Florida Keys News - Key West Citizen
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
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Schools retreat to restaurant
BY JOHN L. GUERRA Citizen Staff

Monroe County school administrators today will meet for their annual planning retreat, after which they'll head to the Conch Republic Seafood Company at Key West Harbor for food and drinks.

Acting Superintendent Mike Henriquez on Monday did not respond to several of The Citizen's phone messages asking who was paying for the dinner, but sent a short e-mail saying only who wasn't paying for it.

"No outside sponsors and no general funds," he wrote.

Last year's 80-person retreat at the DoubleTree Grand Key Resort caused a stir when the $5,340 charge was discovered on the district-issued credit card assigned to then-Assistant Superintendent Frankie St. James, who since has retired. The revelation came during the investigation into former Adult Education Coordinator Monique Acevedo's alleged personal purchases on her card.

School Board member John Dick formerly asked the Florida Auditor General's Office to investigate who paid for the retreat. After two weeks of confusion and misinformation, CDW-G, an information technology company that has a large contract with the district, said it paid for the dinner.

On Monday, board members had mixed reactions to the administrative dinner. Chairman Andy Griffiths defended the annual tradition as a team-builder, and said the public might not be as bothered by the cost as the $4.4 million the Legislature failed to deliver to local schools for next year.

"In the scheme of things, the dinner is what, a couple thousand dollars?" Griffiths said. "I think that it is a very common practice that the private business world does and I find it appropriate. I do not want to sound like I'm an extreme camp when I talk about spending, that we shouldn't spend a dime. I'm for what's reasonable, what's rational."

Dick, a vocal critic of what he considers overspending in the district, said the dinner is a good idea for team-building if the employees pay for it themselves.

"If they think this is tradition and should go, then laying off people and reducing hours for employees, do they consider that tradition?" Dick said. "They're also cutting after-school programs, and administrators feel they have to follow the tradition of having a retreat? Again, if the administrators are paying for it, I think it's a good idea to have the dinner."

jguerra@keysnews.com

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Stop this garbage. Trying to

Submitted on Wed, 08/05/2009 - 9:27pm
Stop this garbage. Trying to pit teachers against administrators is ridiculous. Neither one would be worth a crap without the other. Teachers provide direct instruction to their students which is somewhere between 15 and 25 students. This is a huge responsibility. The School based administration oversees these teachers and do whatever it takes for the teacher to do their job to the best of their ability which could mean any number of things from removing behavior problem children to providing much needed oversight of the instructional process and all things in between. To say that they get paid so they don't need to celebrate their success is ridiculous. Your students are supposed to work hard for their grades but their success is still celebrated. I have also done some research and found out that the school based administrators really don't make all that much money at least not that much more than the veteran teachers in the buildings and in some schools there are teachers that make more than the Assistant Principals.

Anybody have any pictures

Submitted on Wed, 08/05/2009 - 4:57pm
from last nights festivities?

Let's compare the school

Submitted on Wed, 08/05/2009 - 1:30pm
Let's compare the school system to a popular hamburger establishment. We have our teachers cookong up the burgers and fries, the main course, the core classes. Others are getting your beverages, your electives for the year. We have other teachers cooking apple pies and making shakes and sundaes, the extra curiccular activities of the year. The cashiers are the counselors that take your order and try to give you what you need to satisfy and fill your order. The custodians are the ones that continuously clean the "dining area" for a better learning environment. Mainteance is the contractor to keep up with repairs and remodeling. The school administrators are the managers, there for quality control and general oversight to keep things running smoothly. The school board is like the board of directors; too good to sample the food they so proudly represent and too out of touch with reality to know what their employees and the public really want or need. And then you have the superintendent, the big silly clown smiling and waving, without a clue as to what is really going on.

Wrong

Submitted on Wed, 08/05/2009 - 7:31am
What dinner? I onder who has paid for the Teacher of the Year banquet over the past few years?

A dollar here...A dollar there...

Submitted on Wed, 08/05/2009 - 12:16am
That's the PROBLEM! Every dollar counts in this economy and in this district at this time. It's not about the dinner...it's about the fact that you are not thinking about what else could have been done with the money for the dinner. I am sure that many of those Administrators would have preferred to go home to their own families but instead ended up pressured to stay and socialize. Ultimately, it was Mr. Henriquez's call to do this in his temporary position and he failed miserably in my opinion. He should have held his training and skipped dinner. This has just stirred up the muck again.

same tired old cliches...

