School Bond Scam has passed.

The administration did a good job of mailing out flyers and voting pamphlets to high school students old enough to vote, and CISD alumni who are in college.  Of course, focusing on getting the 'youth' vote is a great way to pass financial boondoggles, because the young have no concept of long term debt, taxes, or barely, even balancing their checkbook, but they do love to buy stuff, especially with what they perceive is other people's money.

Actually, if none of the kids who voted for this thing move back to Cleburne, it WILL be other people's money!

So let's see here... once we build this thing, along with a new football stadium, (because that was really the goal here, this had nothing to do with a new high school or anything that will actually better educate the kids), we're to assume that..

A) more children will magically show up for an education in Cleburne.. and

B) their quality of education will magically go up so that they are no longer testing in the bottom 10% of the state of Texas.

Here's a question.  When those two things don't happen.. who is responsible?  Who's getting fired?  Who's GOIN' TO JAIL?

These people couldn't even build a hot dog stand efficiently, spending more than any house in Cleburne on.. a hot dog stand, at Wheat Middle School.  $277,000 and for what?  to sell nachos and hot dogs 8 times a year at middle school football games?

These people in the administration, and apparently in Cain's office as well, are incompetent, based on the lies and misinformation they've pushed in the attempted passage of the first bond scam 'We NEED a new football stadium, the school's are FINE', to pushing the bond scam AGAIN, rebranded as 'We NEED a new high school, because the old one is in such bad shape because we DIDN'T TAKE CARE OF IT'.

Get real.

Well Cleburne, you're going to find out how Detroit became Detroit.  And we'll be here to bring into the light, every dumb, criminal, incompetent action of the school administration, city government, and school board along the way.

Stay tuned!

2016 Cleburne ISD School Bond SCAM, questions to ask about the bond

This is it Cleburne!  Get out there Saturday, and vote NO! on this school bond SCAM.

 If they need a new high school so bad, why did they ask for a football stadium the first time around?

Why did they spend $277,000 on a hot dog stand at Wheat Middle School?

How do they know how much anything will cost if they don't even have an architect hired?

Why does one of the two 'artists renderings' pictures they have to pitch this thing show a big SPORTS PLEX?

Why does this thing smell like a pitch for a Time Share Condo?

How will one building over another educate the kids better so they aren't testing in the bottom ten percent of the state?

How will one building over another help most incoming freshmen read over a 6th grade level?

Why did the CISD administration tell everyone that your taxes won't go up if you're 65, when in fact, tax assessments in October happen after the voting for the bond, meaning that your taxes WILL go up if you are currently 65?

How did the high school get in such a state of disrepair?

Who is responsible?

Where did the money go?

Why did the last bond have $20 million earmarked to repair Cooke and Coleman, and yet this bond only has $2.5 million?

Why does the contractor that donated $5000 to the Cleburne PAC promoting this bond, list on the front page of their website, that their specialty is 'Building New Football Stadiums?'

Why are the Yes Matters! people stealing and burning Vote NO! political signs?

Why do the Yes Matters! people need the Hilton of High Schools?  Why can't we just fix the one we've got?

If Cleburne said NO last time to a $150 Million Dollar Bond, why did the school administration turn right around and propose one for $130 Million, even though studies showed that Cleburne would decline any bond over $100 Million?

Why did the administration repeatedly say that the high school was too crowded, when studies that the administration have, and the school board members who inspected the schools and counted heads and rooms, show that the school, at current growth rates in Cleburne, won't be full for a decade?

After repeatedly saying that the high school was too crowded, why did Heath the Superintendent state, when asked directly by the newspaper, that classrooms didn't have any space issues, that it was just the hallways?  Does he not realize that all the kids in the classrooms end up in the hallways when the bell rings?

If we have a good oversight process to verify how, when, where, and how much taxpayer money is spent on a project, how did the administration build a $277,000 hot dog stand at Wheat Middle School that was budgeted for $245,000?

If we have a good oversight process to verify how, when, where, and how much taxpayer money is spent on a project, how is it that Cleburne built a hot dog stand that is more expensive than the largest three story house, with a garage, and a pool, in Cleburne?

If the bond committee meetings achieved such great consensus, why did 1/3 of the attendees stop coming to the meetings due to feeling manipulated?

Why does the administration keep saying that if we build a huge expensive high school, that people will move to Cleburne to have their kids go there?  Has anyone ever moved to a specific area because of a high school whose students regularly test in the bottom ten percent of the state?

After all this, would you trust these people with $130 Million Dollars of YOUR money?  OUR money?  Anyone's money?

Why are the police and the Cleburne Times Review not investigating the theft and burning of Vote NO! signs at that party the other night?

Why is no one auditing the financials on that $277,000 hot dog stand at Wheat Middle School to find out why it was so expensive?

Why is no one auditing CISD to find out what happened to the maintenance budget for Cooke, Coleman, and the high school?

Is this bond proposal merely incompetence?  or a criminal scam?

How much of a bond does Cleburne REALLY need to just repair the schools they have?

When this bond scam fails, if the administration proposes another $100 Million Dollar plus bond, who will be held accountable?

It is really true that the administration has spent $120,000 promoting each of these recent bond scams?

Other than a new high school and Sports Plex, what are the administrations plans to increase the quality of education at CISD, at least so the students aren't testing in the lower 10 percent of the state?

Is it true that the administration can cut a check to anyone for $25,000 without having to say why, to the school board, or anyone?

How often, if at all, has the school board ever denied the administration any expenditures?

Why does the school board not take detailed minutes about the meetings so that there is a record of what they talked about when discussing public monies?

Why do the school board hold all of their meetings after all the fluff of awards and whatnot, behind closed doors?  Since they use public funds?  What's the secret?

Why are the school board meetings not videotaped and put up on youtube like other schools?  In the spirit of Transparency?

If you had a choice of a school that was renowned for giving a great education to it's students, or Cleburne, that regularly tests in the bottom 10 percent of the state, which school would you send your kids to?

