FB Sun Coverage Of Controversial GSTC Project (Never Approved By Voters/Taxpayers)--click below--

http://www.hcnonline.com/sugar_land/news/article_68f6998d-1d24-58b7-8b72-998293b3cf01.html

Have A Happy Thanksgiving Holiday!

FB Star Update On Superintendents Push For Spending on "Science Center" (at the central office)

See: http://www.fortbendstar.com/111710/n_IsFBISD.htm

Also from the "Burner" column, this interesting tid-bit on vendor relations and how they treat some "connected" board members:

'FBISD, the smart group.....We learned last week that 3 FBISD board members stayed in an expensive Houston hotel because they were attending a meeting close by. The meetings were a little over 20 miles from their homes but in this day of cutting teachers and watching pennies, Laurie Caudwell, Marilyn Glover, and Jim Rice just couldn’t make that long drive home and be back for a meeting the next day.

FYI: they stayed late at night to go eat at an expensive restaurant with district vendors picking up the tab.
They ought to be ashamed."

FBSun: Rezoning Controversy Continues

See: http://www.hcnonline.com/sugar_land/news/article_1b3ecb96-aae7-5fac-a9d3-129c0a9ad11f.html

FBN: Under-crowding Or Over-crowding for FBISD? Which is it?

See: http://www.fortbendnow.com/2010/11/15/48949

ABC13: KISD Apologizes For Misuse Of Taxpayers Phone Lists During Bond Campaign--see link below--

http://thevote.abc13.com/2010/11/katy-school-district-apologizes-parents-say-its-too-little-too-late.html

Will this tactic be used during the forth-coming FBISD bond campaign? Apparently members of the fact finding committee are already being secretly asked to join the "promotion" group, which usually makes up hand picked community members that are favorable in their opinions of pushing for additional bond debt, increased taxes and often from associations with the contractors and vendors in the district that directly benefit from these dollars. Almost half the members of the last bond "promotion" committee were GFBCEDC members or in the school district foundation. Hardly a random sample drawn from the community at large.

We will update this at intervals...

Related over spending issues:

http://www.fortbendnow.com/2010/11/08/48844

FBN: "Global Taj Mahal" Alive And Well, according to this report (Project Never Approved By Voters)--

“One thing to keep in mind is the state of the economy – we could be looking at a state of the economy that would make it impossible for us to open middle school 15 in that time frame,” said Jenney, referring to the next few years.

Jenney has not said if economic conditions will affect the future of the science center. FBN

Get more: http://www.fortbendnow.com/2010/11/10/48893

FBW comment: FB Star publisher had this to say last week:

"The global center for science and technology was FBISD’s answer to low science scores on the TAKS tests. Rather than throw a bunch of money at the classrooms, the district in its bid to build something it could name after somebody proposed a project that, except for its name, wasn’t going to do much for anybody, what with loading kids up and busing them several miles once or twice a semester so they could spend scant minutes at the center before loading on a bus and heading back to their home campus.

I had no idea the district was still kicking that ill-fated idea around until the board started talking about a bond election in order to not only build more schools, but of a more immediate nature, repair some schools in bad shape. Board members were informed that money still left over from previous bond issues was being saved for the science center rather than being used for current repairs.

Are you kidding me??? It is inconceivable to me that with as much controversy over the center in the first place that it would still be on the agenda.

Does the superintendent, Dr. Tim Jenny, realize that the effective term of a school superintendent is about five years, and he is dangerously closing in on that term."

http://myfortbend.net/news/local/opinion-editorial/1351-just-in-from-the-fb-star-qgstcq-rumor-confirmed-by-local-media-

Related wasteful spending article:

http://www.fortbendnow.com/2010/11/08/48844

Contentious School Board Meeting Leaves Zoning Critics Dissatisfied

Following several zoning workshops, where district officials gave numerous reasons for several of the current rezoning plans, quite a few speakers responded during the open comments section questioning the need for rezoning. Some raised concerns about a rumor circulating the media regarding the superintendent holding onto some of the 2007 bond funds (nearly 20 million dollars), some of which was ear-marked for land purchases for new schools in Telfair and elsewhere. There was no official response from the superintendent or other board members during that agenda item.

Related: "A New Territory resident who is a member of the Google group SMS BBE Zone, started as an effort to organize a protest of the division of the neighborhood, said in an e-mail to the group after the meeting that many people are missing the real issue of the story, which she said is that there aren’t enough students to fill the new school.