Submitted on Tue, 08/04/2009 - 9:43pm
I'm so sick of cliches like "team-builder"... "annual tradition"... gee, they forgot to throw in a "world-class". And because the state stiffed our school district for $4 million, that makes it OK? This taxpayer thinks the state's stiffing us makes it LESS appropriate, if ANY taxpayer funding pays for the banquet. My wife and I have cut out restaurant meals in order to afford to just live. Andy, what planet are you FROM???

What's a couple thousand dollars?

Submitted on Tue, 08/04/2009 - 8:33pm
A couple thousand dollars can buy quite a bit of paper, crayons, pencils, pens, paint, books, you know that stuff that teachers and students use in the classroom. That's right, I forgot it's a tradition that teachers typically have to foot the bill themselves while the admin party it up on tax dollars. Thanks Andy, but this is one tradition we can do without.

We are told the district

Submitted on Tue, 08/04/2009 - 7:03pm
We are told the district spends almost twice as much as any other district in the state per student. I think if you were to actually look at the expenditures of the administrators compared to what is actually spent on the students, you would probably see a different picture. After seeing the expenses they want to aprove, it would be safe to say that they are probably spending nearly twice the average per administrator and probably less than average on the students. What a waste!

School Board fundraiser

Submitted on Tue, 08/04/2009 - 6:55pm
School Board fundraiser coming soon... 3 throws for $1.00 to drop the board member of your choice in the dunk tank. Now THAT would raise some money! Or we could line them up in the parking lot and charge $2.00 for your choice of any combination of 3 rotten eggs or tomatoes.

It's all business as usual.

Submitted on Tue, 08/04/2009 - 6:49pm
It's all business as usual. Just look at the agenda for the last meeting; $64,000 plus expenses for a "Response to Intervention" coach to work at three elementary schools. Over $20,000 spent for a two day class for 20 selected American History teachers to study the civil rights movement, something you would think anyone with a college degree would have already studied. Almost $60,000 for cell phones; what did you guys do before there were cell phones? A contract with NEOLA for $40,000 plus additional fees that could easily double or triple the base contract cost? For what? We have yet to see you guys get ANYTHING right yet, even with the "proper" guidelines and recommendations. And lastly, how many hotel rooms will we see reimbursed for tonight because these high-paid administrators are not resposible enough to go home early enough or are too intoxicated to drive safely? And Andy, if you want us to worry about the government failing to grant us the money, maybe it's because they have seen you guys don't know what to really do with it. Just take the Harris School money and call it a wash. But I'm sure by the time you guys agree to pick up the cost for asbestos and lead removal that will be a wash also.

business as usual huh

Submitted on Thu, 08/06/2009 - 12:10pm
You may want to do some research in referance to the American History Teachers because if you really knew your stuff you would know that the history portion of your babble was paid by a GRANT NOT BY THE SCHOOL BOARD!!!! Further more with all the money spent downtown TEACHERS SHOULD be reaping some benefits as they are the ones spending their OWN money year long!!!! Please dont post unless u have first-hand knowledge on what you are talking about.

To clarify, let's get grants

Submitted on Thu, 08/06/2009 - 7:15pm
To clarify, let's get grants and use them for a direct benefit to the classroom and students. We all know those attending the grant paid events will more than likely get compensated in some way or another, and they rightfully should. This two day seminar appears to be nothing more than an all expense paid trip for two college professors and the board members from the sponsoring agency. Remember, someone spent the time and money researching and applying for this grant, probably one of those six-figure income administrators. I have spent several years in the school system myself. I just don't see a really substantial benefit going to the students or teachers for all of the grants recieved and money spent. I agree the money needs to start getting into the classrooms where it will really make a difference.

business as usual huh?

Submitted on Thu, 08/06/2009 - 2:10pm by 4:25am by N. Sane
Tell me you teach social studies and not spelling.

I am planning to go there

Submitted on Tue, 08/04/2009 - 5:41pm
I am planning to go there and buy them an administrator a drink and thank them for all of the hard work they did for our children this past school year. Please join me!

Buying them an Administator?

Submitted on Wed, 08/05/2009 - 5:58pm
He's already bought. Didn't they already get paid for "all of the hard work" they did?

Planning

Submitted on Wed, 08/05/2009 - 4:10am
I am glad the staff got together, Great insite and a great Job done by our acting Super. And another hats off to take the Witch hunt brothers and the in the pocket Citizen reporter out of the picture. Job well done.

