School Superintendent Robert Runcie Is A Big Liar?
BY BUDDY NEVINS
Memo to School Board:
We didn’t elect you to be a cheerleader for Broward School Superintendent Robert Runcie. We elected you to ask the tough questions of the staff.
The majority of the Board couldn’t come up with one tough question this week when Runcie rolled out his long-rumored reorganization of the school system administration.
He presented it as a fait accompli. He never consulted the Board, although he was making wholesale changes that had significant political fallout for them
And what does the tone-deaf Board do? Against the outspoken opposition of members Patti Good and Nora Rupert, Board member fell over themselves to congratulate Runcie for leaving them in the dark.
Not only did Runcie leave them in the dark. He lied publicly about the reorganization.
He told the Sun-Sentinel that it was just “rumors” that he was firing 152 school bookkeepers. That comment was posted on the Sun-Sentinel Internet site after a memo had gone out to schools laying off bookkeepers.
Here is the most heartless excerpt from the April 18th memo:
“Q. What do we do if our budgetkeeper/bookkeeper is scheduled to retire in Nov?
A. Give the employee a layoff notice.”
Here is the April 18 memo with the section marked (click to enlarge):
A day after the memo went out on April 19, the Sun-Sentinel quoted Runcie:
“Superintendent Robert Runcie reiterated that message Thursday, saying the layoffs were a “rumor” and that he “hadn’t heard those numbers before.””No one has been notified of a layoff at this time,” he said.”
This memo didn’t just appear. It had to be planned for a long time.
I call it like I see it: Robert Runcie is a straight-up liar.
Needless to say, a public storm erupted. It was a storm anybody should have anticipated if they have any political skills, which apparently leaves out Runcie.
Runcie backed away from dismissing the bookkeepers in schools…for now.
Congratulated!!! He should have been chastised.
This is a school system that has had a significant problem with public trust. This is a school system that is struggling to regain the confidence of the public.
And they congratulate a superintendent who openly lied to the public.
Several of them – Laurie Rich Levinson is a prime example — act like they have a crush on Runcie. They gush like preteens meeting Justin Bieber when they speak about the superintendent.
They apparently have forgotten they are the boss and he is the employee.
To me, Runcie is all smoke and mirrors. He is a product of the opaque Chicago-style top-down politics.
His entire reorganization was done without public discussion. He filled many of the positions without advertising them. He handpicked even lower-ranking administrators.
He changed some titles. He moved some people around. He fired some non-administrative type, average working folks.
Runcie apparently believes he was named generalissimo, rather than superintendent.
“I expressed a lot of reservations,” Rupert said. “I don’t care what the staff is telling us. Positions are really being added at the 25 Pay Grade and above – about $50,000 or $60,000 pay level.”
As far as his widely proclaimed demotions for administrators, they keep the same salary for at least a year.
Smoke and mirrors.
Still the Board majority oohed and aahed.
Just a few years ago, another Board was oohing and aahing for their superintendent.
Then a state Grand Jury called the school system corrupt and a disgrace.
The Board members back then should have asked some tough questions….just like they should today.
XXXXX
Channel 10’s Bob Norman has a story on the bookkeepers today, too. Look for it on the Channel 10 website here.
April 26th, 2012 at 6:48 pm
I am a high school teacher who was recently informed of the straight 7 schedule to save the County $22 million. I am personally contributing $9,000 to that number. My husband is contributing $7,000. That is because the 6th period that we are teaching this year is considered overtime. It saves the County money since an additional employee is not hired with County paid benefits.
Next year, every high school teacher is mandated to teach this extra hour with no extra pay.
Robert Runcie saved $22 million – all from high school teachers – while at the same time added positions to his inner circle.
April 26th, 2012 at 7:57 pm
Welcome to Broward, Superintendent Runcie. You just got the first of a taste of how Broward is operated. You will be held accountable for your words and actions.
Thanks, Bob. Stay on top of him. He needs to be transparent, fair and respectful in his dealings with people who are doing the real work.
We need a superintendent with integrity. Leave the gangster antics in Chicago where you came from.
