LTISD Info

A recent article in the Lake Travis View: “Dig Willie Nelson? Well here’s your chance to be his neighbor” caught my attention.

Most intriguing of all was the comment made by one of the readers mentioning the relationship of Silverton Homes and Jim Cummings (former LTISD Board member) and the LTISD:

PaulHarvey says:
July 3, 2010 at 11:08 am

Lets see here…Briarcliff area is denied a LTISD built school for 15 years even though property is owned by LTISD at the corner of Old Ferry Rd and Pace Bend Park Rd. Former LTISD Trustee Jim Cummings is another (unmentioned) owner of Silverton Homes who has long been suspected of having an unfair advantage of where schools would be located so land could be bought close by, thus an easy sale for Silverton (note Serene Hills Elem proximity to Lakeway Elem). See the connection?

-Lake Travis View, “Dig Willie Nelson? Well here’s your chance to be his neighbor”

I wanted to verify the statements made by “PaulHarvey” and here are some interesting answers:

“Briarcliff area is denied a LTISD built school for 15 years even though property is owned by LTISD at the corner of Old Ferry Rd and Pace Bend Park Rd.”

I have not been able to verify that the district has owned the property for 15 years, but I did discover that indeed the LTISD owns a 17.28 acre lot on the corner of Old Ferry Road and Pace Bend Road (FM HWY 2322) worth $982,800 according to the Travis County Appraisal District (Property ID Number: 448046  Ref ID2 Number: 05560301090000).

Click for larger plat map image

“Former LTISD Trustee Jim Cummings is another (unmentioned) owner of Silverton Homes”

According to records at the Texas Secretary of State’s office, Jim Cummings is the President of Silverton Custom Homes and Michael Grimm is the Vice President. Also, according to these records, Jim Cummings incorporated Silverton Custom Homes, Inc. in January 1993.

The Lake Travis View article mentioned Michael Grimm but it did not mention Jim Cummings. The documents from the Secretary of State only show Michael Grimm’s name appearing on documents filed after 2004.

By the way, Jim Cummings said:

“He has grown close to several trustees, but has particularly developed a friendship with Kirk, one he thinks will last a lifetime.”

- “Cummings stepping off school board after 12 years of service”, Lake Travis View, May 5th, 2009

Interesting …

Just look at what happened after Kim Eudy left the board.

Wouldn’t you  say that “PaulHarvey” makes some interesting observations?!

Let’s remember, wasn’t it Susan Bohn, LTISD General Counsel and Deputy Superintendent, who taught a legal seminar on the Texas Public Information Act a few years ago? Then that would make Susan Bohn an expert on the Texas Public Information Act, right? Yeah, right!

Susan Bohn, who handles all of my TPIA request with the district, neglected to redact the social security number of a former district employee.

I suppose that Susan Bohn’s “expertise” in the Texas Public Information Act come at the expense of knowing about confidentiality matters?

Unfortunately this was the first time that Susan Bohn or the district (remember Susan Tolles violation?) did something so careless.

Makes you wonder how someone so incompetent can continue to receive such lavish pay raises and promotions. Promotions to positions in which they are so unqualified. Just what was Rocky Kirk thinking?

Both Susan Bohn and Rocky Kirk will keep dancing their way to the bank at our expense.

“Lies, damn lies and magic statistics” sounds just like the LTISD doesn’t it? A recent article published in the Houston Chronicle by Rick Casey about TAKS test scores and the TEA ratings that result from these test scores. Rick aptly named the article “Lies, damn lies and magic statistics.”

You should read the entire article, it is very interesting. Here are the first few paragraphs to get you started:

“If you were depressed by last Sunday’s discussion in this space of the fact that Texas students could pass the TAKS test with scores as low as 44 percent, consider this:

Even with such low standards, the Texas Education Agency decided to rate hundreds of Texas schools and scores of Texas districts as “academically acceptable” last year — the lowest “passing” category – by counting thousands of students who flunked the TAKS as passing it.

This academic alchemy was achieved through a statistical exercise called the “Texas Projection Measure.”

