May 24, 2012 - FRIVOLOUS IS TOO KIND A WORD

In the April 19 edition of the local small town newspaper, The Red Oak Record Board member John Hawkins was given a format to defend the indefensible —the "teacherage" created for Scott Niven.

http://www.redoakrecord.com/index.php?Show=04192012&Page;=1

The article is titled "frivolous" because a concerned citizen at the April school board meeting characterized the spending on the "teacherage" as frivolous (an understatement). I took the headline of the article as mocking the man's genuine concern, as the paper then devotes about 17 paragraphs to Hawkins gushing over how great the decision was.

Why is Hawkins the mouthpiece for this? Isn't Lozano the Board president?

Hawkins says he feels fortunate to have local media who supports and reports fairly on matters pertaining to ROISD. Hawkins whines that Channel 8 did not choose to report the positive story and didn't run the whole story. Poor John, according to him, was interviewed for 20 minutes but Channel 8 only aired 6-7 seconds.

Cry me a river. Channel 8 interviewed me for far longer than 20 minutes, and the part they aired was only a fraction of that interview. Maybe they didn't report on the "positive" angle because here in the rest of the world, we see nothing positive about squandering away countless of thousands of dollars creating a home for this superintendent that already makes an outrageous salary and receives generous benefits.

Hawkins is grateful that the Red Oak Record reported fairly on this—the ROR didn't contact me to refute Hawkins claims. Channel 8 went to great lengths to find citizens who supported and opposed the "governor's mansion."

I noticed they're putting a nice fence around the "teacherage" perhaps to keep out the troublesome proletariat, those little tax paying people funding this monstrosity.

To those of you who have contacted us, we haven't gone away, and we're working on confirming a rumor that has come from at least a dozen different sources.

April 3, 2012 - THEY WORK FOR US!

Red Oak ISD was asked to answer to the Texas Education Agency regarding information I sent to the TEA about the spending and shenanigans going on in this District. Red Oak ISD naturally responded to the TEA through their law firm of Henslee Schwartz.

On the topic of the "teacherage" the attorney for the District reminds TEA that there are "well over a hundred school districts in Texas that maintain teacherages." That may be true. How many provide living quarters for a superintendent with the outrageous benefits Niven already receives? Lest we forget, Niven already has a house, and now five years later, he needs the RO taxpayers to subsidize his housing costs. There are over a thousand school districts in this state. Each District in this state is unique, and to lump the current situation at ROISD in with other Districts distorts the issue. The "everybody's doing it" defense doesn't resonate with the average Joe paying taxes here. In fact it's an insult.

The attorney admits in his correspondence that the District has spent $25,570 to renovate the house. The attorney points to $11,650 of that amount being spent for asbestos abatement. So why, when asbestos was found, wasn't the house demolished? Spun as a positive point, the TEA is told that expenses were saved due to the fact that District employees have worked on the house with no overtime pay. So...how much in District salary has been spent on this house? This $25,570 that has been admitted to doesn't stop, the spending isn't finite—how much more is going to be spent getting the house up to Niven's standards? Niven is paying less for this house that an apartment dweller would pay for rent and utilities. At this rate, paying upkeep, insurance, etc. by the District, when does the District ever "break even?" Frankly, I would have rather paid for the maintenance of a parking lot than the constant expense of a house, not to mention the money pit that a pool can be.

Although the attorney doesn't dwell on the restaurant expenses I complained to the TEA about, he does address the issue of the $275 spent in December 2011 at Red Oak Laser Blast. That money was spent for a "team building function!" ROISD employees played at Red Oak Laser Blast to the tune of 275 tax dollars to "build a unified group, strengthen relationships and ultimately increase productivity for the ROISD Leadership Team!" I'm not making this up, this is the defense for frolicking and fun times on the public dole. In these times of uncertainty and austerity, with folks being foreclosed on and losing their jobs daily, our District employees have to play to learn how to bond! How about, if they don't like their jobs, or can't get along, they hit the bricks and find employment more suitable for them? How many teachers are brown bagging it these days? How many kids are eating government subsidized luncheons at ROISD while these folks recreate? The arrogance and sense of entitlement in this District rivals that of Marie Antoinette.

