Monday, January 07, 2008

The "Untouchables"

"Sonnett Sones" writes...

There must be magic in the air (when it comes to bookkeeping). Another trait Ray Humphreys and Ilean Richards seem to share is book cooking. A former administrator for the school district always said there were 2 sets of books in Leland.

That would explain how thousands and thousands of dollars are budgeted for staff development each year, but the only person ever leading staff development is Ilean Richards and the other retired that work for her consulting firm.

If the Leland School District is not paying her to consult (as well as be superintendent) then all the board needs to do is reveal who they pay the staff development money to. If they are paying her to consult, then they have either been misled to believe this is legal, or they don't care if they break the law.

Either way, the buck stops with them and in this case, they can't hide behind Ilean's skirts! The attorney general should take a look at that.

As an exempt employee of the Leland School District, it would indeed be inappropriate for Dr. Richards to also receive consulting fees for services rendered to the school district. What school board would ever approve of such practices? Is there not a school board attorney?

As for maintaining two sets of books, that is a distinct possibility in our "post-Enron" era. As in the case of Ray and DRMC, I believe that Ilean and her board may be involved in some "back-scratching". The problem with "boards" of supervision is that they are easily bought and maintained. Silence is a pretty cheap commodity in a depressed economy and everybody could use a few extra bucks...

The missing link in both the DRMC and LSD debacles is "accountability". CEOs and Superintendents are the highest levels of management, so who among us should challenge their decisions and authority? Answer: Everyone of us!

Tyrants and dictators rise to power by silencing those who could expose their self-serving motives. Whether they are "bought and paid for" or terminated, their silence empowers the tyrant to seek more autonomy and power. Such is the case with Ray and Ilean. At this point in time, they deem themselves "untouchable".

...And as long as we allow it, they are.

Forthright

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I have always feared what may come of my career if I said anything, but as a resident of Leland, something needs to give. As an employye, if I were to go ask Dr. R a question, she would never answer me, but berate me in front of my principal. When I quit working there, my principal basically pushed me out, telling me "I think it would be best if you find another place to work." Yet, the state of Mississippi is in desperate need of teachers. This person picked on me because I was a new kid on the block with limited experience teaching. This person video taped a teacher teaching and made fun of her in a faculty meeting. Yes, this is how things are done, and this is why nobody wants anything to do with this district. It is sad, but if the teachers have NO SUPPORT what else can we do but go somewhere else?

Anonymous said...

Holy Cow!
The county board of supers actually did something! This is the first sign of hope I have seen in a long time. New Attorney, New President, let's hope for a new direction. This is wonderful! Willy G. should have been gone long ago!!!! Al R. had been in the pres. seat way to long also. Way to go Mike G………

Anonymous said...

The sups need to do their job. Enforce what is right!

Anonymous said...

We need to get Joyce
Parker to get on the bandwagon for Leland. She calls it like it is! She is on Greenville School District and does not seem to worry about talking before their superintendent and school board. But they don't have Hitler jr. for their superintendent. Free speech is only for people who don't work for Leland School District. Come on Joyce. Ask for an audit in Leland too!

Anonymous said...

And now this sorry excuse is in Leflore County dong the same thing she did in Leland. Destroying the district. There are more emergency certificates and sub's in the schools than teachers. Any qualified teacher who could do the job was run off. Staff development meetings are 100% hosted by her and focused on her..Welcome to the Ilean Richards Show. She is destroying the district. But maybe this is what some powers that be want her to do.

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