April 26th, 2012 at 10:25 pm
@Welcome Committee
We need a School Board with integrity. What a novel idea that would be.
April 26th, 2012 at 11:11 pm
How Runcie is changing the District? By keep all Jim Notter’s buddies and cronies in place. Who is advising Runcie? All of the high officials under Notter are being rehabilitated. Runcie is putting some people to oversee some departments that they do not even have any clue what that department does. I hope he is not following the same path like Notter and Pat Santeramo??
April 26th, 2012 at 11:49 pm
Robin Bartleman cries at Runcie’s mere presence.Oh wait Robin just cries.
April 26th, 2012 at 11:51 pm
Buddy, I think you summed his actions up correctly. The least that can be said about this guy is that he is a real disappointment. It appears that we are on the same path of disarray in our school adminstration. Hopefully, the school board will take back the power and start fighting for the people and see to it that the young will have the opportunity to get the education that has been paid for them by the taxpayers.
April 27th, 2012 at 4:57 am
Broward Teachers should read their contract. The additional hour that was paid to teachers was a gift. It should have NEVER been. The BTU contract clearly states that teachers are entitled to one planning period that is equal to that of one class period. In the past, when a school ran a seven period day with classes at approximately 50 minutes each, teachers were entitled to one 50 minute planning period by their own contract language. Principals, for years, gave the teachers two planning periods. That was when the school budgets could support it. The second planning period was so that high school teachers could engage in meaningful professional development, something that few did as they felt they were entitled to those two period when they were not. The long and short of this is that high school teachers are just being brought into line with their contract language. Middle school teachers do not get the luxury of two planning periods on a six or seven period day or any sort of block. Why should you (high school teachers)? And to be paid for it when you teach an additional period (when you had two planning periods) should have never been. Be glad you were able to milk the system for as long as you did. Now get to work. Our children need you.
April 27th, 2012 at 7:29 am
When I was superintendent, teachers, the Board and parents were partners in the system. Now they are antagonists. The present superintendent has done nothing to change this and he as actually aggravated the situation.
April 27th, 2012 at 7:53 am
Robert Runcie has a job to do that will impact the future of thousands of children. He will either succeed or fail in fixing a school system claimed by CEO’s nationwide as the number one reason they do not relocate their businesses here.
He takes over a school system that needs to restore trust given their many corrupt practices. He works for a board that does not have a fraction of his talent, not individually or collectively.
He has been totally respectful to this community in every way. Positive change won’t come without some pain. I am prepared to trust him and not second guess him for his first 18 months.
Broward has NO track record for educational excellence to support any presumption of authority on this subject. Stop being so arrogant and let this proven professional CEO do his job.
Just this once in Broward County, let’s stop being small minded and get hell out of the way of success. Let the man do his job.
FROM BUDDY:
Where was Mr. Runcie a “proven professional CEO”? According to the Broward School’s own website, he was Chief of Staff of Chicago Schools. That is a leading position, but not the lead position, which is Chief Executive Officer.
Even if he was a CEO, that does not make him a good leader of a government. The two positions are not the same.
The goal of a CEO is to make an ever increasing profit while growing the business. The title CEO does not confer sainthood. The corporate landscape is littered with concerns that were driven into the ground by the CEO. Need I mention the management missteps at Circuit City, Eastern Airline, A & P and currently Sears and Blackberry.
The only goal of a school superintendent is to provide the best possible education for our next generation in partnership with parents, the community and the employees. A school superintendent can not rule by fiat issued from the corner office like a CEO. He must include all of us in the discussion because we pay for the system through taxes.
When people say that schools should be run like a business, they mean that they should be more careful of spending (Although I know some businesses that spent money like water!). They don’t mean that the superintendent shouldn’t be quizzed and questioned publicly about every decision he makes with our money and children.
You might be prepared to trust him from the first 18 months. I trust somebody until they give me a reason not to. Publicly lying is a big reason not to trust someone.
April 27th, 2012 at 12:17 pm
Fair comment, he was not the CEO in Chicago where he was Chief of Staff. But he did get lots of experience there under tougher conditions. He is the CEO here. Let the man do his job.