If this bond is such a good idea, why are so many people screaming about it?

Does $232 Million, after interest, of debt for Cleburne, for the next 25 years, sound like a good thing?

If 2/3rds of the tax revenue for the bond comes from businesses, what will happen if the economy stalls again?  Would Cleburne default on the bond payments?

Why is the administration going to put electronic tablets for the kids on a bond meant for infrastructure?  Won't the tablets go out of date long before the bond is paid off?  Even if the amount of the tablets is paid off in a few years, isn't this like taking out a 5 year note for a $200 computer?  Does that make any sense?

If the bond for the football stadium had passed, would CISD administration be asking for a bond for a new high school now?

Is there a conflict of interest when a member of the school board is married to a person that owns an engineering company that receives money approved by the school board, from the school?

Who is going to be fired when this bond scam fails?

Go Vote NO! on the 2016 Cleburne ISD School Bond Scam!

There have been enough articles in the Cleburne Times Review to get both sides of this thing, but some simple questions are, if we need a new high school so bad, why did they try to pitch us a $150 Million Dollar Football Stadium first?

New high schools don't bring people into town, jobs do.   Growth in Cleburne is stagnant, and telling us we need a new high school and sports plex to cover up the fact that the administration hasn't been repairing the schools they've got is joke.

Cleburne ISD students routinely test in the bottom ten percent of the state.  How will a new set of classrooms that smell like paint, vs the existing set of classrooms, (that Heath admitted we do not have space constraints in!) change that?

The administration has been misleading or just lied about a number of things.  If you want real information about this bond scam, go see any of the gentlemen who wrote dissenting articles in the Cleburne Times Review, stating why we should vote NO! on this bond scam.

Vote NO! May 7th!  If you don't, these incompetent, or criminal, elements pushing this thing will have gotten away with it, and Cleburne will be well on it's way to being a little Detroit.  It isn't a far hop for a business to leave Cleburne and go to Burleson.  Plus, the Cleburne Times Review stated, in that students article, that what? 2/3rds of the tax base is from business?  Another good economic hit, and Cleburne would default on the bond.

It's a bad idea folks.  Force them to create a small bond that repairs the schools we've got.  $10 million should be more than enough, but $130 million, $150 million, it's just a joke, and it is a SCAM.

In response to the 5/1 editorials on the Cleburne Times Review acting as Propaganda for this bond scam

In response to the 5/1 editorials on the Cleburne Times Review.   Had to trim this down to get it to fit in comments section, feel free to share with a friend!

Good Lord.   What is this, the bonus round for non-factual propaganda?  A plea to 'keep up with the Joneses?  a multi-stage sales pitch for a bad real-estate deal where the junior salespeople get to come in on the action and see if they can find a sucker?  An emotional appeal to fork out money ,you know, for the kids?  When the money is really going to a scammer sitting in Nigeria? Assuming that someone has come into this little party late in the game and knows nothing about the history on this bond scam, and the last one, let's run through a few things.

First, go to votenocleburne.blogspot.com or 2016cleburneisdschoolbond.blogspot.com for more information about this thing.  Go to youtube and search for '*INSIDERS* EXPOSE CISD Bond!'.  Look at the comments under all the other cleburne times review articles about the bond.  Search google for '2016 Cleburne School Bond Scam'.  Read craigslist rants and raves under 'all Dallas'.  google Facebook Cleburne Gossip, and read additional information there.

Let's start with some of the newly discovered facts..

Turns out, if you're 65, your taxes WILL go up, because the bond will be over and done with before tax assessments in October.  They keep saying 'If you're 65, you're taxes are frozen!'  Not quite so.  Plan on age 66, and that only applies to the address you live at in Cleburne, not your business or rental properties.  Also, they never seem to mention that everyone who DOES have a business in Cleburne and has to raise their prices to cover the new taxes, will cause EVERYONE'S cost of living to go up, regardless of age.

It was said by the school administration until recently that, 'Our current high school is just TOO DARN SMALL'.  Then, a couple of weeks back, when asked directly about it,  Heath had to say, 'Well, we don't actually have a space issue with the classrooms, it's just that the hallways are crowded'.  Like.. when the bell rings?  ARE YOU KIDDING ME?  This is like having to ask a 5 year old probing questions to get him to admit he had his hand in the cookie jar!

Per the Cleburne Times Review, when speaking to the Lions Club, Heath admitted that the administration has no architect as of yet, has no contractor hired, has had no feasibility studies done.  All they have is two pictures to wave around to sell this thing, one of a photo shopped generic high school, and the other of the new layout of the grounds, which suspiciously looks like it has a new sports plex, including some new large locker rooms that could be part of a.. new football stadium.  Here's what's so crazy.  If they haven't had any of the studies done, haven't hired anyone, then HOW DO THEY KNOW how much any of this will cost?  How do they know?

NONE of this money in this bond will go to increase the quality of education at CISD, unless you consider $2.5 million of electronic tablets they'll get for the kids, paid for by a bond meant for infrastructure, and will be out of date long before the bond is paid off.  Sure, they say they'll have 'that part' of the bond paid for in 5 years, but that still means they are taking out a 5 year note on a $200 widget.  That's crazy, and fiscally, kinda stupid.

The administration keeps going on about the state of disrepair the school is in.  Are you kidding me?  The people who are supposed to maintain this thing, and didn't, are complaining at the results of their incompetency?  I don't recall the football program running short of money.  I do recall the school spending absolutely stupid money on a hot dog stand at Wheat High School two years ago.   These people have the fiscal responsibility of a kid in a toy store, and they want $130 Million Dollars of our money, plus interest, across 2 generations?  Get real.  

