School Board Member Danny Blanton’s Common Sense Questions Expose Major Problems at CCS during September 11, 2017 School Board Meeting!!! –Report, evaluation provided by Robert A. Williams

The September 11, 2017 School Board Meeting was held amidst the residual winds and rains of Hurricane Irma that swept to the West of us at the last few hours and mostly missed Cleveland County. Hurricane Irma was the largest and most ferocious Atlantic Ocean Hurricane in the history of the known world. In many respects Hurricane Irma didn’t hold a candle to the election year storm that has hit the terrified School Board members with the truth. The truth that they have covered up for so long that has now exploded in their faces.

If that sounded like a strange introduction to this article an even stranger event is how some school board members and candidates, especially Kathy Falls, are now introducing their campaign lies into school board meetings and how the CCS administration is trying to help them. I suppose the CCS administration is also trying to help themselves while they are at it. I also started this article out like I did because Hurricane Irma caused the opening items on the agenda involving students and guest recognition to be cancelled due to the inclement weather. As for myself, I didn’t show up either. I watched the meeting on the official school website and, after you read the rest of this article, watch that video for yourself. I am sure you will come to the same conclusions that I did.

Let’s start describing what all this means by giving you notice that this article will not stick with the School Board Meeting Agenda as it was laid out, but by how the cover-up flows. We have captured certain video clips of the September 11, 2017 school board meeting to prove our point. You are certainly welcome to go on the CCS Website and watch the blow by blow recording of this meeting. We are also provided some educational related “talking points” and the truth of the matter as shown below.

Facts of the matter:
1. The North Carolina General Assembly has provided increased funding to schools every year since the Republicans have come into the majority power in Raleigh.

2. The NC General Assembly has also taken a stronger hand in mandating school curricula and budgetary spending such that there is an increase in educational opportunities for students as well as accountability standards for every school. The politically structured “Common Core” standards once heartily embraced by the Cleveland County School Board (as late as last year) have been discontinued by order of the NC General Assembly.

3. The NC General Assembly has also allowed local school boards flexibility to move budget items around so that more funds can be made available to better fund certain items that work well for the schools and education, but that funding will have to come out of other items that have proved themselves to be wasteful or ineffective.

4. We will also mention that the Cleveland County Commissioners, since school merger have decreased overall funding to schools by adopting a per student funding method that accounts for the full 15 cent per $100 tax evaluation revenue and then adjusting down the original county funding portion of the total funding to schools to match the per student funding formula. This is a very sneaky way for the county commissioners to steal tax money from educating our children and then give it away for so called economic development “tools” (rhymes with “fools”) like the ALWS world series, the Earl Scruggs Center, the LeGrand Center, the Shooting Range and other such projects that do not and will never operate without significant $millions in Taxpayer subsidy every year.

5. School Board Member Danny Blanton has brought up many common sense approaches to the goings on at CCS over the past four years. The rest of the School Board members, and especially Board Chairman Phillip “Bully” Glover have ignored, tried to shut down and have basically refused to let any substantial item that Danny Blanton brings up be seriously discussed and voted upon. Superintendents Bruce Boyles as well as Stephen Fisher have aided and abetted with the other board members in an effort to shut-up and shut-down Danny Blanton. But Blanton has adapted and now asks his common sense questions in what I have previously called a “Gomer Pyle” style that has rocked the world at CCS Board meetings. But you must have attended or watched the video of CCS Board meetings to get the full effect and impact of Blanton’s influence on the CCS Board and how the truth is now coming out as never before.

6. CCS and Cleveland Community College have deceptively teamed up to eliminate vocational training such as welding, machining, shop, carpentry, wood working, agriculture, etc. in such a way that those courses, with a few more thrown in, will be taught at CCC instead of at High Schools. The “stated” purpose being it costs too much to buy the vocational equipment for each high schools to teach such courses on CCS premises. Logic dictates the real purpose is to deceivingly draw in high school students into the now scandalous “dual enrollment programs” pushed by both CCS and CCC to “suck up” (divert) funding provided by the NC General Assembly for better educating vocational students for use for improper purposes by CCS and CCC. (A new School Board majority would insist on better accountability of these funds. Starting with CCS as the CCC Board of Trustees are presently in gridlock and denial.) Historically, as I am a witness, vocational courses taught in high school have provided a very valuable lifetime understanding of how things work and how to fix things when they break down. Such training is invaluable in helping vocational students find jobs in a 21st Century environment as no matter how good office jobs are, things break down mechanically and have to be fixed by someone who knows what they are doing.