This complex formula, based on statewide TAKS scores from the year before, is said to identify students who failed this year but are likely to pass next year. Or maybe the year after that. Or possibly the year after that.”

- “Lies, damn lies and magic statistics,” Rick Casey, Houston Chronicle, June 21, 2010

Be sure to read the comments about the article as well.

After reading this article, it makes you want to ask just how well did the LTISD really do this last year? Academically that is.

Even with inflated numbers, the LTISD could only pull out “Academically Acceptable” (again), yet Rocky Kirk’s pay keeps on sky rocketing. Let’s not forget the sky rocketing pay of our Deputy Superintendent, Susan Bohn who will probably get another pay raise real soon.

Recently the LTISD’s General Counsel, Susan Bohn, has been promoted to General Counsel/Deputy Superintendent. As a result, I wanted to see a copy of Susan Bohn’s current contract. Following my public information request on May 16, 2010, the LTISD provided me with Susan Bohn’s current contract, and interestingly her contract  is for a “noncertified” position^TPIA.

Surprisingly, you would expect a Deputy Superintendent to require some sort of education and certainly education administration certification? I don’t think that a teaching certification in dance would be considered adequate, but this is the LTISD and Rocky Kirk decided it so, bizarre as it might be.

I am sure that the Board will rubber stamp any of Rocky Kirk’s decisions regarding changes to Susan Bohn’s contract. Stay tuned for further developments …

According to the June 24, 2010 Board agenda, the Board will be voting on the “Engagement of Sneed, Vine & Perry, P.C.”

This is yet another law firm that the district is going to “engage” even though the district has it’s own General Counsel. Remember how the Board said that they were going to use Susan Bohn to save money on their self inflicted legal costs? So much for that.

Well, come to find out, Ron Eudy, husband of ex-board member Kim Eudy is an attorney who works at Sneed, Vine & Perry, P.C.

Coincidence?

Have you ever wondered if Ron and Kim Eudy’s political campaign contributions to Board members campaigns and public political endorsements  have had any influence on this decision? Doesn’t this smack of an ethical issue? Makes you wonder …

Ron and Kim Eudy

Next thing you know, the district will be hiring Mayo Davidson as another legal counsel. You laugh, but as we can see from Susan Bohn’s recent promotion, anything is possible!

Mayo Davidson has some experience with the Texas Bar regarding ethics. Perhaps Mayo Davidson could advise Ron Eudy on ethics? Experience is the best teacher, right Mayo?

There is “Another voice to disseminate information you may not know about the Lake Travis Independent School District” on the Internet: Lake Travis Crier.

The Lake Travis Crier posts an article “A church recruits in the school cafeteria?” which questions if it is true that:

“In April, it seems that a local church was allowed to set up a table in the Lake Travis High School cafeteria for the purpose of recruiting new members. “

This would not happen to be related to the Lake Hills Church?

Interesting …

Newsweek recently released their ratings of “America’s Best High Schools.”

Where is Marco Alvarado’s press release?

Interestingly the LTISD improved over their ranking last year coming in as 862 among 1622 of the nations highest ranked high schools in the 2010 rankings.

This year 126 Texas schools were included in Newsweek’s ranking.

Let’s compare several Austin area ranked schools with the salary of their superintendent for some further insight:

¹: Data from TEA 2009-2010 Superintendent Salary Reports

Look, our overpaid superintendent, Rocky Kirk has no bearing on the performance of the district. In fact, you could easily say that other school districts are getting much better value for their money!

A recent comment on the subject published in the Bee Cave Bee says:

“Westwood at 90, L.C. Anderson at 321, and Bowie at 820.McNeil at 525. Seems that other not so wealthy districts are doing better than Lake Travis. But then, we do great in sports.”

-“Barry  - Lets dont forget the others,” Bee Cave Bee, “LTHS among top in country”

I know, Rocky can send out Deputy Superintendent Susan Bohn to “dance around the subject” for him. Dance is one of Susan Bohn’s only education related certifications, other than “Social Studies.”