Let's talk about that hot dog stand.  Go drive over to Wheat Middle School, and check it out.  Ask the school for a tour.  Heck, get wild and crazy, and AUDIT THE FINANCIALS ON THE THING.  $277,000 they spent on this thing, when it was budgeted for $245,000, which is still stupid money for a hot dog stand.  Go look up home prices in Cleburne.  You can barely find a house that expensive, and when you do, it's a three store home with attached garage and a swimming pool!  The CISD used that much money to build...
a hot dog stand.  That will be used 8 times a year.

Let's talk about how we got here.

First, we've already gone through all this once, when they tried to sell a new football stadium, on a $150 Million Dollar Bond.  So, knowing that we had all these problems with the school, because all of these 'issues' they're selling didn't just crop up in the last 2 years, so knowing the state of repair of Cooke, Coleman, the high school, they pitched a new football stadium.  Which got voted down by the taxpayers of Cleburne, and rightly so.  It was astoundingly stupid that it made it to a vote at all.

Now, here were are again, similar amount of money, but with a different sales pitch.  Another bond steering committee packed with CISD employees, conflict of interest anyone? with everyone else experiencing attempted manipulation by the bond consultants, with the result that about 1/3 of the attendees just stopped coming.  That manipulation was called 'The Delphi Technique' where a crowd is manipulated with 'false consensus' to come up with a pre-ordained result.  Used by Time-Share salesmen around the world.

The administration ,the bond consultants, and the Cleburne PAC promoting this thing have been obtuse, tried to limit knowledge of the bond, have websites no more informative than fluff about it, have used $120,000 dollars of taxpayer money to promote this thing so far, on top of the LAST bond scam, have denigrated and demonized anyone with the bravery to disagree in public with them about the fiscal responsibility or educational potential of this bond, have done background checks on those folks I like to call 'FRC's', or, Fiscally Responsible Citizens, though they refer to them by the misnomer CAVE people.  The Mayor has attempted to coin a phrase 'Don't mess with Cleburne! har har!' and fraudulently disenfranchise folks who, while living out of town, will still have properties they own in Cleburne affected by the bond.  These same YES Matters people are now stealing and burning 'Vote NO' political signs, you should see the game camera footage!  The fact that we are doing this again shows that the administration is going against the will of the people, because we already voted this thing down once.

How many times do we have to say no?  Put together a bond that repairs the high school and Cooke and Coleman, audit CISD to find out where the money went that was SUPPOSED to repair the schools, consider firing anyone who promoted this bond scam, and then hire some people who have experience in better education instead of 'school expansion'.   Develop an oversight committee that can put the brakes on spending BEFORE they cut the check.  Get rid of conflicts of interest, like Mrs. Childress on the school board having direct and indirect control of funds paid to her husbands engineering company.  Investigate who started this bond scam, and sue the crap out of them for spending $240,000 of taxpayer money over two bond proposals to promote this tripe.

Did you know the school can cut a check for $20,000 without having to report it to the school board, who even if itwas larger, would just rubber stamp it anyway?  If you go to the school board meetings, did you know they hardly take minutes, so that there is no history of what they talk about, and when they do talk about anything other than giving awards and whatnot, they do it behind closed doors even though it is public monies they are discussing, and thus should be having that discussion in a public forum.  Want to have some real fun?  Start videotaping the school board meetings, and putting them up by date on youtube the way everyone else does.  That way, you, the public, can see exactly how they are using YOUR money.

Vote this thing down everyone.  Either these folks in the administration pushing this thing are really really incompetent, or, it's a scam that someone is planning on embezzling from.  I honestly don't know which, but regardless, it needs to be voted down.

Vote NO!

Cleburne Times Review articles about the 2016 Cleburne ISD School Bond Scam

Want to have a little fun?  Go read all of the articles about this 2016 Cleburne School Bond Scam on the Cleburne Times Review, on their website 'cleburnetimesreview.com'.

At the bottom of all these articles are the option to comment on the article.

Just search on their website.. 'bond', and that should bring most or all of the articles up, and then read the comments at the bottom.

A lot of these Cleburne Times Review articles, especially the one by the mayor the other day, read like fairy tales.  Now, you can certainly read a dissenting viewpoint in the comments below these articles, but you can also do your OWN due diligence, and research these issues yourself.

Any of the school administrators and bond consultants would be more than happy to run their sales pitch by you, but you might find their pitch to be high on fluffyness and low on facts.

All of the major players on the VOTE NO side have been mentioned in the paper, go call THEM up, and have THEM tell you directly why you should vote no on this bond scam.  Still have questions?  The vote no guys are probably more likely to direct you in a direction you can find TRUTH, instead of a fuzzy sales pitch for a bad real estate deal that really looks like a SCAM.

vote NO on this bond scam, early voting now, or main voting on May 7th.  And when this gets voted down, every administrator that perpetrated this scam needs to be investigated, fired, and possibly run to jail.  A full audit of CISD needs to be done, because if they couldn't even build a hot dog stand at Wheat Middle School for less than $277,000 on a budget of $245,000, and then have been brazen enough to hit up the taxpayers not once, but TWICE for a huge bond scam, spending $120,000 of our money to promote it each time, how do we know they are spending the money they have access to responsibly?

Show them that the people of Cleburne are not a bunch of suckers to be taken in by a con.  Vote NO!

149 Teachers have early voted so far! and they don't keep the voting boxes locked!

Turns out, they don't keep the voting boxes for the bond locked, they count 'em every two hours, and a whole bunch of teachers from CISD have voted so far in the bond election, and you know how they probably had to vote, so get on out there, and VOTE THIS THING DOWN.

Also, the ballot box is the length and width of the ballots, with a slot on the front to slide your ballot in.  That means that when you put your name on the sign in sheet, someone can go back and compare the sign in sheet with the order the ballots lay on each other in the ballot sized box, and figure out how you voted.

Sucks to be a fiscally responsible teacher these days!

Also, seeing as how there has been so much controversy over this bond.. again... maybe those boxes otta stay locked until voting is over at the end of the day and maybe have FOUR people verifying the count instead of two.

