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Re: FCPS High School Music Classes 2014-15
Posted by: senza sordino.........FYI ()
Date: January 16, 2015 04:08PM

And if your child is playing a different instrument at any time to "help out" (as in nobody else will do it, they need more of something, there isn't room in your regular section so they have to do something else which "helps them out"), your rental fee is supposed to be waived.

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Re: FCPS High School Music Classes 2014-15
Posted by: senza sordino...Madison HS ()
Date: January 17, 2015 10:37AM

There is a new posting on Madison on the previous page, in case you didn't back up. Bottom of page 4.

WHY do you keep paying these people?

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Re: FCPS High School Music Classes 2014-15
Posted by: senza sordino...Chantilly HS ()
Date: February 11, 2015 07:19AM

We are resurrecting the Vendini ticket management system used at Chantilly. It has been officially confirmed, as I suspected from the tens of thousands of dollars of revenue from admission fees on the Music Booster tax returns, that in spite of the name of a school official all over these documents and the name of the organization being listed as Chantilly High School, that the Vendini deposits are going into a Booster bank account, at least for the music department performances. The performances are school sponsored. The fees are public funds.

Who gave Vendini the Booster bank account number?

This is no different than the school system writing really huge checks out of public funds to a Booster club (a private corporation) to support their activities.

This is like the Athletic Boosters working the gate at a football game and putting all the gate receipts straight into their bank account. Are you jealous?

"Fairfax, we have a problem........."
Attachments:
Vendini payments_Redacted.pdf
vendinipolicies.pdf

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Re: FCPS High School Music Classes 2014-15
Posted by: senza sordino...Chantilly HS ()
Date: February 11, 2015 07:28AM

The current practice for collection of concert fees by a Booster organization through the Vendini payment portal is currently under review.



Sincerely,





Brandynn Reaves

Public Information Specialist

Office of Communications & Community Relations

Fairfax County Public Schools

T +1 571-423-1223 | F +1 571-423-1217

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Re: FCPS High School Music Classes 2014-15
Posted by: You can't make this stuff up. ()
Date: February 11, 2015 10:51AM

Look at page 2 (page 9) of each return. A total of $225,000 revenue over three years for concerts and performances. All student performances with an admission fee are school sponsored, making the money public funds that are supposed to be accounted for in the school activity funds. This is public funding of a Booster club. Oh dear.

Actually, most of the other stuff in that section is public funds, also. Over $1.1 million over 3 years. All of which should be insured, audited, recorded, retained, available for public inspection via the school system.

All this money was processed outside of public accounts. The records can technically be FOIA'd via the school system, since they are still the custodian of the records. Good luck with that if you want them.

This is an example of why things are changing.
Attachments:
ChantillyHSMusicBoostersForm990X3.pdf

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Re: FCPS High School Music Classes 2014-15
Posted by: Pass the buck ()
Date: February 11, 2015 11:14AM

General rule in life-If you don't have to assume this kind of liability, DON'T.
Booster clubs don't have to assume this kind of liability.

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Re: FCPS High School Music Classes 2014-15
Posted by: senza sordino...... ()
Date: February 11, 2015 12:09PM

senzo sordino Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> In case you wonder why I am so concerned so
> below:
>
>

Nice articles, different "senza sordino". "Senzo" sordino is not on the list of musical terms.

Welcome to the thread, senzo.

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Re: FCPS High School Music Classes 2014-15
Posted by: Kjhgkphy ()
Date: February 11, 2015 02:20PM


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Re: FCPS High School Music Classes 2014-15
Posted by: final thoughts ()
Date: February 11, 2015 03:08PM

Here are the regulations regarding FCPS and donations to Booster clubs going back almost 10 years. Looks like they are not allowed to do this and probably never have been.

So when you divert school activity fund revenue (like performance admission fees) directly into a Booster bank account, have you not just made a donation to a Booster club?

This is a disaster.
Attachments:
r5810donations.pdf

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Re: FCPS High School Music Classes 2014-15
Posted by: You are not alone......... ()
Date: February 12, 2015 06:46AM

Brown Paper Ticket, PayPal, "buy the ticket from a student", TicketLeap, "call this number".........

