Now we have the full transcripts of all the evidence and witnesses presented and the final outcome of the jury awarding Palazzolo about 2.4 million. The district then went on to appeal without board approval or any type of communication from the district. This is now litigation for the TOMA lawsuit. The district has spent at least a million dollars in litigation on this issue that has gone on for at least 5 years and counting.
There is also the lawsuit against Dansby for the "accidental recording of executive session."
We have 7 volumes of information that contain close to 1000 pages or more of information.
The biggest items are that the administration withheld information from the board on the termination, overpaid the examiner and TEA made the district hire Palazzolo only to fire him again.
Volume 4 has the testimony of Dr. Sutherland, very telling of the bullying tactics even of the district attorneys. Also very telling that Linares told Sutherland that Palazzolo's record was clean with no reprimands, nothing and the application was lost. Robbins even says he was not aware of information being withheld or anything. Anyone that likes to read for leisure or any lawyers out there, this is like having all the candy on halloween.
Interesting to hear the teachers and even Larry Shaw validate that Needham had control of AHHS and would hear complaints and make decisions from anglo parents. Funny how she did meddle in school business and did not get censured like how they accused Sutherland of doing. Guess we have double standards. HOUSE OF CARDS FWISD- and the rest followed.
Counsel for the district tried so hard to discredit but the mounting evidence convinced a jury and now this will go on until the district decides or the court will. Either way this election matters folks. at least go vote for someone, let's make our voices heard. We have corruption and impunity!!!
Volume 1
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B58nQYNsVgwwS0xoNm9XdWNHRE0/view?usp=sharing
Volume 2
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B58nQYNsVgwwUWZRZ3FOV3RNUnM/view?usp=sharing
Volume 3
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B58nQYNsVgwwTnpGWXF6SVV0UVk/view?usp=sharing
Volume 4
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B58nQYNsVgwwSW1sM3B5UTIwdlE/view?usp=sharing
Volume 5
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B58nQYNsVgwwTHM4eXJMSFBXMEk/view?usp=sharing
Volume 6
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B58nQYNsVgwweml2MTAzRkllT0E/view?usp=sharing
Volume 7
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B58nQYNsVgwwNEJQbWVBbDF0SUE/view?usp=sharing
Incredible. Why is this Board still refuting these events and fighting the Jury verdict? What a disgusting display of government lying and over-reach.
ReplyDeleteSo with no liability insurance, how is the Board funding continued legal action? Why? Why were we never informed about the decision to appeal? Who on the Board voted for that appeal? Is there a criminal penalty for perjury in a civil case? Obviously it is Needham and Robbins who need legal counsel. Sutherland was the only Board Member who told the truth. Still wondering why as his first act as a newly elected Board Member, Avilla voted to censure Sutherland when he had NO KNOWLEDGE of why.
ReplyDeleteThe Startlgram has a hilarious article about the district facing a $21 million deficit next year on the budget. Actually that's not what's funny. What's funny is Needham staring sound like she really cares about budget. For what they've spent on Joe, they could fund almost the petty 1% raise she talks about. What a hypocrite
ReplyDeletehttp://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/education/article19890441.html
Just read it. What a joke! Linda LaBeau's most recent Open Records Request reports that FWISD spent over 1 million on Palazzolo ALONE and that was after he filed the lawsuit but before the Dansby recording. What that means is that there was another $500,000 spent on Walsh Anderson & Co. before Brandt's Firm and God only knows how much has been spent since August 2013. We have no idea what the Board spent on the trial itself; the Dansby case; the Open Meetings Act case; going after his attorney with a series of motions and hearings; and now the Appeal. The icing on the cake was forgiving the debt for the Paschal/AHHS artificial turf. Maybe is Sims had been awake and Moss had been paying attention, they would have raised Cain about the other High Schools not getting the same. What a joke. People better vote before Needham bankrupts this ISD. She forgot to mention the 200 retire/rehires we still have running around.
ReplyDeleteThe budget is a huge concern, as is the lack of accountability in our schools. With all of the administrative staff we are paying, the protocols and policies of the district should be enforced in EVERY school. Dress codes, attendance and tardy policies, chain of command policies. How is it that it's a complete free-for-all out in the school(s) with no one really manning the ship? People who appear to have no job descriptions but earn a paycheck abound. Students are suffering and faculty and staff are disillusioned and frustrated beyond words. Phones out, earbuds in, hoodies up, shorts revealing, tank tops and midriff tops, students milling the halls all day long. Downtown has to be aware of this, yet, nothing is occurring to bring it under control. Where are our advocates? Parents? Concerned alums? Too many students and not enough classrooms, teachers floating, but they keep accepting more and more transfers. Are the other high schools in this state? I'd love to hear from other parents, teachers, staff about this ongoing travesty.