At any rate folks, if you haven't voted, GO VOTE NO on this 2016 Cleburne School Bond Scam, and check out votenocleburne.blogspot.com for local editorials regarding all the reasons to vote no on this thing.

Also, the Sunday 24th, 2016 edition of the Cleburne Times Review had a guest column titled 'Time to Step Back on 2016 school bond proposal', and besides all the other articles, that one really tells you all you need to know about why to vote this thing down.

A fight for the Hilton of High Schools, the 2016 Cleburne $130 Million Dollar School Bond Scam

article from the Cleburne Times Review, with comments in parentheses

-cleburne times review article cisd bond battle intensifies-

As early voting for Cleburne ISD’s proposed $130 million bond nears participants ranging from CISD officials to residents to Cleburne Mayor Scott Cain and at least some members of the Johnson County Republican Party on both sides of the debate continue to up their efforts by arguing either for or against the proposal.

Voters residing within CISD’s district will weigh in on the proposed bond on May 7. Voters last year rejected the district’s $150 million bond proposal. *( and yet, here we are! having to say NO all over again! )*

The current proposal calls for construction of a new high school, renovations and repairs to Cooke and Coleman elementary schools, establishment of a career and technical education center in the current high school and additional upgrades throughout the district.

Cleburne residents Alden Nellis and Pete Wrench recently laid out their opposition points to the bond, points CISD officials understandably disagree with.

A resolution adopted by the executive committee of the Johnson County Republican Party on April 5  opposing the bond election has proved controversial as well, prompting Cain and other Cleburne residents to decry what they label attempts by outsiders to influence a local election.  *(and not once has anyone brought up that not only does the JCRP have a right to free speech, but a perfect right to their opinion when they OWN PROPERTY in Cleburne that will have high taxes due to this bond scam! )*

Burleson resident Joe Palmer, program director of the Johnson County Republican Party and a member of the party’s executive committee, introduced the proposal. Palmer, among other points, argues that the bond amount is too much given CISD’s current debt of about $43 million. Palmer countered outsider charges lobbed by Cain and others by pointing out that many non-Cleburne residents still own property within the city and therefore will feel the effects of CISD’s increased property tax rates.

Pro and con controversy

The $130 million sought by CISD represents the largest amount of money borrowed in Cleburne history, Wrench said, a charge CISD officials confirm.

Repayment would actually total about $233,533,619 once interest is factored in, Wrench said.

CISD officials said the estimated interest total of about $103 million is just that, an estimate and that market conditions at the time of the bond’s sale will determine the actual interest rate. *( and that right there is why we don't want YOU GUYS to have this much of our money, because of your attitude of 'oh, a million here, a million there, what does it matter?' )*

Wrench said CISD’s property tax rate will increase from $1.37 per $100 of property valuation to about $1.63 per $100 should the bond proposal pass, which would elevate CISD to the second highest taxed district in Johnson County and the sixth highest in Texas.

CISD officials confirmed the first charge but said they did not do a statewide comparison. *(because, you know, that would have made them look bad..)*

“That tax rate would be 97.4 percent of the absolute of the absolute maximum allowed by law, $1.67,” Wrench said. “In other words, CISD basically wants to max out their credit card and send the bill to us the taxpayers.”  *( exactly! )*

Passage of the bond proposal would also mark the 17th tax rate increase in Cleburne in the past decade, Wrench said.

“Since 2005, the tax rate for CISD has increased once, when voters approved the tax ratification election in 2014,” district officials said.

CISD, officials stressed, has no involvement or control over the tax rates of other entities in the city. *(but the taxpayers still have to pay 'em all!)*

Passage of the bond, Wrench said, would raise school taxes 32.7 percent over two years ago, numbers district officials also confirmed.

Wrench and Nellis also disagreed with, in their words, claims by CISD that the bond will have “no affect” on residents 65 and older as their property taxes are frozen.

“Many citizens over 65 own more than one property and only their primary residence qualifies to be frozen,” Nellis said. “The frozen status does not apply to additions or remodeling of the property.”

CISD officials admitted as much. *(when having the facts put up in front of them on a big marker board, with pictures, diagrams, and an inability to lie about it in a public forum.)*

The cost of living for senior citizens will increase, Wrench said, because most businesses will pass their tax increases on to customers.

Most of the tax burden will fall on low-income property owners, Wrench said, and about 66 percent of CISD students come from economically disadvantaged families, according to Texas Education Agency numbers.

Property taxes, district officials answered, depend upon the value of the owner’s property. As of August 2015, they said, the average home value in Cleburne totaled $93,140, which would result in taxes of $931.21.

Wrench and Nellis said the bond will do almost nothing to improve CISD academics, given that bond funds cannot be used to hire teachers, raise their pay or otherwise invest in classroom instruction.  ( Besides have one school room that smells like new paint miraculously creating a better educational process over one that doesn't, what about all those new sports fields, aka: the SPORTS PLEX, seen in the 'artists renderings' on the school bond website, how is THAT going to improve academics?)*

“Only about 4 percent of the bond principal, in the form of technology, theoretically could improve academics,” Wrench said. “Yet academics, not shiny new buildings, is the primary criterion parents consider when deciding where to educate their children.”  *(also, those tablets they want to give all the kids will be out of date 20 years before the bond is paid off, and even though the administration says 'oh, we'll have THAT portion of the bond paid off in 5 years', that means they are still taking out a 5 year note on $200 widgets, which is ridiculous.)*

CISD officials said about $5.8 million will go to technology upgrades for all campuses.

