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Some die hards still in there: http://www.kbtx.com/livestream

Caught the very end, what did I miss?

Wallis is out and nobody is talking...no comments...statements...nothing.

This school board is beyond a joke

He gone

Voluntary separation agreement was passed

He should have been FIRED, his actions deserved a firing. But, the trash has finally been taken out and I hope the local media dives deep into this and other reports of intimidation. And make no mistake, the current acting superintendent is just as bad as Wallis. He needs to be thrown out as soon as possible

Who is the acting super?

HA! You all think Wallis was bad? Just wait. The interim super is WAY worse.

Any update from the csisd board meeting?

Tim Rocka, who is Wallis' minion. Employees of BISD, friends, family and the community ALL need to come together and demand a big change from the school board. The board allowed this intimidation and bullying to go on for far too long and it shouldn't be tolerated anymore. Speak up

And a giant you know what.

The past week has been very hard on many good people at BISD. They have been walking on eggshells around administrators who alternate between having no direction or leadership and in a polar opposite have been going around doing things like dress code checks on teachers. No one knows who to trust as no one knows who else was involved in this transgression. They wonder who kept jobs or worse who was promoted to a higher job as a result of this, and who was denied a job or let go because of this. Past performance evaluations have now been questioned. It's a toxic atmosphere.

Frankly the whole upper administration is now tainted and needs a reset. And the Board need to answer some hard questions as a great deal of money has been spent on a massive restructuring of the current school system from 6-8 to the new 5/6, 7/8 model in a district where existing schools are not geographically positioned to make such a model work. All at the direction of someone who seemingly was not making rational decisions with his own employees.

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Well, at the end of the day, I suspect we'll never know (from the horse's mouth, as it were) what really happened. Stasney and McCall voiced approval at the resignation, but rejection of the terms. Hence, their "no" votes. My guess is that they are gagged from releasing anything other than pre-ordained speeches and we'll never hear more than that officially.

Government employees don't have full privacy of their employee files, and KBTX has already filed the FOI request. It'll be disclosed.

[If the minutes are released, we will allow anything that is in them to to be posted. -Staff]

At least he tweeted some bible verses on his way out. It is nice to know that he is not a MASSIVE coward and that we don't have a bunch more cowards up top still.

Another reason that I'm glad I'm not teaching any more. Tomorrow morning the sermon text at every school will be "the problem is gone, and now everything is going to be all right," and then they'll have the same disciplinary issues that the teachers' hands are tied so they will never be solved; the same students who have been pushed forward with their age mates so they're in the seventh week of Algebra I even though they never learned the times tables or division facts all the way through; and the same children coming to school gladly because they get fed and feel safe there, two things that don't exist at home. That 25% turnover rate has nothing to do with the Superintendent, believe it.

We have a winner!

These aren't rumors, these are stone cold facts that this site is hiding just like the school board is hiding. This is exactly why he was able to intimidate and bully his employees for so long because sites like this banned the truth from the public. [Edit] Shame on you for hiding these facts from the public. And when these facts do come out and I'm right, I expect an apology. I'll take my ban now


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Just listened to the BISD President being interviewed on WTAW (they will post it this morning). He should be embarrassed by his performance. He took a very long time to say virtually nothing, and he still believes the path that the board and Wallis set is a good path, and Rocka will continue smoothly on that path. That's a problem as well.

Just happy my kids are out of BISD schools b/c while they had a good experience, the path for the future will not be good for the students.

This will be the last thing I'llsay on this topic... if you know someone who works for BISD or those that have left, ask them how they feel or why they left. They'll more than likely tell you about the things that have gone on for the past 5 years. Do your own research, file an FOI request if you want about complaints against Wallis.

Here is what amazes me. First, the district needed change and that's what we got. So, we have a huge turnover because people feel threatened to follow his orders? It's your job and he IS the boss. If I have employees that don't follow my guidelines and policy, I terminate them and that is good business practice. Wallis expected the best, as he should and as taxpayers should.

Second, a lot of people complaining about his "failed policies" who "worked for the district", but don't give specifics and don't give there former position, school, etc and doing it anonymously... that makes it look like a disgruntled former employee that just didn't like to follow rules.

Third, Wallis leadership increased our school accountability ratings, we have respectable looking children in a dress code that previoisly was never enforced, he also supported career tech programs which fit the demographics of our district, he fought the state for fair funding, he cut our budget shortfall, and most of all, he demanded excellence from our staff and students. Personally, I am glad that is what my tax dollars did, because I expect excellence from them also.