7. Cursive writing. Reports from businesses, employers, parents, bank tellers, retail stores, etc. indicate that CCS has graduated many thousands of students over the years who cannot read or write cursive writings. These high school graduates, when they get their paychecks (if they can find a job) cannot sign their paychecks with a signature. They cannot read letters, instructions, or even Historic Documents like the Declaration of Independence because they are written in cursive. This has become a campaign issue as some candidates like Kathy Falls are taking up for CCS for not properly preparing students for a career after High School.

Now, for the September 11, 2017 School Board meeting:

Farm Bureau Scholarship Presentation:
One of the first substantive items on the agenda was a presentation by Farm Bureau Representative Glenda Greene regarding Farm Bureau Scholarships. The presentation was multi-subject and interesting. At one point Board Member Jo Boggs asked Mrs. Greene if a particular program was also associated with the Alliance for Health Program run out of the Health Department. Mrs. Greene said that it was. Then Boggs stated, “I serve on that (Health Department) Board.” You have to wonder why, if Jo Boggs is on “that Board,” didn’t she know they were associated with a Farm Bureau program? It sounds to me like Jo Boggs is on two boards too many? The Health Department Board and the School Board. It is too bad that Jo Boggs is not up for election this year too.

Bully Glover speaks up saying his kids enjoy planting seeds. You would think Bully would be more involved with advocating the teaching of agriculture and vocational courses at CCS. But no. Apparently just as soon as Bully and the rest of the Board get their pictures taken with the Farm Bureau rep and she leaves, all that kind of thought must have been forgotten by Bully and most of the rest of the school board.

Shearra Miller asked a question that backfired on her. Miller asks if the Farm Bureau Scholarship programs apply only to Cleveland County or to people who live in the county and have property outside the county. Mrs. Greene stated, regarding the scholarship programs, that they were within the county. Then she added Farm Bureau had also provided materials to Pinnacle Classical Academy-a Charter School that has out performed CCS at every turn and that CCS runs down at every opportunity-especially Kathy Falls. Falls says CCS has to teach “all the children,” a statement many consider racist and elitist. Fact is Pinnacle has to pick all their students from a lottery made up from a list of students that have applied. In this case apparently Pinnacle plans to out perform CCS on vocational programs too.

All in all, this Farm Bureau Scholarship presentation was entertaining to the Board and Board Member Danny Blanton did not take the opportunity to make the point as he often does that CCS should be doing more for students who will not be going to college. Overall, that would have been a minor part of such a topic as this. Probably a more important issue that should have been brought up was whether or not CCS was pushing for scholarships, for the most part, to go to Cleveland Community College as part of a quid pro quo arrangement-not in the best interest of the student or education in general. Sources indicate that is a high probability, but I can’t say more than that. Anyway, read on. The fuse to the fireworks has just been lit.

The next item is the Beginning Teacher Support Plan per Senate Bill 599 presented by Ms. Jennifer Walker.

Ms. Walker began her presentation by stating that her original plan presented to the school board and principals at the end of July 2017 had to be completely revised due to newly passed Senate Bill 599. One has to immediately wonder what the heck is going on here? And secondly, why was CCS caught by surprise by this new law that was introduced back in April?

First, CCS has many beginning teachers on a regular basis because of a large teacher turnover due to resignations that Danny Blanton has brought up on many occasions. When Mr. Blanton asks about this Superintendent Fisher goes into his “fast talking” mode and other board members try to shut down Mr. Blanton as I described in my last article about CCS Board Meetings. Scroll on back for this information. In the end Blanton is told that CCS is in line with other districts regarding teacher resignation rates. Perhaps I should have kept quite about Superintendent Fisher’s MO and the others as they have read my article and are trying to better use their “poker Faces” and slowing down their talking so nobody else will pick up on it. They try in this meeting but it doesn’t work too well.