“Every classroom in the district will be impacted by this bond,” officials said. “In the form of instructional technology, with new audio/visual digital equipment, including interactive projectors and document cameras. All teachers will receive a presentation laptop to be used in the operation of their new classroom technology.”  *(as part of a bond meant for infrastructure, not short term life technology.  Would you take out a 5 year note, or a 25 year note, on a computer from the 90's?  )*

The new bond proposal, Wrench and Nellis argue, ignores the will of Cleburne voters given that they turned down last year’s $150 million proposal.  *( It's AMAZING how the priorities change, last year the school just HAD to HAVE  a NEW FOOTBALL STADIUM, and now they just HAVE to HAVE a NEW HIGH SCHOOL and... SPORTS PLEX.. right. How many times do we have to say no?)*

“The 2016 bond is completely different from the referendum presented to voters in 2015,” district officials said, adding that a committee made up of a cross section of the community studied the district’s needs to generate proposals.  *( It's $20 Million less!  With a high school!  and a sports plex.  That realllly smells like a new football stadium is going to be snuck in there...)*

District officials dispute Wrench’s claim that student enrollment has declined and said it has increased by about 200 students since this time last year.  *(talk to the school board about the studies done showing student numbers growth in Cleburne, it'll be 10 years before the existing high school is at capacity. )*

CISD, Nellis said, is rated within the bottom 25 percent of Texas schools, according to schooldigger.com.

“The annual TEA Accountability Ratings is the rating system utilized by public schools as the state’s assessment in measuring student performance, year-to-year student progress, efforts to close performance gaps in academic achievement of economically disadvantaged students and a campuses’ two lowest-performing racial/ethnic groups and postsecondary readiness,” district officials responded to Nellis’ charge. “In 2015, CISD received the top rating of Met Standard as did all campuses, with the exception of one elementary school.  *(Then why did most of the incoming freshmen this year test at a 6th grade reading level?)*

“In addition, TEA awarded a total of 11 Distinction Designations to six CISD campuses relating to academic achievement, student progress and postsecondary readiness, with three of the designations awarded to Cleburne High School for academic achievement in science and social studies and postsecondary readiness.  *(again, freshmen, 6th grade reading level?)*

“Cleburne High School has also been named to the College Board AP Honor Roll for the second consecutive year for increasing access to AP coursework while simultaneously meeting or increasing the percentage of students earning three or higher on AP exams. Only 23 Texas school districts received this recognition.  *(so how many studens from CISD are going on to college when they have a substandard reading level?)*

“The importance of facilities to health and student performance is ‘well established, according to the 2016 State of Our Schools: America’s K-12 Facilities report, a joint publication of the 21st Century School Fund, National Council on School Facilities and The Center for Green Schools, in which it states ‘research shows that high-quality facilities help improve student achievement, reduce truancy and suspensions, improve staff satisfaction and retention and raise property values.’”  *(Really, if we'd just give them $130 Million Dollars without any oversight so they can build the Hilton of High Schools, they PROMISE that we'll have much better educated kids.  They PROMISE.  Of course, no one in the administration is liable for what they do, because when things don't work out, the Superintendents just get paid hundreds of thousdands of dollars of 'go away' money, per their contract, and then the NEXT GUY comes in with his song and dance until he makes a buck or two and leaves as well.  Show me some accountability from someone, ANYONE, in the administration.  )*

Cleburne resident Harry Schaffer, who also opposes the bond, joined Wrench in arguing that the bond as proposed is too much money, too vaguely worded and holds voters hostage to an unnecessary high school. Schaffer, Wrench and Nellis agree that Cooke and Coleman need attention but argued for a smaller bond proposal to cover those and what they called other actual district needs.

Cain and CISD officials counter that the high school is overcrowded (update, when pressed, the superintendent stated that the rooms are fine, but the HALLS are crowded when the bell rings!  I kid you not), outdated, hazardous and needs replacing.  *(Well maybe if you guys would stop using classrooms for storage, you wouldn't have that problem.  Outdated?  Some of the best colleges in our country are made up of buildings over 200 years old, and in other countries like the UK, even older.  Are you saying that walls have an expiration date?  Hazardous? HAZARDOUS?? Really? Big sinkholes everywhere, swallowing up students?  Rickety stairs?  Ceilings falling in?  that kind of Hazardous? Because if that's the case, WHY HAVE YOU, THE ADMINISTRATION, NOT BEEN MAINTAINING THESE BUILDINGS??!!!!   Come up with some better b.s. guys, or who me who is accountable for these failures, so THAT person can be fired,sued, and go to jail for such 'dangerous' schools.  Better yet, how about leaving the maintenance budget money.. IN.. the maintenance budget, and repair the damn schools the way you are supposed to. )*

“What we need to do is get back to the issue, which is that our students need and deserve safe and updated facilities,” Cain said.   *(Once again, why the hell haven't you guys been maintaining the facilities all these years?  And if you can't do that, what makes you think we're going to give you $130 Million Dollars??)*

Schaffer disagreed and said the issue should be improving academics, not new buildings.  *(Incredible! A voice of reason!)*

“Instead of this build it and let’s see if they come attitude they should wait a few years to see if the growth they’re hoping for actually comes and at that time, if it’s necessary, revisit the high school,” Schaffer said. “But the amount of money they’re wanting in this bond will not help the district’s academic problem and these kids are so far behind.  *(Exactly.  The administration wants $130 Million Dollars on A BET that if they build it, people will move to Cleburne because of the high school.  That is NUTS.  Let's stick to facts, not gambling.)*

“The root problem is in the elementary schools and none of the current population predictions I’ve seen for Cleburne dictate that we ought to be spending the money to build all this stuff they want at this time. The numbers just don’t add up.

“But the No. 1 reason I don’t support the bond is that I don’t trust the school board and administration to spend the money based on their history and track record.”  *(These guys couldn't even build a cheap hot dog stand at Wheat Middle School! Not only did the school board budget $245,000 for this thing, which is more than most three story houses with a pool in town, but they couldn't even stick to THAT budget, and the thing ended up costing $277,000, or more, as they aren't really sure what the final number was!  These people shouldn't be anywhere NEAR $130 Million Dollars.)*

Heath, during Friday’s Pinnacle Club 50 meeting, called passage of the bond vital and encouraged attendees to discuss the need for the bond with their family members and neighbors.