Rocky Kirk recently promoted the district’s General Counsel, Susan Bohn, to the district’s Deputy Superintendent.

Talk about crazy! Just what are Susan Bohn’s qualifications and experience to be the Deputy Superintendent? Something isn’t right here and eventually we’ll find out.

It was an act of Rocky Kirk, so I guess that would explain it? Good management and personnel decisions always elude Rocky.

Did Rocky Kirk do this out of desperation or necessity?

You can read the rest of the press release in Lake Travis View’s article announcing this wacky promotion. It is pretty much a carbon copy of the district’s press release. Surprisingly the district’s press release seems to have disappeared from their web site. Never fear, I have archived a copy.

With the departure of Diane Frost, attorney Susan Bohn has been promoted to deputy superintendent of the Lake Travis Independent School District.

That’s the word from Dr. Rocky Kirk, who said the decision was part of a restructuring at LTISD. Last week, Frost designated by the Corsicana ISD Board of Trustees as their lone superintendent finalist.

“The deputy superintendent position and all of the responsibilities it holds is critically important to the successful operation of the District,” said Kirk. “Fortunately, we are able to re-direct these duties internally among staff already in place, rather than searching District for this position. In doing so, we get the dual benefit of lowering administrative costs while taking advantage of the skills, abilities and competencies of talented staff within our own ranks.”

Susan Bohn, currently LTISD General Counsel, will assume the title of Deputy Superintendent and General Counsel. In this role, Bohn will provide leadership to campus principals as well as to numerous administrative functions of the District including communications, community programs, extracurricular programs, and human resources.

-Lake Travis View, May 8, 2010

I like the comments that were made in response to the Lake Travis View article, it seems I am not the only one who ponders this imponderable act:

May 9, 2010 at 9:33 am
What qualifies a social studies teacher who becomes a lawyer and then accepts a job at an ISD to basically handle David Lovelace (and even botches that up requiring 3rd party outside legal counsel) to become the second in command? Those that keep up with the ISD know this is true. Those of you that don’t, take a closer look.

May 13, 2010 at 8:47 am

Oh yeah, lets get some more lawyers in the school district. I am sure they will play an important role in improving education. Why not hire someone to promote better teacher websites, maybe a better math and science program, and better communication. Looks like we are in for more years of poor performance.

May 15, 2010 at 12:02 pm

It is an exciting time for the district? Seriously? It terrifies me. I would love to see the actual financial numbers that show they are saving administrative costs. It looks to me like they are merely adding administrative costs with every administrator they add to the ivory tower. It’s ridiculous. ConcernedParent is right about outside legal counsel. Those bills are already way high and now they will be even worse. Is the board of trustees paying any attention at all to what is happening? Why would a superintendent ever think that a lawyer who taught briefly was qualified to lead principals. What administrative experience does she have? It’s not unconventional it’s laughable. Someone should take a look at how dramatically her salary has increased since she started in Lake Travis. Is ANYONE wondering about this expense?

May 30, 2010 at 8:04 am

They were able to save so much on administrate cost, after the restructuring they gave pay raises to the already over paid administrative staff. Tell me how that is saving the tax payers of LTISD money?

June 1, 2010 at 10:59 am

Disgusted Taxpayer is on the right path. They aren’t saving us a dime of OUR money but rather “redistributing it” and the problem is that the Top 10% of the food chain (admin) gets it all. Whats needed is a taxpayer revolt at the polls the next time they try to paint a bleak and gloomy picture of their financial shape and force them to make do with what the rest of us have to live with. Please don’t let them sing that “Its for the Kids” jargon either….Its for overpaid and under worked Administrators, period! Go check their salaries out

-Lake Travis View, 6/6/2010

Let’s look at some of Susan Bohn’s qualifications for the job as Deputy Superintendent. According to State Board for Educator Certification records, Susan K. Bohn¹ holds the following educator certifications:

¹Verification of Susan’s name required more research. Susan K. Bohn’s (DOB: 5/2/1973) maiden name was Susan Melanie Kolar until her marriage in 2002 (File Number: 164161, 11/23/2002, Harris County). She goes by the name of Susan Kolar Bohn.

