Wicomico Public Schools superintendent John Fredericksen fancies himself a politician. He uses tax dollars to implement a (usually unsuccessful) grass roots lobbying effort to obtain more money to spend. He also doesn’t hesitate changing positions at a moment’s notice. Today’s op-ed by Fredericksen (along with the typically courageous stance of the Daily Times) provide more evidence that our county and state elected officials need to exercise great caution when dealing with Fredericksen and the Wicomico County Board of Education (BOE).Fredericksen implies that Wicomico County Executive Bob Culver lied to the public by claiming that a replacement for West Salisbury Elementary School was not in the capital improvement plan:
This is a project that has been in the works for many years. Additions to West Salisbury Elementary were recommended 16 years ago in the 1998 Seidel Commission Report. Plans for a West Salisbury Elementary project have been in the Capital Improvement Plan and "future plans" section of the Facilities Master Plan each year since the Fiscal Year 2001 report — some 14 years ago. These reports go to the Board of Education and County Council each year and are available to the public.This is a typical “bait and switch” which Fredericksen loves to foist on a plain speaking public. Culver was correct. The county’s capital improvement plan (CIP) does not include replacing West Salisbury for most of those years. It is not Culvers fault if the BOE did not submit a request or if the county council did not approve every capital request from the BOE. Wicomico County would be bankrupt if it did.
Here is where Fredericksen switches horses:
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Mr. Culver needs to take the WCBOE to task and dress them down at the very next meeting. No time for this BS considering the financial woes that face everyone as we move forward. Working together is the only viable answer to get outta the mess we face ahead
ReplyDeleteGary, you are correct about the need to work with the BOE. Unfortunately, that is difficult if you are Bob Culver and John Fredericksen will grab every opportunity to undermine you.
ReplyDeleteToday's op-ed is a perfect example. If Fredericksen and the BOE were interested in doing what was best for Wicomico County's children he would have kept his mouth shut and reached out to Culver privately to find common ground and address these problems. That's not his style.
Much has been made about Culver's not telling the school board president in advance about the tabling of the bond issue that occurred on December 2. Nary a peep or whisper that Culver didn't tell Fredericksen in advance. How can the public find out what, if anything, the superintendent knew and didn't share with the board of ed. members?
ReplyDeleteWhy isn't there conversation about the quality of the education rather than the condition of schools. Plenty of kids in non-modern schools are getting a better education than kids in Wicomico. Check where we ranked a few years ago and where we rank now. The poor EDUCATIONAL status of our schools is what is keeping businesses from moving here and is responsible for the "dumbing down" of our county. Glamorous, high tech, state of the art schools doesn't mean kids are getting a quality education.
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ReplyDeleteRon Willey whining about "being surprised" was a joke. Remember that the bond bill was supposed to be voted on in November. Matt Holloway pulled the bill because Bob Culver said that he would not sign the bill as is. Holloway noted that the bill would have to be signed by the incoming County Executive. It was no secret that West Salisbury was one of the items which concerned Culver.
Anon 1340 -
You are absolutely correct about too much emphasis being placed on the buildings. There was an op-ed in the Baltimore Sun, by a Democrat legislator that agreed with the idea that too much emphasis was being placed on building "high tech palaces".
Contrary to what many believe, I would love to see better schools in Wicomico County. I also believe that taxpayers would be willing to spend more IF the BOE would prove that they are serious about putting money into the classroom rather than on bureaucracy. That is one of the biggest complaints I have heard for the last 10 years.
When Dr. Freddy retires (hopefully, real soon), he and Rick Pollitt are going to form a consulting group called "How to screw taxpayers".
ReplyDeleteDoes his article cover the rumored move of some central office employees to rented space? Was that included in the facilities report now being presented throughout the county? Timing and transparency are everything.
ReplyDeleteIt might improve the board of ed's credibility if they supplied credit card information to the county council when it's asked for. Continuing to stonewall and evade is not transparent.
ReplyDeleteHard to believe the board of ed. is the superintendent's employer. How much more of this will they allow?
ReplyDeleteThe "Future Plans" section is not a request for funding from the county council. Which is better--if he doesn't know that or he's betting citizens don't know that?
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