“It’s easy to talk about what’s not right,” Heath said. “But there’s a lot of good things going on at CISD too and in the short time I’ve been here I’ve come to know that this is a community that supports our kids.  *(So please support our kids with a $130 Million Dollar Bond that will do nothing for academics but will put them in debt for the next generation if they choose to stay and live in Cleburne?  Please support our kids when the administration has most incoming freshmen reading at a 6th grade level, and you guys call that NORMAL?  Is that the kind of support you're talking about?)*

Bond funds, among other things, will greatly increase the capacity of the district’s Career and Technical Education Department offering marketable skills to those students who, for whatever reasons, may not go on to pursue college degrees. *(LOL.. whatever reason?  How about the reason that YOU GUYS didn't teach them to read, and thus they couldn't get into a 4 year college!!!)*

Heath said it’s important to study up on the proposal and become informed and said many of those opposed are spreading misinformation and/or pushing a political agenda from outside of the district.  *(Misinformation??  YOU GUYS are the people that manipulated the folks in the bond committee SO BAD that 1/3 of them stopped coming to the meetings, because YOU TOLD them that the outcome of the meetings had already been decided, and you just wanted their consensus, ie: RUBBER STAMP on the thing, so that YOU GUYS could say, 'See everyone? The people do support the bond!'.  You've been misleading when telling people all the additional costs that will incur to those living in Cleburne, basically, a high cost of living that will be passed from business owners to those who live in Cleburne.  And telling people 'it's only the cost of a hamburger a week! or $1 a day, or whatever other 'misleading' sales pitches YOU GUYS have thrown out to the taxpayers.  .. and Political Agendas?  How about personal interest in not getting screwed on properties owned in Cleburne, even if they aren't a main living residence? )*

Cleburne resident Albert Archer, a supporter of the proposal, echoed Heath’s call for residents to inform themselves of the issue.

“To anyone who doubts the need, I would say don’t let someone tell you, go out and take a look for yourself,” Archer said. “Go to the high school during the day, look around and see what our kids and teachers have to work with.  *(It's.. it's.. just.. so HORRIBLE.  A 27 year old school!  Falling down around our ears!  3 seniors got swallowed up by sinkholes just last week!  The toilets aren't gold plated, and we have STANDARDS!  The personal hot tubs for the teaching staff are too close together!  And the kitchen doesn't have all stainless steel countertops!  It's just so horrible.. sniff.. )*

“If you still need a reason to vote for this, I can give you 3,000 reasons, our students who deserve better than we’ve provided for them. One trip out there and you’ll know that we’re not doing right by our kids.”  *( Right.  One trip out there, and take a book out there with you for the freshmen to read.  When they can't, or worse yet, when the upper classmen can't, then you'll know they're not doing right by the kids, for sure.  More Teachers would be a start, but one wall over another will make no difference in how those kids are educated, and WE THE PEOPLE are not going to fork out $130 Million Dollars for an unnecessary school when you can't even maintain or properly educate the kids in the one you've got! )*

Cleburne resident Amber Witte, also a supporter, expressed anger and indignation at the same meeting over people from outside Cleburne campaigning against the bond.  *( Dang those people for having a personal interest in the taxes on their business properties here!)*

“It’s not their decision,” Witte said. “It’s our decision.”  *(Well it's gonna be their decision to close those business and sell those properties or just cut 'em loose if you tax 'em to death, at which point, Cleburne will be well on it's way to looking like Detroit, and look how well that process worked for them?)*

Witte reiterated Cain’s advice urging residents who are contacted by anyone opposed to the bond to ask them if they live in Cleburne and, if not, why they care about a Cleburne election.  *(Maybe they hate scam artists.  Maybe they have family in Cleburne.  Maybe they own property in Cleburne but reside somewhere else.  Maybe they saw what happened with Beaumont ISD's bond fraud, and don't want that to happen to Cleburne.  )*

Johnson County Commissioner Rick Bailey, also at the Pinnacle Club 50 meeting, joked that the group opposing the CISD bond election is the “same group that said I’m not electable.”  *(and maybe you still aren't!  This bond is a SCAM.  It's a SCAM because it isn't 'for.. the.. CHILDREN..', it's a SCAM because it is a large bond for a lot of unnecessary infrastructure being sold by an administration that want the money WITHOUT ANY OVERSIGHT.  Your school board couldn't even provide oversight to make sure an overpriced hot dog stand at Wheat Middle School was built efficiently and under budget, and you think they'll do a better job with $130 Million Dollars?  If your kid absolutely has to go to the Hilton of High Schools, send 'em to a private school.  Until then, hold this administration accountable for a decent education for the kids, and they shouldn't need $130 Million Dollars to do it.)*

Cleburne Texas CISD School Bond is a SCAM... Are they actually going to build a SPORTSPLEX?

For those of you who still believe 'It's for the children!', you need to ask yourself some serious questions...

Do you believe it is possible that the Federal Government has ever misled or lied to the public?

Do you believe it is possible that your local Government has ever misled or lied to the public?

Do you believe it is possible that your Cleburne ISD School Administration (or any school administration for that matter) has ever misled or lied to the public?

If your answer to all or any of these questions is 'NO', then I have some bad news for you.  Our Federal, State, and local governments and school bureaucracies are not made up of monks whose main purpose in life is to maintain transparency and honesty in their inner workings.  All of these entities are made up of real people, who have ego's, who have stress and issues and baggage just like all the rest of us, and like a lot of humans, when given a position of power over someone else, there is a fairly good chance they will abuse their position.

There was a saying by a  gal that was the State Comptroller a few years ago, Carole Keeton Strayhorn I believe, and it goes like this.. 'Here in Texas, we're going to keep voting on it until you get it right.'  That applies so well to what Texas schools do when the voters turn down a large school bond.  They start all over the next year, and just keep hammering away.

