In the
midst of substantial budget cutting in the Fayette County Public schools a decision was made to spend $150,000 on NaviGo (NaviGoprep.com), a college and career prep services business founded by former Kenton County Superintendent Tim Hanner - a personal friend of FCPS Superintendent Tom Shelton. How that decision was made is being questioned by STEAM Academy PTSA President Sharon
Mofield-Boswell. Mofield-Boswell also serves as a Wellington SBDM Parent Representative and G/T Chair for the 16th District PTA.FCPS Board members were apparently aware of conversations between Shelton and Hanner about the need for some kind of college and career prep student support, but were surprised to learn that Fayette County is a pilot district for the new business. Amanda Ferguson told KSN&C that she isn't certain, but can't remember that it was ever presented to the board for a vote.
The Herald-Leader is following up on the story and we'll keep an eye on any developments.
Sharon
Mofield-Boswell's questions:
1. Was this $150,000 Navigo contract presented to the BOE for approval? If so, when? Can FCPS direct you to the minutes of the meeting that shows this was presented and approved? Ask Amanda Ferguson or Doug Barnett if they approved this contract.
Hanner and Shelton 2. Is it a conflict of interest to award contracts to "friends" without BOE approval?3. What is the financial plan to fund this initiative once it goes district-wide? We are already $150,000 in to pilot and test...what is the cost once it is installed throughout FCPS and how will it be paid for?4. How can FCPS, in good faith, CUT Professional Development at EVERY school across the district and justify spending this money to pilot Navigo in just a few schools? The district's interest in equity seems to be on an "as needed" basis. We play that card when it works for us...
"With
the district in the financial situation it is, this would seem to be a
pricey and unnecessary endeavor. Especially given the fact that we
already have the ILP Program which is paid for by the state and performs a
similar task. This is ridiculous!"
Mofield-Boswell wrote.
19 comments:
Twenty million in budget cuts for special education. And now this? I am a registered voter and am furious. No board member should support Dr. Shelton's budget. Something is very wrong in Fayette County Public Schools.
Heard today that the NaviGo is now being paid for out of the Superintendent's Office budget...first it was reported to be grant funded, then he reported to the H-L it was taken out of Professional Development and now it is coming from his office budget. Is anyone else confused as to how this creative accounting works in FCPS? Dr. Shelton has some explaining to do....again!
I don't think that twenty million have been cut from the special education budget, but I do think something is terribly wrong in the school district. Anybody out there agree?
Who is Nathan Levenson? What hold does he have on Fayette County Schools? Why have parents never heard of him? Is his advice going to be the gospel in our school district?
This has been raised at a meeting.
Ask questions: How much is this man being paid? Is this best for kids?
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2014/05/07/30savings.h33.html
More on Nathan Levenson, who is working with Fayette County Schools to help it "save money". Sound familiar? Remember Dr. Silberman's lawsuit? This man is making ed policy in our school district.
http://www.meyerslaw.com/news/wrongful-termination/settlement-reached-in-wrongful-termination-lawsuit-against-town-of-arlington-massachusetts/
Who is Nathan Levenson of for -profit District Management Council? What is relationship to Dr. Tom Shelton?
It is time for the board to ask for the resignation of Tom Shelton! In my opinion, he has brought FCPS to a new low. $20 million, that he has never explained to the public yet, grades are lower since he took over, never seen at any of the schools, shady hiring practices at Central Office, and much more. Come on Lexington and Fayette County people, start saying something before it is to late!!!!
Dear Dr. Day,
What is the procedure for reporting Dr. Shelton to the State Board of Education for circumventing the SBDM. I am a parent in the school district and I have been told this is an unlawful action-- awarding a contract (to a friend) without the blessing of teh SBDM or votes from the Board of Education. Is there a protocoll to follow?
Richard -
Will you please look into this further and let us know the truth? It looks like the Herald Leader is again trying to protect a shady superintendent and that Valarie Spears gave Shelton a pass on this. I have heard that Shelton visited the paper and asked the editor to back off from any criticism of him and the district. Was this contract ever approved by the board or not? How many students were actually served for the $150,000 cost? If board of education approval was not given, and not required, shouldn't Shelton have avoided a real or apparent conflict of interest and not hired his friend? Is there not an ethics policy for FCPS? A former FCPS employee Mike Mckenzie also works for Navigo. Are he and Shelton friends too? Who else from FCPS is benefitting from our tax dollars? Is Shelton himself?