The Broward school district needs reform from the top down. That won’t come easy. I am prepared to give him carte blanche for 18 months because there is no way anything short of that will produce positive change. The poison in that building will eat up any Superintendent without that advatage. Give the man what he needs to succeed and chances are he will produce the change we require.
Judge him on his overall impact at the end of 18 months. I am willing to take that chance because all the risk is on the side of NOT doing that.
FROM BUDDY:
We agree on your overarching theme: The school system needs a change. Thanks for contributing.
April 27th, 2012 at 12:24 pm
Further, your analysis about us paying so we have to be involved is child like.
The cost of gasoline on society alone is many times more than what we pay in taxes. Where’s my voice on those decisions? Please.
Let’s climb down off that soap box because it’s a nowhere argument. Leadership is leadership whether in government or the private sector. You can’t hold any CEO accountable for organizational results without them the authority to get the job done. I want him held accountable. I want the results. That’s why I’m willing to give him the authority necessary to get the job done.
Anything short of that is failure and you’ve seen that recipe at work in this community for decades. There is too much at stake here. The future of children and our economic future also. Businesses won’t come here because they think our people are undereducated. That must end.
April 27th, 2012 at 1:09 pm
Buddy, we don’t need to go very far to see how that “CEO” and “good leadership” are definitely not the same. Can you spell “governor”?
April 27th, 2012 at 2:11 pm
Can we please wait and see what happens? I am cautious because I am suspicious of Broad trained Superintendents. Mr. Runcie hasn’t been here a year. Let’s see what happens as the restructuring takes hold and the Board holds him accountable.
Mr. Runcie is definitely learning the difference between an elected School Board and an appointed one.
April 27th, 2012 at 2:45 pm
Mr. Runcie allowed the rumors to fly around the district without addressing them. “We”, my fellow coworkers and principal, found out about our impending “layoff” via a web conference where we were told to delete our positions from next year’s budget. NICE I have been employed with Broward Schools for nearly 20 years. Let me explain this layoff. According to our contract, once we are put on layoff we can ONLY be recalled if the same job classification opens. If the job class is eliminated then we are essentially being TERMINATED. How fair is that? How about moving us into other open positions in which we are qualified for?
I went line by line, along with the Board Members, of the reorganization chart. Mr. Runcie only moved positions around, intends to create many new positions and if an outstanding, dedicated, Administrator wasn’t on “his” preferred list, they were demoted. His politics are about as rotten as his predecessors were. What ever happened to trimming the fat from the Top?
April 27th, 2012 at 2:56 pm
FROM BUDDY:
Just one story from Runcie’s previous school district:
CPS fails to close performance gap
Black students still losing academic ground despite reforms, study finds
November 14, 2011|By Joel Hood, Chicago Tribune reporter
Twenty years of reform efforts and programs targeting low-income families in Chicago Public Schools has only widened the performance gap between white and African-American students, a troubling trend at odds with what has occurred nationally.
Across the city, and spanning three eras of CPS leadership, black elementary school students have lost ground to their white, Latino and Asian classmates in testing proficiency in math and reading, according to a recent analysis by the University of Chicago Consortium on School Research.
April 27th, 2012 at 3:42 pm
the culture in all departments is not focused on the mission – teaching. Instead fiefdoms were created, specifically the contruction department. the whole process of designing, bidding, building and maintaining the buildings became a cash cow unto itself, and the culture in those departments may be shared by others. Millions and millions of tax dollars were spent on incompetent design, code deficient design full of errors and omissions by repeat consultants, shoddy and/or overpriced construction and either overpriced maintenance or mis-directed maintenance. Not to mention lawsuits for mold from parents/students and teachers. Two grand juryies looked into this (maybe even a third) over the last 25 years. Job preservation was all that mattered to most in those departments and only lip service in audits and oversights over the years, with no accountability. All water under the bridge now but still needing attention and clean-up on Runcie’s To Do List.
