Â…for immediate releaseÂ… for immediate releaseÂ… for immediate releaseÂ… for immediate releaseÂ… X-Tra! X-Tra! NewsFlash!!! Grant Joint Union School Superintendent Dr. Larry Buchanan Gives Back Potential $10 Million+ Grant Awarded to District. Why??? Does the Community Have a Voice in Decisions That Affect our Children? Why WasnÂ’t the Community Informed?
“We cannot forget for whom and for what purpose we are here. That is for the betterment of the Sacramento High School Student”. For Additional Information Contact Voice Empowered Technology Organization: Alicia Kelley - (916) 921-8386 CEO/Founder – vetoackj@aol. com Michael Estes - (916) 921-8386 President - vetomwe@aol. com
SACRAMENTO, CA (PRWEB) October 8, 2003 -
The parents & students of the Grant Joint Union High School District which encompasses four high schools and an adult learning center should be calling their Superintendent Dr. Larry Buchanan and asking him the question, Why? Why would Dr. Buchanan refuse to take grant money that was already awarded to the district by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the State of California? Does the district have access to unlimited funds that they can reject an educational grant of this magnitude?
The “High School Pupil Success Act” Grant awarded to the district by The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the State of California Federal Fund (valued at approximately $10+ million dollars US) according to Superintendent Dr. Larry Buchanan has been given back to its donors. This grant, know as AB2531, was introduced into legislation by Democratic Assemblyman Darrell Steinberg of Sacramento, easily passed both houses of the legislative, signed into law last year by Governor Gray Davis and accepted by both the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation as well as the California State Board.
Out of the many applications submitted for this educational grant, Grant Joint Union High School District is among 11 California districts serving 69,000 students in 68 high schools selected. There are 2 recipients from the Sacramento region, namely the Grant Joint Union High School District and the Washington Unified High School District. The two districts will receive planning allowances in the amount of $294,545 of which $97,272 will be issued to Washington and $197,273 issued to Grant Joint Union.
At a capital press conference, Secretary of Education, Kerry Mazzoni called the grant “an important next step in our effort to raise student achievement” by joining forces with community groups, businesses and parent organizations. She said that the planning for the program will be financed with $1.27 million from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and $1.0 million in federal monies that the state had set aside for this purpose.
Also in attendance at this press conference and speaking auspiciously of the grant, Dr. Larry Buchanan, Superintendent for the Grant Joint Union High School District said that the grant would be used to expand existing programs in their district. “We’ve embraced these concepts for a few years now but we think this grant will help us build on what we’ve started”. The full text of the press conference written by Steve Gibson for the June 26th issue of the Sacramento Bee can be seen by visiting the Sacramento Bee’s website, SacBee. com.
The grant specifically states that it is to be managed by the district & the community based organization. This is understood to be a joint effort between the two to afford the students the opportunity to compete with applicable work force skills through 21st century technology. The goal is to increase the current technological aptitude and raise the students API scores.
It has been suggested that monies earmarked in previous grants for specific purposes have been diverted and utilized at the personal discretion of the Superintendent for a myriad of situations not specified by the grants mandate. This certainly could not happen with the “High School Pupil Success Act”. This endowment explicitly outlines the parameters of the funding. Could this possibly be the reason that the grant was given back?
Dr. Buchanan has stated that because of a lack of professionalism and a lack of communication skills, his district would not work with the non-LEA lead partner, Voice Empowered Technology Organization, which is an absurd statement being that he and his school district selected this community based organization when they submitted their application to participate in the grant. In the grant application the district wrote “The Voice Empowered Technology Organization will lead our community partnership as the non-LEA lead partner. VETO has the understanding and the vision to lead a district community partnership.” Now a valuable & viable grant program is at a standstill due to the intransigency of the Superintendent.
Voice Empowered Technology Organization was established by Founder/Chairman Alicia C. Kelley and President/Vice Chairman Michael Estes in order to serve the special needs of the educational community with advanced technology solutions was clearly stunned and shocked by the Superintendent’s contentions and pronouncement to decline the grant. Ms. Kelley stated “at no time in the many meetings, correspondence and e-mails that we have had with Dr. Buchanan and his office has the question ever been raised about our lack of professionalism or lack of communication skills”. “Actually, stated Veto’s President, Michael Estes, we never had any idea that there was an issue (and I don’t believe there was), until the day after Dr. Buchanan found out that he would not solely be in control of the planning budget and that the initial payment had been broken into two parts and mailed half to the district and half to Voice Empowered Technology Organization”. Could this be the reason that he refused the grant?