One other item in this retort to the TEA that caught my attention is the issue of the credit card purchase sent in Niven's wife's name to their home address. This is easily explained as an (pause for effect) error!

This is excused on the premise that "This item was meant to be shipped to the Superintendent's home; however, shipping the item to the attention of the Superintendent's wife was simply an error. The item should have been shipped to the attention of the superintendent, not the superintendent's wife." The item in question is some sort of "Hawkette backdrop" for the drill team. The justification seems that Mr. Niven was going to personally build the backdrop to save the taxpayer's additional expense. Oh yeah, ROISD sure has demonstrated that they want to save the tax payers money haven't they? Doesn't the drill team have a booster club? Why is Niven's wife ordering this? Why does she have access to his ROISD credit card? ROISD's own rules for credit card usage state "cardholders are prohibited from allowing non-employees of the District to use the card." How did the company that this order was submitted to know the superintendent's wife's name if she wasn't involved with the purchase?

The lawyers, the public relations folks, the inner clique within Red Oak circles can rationalize this, justify all of this, whine about open records requests and convince themselves that they're OK and the actions of ROISD are all above board. Those of us living in Clarity-ville see this for what it is—government employees looting the treasury in economic times not seen since the Great Depression.

What's sad is, they're getting away with it. Work has continued on that house, the TEA may buy the story written to them by the ROISD attorney, and once the furor dies down life for them will be good again.

I want to thank those who have supported us in this endeavor. The hits on this site have spiked incredibly, and we find comfort in the fact that every time ROISD is googled, this site comes up.

Perhaps we can force change. We're open to suggestions. Never lose sight of the fact that they work for us, we don't work for them.

March 28, 2012 - DEAR CHIEF LINDSEY IF YOU CAN'T TAKE THE HEAT....

As followers of this site know by now, WFAA came to town and did some investigative reporting. For those who missed it, here's the link .

Red Oak, and ROISD, have been in their own isolated little enclave, without major media focus for some time now. Since WFAA came to town, it appears some of the public employees are a bit rattled, including ROISD Police Chief Scott Lindsey.

On March 27 and on March 21, Lindsey posted on his public Facebook page, where he is profiled in his uniform, expressing his lamentations and frustrations at being held accountable as a public employee. Whining that "...all we do is waste taxpayer funds." Well, actually some of us believe ROISD has indeed wasted some taxpayer funds, Scott, sorry you see it differently. Those take home squad cars, the ROISD PD budget, the perks you have, the credit cards—yeah we tax paying citizens footing the bill have a right—no a duty—to keep you in check. And don't get me started again on the "teacherage."

I almost (almost) had to dab a tear away when I read how Chief Lindsey, in his own grieving words, had to abandon a student that needed a mentor, because he was forced to respond to an open records request asking how he spent the tax payer's money. Chief Lindsey, you're supposed to be a police officer. The LAW doesn't mandate that you mentor. The LAW is clear that you will respond to an open records request. With the perks (many perks at that) come responsibility.

Kinda sad. Lindsey is a 40-something-year-old man whimpering on FB, trolling for a cyber hug, sniveling about his responsibilities and expectations. And he's the Chief.

By the way Chief, scandal isn't spelled scandle.

March 5, 2012 - NIVEN WAY?????

Niven Way? Niven Way? We pay this guy like he's royalty, lavish tax dollars on him and the District names a street on ROISD property after him? We've gone from the absurd to the surreal....

In the years I've been watching the Red Oak Independent School District Board of Trustees, only one person has stepped down from the school board—Brent Stanford. Mr. Stanford left the Board not to pursue other endeavors, but to become an employee of ROISD.

In answer to my query, I was forwarded information from ROISD that purportedly shows Mr. Stanford first being paid, as what looks to be, a consultant before getting on the ROISD payroll.

As I read a bill to ROISD submitted by JR3 Education Associates, LP, it appears that Mr. Stanford was paid a total of $45,881.92 by the District as a consultant.

Mr. Stanford submitted his resignation letter to the ROISD Board on June 23, 2009. Mr. Stanford became a full time employee of ROISD in the school year of 2010-2011 collecting a salary of $76,000 annually with a $3,000 stipend for travel, $1,200 for a phone and $2,700 for state health insurance. Pretty nice reward for being a dutiful member of the ROISD school board. $76K + benefits on top of $45,881.92 as a consultant prior to the full time gig! Another example of how politically incestuous this town is. Where I grew up, we called situations like this a kickback.