April 27th, 2012 at 7:13 pm
It is very disturbing to watch the
Board Meetings and see how the members act like Runcie is king and pays their salaries. DO NOT forget Board Members you are elected and your term may be VERY short in light of the man YOU hired. He is a LIAR and cannot be trusted…he has set the stage for what we can expect from him. I have had 4 children go through the Broward system and ALL have been accepted into some of the best schools in our state and one is attending an Ivy. Broward educates our children and we are a very diverse commmunity and we can only educate when our children want to learn. Get a handle on the population your are here to serve, Mr Runcie. make educated decisions yourself and do not listen to those that are full of themselves and have hidden agendas. Do you have an agenda to relocate your crownies to Florida Mr. Runcie?
April 28th, 2012 at 1:42 am
Is Runcie looking into another wastage? The BTU-TSP contract – which allows a laid off employee collect the same salary for one year even when the laid off employee displace another less senior employee at a lower pay grade. I collected over $70 for one year and did nothing when I displaced a qualifed employee at pay grade 21 from my original pay grade 25.
April 28th, 2012 at 2:51 pm
Oh come on. Mr.Runcie took over a complete and utter messwhen he was chosen to run the School dept. When you have a Grand Jury mind you call the School bd. enept,incompant, useless. Went all the way to state that if they could throw every single one of them to the curb, speaks volumes. They ask him to straighten this mess, he does. Then you all bitch. If there is lay-offs so be it. We the taxpayer are suppose to support you school employees forever-I think not. Do what you have to Mr.Runcie . To hell w/ these bookkeepers. Find another job, but no we chastice him, riducule him, for attempting to do his job. Some of you board members you pay these bookeepers etc. Party is over….
April 29th, 2012 at 4:01 am
Mr Runcie is closing the 3 area offices and laying off all of the employee;s most of which have been there for decades. The area offices check all field trips and leases to make sure everything is in order and safe for children. They also help the schools with budget issues and dozens of other things. We are losing these experts and they will loose at least half of their retirement, because they are being forced into early retirement. Is this fair after people have worked for the school board for decades at a lower rate of pay. Mr Runcie also tried to do this to 305 bookkeepers too, most of which have been at the school board for decades.He still plans on getting rid of them in a year. We can’t let him ruin so many people’s lives just to bank roll his adding of management and middle management positions. Over 40 new positions have been added to the org chart, and Mr Runcie has lied to the board about how many people have been laid off to pay for all of this. His favorite word is change, change, change. He is ruining peoples lives, and this district will come to a standstill soon if his is able to do all of this. He does not research anything first he just does it. He does not care about this district. He will leave in a few years and not look back .We will never be able to get back what we have lost, and the children will suffer. Some child could even loose their life, don’t let him do this school board.
April 29th, 2012 at 11:58 am
Even a large, $4 billion school districts like ours has a mission limited to one subject. Where that occurs, we need an advisory school board answerable to an elected Superintendent. That board should be appointed from among elected parents serving in area PTA’s.
The Broward grand jury was right in making this recommendation. The steps needed to get an elected superintendent and an appointed advisory school board should be followed.
In cities and counties, the same applies only slightly differently. There we also need elected executives. But their boards should be elected as well and have check and balance authority. Why? Because with counties and cities you don’t have just one area of mission. You have many. That requires legislative rather than advisory check and balance to an elected CEO.
Broward needs a total governmental revamp from top to bottom in order to align itself toward future success. What we need to do is clear. What we lack is the will to get there. That tells me our voters and businesses haven’t suffered enough. We will. It’s inevitable.
April 29th, 2012 at 12:17 pm
New sign for FTL Airport:
Welcome to Broward County…Where
The beat goes on, the beat goes on
Drums keep pounding a rhythm to the brain
La de da de de, la de da de da
April 29th, 2012 at 4:09 pm
Folks want change. They want the enormous expenditures of the school Board to stop. And yet they are not willing to sacrifice anythingto get there. I agree with Jeanne and Real Deal. Let Runcie share his vision and expertise, and see if it works.In 18 months.
We can’t afford to wait longet than that.