Lastly, how hard is it for people to just perform as asked? I run by a rule, in my business, that if you are not an A or B quality player, I will work to try and give you an opportunity to grow to an A or B player; and if that doesn't happen in a specified time frame, we need to part ways. Anyone who runs a business knows that part of the steps to helping cash flow and budget concerns is to do that simple step. BISD is an education center, but it is also a $130M business and should be operated under some business principles... which Wallis did.

So, where do we go now? Are we headed back to internal promotions? Relaxed policies? A teacher ruled system? I hope not. I hope the next Superintendent establishes a structure that demands excellence under strict guidelines and policies. If people don't like to work in that environment, maybe this district isn't the right place. Funding still is an issue, where we have less revenue to support more students, which means salaries are going to be lower. Our administration costs are below the state average per TEA, so where do y'all expect cuts to increase salaries to retain teachers? And... Do you believe higher salaries really mean we always get quality educators?

This is my opinion on Wallis as the superintendent. If there are "personal" issues as have been suggested at times, well, that is different, but as I see from the way he ran the district, I was happy with it. Here is the million dollar question for all the naysayers... What are your expectations of how the district should be run? Give some quality proposals that meet the funding we have. You want teachers to stay longer, you want scores to be high, you want to pay as little taxes as possible, etc... well, give some insight to how you expect that accomplished, all while staying within the guidelines of the state and also under the funding sources for the district. How many people have a well thought out plan aside from just complaining in general.

Being a tough but fair boss is fine, being a boss that bullies, intimidates and retaliates for not falling in line is another. The people he pushed out of the district aren't "riff raff" like I've seen posted before. These are good educators that often move over to CISD or other Brazos Valley schools and have no issues where they are now.

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bradleyk - As you mentioned, it would appear there have been some positive administrative changes under his leadership. However, as the parents of elementary/middle school age kids, we have experienced some classroom level changes that disappoint us. Do you have kids in BISD currently?

Yes, I do have a child in High School, that came up through Middle School. I have one entering Kindergarten next year and have been highly active with the school district for many years. As a matter of fact, I was a plaintiff against the State of Texas, on behalf of Texas taxpayers, fighting for fairness of taxation.
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Maybe I have time, because I have a successful business where I put great leadership in place that can handle day-to-day operations, in my absense. I am a number 1 fan of our district amd students. I see a lot of negative posts, some attacks at me already, and no suggestions on how the district could be better.... just as I suspected would happen.

I given you the problems within the district, most of what I've posted has been deleted as to what the problems are. If you support that kind of behavior, good for you. The rest of the community doesn't. It's not an attack on you

bradleyk said:

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I see a lot of negative posts, some attacks at me already, and no suggestions on how the district could be better.... just as I suspected would happen.

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Yeah, it would be nice to hear clear examples instead of just wild speculation about the man's "extra curricular" activities.

For the record, I am in CSISD so I don't have personal experience with what is going on in Bryan.

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Random thought, is it possible some of the higher turnover in Bryan is simply a result of CSISD opening more schools? They have to find new teachers somewhere and it is inevitable that some would get plucked from Bryan (as well as other local districts).

The board was fine with high teacher turnover, etc. They just gave him an extension. He was obviously fired for recent events not related to his day to day duties. The ominous "personal reasons".

JM,

I never once said that I supported claims you made. I will say, no evidence has been given except hearsay. Now, you may have direct knowledge, been a part of it directly, or indirectly, know someone that was part of it, etc, but no names, instances or facts have been given yet, so I am speaking directly on how the district has performed.

Realize that this is about a 3000 employee organization. It is going to have turnover due to many factors, some being pay, policies, structure, etc. If you research my posts here, I am inclined to believe that I posted in 2011 or so about things I would have done in this district, one which included furloughs as a budget cut. Not a popular plan at all, but one that kept people employed and made a significant impact on the budget shortfall. The district never did this, but you will see from that, I was a proponent of keeping people employed. My only reservation about some of the grumblings about teacher turnover, now, is that maybe some of these needed to leave to allow room for teachers that may be better. Just because someone is successful in another business, doesn't mean they could/wold be at a competing/similar business.

I also agrwe that this has something to do with a happening (s) since June. He has had a contract extension every year since arriving... surely that means the board, and public, we're happy till now. It can't be an excuse that employees didn't say anything all those years in fear of termination, because teaches are in a shortage all over the state.