Thank you

Submitted on Tue, 08/04/2009 - 7:29pm
Thank you for noticing how hard our administrator's work. The general public seems to forget that 80% of what is written in the paper is totally blown out of proportion. The school board members seem to forget that the administrators were once in the classroom and worked just as hard as the teachers currently teaching. But I forgot this school board does not need administrators to run the schools the teachers can do it without them. I sometimes wonder if Mr. Dick's wife or daughter ever tried to educate themselves to be able to advance to administration if he would be singing the same song he sings now. I'm sure our board or the newspaper has not even noticed that the majority of the administration in the schools have worked the entire summer as they always do to have our schools ready to open on the 24th. That would be asking to much! I'm sorry, some of us do notice how hard they work and appreciate all they do. Thank you!

That's it, attack John Dick's wife and daughter

Submitted on Wed, 08/05/2009 - 5:44pm by 50 year resident of Marathon and voter
Boy, you are so low that you must have to get on a ladder to kiss a snake's a**. Don't whine about all your hard work. You get rewarded with lots of perks and the big bucks.

Thank an adminstrator?

Submitted on Wed, 08/05/2009 - 3:41pm
Why don't you try thanking the teachers who come in on their days off to work during the summer to get things ready for the school year. The administrators HAVE to work all summer because...drum roll... they are paid to. They are all on 11 or 12 contracts while teachers are only on 10 months. I know Mr. Dick's family and they are both educated with Masters degrees in educational administration but the difference between them and obviously yourself is that they won't sell out their profession or the students they serve by kissing up to the bubbas for their own personal gain. So quit crying and do your job!

You get paid to do a job.

Submitted on Wed, 08/05/2009 - 2:15pm by Old School
You get paid to do a job. Do you need special attention and thanks for doing something you get paid to do? Stop crying.

I agree. I have been around

Submitted on Wed, 08/05/2009 - 1:09pm
I agree. I have been around the block a couple times with some of the administration. Padding your hours to take days off, finding somewhere to go eat lunch to discuss where to go for appetizers and drinks that evening, and the list goes on. I have watched them present information to the board that was basically years old... and the board sits in amazement like they have just been enlightened on the most up-to-date thing in the world. People were otraged when the government bailed out the insurance companies and the money was used for large bonuses and retreats. Now the school board is essentially broke, are proposing to raise our taxes and are taking our tax money to use for the same reasons. And not all administrators have worked all summer to ready their schools for the upcoming school year. According to the district web site, many of the school administration are on a 10 or 11 month contract. It is maintenance that repairs and paints the schools, teachers that ready their classrooms and set up learning plans for approval prior to students returning and the custodians that clean up the messes made over the summer. Office staff, counselors and department heads prepare the rosters and do all of the filing and scheduling for the upcoming year. Do you really think we are dumb enough to even think an administrator woukd use a mop, broom, hammer, screwdriver, do their own filing or anything else close to actual work? Heck, I have even heard of a counselor paging for a custodian to come to her room for an emergency; she spilled coffee on her desk and did not want to clean it herself.

rumor has it that...

Submitted on Tue, 08/04/2009 - 3:28pm
no raise, maybe a cut, and definitely no step for teachers. i'm a teacher, and i can't afford to drop a couple of hundred at any bar/restaurant. hopefully an administrator will go home early and skip the spending. or is there pressure, like in police department here, to stand together or fall together? I don't know. I just can't explain this behavior, and my fear is that the teachers and students will get punished in the end like always because we are on the bottom of the totem pole.

This is to: "i'm a teacher, and i can't afford..."

Submitted on Wed, 08/05/2009 - 1:09pm
What do you teach? The poetry of e.e. cummings. Based on your command of grammar and punctuation, you are probably on the promotion list to administrator.

Must agree with you here...

Submitted on Sat, 08/08/2009 - 12:59am
Any and all teachers should have command of the written (and spoken) language, no matter what their subject matter may be. If I were the Superintendent, I would require the writer to take a remediation course in language, spelling, and composition.

i'm not writing a dissertation here, i am commenting...

Submitted on Wed, 08/05/2009 - 4:24pm
on a comment board that if you read all the ignorant comments posted by idiots like you, then nobody in thier write mind wuld wayste a singel secand on cheking gramer. u need to git a lyfe.

...dissertation...

Submitted on Thu, 08/06/2009 - 7:46pm
u need to get a edjcation. I you are a teacher, I pity your students.