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Re: FCPS High School Music Classes 2014-15
Posted by: Westfields bbp ()
Date: February 12, 2015 10:54AM

final thoughts Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Here are the regulations regarding FCPS and
> donations to Booster clubs going back almost 10
> years. Looks like they are not allowed to do this
> and probably never have been.
>
> So when you divert school activity fund revenue
> (like performance admission fees) directly into a
> Booster bank account, have you not just made a
> donation to a Booster club?
>
> This is a disaster.


Maybe we should see if Boosterthon can take over band fundraising duties instead.

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Re: FCPS High School Music Classes 2014-15
Posted by: BandBooster ()
Date: February 14, 2015 02:05PM

Barb,

I stepped away from following your haranguing because my musician-son graduated, last June. Curiosity could not keep me completely away, though. A couple of points:

1. You have legal right to FOIA public records. But, your process for change should be driven through the school system, not directly through the booster organization. Your tactic for the past several years was to FOIA school documentation and then use the information gleaned from the records to harass private organizations and individuals.

2. (Going back several responses) IRS regulations do not prohibit all Individual Fundraising Accounts (IFAs), So long as 501(c)3s stays within IRS guidelines, IFAs are fine and are a suitable way to fundraise. The guidelines are not so restrictive as to limit citrus sales or car washes, for instance, to be credited to the individuals participating in the fundraising.

3. When you complain about the operations of a booster organization that are not illegal, you cross a line of being a citizen-guardian of public funds to being a nag. In past posts, I used the reference "a burr under the saddle." That's what you are, still. You are not a citizen-guardian. Lake Braddock Orchestra -- and anyone else -- does nothing illegal by allowing booster members preferential treatment by allowing early entrance. You are not the arbiter of whether this courtesy is appropriate.

4. You conflate "bills" with "statements". You continue to talk about "bills", which imply and obligation for payment. Treasurers and booster organizations have every right to submit statements of account status to families. For me, this helped out tremendously. The statement is informational, only, and does not imply an obligation for payment.

Take a step back from band boosters and focus on practicing your violin.

BandBooster

PS -- President Obama and legislators thank you for pointing out the left-handed French horn matter. Conn-Selmer and other instrument makers have recently pooled efforts to combat legal forces who want them to quit discriminating against those wanting to play the French Horn with their right hands. The government feels this is discrimination of the highest order. It is time to start the move for ambidextrous instruments. Thank you, thank you, thank you...

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Re: FCPS High School Music Classes 2014-15
Posted by: quit whining/crying ()
Date: February 14, 2015 07:29PM

1. By asking the school system for public records, they have to produce them. If the Booster club has them, that is their problem. If the school system and Booster officers are doing stupid abusive things to parents who don't know any better, they ought to be informed so they can stand up for their rights.

2. IFA's are between the school system, the Boosters, and the IRS. Not interested.

3. Boosters don't have any control or say on who enters a public school auditorium. They are a bunch of parents, some with grossly overinflated egos. They don't work there, they don't run the school, they need to just hush and let people walk in when they please. That is none of their business. Belonging to an organization that is not even school-sponsored has nothing to do with anything when it comes to going to an open concert. The school system controls the concerts, these are public concerts, these are an extension of the classroom, and the school system should not be discriminating against people depending on if they join certain clubs, pay certain amounts of money, etc. If you want somebody to suck up to you, make a donation to the Kennedy Center.

4. Why do you send out statements if you don't want to be paid-eventually? Why do you send people reminders about the statements and give them due dates? Why do you remind them of their responsibilities?

Don't know what the left hand French horn thing is about.

You are obviously off your rocker. Have a nice weekend.

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Re: FCPS High School Music Classes 2014-15
Posted by: small amount big principle ()
Date: February 20, 2015 08:14AM

Today's post-small amount, big principle.

Lake Braddock Orchestra Boosters collect a fee for instrument locker rental and uniform rental. (They aren't the only ones doing this.)

Lockers and uniforms are School Board property.

On a grander scale, this is like the principal renting out the school auditorium and letting his friend collect and keep the money and spend it any way they want.

Things really got messed up over the years.

