Have you noticed how over the past week the daily newspaper responds to any post on the blog about Superintendent Malcolm Thomas with a positive story? Last week I broke the story about the proposed closing of Spencer-Bibbs Elementary. Next day, PNJ has Thomas’s response, followed about a piece about the Global Learning Academy—-in which Thomas amazingly fails to give any credit to his predecessor Jim Paul, who bought the land and initiated the school.
Thomas should have gone public with his recommendation to close the school before my post. I had to dig on his website to find anything about it. Transparency involves informing the public of not only “happy news” about also the hard decisions before the board.
Yesterday, I posted that Thomas is about to sell Brownsville Middle School. The daily covers it today, but gives few hard details, except Thomas says he sold it for $1 million to a group headed by George Hawthorne. Where did Hawthorne get $1 million? How will he renovate it–which could take another $1 million?
And more importantly what does this sentence in the news article mean: “The 10 acres of ball fields on the property would be given to Habitat for Humanity, enough land to build 60 homes.”—–given? Come on PNJ – you had the interview with Thomas–ask him to explain his answers. Thomas said earlier during the negotiations with Friendship Missionary Baptist Church that he couldn’t give school property away.
Again where is the transparency?
My first email today will be to the School District for a copy of the sales contract. The devil is in the details.