Then, you have to wonder why the General Assembly is having to take time to write new laws that require any such Beginning Teacher Support Plan to begin with. Wouldn’t you think a Superintendent who makes over $200,000 counting benefits and all the other highly compensated administration folks in the Central Offices would be able to figure out such as this all by themselves? Well, they haven’t and apparently neither have the many other school districts and school boards haven’t either. Just another reason to get rid of the Cleveland County School Board’s good-ole-boys and good-ole-gals and let the other school districts do the same.

As for myself, me being me, I look up Senate Bill 599 to see for myself what it is supposed to do and what it says. WOW!!! I see Cleveland County Schools, especially the school board and high level administrators are in BIG trouble!!!

The short title of SB599 is simple enough. It reads ” Excellent Educators for Every Classroom.” Nothing is wrong with that. Among other things related to requiring and maintaining high teacher qualifications, the law itself aims to keep criminal and child sex offenders and such out of the classroom too. Again, there is nothing wrong with that. One problem I see with this Cleveland County School Board is that local boards are supposed to report criminal and sex offenders to the State Board so that the offender’s license is revoked-which means they can’t just move on to another school district and keep on with their predatory sexual offender stuff. That part of the law is good too, but the CCS Board likes to get their offenders to quietly resign so CCS won’t look bad. Then the offender just moves on to another school. Often out of state for a while and then back to North Carolina. Merrily, merrily, merrily leaving a string of sexual offended kids along the way. Be ready for a case just like this that I am working on for my series regarding “I smell a Rat down at the Courthouse.” If you think the courthouse crowd is mad at me for publishing the truth in the Mike Drake trying to protect his under-aged daughter from being sexually molested article, you ain’t seen nothing yet. Scroll on back and read those two articles and be ready for the next in the series. If you read this paragraph closely and live in the Shanghai area of Cleveland County you might have already figured out what and who that article will be about. And be ready to demand some resignations from the Cleveland County School Board. It’s about time CCS gets some cleaning-up instead of covering-up.

A tip for all you readers. Please read every article closely. The bad stuff going on at CCS, CCC and with the Commissioners just doesn’t happen one day and be gone the next. They have a continuing process where one thing leads to another. It just goes on and on. Election to Election. And the stuff continues forever until you readers turn into voters that show up on Election Day and send the bad guys and gals packing.

Back to the Beginning Teacher Support Plan presentation.

This Beginning Teacher Support Plan also included Mentors for beginning teachers and included funding from the State for this teacher mentoring program.

Just as soon as the floor was open for discussion, Board Member Danny Blanton immediately brought up, as he has many times before, that the teaching curriculum should ensure that the basics of education should be well covered in the classroom. By basics Blanton has explained many times that a student graduating from CCS High Schools should be able to count to 100 and be able to sign their paychecks in cursive. Blanton has previously explained that he hired some newly graduated students over the summer to help him put up hay and they could not count to 100 or sign their paychecks. The same experience many employers in Cleveland County have had regarding CCS educated graduates. Blanton also reminded the rest of the Board that the law requires that these basics be taught.

Watch the video below for Danny Blanton’s clear, cogent and responsible directions that a good school board member would present such fine expectations to the CCS Administration regarding the education of our children. If every school board member would back up Danny Blanton on such as this CCS would indeed be at the top “best” list for education in North Carolina and the USA. But it will soon be obvious the help on the school board that Danny Blanton and CCS students need will have to wait until the November 7, 2017 Election when Danny Blanton, Robert Queen, Kevin Whisnant, and Rodney Fitch win the school board elections.

http://citizensforgoodgovernment.org/up/dannyblanton.mp4

Ms. Walker stated that counting and cursive writing was in the K-2 curriculum already. K-2 I wondered. So, I called some relatives that are in the Cleveland County School District, one recently graduated and the other a junior in high school. Oh yeah, they remembered being taught cursive in the second grade, but they never used it after that and have forgotten all about it now. And the crazy math stuff CCS teaches now makes no sense. Parents and grandparents well versed in mathematics cannot help the students because of the crazy way they are teaching it now. As for my own experience, people that were taught math the way I was taught math put a man on the moon. Now graduates of high school and maybe even college can’t make change for a $20 bill. Ask your children how to make change for a twenty if your purchase is $8.23. You will be surprised. You might as well forget about putting a man or woman back on the moon. The USA has to pay the Russians for hitching a ride to and from the international space station which is not nearly to the moon.