Subsequently, Dr. Buchanan made several attempts to take VETO off the grant and replace them with other organizations including his own 501C3 organization. Could this be the reason that he refused the grant? Once it was revealed to the Superintendent that he could not change the non-LEA lead partner for the grant, the unfounded allegations about VETO and their supposed lack of professionalism and communications skills began. During an attempt by a government official to mediate the situation between the non-LEA lead partner and the district, Buchanan in one of his many fits of rage stated “I WILL GIVE THE GRANT BACK BEFORE I LET THOSE PEOPLE HAVE THAT MONEY!”. That’s exactly what he did.
At the Logistics for High School Pupil Success Act Meeting held from September 30-October 2 at the SERNA Center in Sacramento, all of the Grantees from the California area named were present with the exception of the Grant Joint Union High School District. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, was informed that Grant Joint Union High School District would not be participating in the grant. How could this be? IsnÂ’t Grant Joint Union High School District classified as one of the most underserved and underprivileged districts in Sacramento? If any district is qualified and deserving, it is the Grant Joint Union High School District.
The donation awarded to the 12,300 students in this district is needed. The five-step model technology program that VETO has created to cycle students into fully trained entry-level positions in Corporate America is needed. And following the display of this blatant abuse of power by the Superintendent, it is obvious that the Community Partnership is very much needed.
This grave situation was triggered by the SuperintendentÂ’s unwarranted outburst directed at VETO. What we have here is a petulant Superintendent who is unable to change a legislative act and therefore he has decided to thwart the will of the legislation by refusing the grant. The decision that the community has to make is whether or not they will allow this single individual to sabotage the will of the people.
Will we stand back and allow one mans personal vindictiveness to impact the future of our children? District policies are predicated upon his personal myopic vision. Dr. Buchanan needs to reconsider and become cognizant of his mandate from the people of Sacramento to educate the children. Grant Joint Union is usually at the top of the list when supplemental funding is allocated. Yet, is the district showing any real improvement? The Superintendent needs to realize that the funding that he controls does not belong to him, it belongs to the students of this district.
The Superintendent should also recognize that any supplemental funding into this district is the direct result of the demographic skew of the community. Therefore based upon that fact, the community should have a voice and should have been an active participant in any decision that effects the youth of the district. Dr. Buchanan needs to come to terms with the fact that he is a public civil servant to whom the community has entrusted the shaping of their children’s future to. It is of the utmost urgency, that Dr. Buchanan re-evaluates his priorities and his commitment to the Grant Joint Union High School District. This is not about flexing muscles and saying in effect “it’s my way or the highway”. No, it is about making sound, logical decisions that have the betterment of the children in mind. Dr. Buchanan should remember the wise adage that says “Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely”. Dr. Buchanan absolutely abused his power in making the decision to refuse the grant without the input of the community.
A vigorous discussion amongst community organizations, parent groups, legislators, business leaders and educators concerning this impasse is needed and the following issues should be raised concerning Superintendent BuchananÂ’s capricious and cavalier behavior:
• What are the proper procedures in making a decision to refuse of an educational grant?
• Did the Board of Trustees vote on this issue? And if so, was the vote unanimous?
• Should the parents and students been allowed to participate in this decision?
• If this grant was outlined as a partnership with the community, why was the community not allowed to participate in the decision of refusal?
• Can this decision be the unilateral province of the District Superintendent, Dr. Larry Buchanan? And if not, how can the community ensure that this doesn’t happen again?
• Should and does one person have so much power in our district that they can refuse a educational grant that was signed into law by the Governor of California?
In order to accomplish the lofty goals of the High School Pupil Success Act and to satisfy the grant requirements, there needs to be a forum inclusive of Dr. Buchanan and his office, parents, community leaders, legislators and anyone else that can rectify this rash decision by the Grant Joint Union High School DistrictÂ’s Superintendent.
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