10/05/08  Trust has been Squandered. Superintendent Hinojosa has put DISD on Road to Broke.
Gherig Salda?

However, it appears the Superintendent confused the support.  He thought it was about him and improving his professional marketability.  He forgot it was about the kids, about the teachers, about the parents, about each and every stakeholder in the DISD.   Now, we are on the ROAD TO BROKE, and Dr. Hinojosa says he is trying to fix it.  If he didn't know how to keep the DISD out of this mess, how will he have sufficient wherewithal to fix it?

I have written before of Dr. Hinojosa's poor leadership skills and his poor choices for top administrative jobs.  I never imagined it would also affect the financial bottom line to this extent ($64-84 million deficit).  However, we should have all gotten an indication of pending problems when he de-layered central staff in 2007.  It is my understanding no one on the financial side of the house was de-layered, even though Dr. Hinojosa already knew there were problems in that area.  The financial side of the house was not touched in his reorganization.  

One of the worst areas in terms of performance in the DISD, and he did nothing to reorganize it in 2007!

It is also worrisome that Dr. Hinojosa only talks about how he didn't get the information he wanted from HIS financial people.  He doesn't reference how HR (Kim Olson), School Support (Donna Micheaux), and Transformation (Arnold Viramontes) are also pieces of the puzzle that contributed to the crisis.  Until you have the complete picture and a complete understanding of how the financial crisis was created, how can you fix it?

An outcome of this debacle is that whatever trust stakeholders may have had in Dr. Hinojosa initially is irretrievably broken.  No one can forget the scenes we have been confronted with on the nightly news of teachers and other DISD personnel protesting outside while board meetings were being held inside.  Chants and signs demanding Dr. Hinojosa's dismissal.  Despair and disbelief.  

How is it possible not to feel their pain?

How is it possible that 1,100 employees will lose their jobs through no fault of their own? 
Tossed out on the street when the economic picture is so bleak at this point in time.

How is it possible that Dr. Hinojosa failed so miserably, yet he gets to keep his job? Unbelievably, a majority of the school board, the Dallas Morning News Editorial Board and some in the business community contend that Dr. Hinojosa can fix it.  They are not dealing in reality. He has squandered the trust that was placed in him.

Trust in the DISD needs to be restored.  It won't happen under this superintendent. This superintendent needs to be shown the door, and it needs to be done immediately.  A top-notch financial and HR team needs to be brought in temporarily to do a complete analysis and scrubbing of financial and HR processes and then institute a system that works seamlessly together in a 21st century manner.   At any given point in time DISD officials must know what its true costs and expenses.  They need to know whether or not allocations are being exceeded.  Once that has been done, then and only then, a new superintendent should be brought in.  His/her first duty should be to learn how the financial and HR side of the house work.

It is time for the school board to realize that under Dr. Hinojosa's failed leadership, we can never be sure when the next shoe will drop and we will be facing another crisis.  

It is time for the school board to realize that Dr. Hinojosa squandered the trust that was placed in him.  

Except for Trustees Ranger and Blackburn, it is time for all current school board members to also move on and let others who will be real stewards of taxpayer dollars and trust take their place.  We can't afford the collective delusional leadership that has squandered our trust and that currently has us on the road to broke! 

Last Thursday, the Dallas ISD school board passed the Reduction in Force (RIF) Plan.  Nearly 1,100 DISD employees will lose their jobs this month. The motion to adopt the DISD RIF plan was made by DISD trustee Jerome Garza.  Trustee Garza's motion was seconded by trustee Ron Price, but Price abstained from the vote on the RIF.   What a bonehead move on Price's part.  Did Price think his abstaining from the RIF vote would erase his role in the DISD board's role in adopting the DISD RIF?

Kudos to trustees Ranger and Blackburn for their attempt to move Thursday's school board meeting to the large auditorium.  One would think Superintendent Hinojosa and the entire DISD board would do everything possible to better accommodate the hundreds of teachers and citizen taxpayers who wanted to better participate and involve themselves in such an important school board meeting.

 
Gehrig Salda?