Mayor Blasts School Honchos: NE High Wasn’t Fixed To Win Bond Support
BY BUDDY NEVINS
The mayor of Oakland Park blasted public school administrators Friday for failing to fix Northeast High’s leaking roof in order to increase support for the schools bonds.
Mayor Shari McCartney rips into school administrators for failing to fix leak
“They were willing to let children wade through water when they could have fixed it to win support for the bonds,” Mayor Shari McCartney said.
McCartney learned earlier this week that school system’s administration deliberately did not spend $1.5 million in the bank and earmarked to fix the roof at Northeast High. The money was budgeted to be spent last year.
Northeast High in Oakland Park is the site of Friday’s kickoff campaign rally for the $800 million November bond referendum.
The Oakland Park school was just one of several with maintenance money in the budget that went unspent, administrators admitted to the School Board earlier this week.
The reasons for not spending the money for repairs was unclear. Staff mentioned as excuses everything from the inability to find roof contractors to not having the experts in place to supervise the work.
“None of it (the excuses) would pass anyone’s test,” McCarney said.
She believes the money was not spent to create a greater need for the bonds.
Oakland Park “cut our spending and still deliver services,” the mayor said. “They find it easier to go hat-in-hand and ask for $800 million.”
McCartney has been one of the chief advocates for eastern Broward schools. East Broward activists have argued for two decades that the school system has allowed their schools to deteriorate while pouring money into West Broward facilities.
The bonds would not fix the problem, McCartney contends.
“The money is so spread out it is virtually ineffective for the eastern schools,” she said. “The city has not taken a position on the bonds because we are being played.”
McCartney was not invited to the school bond campaign kick-off Friday in her city.
September 19th, 2014 at 1:01 pm
Plus..what the heck happened to the 5 million grant money WIlliams was in charge of to start smaller schools? The list goes on and on. They put an expensive pool and cafeteria at NE but ignored the leaky roof.
September 19th, 2014 at 3:50 pm
Thank you Buddy. And Thank You Mayor McCartney.
A big NO vote from me for the SBBC bond.
September 19th, 2014 at 5:24 pm
The footage of NE that’s being used to promote the bond is so shameful.
September 19th, 2014 at 6:46 pm
I think most teachers and students are so tired of the games. Going to school is like walking into battle every day. Will the a/c work, will the copy machine run, will the kids get their services, will the workload increase, will they tell us there is yet another test and can we get a sharpened pencil. And the thing teachers continue to do is close their doors and focus on the kids. Meanwhile the school board, the FLDOE, the governor, legislators, Arne Duncan, Jeb Bush, Bill Gates, Eli Broad, Barack Obama and a bunch of others continue to play games and politics with public education. Teachers, parents and students should walk out of Northeast High School and demand they fix it now.
September 19th, 2014 at 6:56 pm
Kids are made to wade in the water in between classes, but we have $$ to print up posters to follow Williams on Instagram? Just like AP $ that magically appeared during the summer to be used for EOC preparation, unbelievable….
September 19th, 2014 at 7:40 pm
They’re running this campaign the way they’ll execute the building program if by some miracle the bond should pass.
What a shame for the schools that have been in need for so long. Mayor McCartney is spot on.
September 19th, 2014 at 10:48 pm
Hats off to Mayor McCartney!.. Someone, especially an elected official who is willing to tell it like it is when it comes to this “Tax”…
Proud to know the Mayor from BREC..
Still a NO Vote here…..
Rico Petrocelli
Former Councilman
City of Plantatiion
September 20th, 2014 at 6:34 am
Would someone please ask the district about outside consultants and independent firms being paid w/our tax dollars? Outside firms were mentioned 2 times in his speech to the Democratic club last week. For example, ask the district about the “summer institute” which reportedly cost nearly 1 million. A district employee involved in the training could not explain why that money was spend when district personnel had the capacity to do the training in house.
September 20th, 2014 at 7:48 am
If only all mayors could stand up for the city’s residents and children! Thank you, Mayor McCartney.
September 20th, 2014 at 8:31 am
There are SO many schools suffering at the hands of administrators! Plus BCPS staff… The children are the ones that get short changed as the lies are spewed at bogus meetings to sell this BOND! NE is just the focus at the moment. It is so sickening!!
September 20th, 2014 at 9:20 am
Bill Gates is responsible for the leaky roofs at NE?
Hahahaha…
You have truly jumped the greatest shark in Internet history.
Bravo!
This is truly a memory for the ages.
September 20th, 2014 at 9:33 am
Hard to belive with Shelia the uber republican in this mix that the Mayor wasn’t invited. Word around town is Gov. Scott people do not want to the bond to gain traction to disrupt their plan of voter suppression. To know Shelia is to know bcsb is a job and her love and loyalty is to Rick Scott.
FROM BUDDY:
It should be noted that former Republican U. S. Sen. George LeMieux is a supporter of the school bonds.
September 20th, 2014 at 9:40 am
Alice
Had they chosen Coconut Creek HS for the kick off with the holes in the outside walls, the cracked walls and floors and the lovely smell of urine I would guarantee there would be a few Mayors speaking out. They chose N.E and had no idea the warrior Shari is. Rock On Shari. The Superintendent will be coming to a commission meeting to “make” his case for the bond although I am pretty sure it will fall on deaf ears, it is the fair thing to do by letting him.
Le
Margate Mayor
September 20th, 2014 at 12:21 pm
Based on the article. The school board had the money to repair some parts of the roof, but did not to make the facilities at Northeast look direr? How much more damage was done by rain, mold, insects etc….because the repairs were not done last year, and how much more will it cost? Wait, the repairs were probably postponed due to Runcie’s “request” verbal or not, for him to show how the bond issue will “help” the schools.
Idea, as a teacher why don’t I just wait until next year to teach my students. This was I can justify to the school board how my students need more tutoring and get paid as their tutor. Let us think of some other schemes to make us look bad, that hopefully no one finds about. This way we are able to justify more money from the taxpayers!
September 23rd, 2014 at 12:11 pm
Since 1999, recommendations have been made to start a separate roofing department that would concentrate on replacing roofs instead of waiting for major projects to include roofing replacements. Sadly, no one would listen. The District Maintenance department is part of the problem – they are not qualified to replace roofs – just minimal repair – any many cases causing more problems than solutions. A separate roofing department (both at Miami Dade and Palm Beach school districts) can prequalify their own roofing contractors only. The whole process would be speeded up and addressed more rapidly. Also, I have recommended the roofing manufacturer and the roofing contractor (with bonding in case they discontinue business) warranty the roof for its life. This would increase the quality of the roof installation and provide quality repairs and would eliminate the need for the principal to write work orders, pay district maintenance personnel who are not licensed or certified.
The roofing permit process is a lot faster.
Presently, the custodian is responsible for surveying school roofs. There is no centralized survey on the type or condition of all of the school roofs in the District. Their are no statistics to determine the cost of the roofs or their life expectancy. It’s time for the District to come into the 21st Century and protect the health, safety and welfare of the students, teachers, staff and public who use these facilities.
Lastly, if this department is established, a QUALIFIED INDIVIDUAL must be selected to run it.
September 23rd, 2014 at 5:12 pm
Well if Becky is right about the custodian is responsible to survey roofs, then that explains Northeast’s roof. You see, the head custodian is a follower of Williams. His job is to spy on teachers and staff,listen to their conversations,observe their movement and report to the “CEO” He does not have time to maintain the building.