After Danny Blanton was finished Board Member Donnie Thurman, Jr. (whose seat is up for election this year but Thurman chose not to run for re-election) agreed with Danny Blanton that CCS should teach the basics well, but quickly went on to questions about the mentor program and how it should be expanded.

Then , the incredible happened. Board Member Kathy Falls, up for election this year, who refused to change her registration in time to avoid having to get her name on the ballot by the petition process, the one who sued the Elections Board and cost taxpayers lots of money, ups and tells Ms. Walker that “I’m kind of dumb!” Falls says some kids do math well and some kids do not. Some kids read well and some kids do not. We do the best we can with the kids we are sent. Kathy Falls is blaming all the problems with the CCS education on the students that “we (CCS) are sent.” Just like she blamed Speaker of the House Tim Moore for her own stupidity that caused her to have to get a petition with 500 signatures to get her name on the 2017 School Board ballot. Kathy Falls blames everything on somebody else, even school kids. Who needs anybody like that on the school board???

But that is not all regarding the stupidity of Kathy Falls as related to school board responsibilities. Just to make sure nobody can say I made all this up about Kathy Falls,
Below, is the the whole segment of Kathy Falls showing just how “dumb” she really is. Folks, you just can’t make this stuff up. And, it ain’t over yet! Read on.

http://citizensforgoodgovernment.org/up/kathyfalls.mp4

There is more discussion on the teacher mentoring part of the Beginning Teacher Support Plan with school board member Jeff Jones finally waking up from his deep sleep and taking the lead in this discussion. Mr. Jones even agrees with Danny Blanton that CCS needs better teacher retention and this mentoring program would help keep teachers at CCS. I can just suppose Mr. Jones was stung a bit by my last article where I said he didn’t say a peep the whole meeting. Jones made up for it tonight. And actually convinced everybody that the mentoring part of HB599 was a good thing.

But, Mr. Jones apparently didn’t realize that he had set the trap for other school board members who had their own agenda for things that was not in the best interest of the children in the CCS classroom.

Danny Blanton, always ready to support a good idea for educating CCS students asked Superintendent Fisher if CCS could do more to support the teacher mentoring program. Dr. Fisher stated that they had already budgeted all the funds the State provided for mentoring into the program. Danny Blanton came back and asked about shifting funds from other areas to this mentoring program. Fisher hemmed and hawed a bit, obviously trying to keep out of his fast talking mode, but finally admitted that moving such extra funds around could be done, but that the money would have to be taken away from something else that was important.

Little did Fisher know that he had just baited the trap that Jeff Jones had set.

Just a few minutes later the subject came up regarding an out of town School Board Association meeting that was soon coming up.

Then Danny Blanton sprang the trap shut on the School board members when he asked a simple question, Gomer Pyle style. “How many are going on this trip?” Blanton simply asked. Then all Hell breaks loose. All the other Board members immediately realize that the travel, lodging and meal money they are going to waste on this trip could have easily gone toward increasing the mentoring program that they had agreed was needed just minutes before. The jabbering started immediately. Kathy Falls jumps in all offended. Bully Glover, who apparently was trying not to be a bully tonight, back-slided to his old self. Glover says Dr. Fisher has been nominated for Superintendent of the Year and he (Glover) was going to support Fisher. Shearra Miller jumps in demanding why Danny Blanton had asked such a question. Blanton coolly stated “I just wanted to know.”

As I was sitting there watching this video, I decided I wanted to know something too. Just how much money does the CCS Board and Administration waste every year on boondoggle travel, fees, lodging and meals, especially to resorts like the Grove Park Inn in Asheville. So I immediately dashed off a Freedom of Information Act request asking for detailed records regarding school board travel expenses for each Board Member and for the Administration. I would bet the farm that I do not receive the information I asked for, even though it will be illegal not to provide it. Folks, I will let you know about this if I hear anything and even if I do not hear anything.

Sources say unnecessary travel by Board members is a big secret at CCS. If you want to stop such as this, turn out on Election Day and Vote for Danny Blanton, Robert Queen, Kevin Whisnant and Rodney Fitch for the School Board. They are the Dream Team of this years election.