Mr. Stanford's job title is Director of Support Services—which includes maintenance. I'm pretty sure those were vehicles from maintenance I often saw at 504 Shawnee with workers inside laboring furiously to remake the "teacherage" for Mr. Niven—that work seems to have mysteriously stopped right about the time the Texas Education Association notified the District that I filed a complaint over the extravagant spending on the "governor's mansion." I wonder what other duties the maintenance department had to neglect to make this house presentable for Mr. Niven. I wonder what we've spent in ROISD labor to bring the "teacherage" up to Mr. Niven's standards.

Speaking of Superintendent Niven, I asked for documentation of his highest level of formal education to date—I was given a copy of his Masters of Education. A Masters Degree is impressive; however, with the salary and compensation Superintendent Niven receives one would think he holds a PHD. Not only does he not have a Doctorate, but ROISD is a 4A school. Superintendent Niven receives a pretty lucrative compensation considering his education, the size of ROISD, even before the "teacherage" comes into consideration. I'm quite certain a few ROISD teachers must have Masters of Education degrees, receiving a fraction of Niven's compensation.

On February 13, I updated this site with the credit card bills exposing Superintendent Niven's wife appearing to use his ROISD credit card for a purchase in her name, delivered to her home address. I was curious, thinking that perhaps she is an employee of ROISD or receives some type of compensation from the District for services rendered. Well according to the District, Mrs. Niven "is not employed nor receives any compensation from ROISD." The obvious question—what's the deal with this purchase? The Board is aware of this transaction, as I sent all of them an email to their ROISD email address with the documentation. Those emails are public record. In a just world, evidence of that purchase would be turned over to an objective investigate body to determine if any laws have been broken. Lamentably, in this town, from what I've seen, "justice" is compromised to the ethos of situational ethics.

Going through some emails I asked for from the District, I see that ROISD attorney Deron Robinson, with the firm of hensleeschwartz.com e-mailed ROISD GayLynn Broom on January 24, 2012 that "This man has way too much free time on his hands." No Deron (may I call you Deron? I'm Keith.) I don't have too much free time on my hands. I'm just a blue collar schmoe, living in this District watching how my tax dollars are thrown away. There's a lot of things I'd rather be doing, Deron, but until this District gets its act together (which doesn't seem to be in the foreseeable future) I'll be watching.

February 17, 2012 - HYPOCRISY

...so I hear on the radio about a worthy organization raising money for classrooms called

http://www.donorschoose.org,

an on line charity connecting donors to classrooms in need. Hearing the ad for this organization reminds me of how public schools, in this time of austerity, are hurting so bad. Good people raising money for school children.

Then I found an article authored by Scott Niven, C.P. A. and and Superintendent of Red Oak ISD.

http://www.fotps.org/thetruth.php

Irony is ironic isn't it Mr. Niven? Perhaps we could slash golden parachutes for superintendents of 4 A schools. How many text books, computers and school supplies could we buy without the expense of a "teacherage?" I could go on, but I think anyone reading this site, particularity the last couple of updates, gets my point.

Much more to come on all of this......

February 15, 2012 - Sloppin' At the Trough

In the update posted on February 13, 2012 I stated Superintendent Niven is paid about $160,000 annually. . I was wrong. Niven DID receive 160K until the school board approved a contract on July 1, 2011. Now Niven's salary is $165,000. A nice little $5,000 raise there, but that's not where his compensation ends.

Superintendant Niven's Contract

Perusing Superintendent Niven's current contract, we see that "in anticipation of additional duties" Scott will receive a one time salary adjustment of $10,000. Sweet huh? Well it gets better for our Superintendent. Heard of Obamacare? It comes early for the Nivens, the Red Oak Independent School District is paying the full cost of health benefits coverage of Scott and his immediate family, including dental and vision! Oh, and ROISD's footing the bill for his life insurance!

The superintendent gets an all expense paid pager, laptop computer, computer and fax machine installed in his office and/or home office, all at the sole cost and expense of ROISD.

Moving along, we see that Niven gets an $850 per month automobile allowance.

Niven gets during the term of his contract, $7,500 for "professional growth."