Evil administrators

Submitted on Tue, 08/04/2009 - 8:59pm
Hate to break it to you but teachers make the same or more then administrators! Do the math I'm happy to be a teacher and wouldn't take the cut in pay to be a principal! Teachers work a 6 hour day 180 days with kids compared with the evil administrators who work year round, do the dirty work dealing with the state, angry parents, budgets, schedules and all the crap the state makes them do to protect teachers every day. I appreciate having a really good principal we all deserve a raise! What none of us including administrators appreciate is mindless waste. But I know that like the administrators I've worked with that they are every bit a teachers teacher and anyone who says otherwise is just singing sour grapes, most likely becuase the grass always looks greener. Let's punish the criminals and show respect for those doing the work, 99% who are truley good people!

teachers work all day and sometimes all night...

Submitted on Wed, 08/05/2009 - 11:21am
You are delusional if you think teachers work only six hours a day. We also work nights and weekends grading papers, volunteering for clubs, fixing our classrooms. Wow, you people have no clue what we do. That's okay, I don't need your appreciation. I get all the thanks I need from my students when the light bulb goes when they learn something. That is priceless:)

You are a teacher? I hope that you don't teach English.

Submitted on Tue, 08/04/2009 - 8:58pm
You would have done the teachers a favor by not commenting.

Hold on!

Submitted on Tue, 08/04/2009 - 8:06pm
Let me see here???? My child, who in student government, tells me that they feed the teachers before the school year, around X-Mas, Thanksgiving, end of the year, Teacher of the Year events....for FREE from the culinary class which I am sure the food was paid for from tax dollars.. Give me a break! I was at the school last year and my childs assistant principal was chasing kids back to class, kicking some bumbs on campus and running around like a wild man at lunch to watch all the kids so their teacher could have lunch. I asked him when he ate lunch, and he told me "when I get home!" I dont want to hear it! I dont care if you in the military, private bus, Conch, Non-Conch, Yankee, etc you have all recieved a free meal from time to time to celebrate, relax whatever! Who cares! If you think they dont deserve a meal and you do... You are a hippocrite! Give me a break! I bet even the reporters at the Citizen have a retreat! This is a non story! Acevedo and St James are gone! Leave these assistant principals and principals alone. If I am not mistaken, they were teachers at one time themselves. So they went to get a Masters degree to become a school administrator to better their lives...

Those who take on princpalships know

Submitted on Sun, 08/09/2009 - 12:07am
exactly what the job entails, including partaking in a late lunch. Don't worry, they make sure to feed themselves before the end of the school day. And by the way, we CARE because this is not the time to be spending unnecessary dollars on "retreats". There is absolutely nothing you can do at a retreat that can't be done at the high school cafeteria and theater. By opting for smarter and more economical meetings, you are using resources that are available and affordable. It is a much smarter way to conduct business given the present situation.

You act as though the two

Submitted on Sun, 08/09/2009 - 10:29pm
You act as though the two day meeting was spent playing domino's and drinking beer. It was two days in the KWHS Library going over new State and Federal guidelines as well as new policies and procedures set forth by the State Department of Ed and the local MCSD. So take your uninformed comments and just go away.

Leave the principals and assistant principals alone????

Submitted on Sat, 08/08/2009 - 11:57pm
So they can follow in the tainted shadow of their superiors? The principals and ass't principals are the very people who should step up and do the right thing...not the frivolous and customary thing!

They are stepping up and

Submitted on Sun, 08/09/2009 - 10:36pm
They are stepping up and doing their jobs like they have since this whole thing began. If you want to know what is going on in the schools just make an appointment with one of these people and ask them. I attend SAC meetings regularly as well as PTA meetings and I can assure you that my child's school is A-Plus and it has everything to do with the leadership in the school, teachers, students, custodians, lunchroom staff, office staff they all make up a wonderful family!

Well, now,is Ms. St. James really "gone"??

Submitted on Thu, 08/06/2009 - 7:02pm
Or just being vewy vewy quiet? Ms. Vogel has assured us she is working diligently (frantically?) to get Randy reinstalled and back to business as usual.With a very "speedy" trial. Before people start having honesty attacks....This is soooo sad....What are they really thinking? And planning?

Degree

Submitted on Wed, 08/05/2009 - 11:49am
Post the degree's of the school board members. If they do not have Masters in administration or better they should not be there. In the business world if they did not own the business they would not be in the position they are in. But being elected makes it OK to trash others who took the time and worked hard for the titles.

How many people with a Masters in Admin would

Submitted on Wed, 08/05/2009 - 5:48pm by 50 year resident of Marathon and voter
even want that thankless job of School Board member?

Well

Submitted on Wed, 08/05/2009 - 7:47pm
Let's see, before this fiasco, it was one meeting a month and now it is two. Let us do the math - Before 30,000/12 = $2500 a meeting or $500 an hour - Now, $1250 a meeting or $250 a hour - I'll take the job right now for half that, and even say something nice about someone every once in a while. Debra's little comment about how $20 means a lot to her a month. Wait when you don't have the 30K a year Doc!!