ReplyDeleteLack of accountability begins with the Board. Concerned about the budget? Express your concern by voting Needham and Jackson out of office. Teacher testimony from AHHS begins above with vol.2. Guaranty you will not make it to vol. 6 where Robbins is lying through his teeth. What a despicable person. We need change!!
ReplyDeleteVoter here is the truly incredible part...Joe took the information to the district to WARN them.... not to file a whistleblower lawsuit. When I saw the original documents, I analyzed them from -- attendance fraud, desperate treatment of discipline for minority students, documents showing some failing students being told to stay home on TAKS test, documents showing teachers and coaches resignation statements due to lack of accountability from the Principal Alexander and finally Coach Perry's mouth specifically language too graphic to print here with students and fellow teachers. But incredibly also loaning $5K to Asst. Supt. Chuck Boyd from AHHS athletic funds and pocketing other AHHS athletic fund money -- against all education laws required by ISDs statewide per TEA standards. Additionally, I met with teachers who supported Mr. Palazzolo with encouragement to walk the documents forward to administration according to EEOC training they all had attended. The belief at that time was "certainly, FWISD Superintendent Johnson's administration will start to pay attention" and will take corrective action on behalf of students and teachers. As I said, Mr. Palazzolo was not attempting to embarrass Ms. Needham or FWIDadministration but simply sought corrective action for AHHS. He was concerned about the treatment of students and fellow teachers. So what does FWISD central administration, Superintendent Johnson and Ms. Needham do?.They fire him and begin on a witch hunt to discredit him personally and professionally spending now well over $3M by my calculation on legal fees. Through Open Records I have learned FWISD lost legal liability insurance in 2013. Therefore to answer an earlier question all legal fees are being paid at $400 an hr. to a contract attorney, Mr. Brandt, with little experience in Education Law,is not an appellate attorney paid fron general fund Educarion law is clear. Moving a Dist.Court Claim against an ISD "must" (in legal terms this is demand language) bring advancing any legal claim against an ISD "must" be done through public vote by the school board. The 2nd Court of Appeals rarely overturns a District Court jury award. If Needham is elected my hunch is when she learns Mr. Brandt has advised the board poorly she will turn her venom on Mr. Brandt for legal malpractice. Therefore another attorney will be hired to pursue the loss of revenue from FWISD while YOU the TAXPAYOR will be paying yet another attorney to file legal action against Mr. Brandt. The aforementioned and any further pursuit of AHHS coverup is not at issue here. The issue is the lies told against Mr. Palazzolo and the cover up Ms. Needham has pursued to "save face" with her cronies on the West Side of town. Ms. Needham's vindictiveness is a cancer on this school board and the entire school district. It is never the mistake or mistakes made by AHHS personnel. It is the lies and cover up. Meanwhile teachers suffer, students suffer, parents suffer at the taxpayer expense. FYI the irony of all this is Walsh Anderson law firm uses Mr. Palazzolo's case as a case study to ISDs on HOW NOT TO FIRE AN EMPLOYEE!
ReplyDeleteThree years ago they increased class size by two students district-wide. $25 million. Last year they added a bunch of employees and established a deficit budget. The budget figures presented Tuesday show the reserves going south to unacceptable levels by the end of the 2016-17 fiscal year and they won't even project after this.
ReplyDeleteBravo Ann! Let no one forget who is running Speer's campaign (Needham's long time campaign manager) and who is funding it (Needham, Dickerson and friends). Please continue to stand tall for parents, teachers and students!!
ReplyDeleteI pray you can unseat that vile creature Linda. We must get the word out!
ReplyDeleteI am working very hard to get my materials into voter's hands and speak to as many groups as invite me which is considerable. District 5 is so gerrymandered! Please look up District 5 map and call as many parents and voters you can to encourage them to vote for me. I have yet to find someone in the Western Hills to talk with about my campaign. After seeing all political signs all over city, I made an executive decision not to "litter" our community with signs. In 2010, most of my signs mysteriously disappeared. You can call me at 817.602.5446 or have your friends call me. We need new ideas and a trustee in District who understands educational needs, education laws and plays nicely with others. Thank you, Is it true, Ms. Needham said FWISD is on verge of bankruptcy?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/education/article19890441.html
ReplyDeleteThank you. This information appears in the online Startlegram but not the print version....wonder why? Read my comment. Let's see how long it stays up!