“I think it is natural for people to make the easy leap between “rezoning” and “overcrowding” and
the reporters so far have made portrayed this situation to be a result of “growing pains” in the district when in fact it is the exact opposite,” said Kathy Morrow in a message using the Google Group. “If Aliana and some of the other nearby developments had grown more in the last two years, like the district probably anticipated, we wouldn’t be faced with this. That part of the district has not grown enough to support this new school. It’s due to the economy – which of course nobody could have predicted.”

A speaker at the regular meeting asked the board not to use their children as “filler” to meet quotas for an under capacity school." Fort Bend Now

As additional media reports come in, they will be shared below:

http://www.39online.com/news/local/kiah-school-rezoning-story,0,7770411.story

http://www.khou.com/news/neighborhood-news/-Parents-complain-as-Fort-Bend-ISD-experiences-growing-pains--106940134.html

http://www.fortbendnow.com/2010/11/09/48864 (New zoning options presented)

http://www.fortbendnow.com/2010/11/09/48876

Background:

http://kathymorrowsterritorynews.blogspot.com/2010/10/new-territory-rallies-against-proposed_27.html

FBN: FBISD Once Again Attempting To Block Access To Records Requests (This time involving the MHS embezzlement scandal)

See: http://www.fortbendnow.com/2010/11/08/48836

Just In From The FB Star--"GSTC" Rumor Confirmed By Local Media--

Just in from the FB Star:

The hubris of leadership....I am often astonished by the arrogance of some of our appointed and elected officials.

For example, I recently was informed that FBISD’s global center for science and technology was still on the drawing boards. I thought everyone agreed that in the economic climate of today, the science center was a program we did not have to have.

The global center for science and technology was FBISD’s answer to low science scores on the TAKS tests. Rather than throw a bunch of money at the classrooms, the district in its bid to build something it could name after somebody proposed a project that, except for its name, wasn’t going to do much for anybody, what with loading kids up and busing them several miles once or twice a semester so they could spend scant minutes at the center before loading on a bus and heading back to their home campus.

I had no idea the district was still kicking that ill-fated idea around until the board started talking about a bond election in order to not only build more schools, but of a more immediate nature, repair some schools in bad shape. Board members were informed that money still left over from previous bond issues was being saved for the science center rather than being used for current repairs.

Are you kidding me??? It is inconceivable to me that with as much controversy over the center in the first place that it would still be on the agenda.

Does the superintendent, Dr. Tim Jenny, realize that the effective term of a school superintendent is about five years, and he is dangerously closing in on that term...

...I’ve never known of a superintendent that the teachers hated so universally. He brought many administrators from Virginia Beach with him which may have been a good thing as schools have a way of becoming inbred, but it has resulted in untold resentments.

Now we find that amid all the other economic problems plaguing the school district, a “secret” fund is still being kept aside for the building Dr. Jenney wants to build. The hauteur of this action seems almost unbelievable. Shame on Dr. Jenney and shame on the school board for letting our schools go dangerously lacking in repair while still harboring conceited thoughts of a “science center.”

Zoning Conflict In Telfair & New Territory Escalates!

http://www.click2houston.com/education/25637916/detail.html?taf=hou

http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/video?id=7765621&syndicate=syndicate§ion

http://www.fortbendnow.com/2010/11/03/48791

http://www.fortbendnow.com/2010/11/05/48827

http://www.fortbendstar.com/110310/n_Campaign.htm

http://www.hcnonline.com/articles/2010/11/05/fort_bend_sun/news/sws-_telfair_schools.txt

"The school district said there is one major problem -- there's no money to build a new high school. Officials said a 2007 bond election provided money to buy land, but said that does not appear to be a smart move right now."--From the channel 2 story--Apparently from inside sources, this just isn't true. There is 20 million the district is sitting on for a project that wasn't supported by the voters called the "Global Science & Technology Center (Global Taj Mahal)", a duplicate science museum (very similar to the one in Telfair). There is also several tens of millions of dollars from prior bond elections now in reserve accounts. Plenty to make the purchase on the land....

We will update these stories as they come in.

Get county election results below!

See: http://www.co.fort-bend.tx.us/upload/images/elections_administration/election_results/er101102_01.pdf