This is a copy of both sides of a mailer sent out to all households

in the Pontiac School District where there was a voter last May,

I apologize for the size of the print, I couldn't figure out how to

get it larger, my bad. Use the ZOOM on your computer.

THIS IS DISPICABLE

Here are pictures of the inside of just one of the closed down, shuttered and or sold Pontiac School District school buildings. These happen to be pictures of Lincoln School, several years after it was closed. The Board of Education closed the buildings, nailed the doors shut and placed plywood over all the windows and walked away.

This is evidence of what they left behind in the dozen or so buildings that were closed. Thousands of desks, tables, chairs, lockers, etc.  Thousands and thousands of books.  They just left them, like rats deserting a sinking ship, without any consideration of reuse or repurpose.

It has been estimated that as much as $750,000.00 worth of property was lost due to this unpardonable act of omission and poor judgement. This is a text book explanation of malfeasance in office. Now the School District is coming to the residents wanting more money to mismanage and waste.

This writer finds it reprehensible that these people have the gall to come around seeking even more money, after demonstrating that money and accountability has no meaning.

If a Board of Directors of any company ran their business this way they would all be fired and most likely would face criminal charges and civil lawsuits.

A GUEST OPINION

Editor’s note:  This was submitted to me by a Pontiac School District resident and is reprinted with her approval.  The writer has many excellent points and they should be considered. At this point, we still believe the PSD can be saved if restructured correctly to avoid dissolving. 

 Starting with fiscal measurements:  Pontiac has 4,400 students to Detroit’s 52,000, yet has a $33 million deficit compared to Detroit’s $261 million.  PSD’s debt/student ratio is a whopping $7,500/student, 50% higher than DPS’s $5,019/student!
 
Pontiac is also worse academically.  PSD’s best school scores only in the 8th percentile on Michigan’s Top-To-Bottom School Rankings.  DPS has high-scoring schools like Renaissance (98th) and Cass Tech (78th) while Pontiac’s High School has the lowest possible ranking:  zero percentile. 
 
District residents, victims of PSD’s 30-year downward spiral, beg for reform.  Surrounding communities including Auburn Hills, Waterford, Orion, Bloomfield and West Bloomfield have areas within PSD. So here’s the kicker: PSD students have attractive alternatives – through assignment to successful adjacent districts -- if PSD were dissolved.  Administrators (appointed, not elected) impede citizen inquiries. 
 
Under state law, residents can petition for district reorganization.  In 2013 Auburn Hills leaders requested petitions which had to be issued by Oakland Schools Superintendent, Vickie Markavitch.   She flatly refused to issue petitions, violating citizens’ first amendment rights. 
 
Around that time came calls to dissolve PSD, with Buena Vista and Inkster.  Dr. Markavitch’s impassioned speech to Michigan’s Education Committee saved PSD.  She proposed, and won, control through a consent order giving Oakland responsibility for PSD until it was fiscally sound, likely to take 12 years. 
 
Subsequently Dr. Markavitch retired as Superintendent but took a lucrative new “Cost Recovery” position in Oakland Schools. Dr. Markavitch customized her new job overseeing PSD.  Its lofty “Chief Executive Officer” title comes with an equally-grand paycheck of $158,920/year for a reduced work schedule (80% of a normal year.)  Oakland Schools’ website lists the first responsibility as implementing PSD’s consent agreement. 
 
Dr. Markavitch and PSD administrators guaranteed themselves employment by preserving Pontiac School District.  Since then, PSD borrowed $20 million from the state and lost another 6% enrollment. Claims of deficit reduction are suspect.  Beyond job security, one might ask:  why retain this failing district in the middle of strong districts? Why block citizens from requesting state review?  It’s time to take a hard look at Pontiac School District’s viability and the involvement of Oakland Intermediate Schools.

YOU CANNOT MAKE THIS UP

On February 8, 2016 WXYZ Ch. 7 did a broadcast piece on the Pontiac School District. The whole piece was one sided and so full of half-truths and misinformation as to make it sound like a propaganda piece prepared by a publicity firm for the District.  Be that as it may, the following is just another example of how inept the school district is, and why we must vote these increases down and attempt to restructure and reorganize this embarrassment we call the Pontiac School District.

In the TV interview, Robert Englund, Facilities Director, states:  “Replacing the boiler system at just the Pontiac High School will cost more than $6 million.” 

In the mailer sent out for the August 15 vote, by WeCareMovement.com, a front for PSD Board of Education members, they had these bullet points:

          2.87 mils for the next 5 years

          7 million Dollars for 5 years: $35 million

          Money dedicated to repairing schools

          8 schools to be repaired

          Boilers and ventilation first

Let’s go to the calculator:

          8 boilers @ $6 million X 8 schools…………..$48 million

          Stinking Fund: 5 years……………………………. $35 million

          Shortfall (without fixing one other thing)..$13 million

Let’s not even consider how no one administering this school district has clue about what they’re doing with their money.  They have a 30 year proven track record of incompetence.

Consider this:  Do you think  maybe this might not be the last time they ask for more money? Pass or fail, they’ll be back on August 2, 2016 and November 8, 2016 and beyond.

 I HATE THIS PART OF BEING INVOLVED IN A “CAUSE”

10,000 mailers and 250 yard signs are not cheap. We need money to help pay for our cause and the time has come to reach out.

Besides devoting hundreds of hours to our cause, C.A.R.E. Committee members have donated a lot of money, it’s just not enough.

