TJUSD Board Meeting - December 12, 2019

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Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - December 12, 2019

Postby defcon » Tue Dec 17, 2019 9:56 pm

recluse wrote:
BoraxBill wrote:There were problems with the school before the earthquake that were the result of general negligence as far as I could tell. But the real problems have been since the earthquake. Whereas the schools in Ridgecrest dealt with their issues quickly and decisively, Trona just sort of sat around with their fingers up their rears diddling around like a bunch of retarded sea monkeys. I've never seen so much incompetence. No wonder they fired the superintendent. At least it looks like someone is doing something, but it's obvious the superintendent wasn't the real problem if we're going to be perfectly honest about the little mess that passes for a school in Trona.

Finger pointing and playing the blame game generally doesn't get problems solved. Using insulting and negative language doesn't get things moving in the right direction either. The state of affairs which currently exists certainly is not a single person's fault and mismanagement continues to be a problem, but possibly with a little help from the state or the county the current situation can be sorted out and some sense of order can be gained. The school is not a complete mess according to friends who have kids enrolled there, but no one would disagree that there is room for improvement. Possibly even lots of room for improvement.
MojaveMike wrote:A friend of mine knows the superintendent who was more or less fired. He told me a few interesting behind the scenes facts which more or less square up with what you all are saying. Generally I am told that the fired superintendent is a great guy who just trusted a fellow staff member a little too much and wound up getting stabbed in the back and as you say the guy who is the cause of the problem has strong school board backing and so they just believed his BS lies about the entire thing.

Firing the superintendent if what you say is true was not the right move. It's the back-stabber that should have been let go. If the school board has favorites, then the school board is the root of the problem.

If you have a family member or a close friend on the school board, then back-stabbing would be almost too convenient. You already have someone who wants to do you a favor and who is predisposed to believe you.
panamint_patty wrote:recluse: The school board is always the root of the problem in a small town. It's impossible for them not to have favorites. Between family members and lifelong friends it's pretty hard not to have a sense of loyalty to certain people. That's why scapegoating is so common in a small town. There's a need to blame someone in order to protect close friends and family members.

It's hard for small towns to change for the better from within. An outside authority needs to take over and put an end to the corruption. Otherwise the scapegoating just continues and the people who are the real problem just keep on causing more problems and blaming it on outsiders who aren't friends or family. The smaller the town the worse the problem.
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Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - December 12, 2019

Postby desertrat » Wed Dec 18, 2019 7:43 am

defcon: Interesting insight about small towns and as small towns shrink the problem you describe becomes more and more obvious. With the school being one of the biggest employment opportunities in town, having a seat on the school board puts you in control to do favors for locals and the more favors you can do the more your clout in the community increases. Definitely a situation ripe for corruption.
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Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - December 12, 2019

Postby shadylady » Thu Dec 19, 2019 8:38 am

desertrat: Local control seems like a good idea until the rubber hits the road. When you see how it works you realize that it's a recipe for corruption and Trona has quite a few stories floating around about some of the waste, arranged jobs, and stupidly lame decisions that have been made, but it's not much different in most tiny towns.
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Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - December 12, 2019

Postby recluse » Thu Dec 19, 2019 6:16 pm

desertrat wrote:defcon: Interesting insight about small towns and as small towns shrink the problem you describe becomes more and more obvious. With the school being one of the biggest employment opportunities in town, having a seat on the school board puts you in control to do favors for locals and the more favors you can do the more your clout in the community increases. Definitely a situation ripe for corruption.

And as the fishbowl shrinks the problems become all the more obvious. :whack02:
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Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - December 12, 2019

Postby twister » Mon Dec 23, 2019 11:12 am

Sacramento County school district buys electric buses
How long will it be before all school buses are electric? My prediction is between ten and twenty years.
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Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - December 12, 2019

Postby tronagirl » Wed Dec 25, 2019 7:22 am

twister: Electric buses seem inevitable to me. It's just a matter of time. It's probably not quite time to take that route since there are still issues to be dealt with, but before too long I'm sure virtually all school buses will be electric. I think you're right that 10 to 20 years and the transition will be made unless a better option comes along.
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Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - December 12, 2019

Postby MojaveMike » Sun Dec 29, 2019 8:33 am

BoraxBill wrote:There were problems with the school before the earthquake that were the result of general negligence as far as I could tell. But the real problems have been since the earthquake. Whereas the schools in Ridgecrest dealt with their issues quickly and decisively, Trona just sort of sat around with their fingers up their rears diddling around like a bunch of retarded sea monkeys. I've never seen so much incompetence. No wonder they fired the superintendent. At least it looks like someone is doing something, but it's obvious the superintendent wasn't the real problem if we're going to be perfectly honest about the little mess that passes for a school in Trona.

Many people noticed steady deterioration in the high school facilities prior to the earthquake and in many ways the earthquake covered that up and hid the general incompetence of the leadership people responsible for taking care of the school. Ridgecrest was able to take care of things quickly and efficiently because they have competent people running things. They did not allow their facilities to fall into disrepair prior to the earthquake and they responded intelligently following the earthquakes. Whether the incompetence observed in Trona is due to deficient and unintelligent leadership or simple lack of effort is difficult to say, but obviously key people are failing miserably.
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Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - December 12, 2019

Postby torn80 » Sun Dec 29, 2019 6:56 pm

MojaveMike: I've heard a lot about the general deterioration of the school in recent years although I haven't visited Trona for some time. Most people I've talked to blame it on bad leadership. The school board made a series of bad decisions and knowing some of them from back in the day I'm not surprised. It's not like the best and the brightest stayed in Trona. Just saying....
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Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - December 12, 2019

Postby drdesert » Mon Dec 30, 2019 7:38 am

torn80: Unfortunately, you make an excellent point. In this world there are lazy people and hard-working people with most people being in between. The same can be said about the stupid and the smart. The worst combination is the hard-working, stupid person who thinks he or she knows it all. Over-confident stupid people not only make things worse for everybody, but have the capacity to really screw up a lot of stuff. Stupid people should always be under the supervision of a smart person. As for lazy, stupid people, they aren't so bad as long as they don't have a sense of entitlement which makes them feel that they deserve something for nothing. Smart, hard-working people are for the most part an asset and as long as they remain honest and keep things simple they can do a lot of good for society. However, the best people are lazy, but highly intelligent. They are incredibly efficient and generally refrain from taking the lead since usually a stupid person jumps in and takes over before a lazy-intelligent person can analyze the situation thoroughly enough to feel like they have the right to suggest what should be done. Lazy-intelligent people see underlying patterns and get a lot done without the need to engage in tedious work because they think things through carefully before they actually implement a plan of action. While stupid people want to get things done right away without considering the consequences of their actions, lazy-intelligent people study the situation, produce workable solutions, and work with great efficiency to produce positive results.

Guess what kind of people are most prevalent on most school boards throughout the country....
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Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - December 12, 2019

Postby panamint_patty » Mon Dec 30, 2019 8:16 am

Xmas trona Austin and Sierra
Here's another Trona-related video I found this morning. This looks like it came from the elementary Christmas Program. The boys in the back are obviously bored and a bit embarrassed to be part of this little dance routine. It doesn't look like much time was spent practicing, but it's still kind of cute.
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