This whole thing stinks.
I am pleased a parent has reported this. It should also be reported to the State Department of Education in Frankfort.
Nate Levenson was a controversial Superintendent in Arlington, Mass. He resigned after 3 years. His tenure brought an unprecedented spilt in that community. Let it be known that this failed Superintendent with NO education background charged $1.2 Million to FCPS for his DMC services. While $850,000 is funded by the ever popular Gates foundation, FCPS is throwing in the rest. All that money to an outside contract to tell us how to run our district. What a joke! And we are sacrificing programs and teachers of this? Come on people, do a little research! Use google! This is not what is best for our kids!
This district belongs to the Parents. Teachers and Students of Fayette County. We are not 'for sale' to the highest bidder and neither is the education of our kids. Somewhere along the line, we have lost our voice...we need to take it back! There is no reason that a third party outsider should be paid to come in and tell us how to run our schools. When you lose your decision-making voice, you've lost everything.
I am hearing that Vince Mattox and Darryl Thompson recruited Roger Cleveland to run against Doug Barnett for his school board seat because Barnett apparently stopped some type of job reclassification scheme which would have combined two positions into one, placed Thompson in the position and given him a significant pay increase. I've also heard that Barnett is pretty pissed because of all the support he's provided to Cleveland's efforts at Carter G. Woodson Academy and is threatening some type of signficicant retribution because of all of this.
This mess may get a whole lot more interesting, don't you think?
Brave teachers and parents spoke up at the Board Meeting tonight. Thanks to Foug Barnett and Amanda Ferguson for voting their conscience.
I also want to thank Doug Barnet and Amanda Ferguson for speaking up. And can anyone tell me why Melissa Bacon, told the parent and Amanda Ferguson they were out of order?
I do hope our moderator won't remain silent. I'm looking for some guidance here.
As a member of a Site Based Council, I applaud Sharon Mofield-Boswell for having the courage to speak up about the 150, 000 dollar grant given to a colleague of Dr. Shelton.
There is much to be suspicious of in terms of wrong doing. Everyone seems to be bought out by someone else. From Vince to Darryl to the whole mess. NO one is doing the right thing and ethics have been thrown to the wind. What a mess. What does need to be cut from special ed is the downtown staff starting with Kathy Dykes and Kelly Vincent. Speech paths and OT's don't see children as required by law on their IEP's. The district is gaining money from the false forms they fill out for this. No one speaks out because they are afraid of being cut.
It was obvious to me after the first 5 minutes of listening to Shelton's television interview after his acceptance of the Superintendent's position that he was incompetent for that position.
In my opinion he has demonstrated absolute consistency both in his total incompetence and lack of leadership capabilities in the position of Superintendent of FCPS and in exhibiting one conflict-of-interest scheme after another. It's quite unfortunate that he has continued to place far more effort gaming the system and constructing questionable "deals" than on progressing any real improvements in education within FCPS.
It is quite interesting that his "PhD" was co-authored. This is not only more than atypical - it is a bit unprecedented. How exactly does one share a PhD? Might this itself be of relevance regarding his failed tenure as the "educational leader" of FCPS?
I was at the FCPS Board of Education meeting on Monday night. There were MANY questionable initiatives mentioned. I was shocked! The meeting was very tense and combative, at times. I was pleased that Mrs. Ferguson and Mr. Barnett had the guts to press the issues in spite of Mrs. Bacon's eye rolling, rudeness and overall bad attitude. Standing in the back of the auditorium after the meeting, I also witnessed a very heated exchange between Mrs. Bacon and a parent who spoke during the meeting. I feel pretty sure that parent was Mrs. Mofield-Boswell. I felt sorry for her as she seems to be shouldering the wrath of FCPS for all of us. It was reprehensible to see a member of our elected board speak to a parent that way. Kudos to Mrs. Mofield-Boswell for maintaining her composure in the face of that attack. Not sure I could have handled that so well.
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