"punished like always"? Are

Submitted on Tue, 08/04/2009 - 5:38pm
"punished like always"? Are you kidding me....please explain how you have been punished. As a matter of fact under this regime you have never been treated better! Look at the salaries and other amenities that teachers have garnered over the past 5 years or so. I don't think that qualifies for punishment.

punishment

Submitted on Wed, 08/05/2009 - 11:34am
punishments in the form of reduced funding, program cuts, lack of resources, etc. you people need to chilax. wow, talk about an over reaction. if you follow the money, you will see that teachers and students always get the least. i put the blame on all levels of government. and those of you here actually trying to argue that teachers are underworked and overpaid...wow, you are smoking something funny. our school day doesn't end when the bell rings. those of us lugging papers home, grade for hours at home. we plan for many hours on the weekend. you really should not post comments on a message board when you have no clue what you are talking about. i'm lucky to have great administrators at my school. we all deserve a pat on the back, not to be torn down in a message board. this proves my point about how funding at all levels of government is a direct reflection of how much some people don't appreciate our worth. it's a fact, but since i didn't become a teacher for the money, i find my career, which i'm actually good at, thank you very much, to be very satisfying. those of you attacking us are bitter people who probably don't like their own jobs.

punishment

Submitted on Wed, 08/05/2009 - 1:17pm
Please get your shift key repaired.

"never been treated better!"

Submitted on Tue, 08/04/2009 - 6:18pm by 4:25am by N. Sane
I agree with you 100%. I have been a teacher here for many years, one of the few who has a "continuing contract" and the last five years have been mighty pleasant for me.BW

Punished isn't a good word....

Submitted on Tue, 08/04/2009 - 6:13pm
But other phrases would apply when you're expected to sacrifice after the ones in charge have allowed hundreds of thousands of dollars to be swindled, spent hundreds of thousands on lawyers and investigations, as well as condoned ridiculous spending, raised taxes, and have an arrogant attitude over "a couple thousand bucks." That's an amount that would be an appreciated raise for a whole year.

no raise, maybe a

Submitted on Tue, 08/04/2009 - 5:16pm
no raise, maybe a cut...definitely no step=definitely one less very qualified teacher in the Keys...

you have no clue

Submitted on Wed, 08/05/2009 - 4:21pm
you don't even know my qualifications or how cuts work. when the ax falls, it's usually the young energetic teachers who are let go first, and this is tragic. if you weren't such an idiot talking about things you don't know about, you would not applaud a tragedy, and if you had children in the school system, you would want teachers to be paid with dignity for the hard work they do every day.

Since Mr. Griffiths defended

Submitted on Tue, 08/04/2009 - 11:08am
Since Mr. Griffiths defended his point of view to us, the tax paying public, how about we voice our opinion to him. Andy.Griffiths@KeysSchools.com

Here is how it will work.

Submitted on Tue, 08/04/2009 - 10:34am
Here is how it will work. All administrators attending the retreat will pay for all expenses out of pocket. They probably will submit a request for reimbursement the following day. After all, they are talking about "tradition", aren't they?

INTERIM SUPERINTENDENT

Submitted on Tue, 08/04/2009 - 10:24am by nickname
Does anyone know why Charlie Crist is making Monroe County twist in the wind? Mike Henriquez is not only unqualified in his position, he is part of the part of the problem.

Hey guys, a few questions,

Submitted on Tue, 08/04/2009 - 10:18am
Hey guys, a few questions, how many reams of paper would yoube able to purchase with the money spent for the "retreat"? Will we be faced with a shortage of supplies again this year? I understand maintenance is still having issues with purchasing supplies do to a lack of funding, is this true? Is 4 hours of your happiness worth thousands of hours of worrying and depression of hundreds of employees? Will the "team" really pay for it out of pocket? Are we going to see requests for reimbursement months down the line from everyone attending the "retreat"? You have asked us, your employees, to take pay cuts, eliminate jobs, absorb more of the cost of doing our jobs, take a reduction in benefits (for those that have any) and we are to happily support you while you party and go about "business as usual" for the administrative team? Where are YOUR sacrifices, what, if anything, are you truly doing to make the situation any better for your employees and the students of Monroe County?

dinner bill

Submitted on Tue, 08/04/2009 - 8:19am by 4:25am by N. Sane
Is that what the down payment on the Harris School is going towards?
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