Former Board Presidents Response to the TEA Report is Revealing

By Harold Gentry

Brad Allen was CISD board president during much of the time investigated by the Texas Education Agency. Mr. Allen is currently seeking re-election to the board after winning the last election and resigning three days later so that a family member might gain employment with the district.

When Mr. Allen was asked what changes need to be made to the district's financial practices in light of concerns raised by the TEA report his answer was simple. Hire another person. That was easy because Mr. and Mrs. Taxpayer will have to again foot the bill for whose mistake? I personally am tired of being viewed as an ATM machine with no brains whose only purpose in life is to be an unlimited source of funds at the school districts disposal.

Mr. Allen we have already hired another person to help the district financial officer and now you want to add another? How will hiring another person at $102,000 a year plus a $300 per month stipend going to solve the problem?

How about firing the current financial officer and getting another one? Or is that also against board policy?

Isn't that what you would do with a teacher who behaved in this manner? Are teachers and principals the only ones who can be held accountable and fired for poor performance at CISD?

Everyone I talk to about terminating some of those responsible for the misuse of federal funds always greets me with the same rhetorical, reluctant response. But they have a contract and we would have to buy that out. It seems that everyone at CISD central office has a “ golden parachute contract ” that indemnifies them from any and all accountability albeit legal or illegal.

We have never served on the CISD school board so can you please explain how all this misuse of federal funds was discovered by myself and Alden Nellis yet flew under the board's radar during your tenure as board president? Did you never look at the reports or actual documents exposed in the Cleburne Eagle Newspaper or on cleburnepolitics.com? I would like to remind you there is another $9.8 million that has not been audited by the TEA. Yet.