We are not like a committee formed by a member of the Pontiac School Board, to get out the “YES” vote.  That committee was lucky enough to get a $1000.00 donation from a PSD administrator. Or for that matter we don’t have a $5 million dollar property to sell for $1 million and then get a $3000.00 donation from the buyer. (Michigan Department of State, Bureau of Elections)

Please help, if you can, by sending a check, in whatever amount you are comfortable with.  THANK YOU

Make checks payable to “C.A.R.E. Committee”

Mail to:   C.A.R.E.

           P.O.Box 492

           Keego Harbor, mi 48320

HOW DARE YOU BLAME THE TEACHERS

Today, for the third time, I watched as someone used social media outlets to blame the teachers for the being part of the problem with the Pontiac School District.

Here’s a bulletin for you wrong minded people who have obviously suffer from your brain being deprived of oxygen over a period of time:

THE TEACHERS IN THE PONTIAC SCHOOL DISTRICT ARE TRUE AMERICAN HEROS

These teachers have sacrificed thousands of dollars of income over the last several years.  They watched as the school district, through mismanagement, malfeasance and incompetency tried to get away without paying their insurance premiums.  They are committed to the school district and the children or they could have just moved on to other opportunities. The teachers use their own money to buy supplies.  They are working in the same environment as the students they are teaching. 

By way of comparison let’s examine a list of what the school district administration, school board, Oakland schools and emergency managers from the State has sacrificed during the same time:

a.  Nothing

b.  Nota

c.  Nil

d.  Naught

e.  Butkas

f.   Zero

g.  Zilch 

Bottom line………I salute the teachers of the Pontiac school district because at 72 , I can still hear the voices of Mrs. Arnold and Mr. Hughes, my favorite teachers from the 4^th and 8^th grade.        So keep up the good work teachers and   THANK YOU!

Welcome to all of our new friends

HELLO FRIENDS

Many people have been asking what is happening in the Pontiac School District (PSD.)  The short answer is:  nothing good.  PSD continues its pattern of mismanagement and misstatements.  They have again placed bond requests on the ballot on March 8^th.  This time, they are seeking 2.87 mills from residences and 18 mills from “non-primary residence exemption” properties.  You may recall that two Pontiac bond requests were denied by voters last year. 

We are writing to ask for your support for a non-profit organization of citizens in the district called Communities Acting for Responsible Education (C.A.R.E.) The group was formed to promote transparency, be a watchdog, and act as both a fact finder and a source for information for residents in the district.  (More information on the group can be found at carepsd.blogspot.com.)  

C.A.R.E. opposes the bond requests and seeks complete reorganization of the district because:  

·        PSD consistently fails academically.  According to statistics on the state’s education website, PSD is the poorest performing district in Michigan. Our high school ranks last in the state and no PSD schools are above the 8^th percentile. Reports of progress in the district are pure fiction.  See details on: mich.gov/mde (Click on Student Assessment: Top-To-Bottom School Rankings) 

·        Enrollment has plummeted yet PSD has highest revenue per pupil.  Enrollment has dropped 57% in a decade. The current drop-out rate is over 22%. Out of approximately 11,000 students who live in the district, only 4,400 attend PSD.  Yet PSD has the highest total revenue per pupil among the 28 school districts in Oakland County.  See details on: oakland.k12.mi.us (Click on About Us: Publications: Summaries & Surveys​) 

·        The Pontiac School Board is incompetent. Secret and illegal meetings, embezzlement, fraud, and misappropriation of teacher healthcare funds: that’s business as usual in PSD. Taxpayers (YOU!) were forced to pay a $7.8 million special assessment in 2013 to repay the healthcare fund. See details on: www.fbi.gov (4/17/13) and theoaklandpress.com (7/10/13) 

·        Poor money management put PSD in this situation. In 2013 Michigan Treasury and Oakland Schools took over PSD due to the $51.7 million deficit. After receiving $27.8 million from a special assessment and two loans, PSD now brags that the deficit is down to $33 million. Their math doesn’t add up….they actually seem to have more debt now than they did before they took out two huge loans from the state and slapped us with that special assessment in 2013. See details on: www.mackinac.org/18978 and freep.com (1/2/2016) 

·        PSD should have maintained and sold properties. Recently PSD sold property for about $5 million and retired a $55 million bond. A share of that money should have been used to maintain and repair facilities all along. If buildings had been sold when vacated in 2009, PSD would have realized millions and avoided expensive maintenance on empty properties. See details on: macombdaily.com (2/26/15)

·        Voters rejected bonds twice last year. PSD spent $75,000 to put their proposal on the last ballot, just 3 months after another was rejected. Every dollar spent seeking these bonds comes out of your classrooms. See details on: carepsd.blogspot.com

How can you help C.A.R.E.? 

1.      Please vote no on March 8^th on both bond requests.   The vote was close last time in part because the six outlying communities didn’t turn out to vote.  Absentee ballots are available now by contacting your local Clerk.  

2.      We need monetary donations to offset the cost of a postcard we are sending to all voters.  We are requesting that residents donate $50 and business owners donate $100.  If you are able to contribute, please mail your check as soon as possible to Communities Acting for Responsible Education, P. O. Box 492, Keego Harbor, MI 48320-9998 or leave it in my mailbox. 

3.      We will be placing “Vote No” signs shortly.  Please let us know if you can assist with placing signs, also. 

4.      Please pass this information along to others you know within the district. Also let us know if you wish to take an active role in C.A.R.E.  Contact us at:  care4schools@gmail.com