Newpoint: A Constituent's Email of SUPPORT (and My Response)

Here is an email I received from a constituent yesterday evening, supporting Newpoint schools.  My response to this email is below.

>>> XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  05/09/15 4:32 PM >>>

XXXXXX XXXXX XXXXXXX,

I am writing in response to the press release out today by Rick Outzen in

regards to the Newpoint Schools. It was stated that the agenda for the next

school board meeting will include a recommendation to close all three

Newpoint Schools.

XXXXXXXXXXXX attend Five Flags Academy, after having to leave XXXXXX

XXXXXXXX school over terrible conditions. This is the flagship year at

Five Flags and all of the teachers have been wonderful and show nothing but

a love for their jobs and our children. From even the little information

that was issued to the public by Rick Outzen, the grade tampering issue is

being investigated on a high school level and the individuals responsible

are no longer employed by Newpoint Education.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX thriving in the environment they are in and my husband and

I do not feel that they should be punished for the actions of individuals

that are no longer employed. 

No information had been issued to the public

by Malcolm Thomas or anyone on the board when the allegations were brought

to light in 2014, which could have made a difference for parents who chose

Five Flags Elementary for their children. At this point in time, school

choice is closed and students in Five Flags are not being served by their

district schools. Private schools are not an option for all parents in the

area, obviously. 

We realize that there are political motivations to the

press release, with Mr. Outzen wanting Mr. Thomas out of office; also

calling for an elected superintendent, and we question the timing of the

release of the Newpoint information. That said, it feels like the

recommendation to close the schools is a response to the political attacks.

The education of our children is not a political matter in this already

failing school district. All viable educational options should be utilized

and explored for our children.

At this point, we are asking for time, much like was given for LuTimothy

May when he ran Dixon as a charter school. Although the school was failing,

he was given additional time to make improvements with additional school

board and community oversight. The Newpoint Schools are not failing

schools. Five Flags school is in it's infancy. Please do not let politics

motivate any hasty decisions and instead follow normal district procedure

(i.e Dixon),and let the investigation take it's course.

Thank you for your time,

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Super Voter, XXXXXXXXXXXX

My response:

XXXXXXXX,

Not by choice, mind you, but I was put into the middle of all of this when whistle-blowers contacted me with incredible, outrageous allegations about Newpoint and a lack of any district response/investigation.

Remember, for reasons I still fail to apprehend, the Escambia County School Board was not made aware of the most egregious allegations against Newpoint, we were totally left in the dark until whistle-blowers contacted me.  That is when this whole thing broke open.

And regardless of what anybody says, I do not believe that any significant investigation of the allegations of May 2014 would have happened had I not aggressively followed up on the whistle-blower's complaints; had I remained silent this would not all be happening.  But I will never ignore issues that threaten student safety.  Never.

This said, I remain open-minded on all allegations until I see all evidence.  You can take that to the bank.

And I remain strongly supportive of expanded school choice and charter schools in particular.

In short, I'm not convinced we, as a district, are blameless in all of this.  I think we made significant mistakes in the way we monitored Newpoint, and the way in which we responded (or did not respond) when we learned about problems there.

When a traditional district school struggles and has big problems, like Warrington Middle school has for years, the hue and cry is "We need more time, more resources!"  personnel, particularly if they've done wrong, are removed/replaced. Sometimes not in a fast manner.   The school does not pay the price for the misdeeds of the personnel running the schools.  That is how we treat OUR schools.

With charters in general, there appears to be a zero-defect, hair-trigger mentality when there are problems.  "Close them down NOW" becomes the chant loudly and often repeated.

If these allegations surrounding Newpoint are true and all of these contract violations are legitimate, I will listen to what Newpoint has to say about a plan of attack to address all the issues.  Make no mistake, if crimes were committed by anybody involved in this mess--Newpoint or District Personnel, I'm convinced those responsible will be held to account.

But My vote on whether or not to terminate Newpoint will be the vote that least impacts students and parents, and will be cast in an unbiased, open-minded manner as I have typically cast my votes throughout my time on the board. 

I'm not out for blood, I just want people to do their jobs and not waste taxpayer resources.  I want people that did wrong to be held accountable.

Sincerely,

Jeff Bergosh

Jeff Bergosh

Escambia County School Board

District 1 Board Representative

850-469-6147

www.jeffbergoshblog.blogspot.com

jbergosh@escambia.k12.fl.us