Here's a sweet deal in anybody's book—our public employee gets $4,000 a year to use toward his own health and well being, in any way Sir Niven sees fit! For this kind of change we'd better have the most buffed out superintendent in Ellis County!

Back to the money, ROISD ponies up $2600 annually to contribute to Niven's 401 (a).

We're paying this guy like he's royalty, and on top of this he's gonna get a house on our money for a mere $550 a month. That extra $5,000 the Board handed over to him last July easily covers the first nine months of that rent. If the Board forks over another 5Gs next July. Ol' Scott's gonna be money ahead rent wise.

The way the Board lavishes money on this guy is obscene, money coming from the taxpayer. I don't get the hook up, I don't know what Niven's bringing to the table. What is it about Mr. Niven that compels the Board to throw money at him? Does the Board understand that virtually every cent they have to play with comes from the taxpayer (rhetorical question, of course they do, they just don't care) ?

I'm sure the Board's aware that the Red Oak ISD Police Department, which didn't even exist until 2001, is costing us hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. Just looking through some of ROISD Police Chief Lindsey's credit card statements and invoices, I see that on top of the expense of salaries, squad cars, training in San Antonio, bullet proof vests and miscellaneous equipment we've also paid for these officers to eat on multiple occasions. Just looking at the food purchases from August 2011-December 2011 it appears that we fed the ROISD PD to the tune of $466.08. The last entry I see, from December 2011 shows a bill for $139.95 at 342 Grill and Bar; a handwritten note by an anonymous writer on the copy of the bill says it was for "police dept. holiday luncheon and training meeting." Lindsey collects 76K a year, has a take home car and other benefits, and we're paying to feed him. I guess in the big picture, feeding police officers on a department that doesn't even have to exist pales in comparison to the money lavished on the superintendent.

I just cannot come to terms with ROISD buying and renovating this house to let Niven live in it at our expense. I understand that the District wanted the land for additional parking— I can follow that logic, but now the RO taxpayer has the continual expense of paying for the upkeep of a house. I would have preferred that house was demolished and it all be made into a parking lot. There is far less upkeep on a parking lot than a house. The $550 that Niven pays won't begin to cover the costs. There will be maintenance issues, weekly pool service, pool chemicals, repairs, cable, Internet hook up, phone, water, electric, lawn maintenance etc. and that's monthly; that's not including the exorbitant initial renovation expenditures. Mr. Niven is paid a fine salary; higher than many superintendent's in Ellis County, and that's all he should get. The taxpayer does not need to pay him any more than his salary. Let him pay for his own health insurance like the rest of us. Let him pay for his own fitness program like the rest of us. Let him pay to further his education like the rest of us. Let him pay for his own house like the rest of us.

Nobody's watching these people. I don't know of any local media that has examined what's going on in this District and reported on it. We'll continue this site, grammatical errors and all, but it's gotten to the point where we can't cover everything. Help!

February 13, 2012 - Red Oak ISD Having A Good Time with Your Money

I learned a new word this week-"teacherage." "Teacherage" is the word ROISD Board President Henry Lozano uses in a January 10, 2012 address to ROISD staff to sell them into accepting the Board's decision to provide a house for ROISD Board Superintendent Scott Niven at 504 Shawnee. This isn't a "teacherage" for Niven, this is a taxpayer provided home for Niven, with relatively small out of pocket expenses paid by him. This "teacherage" has a $1453.50 alarm system installed with public money.

Last August, ROISD purchased the house at 504 Shawnee with 14 acres, for $260,000. Ostensibly the purchase was to buy the land for additional parking, then someone hatched the idea of our own little governors mansion for Superintendent Niven.

I obtained purchase orders from the District just for the months November & December 2011, and part of January 2012. It is staggering and disgusting how this school district hemorrhages money.

504 Shawnee was found to have asbestos. The price for discovering this cost us, the taxpayers, $2,700.

Instead of razing the house upon finding this, and having that much more parking space, the District spent another $8,950 for asbestos abatement. We the taxpayers shelled out $1,242 for termite treatment. So far we've spent $170 for pool chemicals and treatment (yes, the house has a pool).

