Tag Archives: Forest Hills School District mess

“Andersonian Apocalypse Anniversary”

TODAY IS
FRIDAY, JUNE 26, 2020
TRUMP’S 1253rd DAY IN OFFICE

Here we are one year later.  Smith and Frooman are gone.  Their Forest Hills School District legacy firmly established.  If the state is not involved they should be.  But school district transparency still does not exist in Forest Hills.  The state could be descending as we speak. 

Fiscally a disaster.  Even with additional funds from an operating levy.  Shamelessly presenting plans for deficit spending year after year.  Rising to a final one-year $7 million spending excess.  Ending with – yes, intentionally – an overdrawn bank account.

This deficit does not appear to include adverse settlements from ongoing lawsuits.  Still to come.  The lasting legacy of building projects incompetently conceived and executed.  Projects undertaken against mountains of facts and expert advice.  Arrogantly and stupidly ignored.  Projects designed to elevate board members’ own neighborhood facilities.  Disdainful of the other buildings, neighborhoods, and students.  Tossed into the basket of deplorables of Mr. Frooman, Mr. Smith, and Mr. Heis.

Mr. Heis outwardly unaware of his part in the mess. Or even that a mess exists.  Truly, the vain emperor wearing no clothes.  Believing his loving subjects will continue to ignore his shameful behavior.  In unseeing approval. Maybe they have seen the truth and leave him to serve.  Who then bears the shame?

Along with the apocalyptic charge come the harpies.  Governments unprepared and unable to check a pandemic.  Destroying lives and livings.  And education.  Here are the opportunistic social cretins.  Attempting to gain personal advantage through shame and intimidation. Taking away the little pride and hope left.  Our Beloved Redskin Mascot becomes death, the destroyer of a world.

 We know an Apocalypse when we see one.

TODAY IS
FRIDAY, JUNE 28, 2019
Trump’s 889th Day In Office

Our Angry Andersonian Clough Corbly is wondering where the state is with this Forest Hills School District mess?  The state steps in when school districts are in trouble.  Well, here we have operating budgets in the red, major project overruns and busted schedules, lawsuits, employee sexting scandals involving key employees, meddling superintendents, overuse of secret executive session meetings probably violating sunshine laws on a regular basis, and who knows what else.  Doesn’t that sound like a school district in trouble?

Could it be because of school board member Randy Smith’s involvement with the state school board?  He was the Ohio School Board Association president in 2018.  Right in the middle of his own local mess.  Maybe the mess was partially because of all the time and attention he spent in Columbus diverting him from his job as “good steward of over-taxed payers’ dollars” in Forest Hills.  Rumor is he is going to run for the local school board again in November.  Really, Randy?

Could it be that OSBA is looking the other way to protect its own reputation?  To hide their own questionable choice of leadership?  To not embarrass one of their own?

Could it also be the state is letting Forest Hills suffer the agony of their own horrible judgement on the now “significantly over-budget” “mismanaged and bloated” building project?  Forest Hills had the state survey their facilities twice, showing them exactly where improvement was needed, what it would cost, and what the best course of action was.  Forest Hills ignored the experts who recommended that the best course of action was generally DON’T RENOVATE.  Forest Hills did decide to rebuild Wilson Elementary.  Duh.  Neighborhood school to most of the board.

It seems the state educational leaders may care more about satisfying the political egos of certain members than they care about educational success.  They’ll just stand by and watch their best school districts go down in flames.