Note that Susan Bohn does not hold any administrative certifications. But I am more than certain that Susan’s certification in “Secondary Dance” will more than make up for her lack of administrative experience. Why didn’t the district’s press release mention that?

We are informed all about Susan Bohn’s educational background related to her law degree, but we don’t know anything about her background related to teaching?

Just what educational management experience does Susan Bohn have?

How long did Susan Bohn teach Secondary Dance and/or Secondary Social Studies before embarking on her legal career?

So many questions, so few answers.

I wonder how all of the principals and staff feel about being subordinate to an unqualified and inexperienced Deputy Superintendent?

Let’s look at Susan Bohn’s history with the district. The following pictorial view will aid us.

It would appear on the surface that Susan Bohn has done VERY well with a pay raise of $43,873 (+46%) between November 2006 through at least April 2010 (less than 4 years), but it looks like the job is getting to her.

A recent article “Split opinions greet Texas school board training sessions” in the June 1, 2010 issue of The Dallas Morning News is an interesting read.

Among other things, the article tells us something we already know about here at the LTISD:

“As the school year ends, school board members across Texas are heading to class.

Their lessons are board training sessions, some of which will teach them to put aside personal agendas, support their superintendents, and embrace the idea that board members and the superintendents make up a team. Their teachers are often education consultants, mostly former superintendents and trustees.

“You want to do everything you can to make your superintendent successful,” one such consultant told the Plano school board recently. “Governance is hard work.”

Though the class time is state-mandated, the content is not. So, it’s unclear just how many Texas trustees will hear the message the Plano trustees got. But plenty will, former school board members say, and the results aren’t always in the public’s best interest.

They say the mind-set encouraged by the training can squelch public debate, hurt accountability, and discourage trustees from working for the voters in their geographic districts.

“The training is designed to help make it easier for the superintendents to function,” said Fiona Sigalla, a former trustee in the Grapevine-Colleyville school district.

Ron Price, a former Dallas ISD trustee said: “It’s a great program to train boards how to be a rubber stamp. But it’s not a good program for board members to represent your constituents.”

He said, “Many school board members across the country call it a brainwashing session.”

- Matthew Haag, The Dallas Morning News, June 1, 2010

The article forgot to mention that it would only help you if you stack the board with members of your own church.

How interesting …

More on the Allison Cobb and the incident at the Van Alstyne Elementary School.

I have obtained another 654 pages of public documents^TPIA giving more details as to just what happened at the Van Alstyne Elementary School, accessible from the links below.

Allison’s grievance to the Van Alstyne ISD Board and their response, Part 1^TPIA

Allison’s grievance to the Van Alstyne ISD Board and their response, Part 2^TPIA

Allison’s discrimination complaint filed with the Texas Workforce Commission and the settlement that ensued, Part 1^TPIA

Allison’s discrimination complaint filed with the Texas Workforce Commission and the settlement that ensued, Part 3^TPIA

Allison’s discrimination complaint filed with the Texas Workforce Commission and the settlement that ensued, Part 4^TPIA

Allison’s notice of Intent to Terminate her Probationary Contract, emails, supporting documents etc. (This is the most interesting section of documents), Part 1^TPIA

Allison’s notice of Intent to Terminate her Probationary Contract, emails, supporting documents etc. (This is the most interesting section of documents), Part 2^TPIA

Copy of the investigation into the issues surrounding the incident, written by the attorney hired to investigate the matter for the Van Alstyne ISD^TPIA

Here is the bottom line as I read it:

The incident involving Allison Cobb and her contract non-renewal at the Van Alstyne ISD was quite a three ring circus.

Allison Cobb’s contract was not being renewed by the Van Alystyne ISD. Instead of owning up to her failures, Allison wrapped herself in the cloak of religious persecution. It is hard to see just what persecution took place other than Allison referring to some staff members as “adulterers” and “abortionists.”