School Supt Runcie’s Latest Spin About Construction Delays
BY BUDDY NEVINS
Parkland’s City Commissioners today are expected to accept a year’s delay in the construction of classrooms caused by School Board staff mistakes.
The School Board’s staff has been unable to get a mere eight classrooms built even though Parkland is paying for them.
To make matters worse, the schools staff now says they were wrong in estimating the cost of the classrooms. They can only build a maximum of seven (or six), not eight, portables for the $2 million Parkland is paying.
The Board promised in a written contract to have the classrooms open by the start of the school year. The School Board staff couldn’t get that done.
The Board then said it would be done May 2016. This latest delay extends that May date by a month or two.
“Can you imagine if anybody else didn’t live up to a written contract for $2 million? They would be in court tomorrow,” said one Parkland parent, a lawyer.
But Parkland is going to give them another year. The city has no choice.
The School Board controls which schools children attend. Would the Board will send students on long bus trips to schools far outside of Parkland if commissioners object to the delay and ask for the money back?
There is some validity in that fear. In an earlier spate with Parkland parents, Board member Abby Freedman threatened to force their children to attend school in Deerfield Beach.
The Parkland situation, along with the failure to fix Strahahan and Northeast Highs, doesn’t engender much confidence in the school system.
If they can’t manage to build $2 million in classrooms, how can they manage the $800 million bond referendum approved last year?
The criticism is getting to School Superintendent Robert Runcie, who along with School Board Chair Donna Korn, penned a letter sent to parents explaining the delays. The letter went home with students this week, the first week of the 2015-2016 school year, excusing why none of the projects promised in the $800 bond referendum approved last year are under way yet.
The gist of what Runcie and Korn said: Don’t blame us.
And anyway, they argued, there were really no delays. It generally takes this long to prepare for a construction project of this magnitude.
Maybe.
Then why did Runcie promise in writing that the bond construction would “begin” by the summer, which is now over.
Original bond timetable given voters last year
Either he was lying then, or he is lying now.
Runcie must know he has a problem or he wouldn’t be sending letters home attempting to explain the delays.
He could have saved his time.
I ran the letter through reading difficulty software. Runcie and Korn wrote it on a 12th Grade reading level.
So sadly if the parents graduated from Broward’s public schools, the letter may have been over some of their heads.
XXXXX
Here is Runcie and Korn’s letter:
August 28th, 2015 at 4:19 pm
And anyone is surprised because?
August 28th, 2015 at 6:13 pm
No one is talking about my retirement?
August 28th, 2015 at 6:17 pm
ouches??
August 28th, 2015 at 11:01 pm
Are we surprised? I am wondering why he he is not blaming everyone and anyone? Hires a new Chief Facilities Officer and not a single thing has been done. There is always an excuse. Oh, well? What did we expect? Afterall, we are dealing with BCPS and their inability to build anything. I forgot to mention, Stranahan and Northeast are still waiting, waiting, and waiting.
August 29th, 2015 at 8:41 am
This cycle of incompetence is infuriating to say the least! Broken promises after broken promises seems to be the motto & no one is held accountable. I still want to know what happened to the DEFP money allocated by the Board to fix Stranahan YEARS ago?! Even the board is starting to question their financial staff members which still have not given them the answer after repeated requests!
August 29th, 2015 at 9:35 am
According to Runcie’s handout, SMART Investments Make Smart Students. So does that mean that Dumb investments make Dumb students?
It is unconscionable to require teachers and students in substandard classrooms to perform at the same levels as those who have physical plants there are adequate and more. The state standards and SAT/ACT scores do not budge. No provisions are in place for educators and students who have no A/C or dodge raindrops in the hallways.
And once again the SBBC has come up with a catchy acronym: S Safety, M Music and Arts, A Athletics, R Renovation T Technology
I suggest an acronym for Runcie’s handout:
S Sloppiness, M Mismanagement, A Avoidance,
R Ruthlessness, T Trickiness.
It is time for Runcie to lead, to follow, or better yet, to get out of the way.
August 29th, 2015 at 12:45 pm
Word on the street is the fix all facilities chief is gone?! Board members could actually stand up and take control. They have to be worrying about Runcie’s inability to keep his cabinet in tack or even fill the positions is a bad reflection on them especially when these people are from Chicago.
August 30th, 2015 at 6:44 am
runcie is garbage.
August 30th, 2015 at 3:20 pm
Runcie is a Broad Academy graduate.
http://www.broadcenter.org/academy/network/profile/robert-runcie
Here is Parents Across America’s take on telling how to tell if your district is infected with the Broad Virus.
http://parentsacrossamerica.org/how-to-tell-if-your-school-district-is-infected-by-the-broad-virus/
On 60 Minutes, they had a segment where fashion and shoe designers were taking up the reigns and funding the restoration of Rome’s landmarks, including the cleaning the pollution off the coliseum and new plumbing for the Trevi fountain. They still had to deal with Italy’s bureaucracy.
Perhaps the legislation, instead of giving tax credits to funnel money to religious and private schools, could give tax credits to corporations to fund fixing public schools.
Here is the evaluation of the Florida Tax Credit program. Don’t see any scores for science, writing, and civics.
http://cdn.fldoe.org/core/fileparse.php/5606/urlt/FTC_FinalReport-13-14.pdf
August 30th, 2015 at 7:16 pm
In their letter D.K. and R.R say “We will not circumvent or sacrifice our policies, procedures and ethics for speed”.
That philosophy must not have been in effect in November & December 2012. The absence of that philosophy allowed CA to get “IT” done.
P.S. In discussions, the astute can identify “SPIN” and will not let that “SPIN” diminish or over shadow the “FACTS”
August 30th, 2015 at 7:42 pm
Where the heck are the PTAs? In any decent community parents thru PTAs monitor schools and school boards. I am appalled at the huge declines in PTA as well as the disappearance of Taxpayers Associations not just in South Florida but New York n other places.
August 30th, 2015 at 11:45 pm
Buddy, in your title the word “Spin” is very apropos. In their letter D. K. and R. R. say “We will not circumvent or sacrifice our policies, procedures and ethics for speed”.
They all circumvent, sacrifice and flat out ignore policies and procedures not only for speed but also for personal gain. Just ask CA. Employees who do not buy-in to the “Spin” keep quiet for fear of becoming outcasts. Very sad.
Let’s see what “Spin” they put out in the next few days.
August 31st, 2015 at 5:24 pm
Count Etc., the PTAs are not monitors. PTAs depend on the districts for everything. They’re allowed complete access to the kids and parents to sign them up and raise money as a “school-allied” organization.
They’re declining because parents and families are onto how they work. They don’t dare say a word about anything they see that’s not positive and complimentary.
I know. I was president of the Dade County PTA/PTSA and Region President (Dade and Monroe) I found out just how tied at the hip they were when I tried to get 1/3 parent representation on all decision making committees. All hell broke loose.
August 31st, 2015 at 6:33 pm
Top level administrators leaving Broward again!!!!
Let’s see if I can figure this out. Runcie has 15 top leadership positions, 11 are Chiefs and 4 are Executive Directors. As of now, there are 4 vacancies in the Chiefs and 2 in Executive Directors. Some of the Chiefs positions have been open a long time. One left for a promotion, but the others who knows? So if my math is correct. 15 positions with 6 vacancies means 40% of his top leadership positions are vacant. Maybe, working here in leadership is not a great idea?!!!!!