Right now, Cleburne is into Year Two of the 'Big Cleburne School Bond Boondoggle', because the whole thing is essentially a fraud.  Last time around, Cleburne was told that, for $150 Million Dollars, Cleburne could have a nice, shiny, new Football Stadium, you know, 'For the kids!', and that it would drastically improve the quality of life in Cleburne.  Pardon my French, but that is bullshit, and the taxpayers of Cleburne thought so too, because they voted it down, but just barely, because out of 17,000 property owners, only a couple thousand voted on both sides of the issues.

So here are, again, except that this time, the school administration is promoting a new high school, you know, 'For the kids!', except that... it isn't.

If you google 'Texas School Bond Fraud', there are quite a few articles that come up about it, and the crux of this process is that with access to tens or hundreds of millions of dollars on a big project, and NO OVERSIGHT, it is possible for anyone involved with expenditures in the project the bond was raised for, to embezzle money.  And embezzle they do!  Texas isn't the only state this happens in, and there are some school systems where up to 70 Million Dollars just disappeared, such as Beaumont, Texas ISD.  Folks, that isn't white collar crime, that's a bank robbery.

The only way to keep these things from happening is to have the smallest bond possible on the smallest project possible, with the most oversight possible.  Right now Cleburne ISD is failing on all three counts.  First and foremost, the school administration keeps screaming that the high school is out of room, and the hallways are unsafely crowded, and it just impacts education so badly... that is all a lie.  Go ask the administration about the studies done on Cleburne growth over the next decade.  Go to the school board meetings and ask 'em which one of them did walkthroughs with a clipboard to count heads and classrooms.  Both processes came up to the same result.  It'll be ten years before the high school runs out of room.

Now, what is needed is a lot of repair to Cooke and Coleman schools, because, there's hearsay bouncing around that the football program kept robbing the maintenance program from these schools, and they repeatedly ended up short when they needed to do repairs.  Funny though, I never hear of the football program coming up short... Regardless, we are where we are, and on the yesmatterscisd website, they state that they can fix Cooke and Coleman for only $2.5 Million.  Great!  Let's a get a bond for that and be done.
But oh no!  That's too small a dollar amount to easily embezzle funds from, so now we've got a new high school and a rebuild of the existing high school tagged on there as well.  Here's the problem.  Sure, they call it a new high school, but look at the layout plans right there on the school or bond website.  They're not building just a new high school, they are building a new SPORTSPLEX as well.  New baseball fields, new track, new locker rooms on either side of the general use building at the end of the football field.. that suspiciously look like home and away team lockers, prior to building .... a new football stadium.

It's right there on the pictures folks.  They may scream that it's all about the high school, but it isn't.  For some reason some people in Texas think that having a big football stadium is a measure of the worth of it's students.  It isn't.  Nobel Prize winners are the measure of your school, and the way things are going, I don't see too many of those coming out of Cleburne ISD.

So here your administration is, pushing a new high school, with no mention of the SPORTS PLEX they are going to build with it, with locker rooms that look like they're setting up to build a new football stadium right there by the high school.

All of it unnecessary, none of it that will help the education of, you know, the KIDS, and all of it a SCAM to have access to large amounts of money, with NO OVERSIGHT, because your school board is asleep at the wheel.  Go to the school board meetings and watch how often they discuss school finances.  They don't.  Look through the minutes, they're so vague they could be holding drunken college parties in there and you'd never know it from the minutes.  

Vote NO on the 2016 Cleburne ISD School Bond.  It is NOT for the kids, as a pile of bricks never made a bit of difference in the education of a kid, and a new SPORTS PLEX is not going to help that either.

Did you know that at the beginning of this school year, when tested, MOST of the incoming 9th graders were reading at a 6th grade level?  Until you can fix THAT, no one needs to be spending millions of dollars on a new, going to stay mostly empty for ten years, un-needed school, or a SPORTS PLEX.

Cleburne ID 2016 School Bond Scam- Let's talk about reading

Ever wonder just how it is we learn how to read as kids?  It really takes a lot of one on one time, and it is best done early as possible.  My mom was a school teacher, and she taught me to read starting when I was four.  I read 'The Hobbit' when I was 5, and after that, I never looked back.  Now I read 4 inch thick tomes about geo-politics and history, just for fun, like some people read comic books.  Just like typing, having good reading skills is something that will help you your entire life.

Unfortunately, some folks aren't able to teach their kids how to read at home, and they have to leave it to the public school system.  That's fine, that's what the school is there for, but what happens when the school fails?

Well, then you get Cleburne ISD in Cleburne Texas.  This 2015-2016 school year, incoming 9th graders were tested for their current skill level on a number of topics, and most.. MOST.. were found to be reading at a 6th grade level.  That's horrible!  Right off the bat, that means none of them are reading for fun.. unless it's a comic book.  They're certainly not reading for education, which means later they'll have trouble reading just for a job.

Now, the Cleburne ISD administration and bond consultants would have you believe that if we just give them $130 Million Dollars without any oversight, they'll build a nice shiny new school building with that money, and that'll make everything all better.  Just one problem.  Kids in India that go to school in mud huts and later go on to become doctors over here have proven that you don't need a shiny $130 Million Dollar school building to be educated.  It's really all about the teachers, class sizes, and information technology, ie: books and, these days, computers.

Thanks to the internet, we live in the greatest renaissance of self-education and leaning known to man.  Have a question about anything?  Google it.  Look it up on Youtube.  You can learn about anything these days.  But!  You HAVE TO BE ABLE TO READ.

Now, if the proposed new school was going to help with class sizes, that would be an argument for it, but it won't.  As a matter of fact, the existing high school won't even be used at capacity for A DECADE.

Smells kind of like a scam doesn't it?  If this new high school was built, most of it would be sitting empty for a decade just waiting for the OTHER high school to fill up.

It really smells like someone just wants to get their hands on $130 Million Dollars without anyone looking over their shoulder to see how the money is spent, so that they can put.. just a little.. only a million or two.. in their pocket...