ReplyDelete“Last year, the district projected its reserve would climb to $181 million. But in August, it had to pull about $40 million out when a technological glitch caused an overpayment from the state. The district had to dip into the fund balance to pay back the money."
ReplyDelete$40,000,000.00 glitch... no wonder the board doesn't blink at legal fees.
Way to go Linda. I just read your comment on the Startle Gram website. Nice to see you hit them and hit them hard. Keep it up.
ReplyDelete“Last year, the district projected its reserve would climb to $181 million. But in August, it had to pull about $40 million out when a technological glitch caused an overpayment from the state. The district had to dip into the fund balance to pay back the money."
ReplyDeletehttp://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/education/article19890441.html#storylink=cpy
Why do we not hear about this everyday on the news?? Why do my comments keep getting deleted??
Let's get this election over! Get CRAZY and STUPID Sutherland out! EVERYONE hates her! Can't wait! And Labeau is gonna get her a@@ whipped. Can't wait! Heard about this site, sure I'll get blocked. You people are nuts! I'll be back after elections!
ReplyDeleteMaybe should have thought about the budget BEFORE she paid Dansby a million bucks just to go away. Doesn't this Board think its time to stop spending $$$$ fighting Palazzolo?
ReplyDeleteYou must be Ray Dickerson
ReplyDeleteOn the contrary, welcome to the site. Here everyone gets a fair chance to express their thoughts. Unlike needham and company we don't censor or go after people. If bring nuts is publishing the truth and it makes people uncomfortable then we did our job. Our students failures don't make the board uncomfortable. See you then.
ReplyDeleteShameful treatment of Board Member Ann Sutherland at the hands of FWISD attorney Brandt in vol. 4. And to think this guy is still representing FWISD as Needham, Jackson and Robbins continue to waste millions of education dollars on litigation to save face.
ReplyDeleteHow do I get the mailer Needham just sent out and loaded with untruths about her tenure on board to ciafwisd? I received mine yesterday. After reading, I spit up....Your readers need to see this piece of literature...err...literature is the wrong word...more like "false deceptive advertising". The old bait and switch tactics she is so well known for. It is time for an Open Letter to FWST (Startlegram) on the FACTS to include Needham's role in the AHHS cover up. For those of you old enough to remember the Watergate hearings, think about the lies told to the voting public on Nixon's role in Watergate. Had Needham allowed the scandal known rather than covered up, perpetrating all you've read in the transcripts, to be remedied, rather than lying and allowing a witch hunt against teachers and Joe...whose personnel file was clean and later stating his original application could not be "found", FWISD would have redeemed itself and taxpayer dollars would not have been wasted on $400 an hour attorney to the tune of $3M and running. The problems at FWISD is not the cover ups. It is the lies told that is the core of the problems on the board and with administration. Meanwhile we are losing a generation of children who are not getting a free, appropriate public education and a Fort Worth lawyer is getting RICH off of taxpayer dollars Ms. Needham, who promotes herself as a fundraiser and Gold Seal proponent but through Open Records from FWISD there is no record to show she has provided any fundraising toward FWISD nor any educational program to benefit our schools or her District 5. All of these issues lack of fiduciary duty, lack of knowledge on educational programs and oversight of administration lay at the feet of Ms. Needham and her minions on the board and the administration. As to the a@@ whipped commenter....we'll see on May 10. The tide is turning in Fort Worth. Voters are smarter than Ms. Needham believes them to be. Keep up the good work at ciafwisd.
ReplyDeleteEven more shameful is Speers campaign flyer attacks, personal attacks and her PTA Forum attacks on Ann. Ann has been a good public servant....with emphasis on servant. Ann's integrity speaks for itself and her character is above reproach. Remember Ms. Speers was part of FWISD central administration cabal. It took an abundance of courage for ANN to testify truthfully last March 2014 and again at the PTA Forum regarding the board's lack of oversight of central administration. Ann is a very humble person who is not someone who engages in shameless self promotion. Ann's IQ is off the charts and her experience in budget analysis pre-dates her time representing FWISD. Everyone needs to insure she is re-elected.
ReplyDelete