January 25, 2009

Pete, You Do Need Help

by Harold Gentry

Well, Pete, once again instead of asking both sides their opinion you go to one and not the other.

This is an excerpt from a letter I sent to the Texas Education Agency on January 16, 2009, to Dr. Geren’s boss Ronald Rowell, head of Governance and General Inquiries. The letter was also sent to Rita Chase, Ramon Medina, Mary Gonzalez and Dr. Earin Martin.

Dr. Geren was chosen for the position and had every chance to turn it down. I applaud him for taking on such a challenging task. I will say that my choice of words “high priced baby sitter” were not used in the vein that you have tried to twist it to be. The price Dr. Geren is paid is not of his choosing, but as I understand it, is predetermined. Cleburne ISD is having to pay the price for its own mistakes. But I do publicly apologize to Dr. Geren if my words offended him.

Here is the excerpt from the letter sent to Ronald Rowell of TEA:

" I still have hope for Dr. Beard, but as time passes I fear that he has been drawn in by the political climate of this community. I do not totally blame Dr. Beard. It is hard to stand up to the self-serving community members who want to ignore the fact that we have a serious problem that needs to be fixed.

" Regretfully I once again ask TEA to intervene and give serious consideration to changing Dr. Monte Geren’s status from monitor to conservator. Dr. Geren has no ties to this community and his strong style of leadership cannot be influenced by local Cleburne politics. He is very professional in his work ethics, businesslike and a man of integrity. But Dr. Geren cannot do this alone, so I also request that you consider appointing a board of managers to replace our current school board."

Now this week I have to admit the bulb was out in my crystal ball, but I went to my closet and found my trusty ole backup, the Magic Eight Ball. Of course it only answers Yes, No or Maybe. I shook that thing for what must have been hours and then I asked it the question, “Is CISD guilty of any wrongdoing?” But I kept getting the same answer. I thought it might be stuck so I went and borrowed one from the neighbors. All I can say is it must have been stuck too because the only answer I could get was “Yes.”

Harold Gentry
817.888.2699 day or night