Read about it!  Google 'School Bond Fraud', or 'Texas School Bond Fraud'... this has been done before!

Plus, imagine how ripped off everyone in Cleburne will feel when the administration says 'Well, thanks for the money, but we've decided to built A NEW FOOTBALL STADIUM ANYWAY, and there is nothing you can do about it, NAH nah NAH nah NAH NAH!!  It could happen!  Nobody would get fired, nobody would go to jail.

A brick wall does not teach kids how to read.. good teachers do.

Cleburne ISD 2016 School Bond Scam... It's tough to find time to deal with local school bond voting

It is unfortunate that it takes a lot of work in Cleburne just to get by.  While a lot of places think of the work week as being 40 hours, or 30 if you live in France :) the reality in Cleburne is that a lot of people work 6 days a week, 8 to 10 hours a day.  That makes it tough to deal with local issues like school bonds.  However, just like the last school bond scam for $150 Million Dollars, this NEW bond scam for $130 Million Dollars must be voted down, or every property owner in Cleburne with be paying for the results for the next 25 years.

Remember, anyone associated with the school has a reason to vote FOR this thing, and even if they don't agree with it, they are being prodded by the school administration to vote for it, regardless.  We have to come up with enough votes to overcome those numbers, and THAT MEANS YOU.

May 7th is the main voting day, but there should be early voting, just like last time.  Now, you have to watch out for a few tricks the scammers, ah, administrators pull when the voting occurs.  One thing they like to do is change the voting venues by rotating the place you go any given day between different schools in the Cleburne ISD.

That makes it really easy for all the teachers to go vote for this thing, because they effectively just have to walk down the hall.  However, for the rest of us, we have to leave work, find out where they have 'stashed' the voting booths that day, go there, and vote.  It's more of a hassle, and it's designed to limit the number of people who might vote who aren't involved with the school.

You have to overcome that!  Early voting is handy as well.

Also, help get the word out!  Send links to these posts to your neighbors, friends, and customers.  Copy and paste the cartoons above and email those.  Speak up and tell people and the administration what you think about all this.  Responsible spending isn't a problem.  Irresponsible spending on a school that won't be needed for a decade is.    Oh yeah, and don't forget to push for an audit of the Wheat Middle School Concession Stand, so we can find out how that thing cost $277,000 dollars!

2016 Cleburne ISD School Bond Scam.. $130 Million Dollars, and for what?

There are a number of things wrong with the new bond proposed by Cleburne ISD's administration and bond consultants, but let's just start at the top of the list of problems.  The new bond is being pitched as being necessary to build a new high school.

The most glaring problem with this, however, is that the current high school isn't out of room for students yet, and according to studies and school board members who toured the school with a clipboard and counted up available rooms vs student numbers, it'll be ten years before a new high school is needed due to space constraints.

If you're not familiar with the school bond proposed LAST year, it was for $150 Million Dollars, and it's primary focus was to pay for a new football stadium.  After a grassroots information campaign to combat manipulation of the taxpayers in Cleburne by the school administration and bond consultants, it was voted down, but only barely.

Why would the school administration and bond consultants want a high school building that isn't needed?  Could it be because it is easier to embezzle a million or two from large projects than small ones while sticking taxpayers with the bill?

If you google 'School Bond Scams', you'll find that school bond fraud is prevalent from coast to coast, and especially in Texas.  Here's the way it works.  The school administration arranges a 'steering committee' to meet regularly to talk about the proposed bond and what it will be paying for.  However, the only purpose of the steering committee is to make it 'seem' like the bond has public support.  Those local taxpayers who go to the meetings are manipulated using a process called 'The Delphi Technique', and it's purpose is to give 'false consensus' to a pre-determined outcome.

 In other words, the school administration and consultants want people to think that they had some input, while the outcome of the meetings was already pre-determined, and the bond consultants running the meetings just have to use a few tricks to push everyone in the right direction.  Usually this involves dividing everyone up into small groups, with the 'leader' of the group being a member of the school pushing the bond.  Can you say conflict of interest?  Dissenting opinions at each table are quashed by these group leaders, but when they can't do that, then an 'anonymous' vote is taken on the current issue being discussed, and the votes are only tallied by the consultants.  Of course, the outcome always matches the bond consultants desired outcome, with anyone who was dissenting believing they are a minority, because they don't know how everyone else voted.

Cleburne Texas taxpayers didn't fall for this, because almost a third of them stopped coming to the meetings, feeling that they were being manipulated by the bond consultants.. and they were!  However, in spite of that, the school and the bond consultants still reported that the steering committee advised continuing with the bond proposal.

Now, a number of different people and groups in Cleburne have advocated a smaller bond just to repair existing schools, who's maintenance has been allowed to go by the wayside.  However, it is harder to steal money from a smaller bond, than it is a very large bond that is part of  a big construction project.

Last year the school administration wanted $150 Million Dollars with no oversight or accountability, to build a new football stadium.  It barely failed.  Now, the school administration wants $130 Million Dollars to build a new high school, (when there are no space constraints and won't be for a decade), in addition to repairs to the other school building, and electronic tablets for the students.  Of course, those tablets will be out of date long before the bond is paid off, but that is fodder for another post.

Basically, Cleburne ISD does not need a new high school for space issues, not now, not tomorrow, and not for ten years.  This bond is a scam to have access to $130 Million Dollars without any oversight.  If you wonder why there is some suspicion that the money might not be used 'efficiently', here is why..

In 2013 Cleburne ISD built a new concession stand at Wheat Middle School.  It is 1040 sq ft, and has a kitchen, store room, and restrooms in it.  It is on land already owned by the school.  Here's the rub.  They spent $277,000 dollars on it.  Wow!  That much money in Cleburne can get you a mid-sized farm, or a 3 story house with a garage, or a really nice Ferrari.  Cleburne ISD built a really nice hot dog stand.

If they couldn't spend $277,000 thousand dollars responsibly then, what will they do with $130 Million now?