Editor’s Note: The first day of School in Cleveland County was Wednesday, August 16, 2023. The Attorney for the NC State Board of Education and the NC Department of Public Instruction has warned the Cleveland County Schools (Chairman Robert Queen as well as Supt. Stephen Fisher) that CCS is in VIOLATION of North Carolina and CCS is in “Legal Peril.” The School Board and CCS has ignored this warning. And things have gone downhill from that. Readers, you might want to go back and re-read Robert A’s last few articles about this subject before you continue. Whether you do that or not, Be Prepared to be PO’d.
This article is being drafted on the third day of CCS School operations: August 18, 2023. YOU decide whether or not CCS has gotten their act together. The original article regarding the problems and issues with children riding the School Buses at Kings Mountain Middle School on the first day of school were previously mentioned. Here are some updates.
On the First day of School, as Robert A has previously reported, while all the problems were going on around the School District, CCS Superintendent Stephen Fisher was galivanting around Cleveland County in his annual and costly Public Relations escapade of visiting every school in Cleveland County on that first day of school.
On the Second day of school, the “lost” school bus (No. 161) had been found (It had never left the parking lot at KMMS because of NO Bus Driver.) That lost school bus never operated, also never left the KMMS Parking Lot, on the morning of the Second day of School, leaving a bus load of children on the side of the road for another day. A subsequent search of the CC Sheriff’s Office Sexual Offender’s List showed three sexual offenders resided on the School Bus No. 161 bus route. (Not a safe situation for a school bus load of children to be strung out and stuck on the side of the road near so many Registered sexual predators. There is no telling how many NON-REGISTERED sexual predators might reside along that bus route.
Also, on that Second Day of School at KMMS, all the parents and caregivers of all the children left stuck on the side of the road had to deliver their children to school themselves. Many and maybe most of those parents and caregivers also made it inside the School to the Principal’s Office and delivered many loud and scathing complaints to the KMMS Principal and staff. On that second day of school, when school let out, Bus No. 161 had found a driver. The KMMS Principal Drove ole 161 that afternoon to deliver that busload of children to their homes. (Perhaps to get away from the dreadful mess at KMMS?)
On the morning of the third day of school, ole bus no. 161 was back on the bus route. However, as the child noted in Robert A’s original article was standing there on the side of the road waiting to be picked up, ole 161 roars on by and never stopped. Not only leaving the child on the side of the road and at risk, again, from all the nearby Sexual predators, but causing the caregiver to once again have to drive the child to school for the third day in a row. Robert A has not received word of how’ the child was delivered home on this third day of school. It is expected that the Principals Office at KMMS was once again filled with folks complaining about these continued SNAFUs coming out of CCS Administration’s.
One last item regarding Superintendent Stephen Fisher’s first day escapade of visiting every school in the district, 25 or so, on the first day of school. This year School Board Chairman Robert Queen accompanied Supt. Fisher on this foolish PR escapade. Apparently, Queen is courting CCS votes in the 2024 School Board elections at taxpayer’s expense. An all-day PR Campaign costs Cleveland County Taxpayers $1550+ alone in Supt. Fisher’s per day salary plus all the precious first-day time from all the CCS employees, administrators, students and teachers at every school for preparing and standing-by waiting on Supt Fisher to arrive and then depart. Robert A figures this first day escapade by Supt. Stephen Fisher, now accompanied by CCS Chairman Robert Queen, costs taxpayers an amount equivalent to the average salary of one CCS teacher with 10 years-service. And accomplishes absolutely nothing! Except to waste an incremental period of time for students and teachers who learn nothing and teach nothing except to stroke the egos of Stephen Fisher and Robert Queen. Remember folks, there are 14,000 or so CCS students and thousands of teachers, teacher’s aides and other employees at CCS schools. Robert A’s estimate could be off by a factor of three, maybe 10 times the waste of taxdollars what was noted above.
With so much wasted time involved with Fisher and Queen’s first day shenanigans, one has to wonder why neither Fisher nor Queen want School Board Members Danny Blanton and Ronnie Grigg to visit CCS Schools at all??? And, Robert A has never-ever been invited to participate in any problem identification or recommended “fix,” despite of his 42 years of engineering experience. Just how much incompetence, waste and mismanagement at CCS is Stephen Fisher and Robert Queen trying to hide. And cover-up??? It must be mind-boggling!!!
Folks, If Robert A was elected to the Cleveland County Board of Commissioners in 2024, the only governmental agency in Cleveland County that can raise a tax, Robert A would work hard for the taxpayers in Cleveland County to eliminate waste and corruption. And folks, how do you know that Robert A would do this? Because he is already doing just that. For years now. But, from the outside and without a vote. Just think folks, What Robert A could do for you if he was on the inside of county government and had a vote? Much, heck, ALL, of this waste and corruption would ALREADY be gone. Without any lies or deceptions in the process!
Folks, it is time to TAKE BACK CLEVELAND COUNTY, from the likes of Stephen Fisher, Robert Queen and more.
Stay tuned!!!