April 29th, 2012 at 9:15 pm
fly on the wall –
don’t know how long you have been observing all this before Runcie but if prior superintendents (Till and predessors)and those elected school boards been more vigilant knowing there was a possibility property values may not increase forever, more students would not continue to stream into their schools and the bloated admin staff at every level was unsustainable, he wouldn’t be the hatchet man he appears to be. look at it as a bellweather for more cuts in other publicly funded bureaucracies
April 30th, 2012 at 10:12 am
I believe we would be more willing to take the changes that are coming IF we received an adequate cost of living increase and a raise. The cuts are coming since the county is much larger than the 34,000 employees employed by BCPS. Try going into a bank and complaining about the cuts happening in the district. You get no sympathy from anyone since everyone is feeling the pain.
Everyone has to feel a bit of pain. If we gave everyone a raise and a ton of people had to be cut to get it, I KNOW no one who writes into this blog would complain. We’d turn a deaf ear and cash in the checks. It’s unfortunate but true.
Runcie needs to bite the bullet and give people what they are worth and slash everything to get it done. I enjoyed reading all the pretty boxes on his new organizational chart but the only thing that would make anyone happy is if he paid people what they were worth. The Organizational Chart would be very small if he did. Principals need to govern their schools or be demoted. Asst Principals need to do the tasks assigned or get in a classroom. The Area Offices…it is a great thing they are gone.
Consolidate the bookkeepers, get rid of the p-cards, take a closer look at the overpays in payroll. In other words, it’s time to clean house.
April 30th, 2012 at 5:40 pm
You’re right, Alls Well…it’s been time to clean house for years.
Let’s give the Sup’t. enough time to do it.
His goal is to put the money into the classrooms. That means keeping good and great teachers and paying them accordingly.
That’s a goal I agree with.
April 30th, 2012 at 5:49 pm
To Candi,
You are wrong on so many levels. All teachers have their challenges. Check out our state’s definition of “core” classes that qualify for class size caps. If you can get past your animosity toward high school teachers you will see that class rosters for the majority of high school classes (AP included) can easily top 30 students because they are not considered “core”. Now multiply by six and hope that’s all the students you are responsible for. Now ask yourself what you will do with your 50 minutes. Will you stand in line at the xerox machine? Will you proctor tests? Will you check and respond to emails? Will you call parents of habitually tardy or absent students? Will you put a small dent in one class set of papers? Will you put a simple “X” when it’s wrong or will you leave thoughtful comments?Will you use your 50 minutes to plan a creative lesson? What about the other 150 tests/quizzes/homework assignments, warm-ups, and other formative assessments? Candi, you can say “Get to work” all you want, but it’s going to be a rude awakening for parents of students whose teachers are overworked. Trust me, something will suffer. I hope it’s not Candi, Jr.
May 1st, 2012 at 7:59 pm
I can see that it’s hard for those of you on the outside to understand what goes on inside the school system. Most of us are fine with not having a raise for years. Most of us are Ok with working tons of extra hours without pay, to get our jobs done because so many people have been laid off already. We are Ok with working through lunch, and never ever getting a break. There are still some jobs in the school that are not really needed, reading specialists, curriculum specialists, and Title One coordinators. These teachers can be put back in the classroom, instead of hiring new teachers. People in these positions seem to have a lot of free time on their hands. The problem started with the class size reduction bill and the free pre k bill; school systems simply can’t afford it. I knew all this would happen when the bills passed. We have classes with only 13 children in them; when a good cut off would be 20 in k-3, and 25 in grades 4-12. We have the public to thank for not understanding what they voted for. We work really hard and the general public treats us just so terrible. Mr Runcie is not an educator, there are still some things that could be cut without hurting children; he just doesn’t know what he is doing. The bookkeepers are very hard working, it is a very hard job. If you take them away there will be no one left at the schools to buy supplies. Most of our children do not even bring pencils and paper to school. Bookkeepers handle everything to do with field trips too, without them there will not be any more field trips, the list goes on and on. Bookkeepers jobs can not be centralized; but for those of you on the outside, you would not understand until your child suffers because of it. Bookkeepers are the ones who make sure field trips are safe, children have drowned and died on field trips. Bookkeepers have at least 50 or more jobs to do at a school, you would have to be crazy to be one. Bookkeepers are there to serve the principals and teachers. The new bookkeeping central office would only take care of the part of the job that is done on a computer.