We've spent $5,375 for new heating and air for the comfort of Mr. Niven. I have a copy of a Home Depot credit card receipt with expenses earmarked for 504 Shawnee totaling $720.93. Another Home Depot invoice dated the same day as the credit card receipt, shows an expenditure of $4,373.98 spent on 504 Shawnee.

Just from what I can see, for a mere 2.5 months, we the taxpayer have ponied up nearly $25,000 for this "teacherage" for Superintendent Niven to reside in.

It gets worse. Superintendent Niven, according to the information obtained through the Texas Public Information Act, will pay a flat $550 a month to live here. All maintenance, upkeep, taxes, utilities and insurance on the house will be paid for by the District.

I drove by the property the other day and noted 4 ROISD vehicles in the drive with folks inside working away. A hidden cost is the hourly rate maintenance is being paid to work on this house.

Niven doesn't need this house, he is a well paid superintendent in Ellis County collecting about $160,000 annually and according to ECAD currently lives in a $224,380 home. In addition to his salary, we paid $240 to renew Niven's Texas State Board of Public Accountancy license. We just paid $125 for Niven's membership to the Texas Association of School Business Officials, and on January 12, 2012 we paid $2,483.12 for Niven's tuition to Texas A & M! On January 10 2012 we paid $1,200 for "Executive Coaching" for Niven. All of these benefits, all of these expenses and now he gets a house.

Aside from the "teacherage" expenses, certain elites within the District have been having a pretty good time eating and playing on the taxpayer's dime. On an invoice , I see that we spent $275 at Red Oak Laser Blast on 12/05/11. This invoice also lists $416.25 spent at Randy's Bar-B-Que on 12/05/11, and another $438,.75 spent at Randy's Bar-B-Que on 12/9/11. Hand written little anonymous notes on a bill for the 12/5/11 feast at Randy's says the expense was for "administer holiday meeting on 12/5/11" The 12/9/11 expense at Randys, according to the handwritten note attached to the bill, says this meal was for the administration and annex support holiday luncheon. The $275 spent at Red Oak Laser was according, again to an anonymous hand written note, spent for "administrator holiday meeting on 12/5/2011."

I have several receipts and invoices for food in just this two and a half month time frame that not counting the above, total about $669. 342 Bar and Grill seems to be one of the favored eating establishments. In these times of austerity, the food for these little shindigs should come from the school cafeteria. If it's good enough for the students, it's good enough for the privileged. The average student struggling with math trying to get through the day isn't being treated to a day of fun at Red Oak Laser Blast; he isn't gorging himself at the 342 Bar and Grill at the tax payer's expense.

When I submitted my TPIA, I also asked for credit card statements. After receiving my packet I noticed that the credit card statements were missing. Under Texas law, a government entity either has to provide information requested through the Texas Public Information Act, or appeal to the Attorney General to withhold information. I notified ROISD Director of Communication Gay Lynn Broom that the credit card statements were missing, One day after the 10 business days as prescribed by law to release this info, and only after asking again, did I get the cc statements and another purchase order that had not been included in the original packet.

On December 13, 2011, documentation shows an order was placed with New York Sound under the name of Christy Niven, Superintendent Scott Niven's wife. This order was charged on the ROISD credit card that is issued to her husband. The item was to be delivered to their home instead of to the District. I question the legality, if not the morality, of this. I have to wonder if I would have received this documentation if I hadn't insisted on the credit card statements.

Note the credit card bill and the order invoice I blocked out the cc number and the Nivens street address, otherwise this is exactly what the District sent me. Note the anonymous note explaining that this item is for the ROHS drill team, and it's allegedly for props being built by Mr Niven. Aside from the questionable use of the superintendent's credit card, the ROHS drill team has a booster club for expenses like this. I wonder if other extra curricular groups sponsored by booster clubs get supplies paid for on the taxpayer's dime.

The day will come when the Red Oak Independent School District proposes a tax hike. The propagandists will tell the public that the money will be "for the children" and that education will suffer if they don't get additional funds. It's not about the kids. It's about this house for Niven. It's about take home squad cars for the ROISD Police Department. It's about eating out on the Red Oak ISD credit card. It's about blowing other people's money. ROISD already collects the highest taxes in Ellis County.

We're waiting for the Superintendent's contract and the credit card statements from ROISD Police Chief Lindsey's ROISD credit card. We'll have more on this topic.

Overview