May 3rd, 2012 at 12:12 am
A BCSB Superintendent lied. Runcie hired administrators without advertising the jobs to the public. I see he is following in the footsteps of his predecessors and it’s business as usual. Runcie is either totally clueless or a bald-faced liar. Did Runcie think the word would not get out about the bookkeepers? It looks like Runcie is keeping all of the corrupt Associate know-nothings and Executive dingbats that he inherited from Notter. He should be cleaning house at the KC Wright Bldg. Now THAT would save money.
May 3rd, 2012 at 12:22 pm
I was informed that my 6 classes next year will have 35-36 kids in each because I do not teach core classes but Honors and AP. Scott and his SS have decided that only “regular” classes are core even though my subject is required for graduation. So I will have 210-220 students with 50 minutes to run copies, grade essays, speak with parents and plan my lessons. Meanwhile, our reading specialist, curriculum specialist, behavioral specialist, science specialist, and math specialist will not see a single student all day. If Runcie wants to make cuts, cut the teachers who don’t teach.
May 3rd, 2012 at 1:21 pm
To HighSchoolTeacher:
I agree with you and don’t understand why reading, curriculum, behavior, science and math “specialists” don’t see any students. What’s up with that?
However you don’t get much sympathy from me otherwise. You already have a workday (in school) that is at least one hour shorter than everyone else’s 8 hour day. You get umpteen special days off and teacher’s work days to catch up. You also have the whole summer off. 36 Kids in an honors class is no big deal. They are the good kids who want to learn and make it easy to teach. You should enjoy your paycheck.
May 14th, 2012 at 5:30 am
Demoted administrators get their same salary for one year, but teachers get no step or raise for more than three. It’s ridiculous how poorly valued teachers are in this district, state, and nation. But things should turn around in the economy after the President is re-elected.
August 20th, 2012 at 7:56 pm
The only way to fix the schools it to have REAL competition. We need school vouchers NOW. Public schools are the most corrupt institutions and they are “teaching” our children. SHAME on them.
August 20th, 2012 at 8:10 pm
It should surprise no one that the crew put together by this corrupt chicago guy can’t get bus schedules and class schedules out on time. The only question is why don’t the school board members seem care? The answer – the school board members are probably as corrupt as the ones that were recently indicted. So anyone got odds on when the next member gets caught with their hand in the cookie jar? My bet is Runcie will be indicted first – it’s the Chicago way.
August 21st, 2012 at 10:05 am
Unfortunately for all of us, what’s been promised by Sup’t. Runcie regarding reforming Transportation hasn’t happened. We enthusiastically welcomed his announced intent to fix that department, and we really thought that he would.
This debacle is outrageous and unacceptable, and anyone responsible for leadership in that department has failed miserably. The hope we had for real reform in this district is quickly fading.
The board members need to hold the Sup’t. responsible and demand that the situation be fixed, even if it takes removing the newly-placed administrators and replacing them with people who understand how to do the job correctly.
If, however, it’s a case of sabotage from within, that needs to be uncovered and brought to the public’s attention asap. In this district, anything is possible, as we’ve learned from sad experience.
August 21st, 2012 at 10:33 am
Charlotte, please. Enough high drama. They had a few glitches the first day. That’s hardly news for back to school. Give the man a chance to transform that worn out old system into something positive.
Debacle is way too dramatic a term to use in connection with first day of school bus glitches. They will get it right, it will be better than before and it will cost less. Otherwise it will fail. So far we know it is costing less and we also know that adjustments were made yesterday. Today has been better and that is what we need from him. Better tomorrows so that money can be sent back to the classroom.
I support this man doing what he feels needed and so far his results have been excellent. The school system is getting better despite a “school board” which we frankly have no need for or the highly dramatic assessments of non-professionals who are not qualified to run anything.
If it was up to me we would disband the entire school board and elect a superintendent. The management by committee structure never works when dealing with large scale organizations. That system needs an authoritative, empowered CEO to produce results and anybody that says otherwise doesn’t have the first clue about how to manage anything.
Our school board adds no value to his success whatsoever. They only slow down his progress which hurts school children needing to learn.
Grow up.
August 21st, 2012 at 11:22 am
anyone ever hear of passive aggressive behavior from employees in an organization? thats my gut on this glitch. Runcie may be shaking things up too much or may be ‘perceived’ by these employees as going to shake things up so they are flexing their ‘power’ by letting things screw up or just not get addressed in a timely way. He may get hip to this behavior in the trenches real quick, as he is not stupid and is not looking to paint himself a failure. just sad that these employees who should all be ‘rowing in the same direction’ pull stuff like this by either not speaking up or deliberately subverting the need to get buses and routes assigned to all students.
August 21st, 2012 at 1:44 pm
Citizen,
While your postulate may indeed be true, and Runcie may indeed be sghaing things up too much, there is alot to be said about empowering ownership for solutions. Often folks work better when they are all invited to “get on board” and help solve issues and tackle challenges, when their experience and knowledge are accepted, acknowledged and affirmed.So, if this is a result of staff deliberately “flexing” or not addressing things in a timely manner it still falls back to Runcie and his lacky for eing inept leaders. What buffoons.
August 21st, 2012 at 1:47 pm
make that shaking things up to much… and for being inept..(jeesh you would have thought I attended Broward schools….)
August 21st, 2012 at 2:33 pm
so christine – what bus route do you suggest we put runcie on as a driver? or do you agree there is the concept of division of labor? if they would have had a real big wall map with all bus routes for all schools and who was assigned to drive ‘the particular bus’, students might not have been overlooked.
I’m not a runcie supporter as the whole broward school system is an inept waste of tax dollars but he was not on board at start of 2011 school year
December 23rd, 2012 at 2:18 am
Yes. Runcie is a liar. He told teachers from Deerfield beach high school in June that he would investigate Jon Marlow. Now it is January is a little over a week and nothing. I a, being forced to go before the board again and again. Students and staff are NOT safe and Jon Marlow doesn’t even have to follow the polices, rules and procedures for Broward schools. He produced contracts without going through the legal department and one contract was CLEARLY unconstitutional and no one will even look at all the evidence that has been provided. Mr. Runcie is part of the corruption in Broward now. Resign Mr Runcie or investigate
March 19th, 2013 at 12:09 pm
I AM the teacher accused of turning a student gay. Mr. Runcie is a liar and is continuing the practices of the past. He claimed that he would have Jon Marlow investigated. To us personally and to the media of at least 6 different occasions. Never started one…never plans to! Broward is corrupt and the board and mr. Runcie better see that the people have had enough. My first contact with the board nd Mr. Runcie was almost a year ago. I warned them that the conditions at Deerfield Beach High were escalating and that something serious would happen! I was right! I got no response and three weeks later a girl was sexually assualted. This administration told her to get over it because she wasn’t rapped. This young woman asked me…of all places…shouldn’t I be protected from this at school? My answer was yes and I have been going public ever since. No one has done anything! They don’t really care….it is all about their political position
March 12th, 2014 at 6:18 pm
……… I am a highschool student and I am getting my ass kicked to the curb because of the seven straight schedule. I wonder to myself over and over again “When in the world am I going to bounce back, How can I get my A/B average back”. I answered that question… Never.
As teens we may do stupid things but it is still our education. I just think we also need a say in this.
I have seen teachers nearly fall asleep on the job because of the amount of papers they need to grade and assign.
They add up everything (Money, teachers, staff) except for one important factor. Stress
Friends at school or at facebook who go to another school in the broward district tell me that there or our school is crumbling. This foreshadows the broward as a whole.
All I want is to get back the block scheduling so students and teachers can back to not trying to kill themselves in the mountain of work that is forced on us daily.