Stay warm.
Attachments:
Lake Braddock Orchestra Uniforms and Fees_Redacted (2).pdf

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Re: FCPS High School Music Classes 2014-15
Posted by: Analogy #2 ()
Date: February 20, 2015 09:12AM

Another analogy that might strike closer to home is the principal allowing the instrument rental fees to be collected by his/her friend, put into their personal bank account, and used for whatever they want.

There isn't any difference whether you are renting an instrument or a uniform or a locker. The School Board owns them all, regardless of where they came from.

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Re: FCPS High School Music Classes 2014-15
Posted by: Valid Points ()
Date: February 20, 2015 09:19AM

WHAT YOUR DOING IS WRONG!
YOU NEED TO STOP!!!
WHY IS ANY OF THIS YOUR CONCERN?
YOU ARE MAKING LIFE HARDER FOR MANY COUNTY CHOIRS, BANDS, ORCHESTRAS AND GUITAR GROUPS.(AND PARENTS AND STUDENTS)
WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?
Attachments:
8nWoY.jpg

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Re: FCPS High School Music Classes 2014-15
Posted by: Right!!!! ()
Date: February 20, 2015 09:54AM

Where were you when there were hundreds of families getting ripped off by a Booster club and a high school and a bunch of admins were taking a nap on it? Like that was easy on the families......

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Re: FCPS High School Music Classes 2014-15
Posted by: senza sord-Stuart Band ()
Date: February 25, 2015 06:50PM

I asked about the $25 that the parents were told to pay to the Band Boosters in the class literature. I received this spreadsheet. It is classified as "dues". All "dues" to a Booster club are optional. If "dues" are mandatory if you join the Boosters, membership has to be optional. You are due a refund if you didn't understand the terms and didn't want to pay these "dues". The only thing you have to pay is the FCPS class/trip/uniform etc. fees (which go to FCPS), and if you buy something specific like shoes, etc. from the Boosters. So, ask some questions. What exactly did you purchase?
Attachments:
Stuart_RedactedBandboosterdues.pdf

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Re: FCPS High School Music Classes 2014-15
Posted by: senza sord-West Potomac Band ()
Date: March 06, 2015 08:23AM

Here is a fun one.

The West Potomac High School Band parents were told (not asked) to write a check for $140 to the "West Potomac High School Band". This was also labeled as a Booster payment. No explanation of what it is for. It is on the same page as the bill for the FCPS fees, with President's name on it.

FYI----The West Potomac High School Band Parent Organization is NOT "The Band". They are "The Parents". "The Band" consists of the students and the teachers. They are called "The School System". "The Parents" are an independent non-profit, as in NOT part of the school system.

The attached bank account statement shows the checks written to "The Band" went into the West Potomac High School Band Parent Organization bank account. (!) This is not "The Band" bank account. This is "The Parents" bank account. When you all wrote checks to "The Band" they technically became public funds and public record, because "The Band" is part of "The School System". It looks like maybe "The Parents" possibly/kind of took off with public funds. They aren't supposed to do that.

Parents, you are not supposed to be writing Big Checks to a Booster club unless you really, really want to. Anything with a big price tag is school-sponsored, and the funds are supposed to run through a school account. That includes pre-season, all expenses related to trips (think of the mysterious and probably fictional Booster "travel supplement"), marching fees, course fees, uniform rental fees, etc. These are public funds and public records. If you WANT to write a Big Check to the Boosters, go ahead, but it has to be 100% optional. These are NOT public funds and public records.

FCPS fees are supposed to be presented on letterhead and go straight into a school account. As in, NOT be routed through a Booster account first. DON'T let anybody do that to you. There are some people trying to do that. It messes up The System. You really want that wonderful school insurance policy 24/7/365. You want those detailed easily accessible public records. Spreadsheets, accounting data, receipts, etc. You have a right to that. You don't want/need a middleman. You don't want somebody messing around with your money before it goes to the school system. IF it all gets there. And you might never know if it doesn't if the Boosters write One Big Check for the group. You might be marked as paid, think you are good, but find out some of your money was actually used for something besides what you thought you paid for. This can happen with the school system also, but at least you can easily see the records and figure out the problem. Booster requests for money are not supposed to be on FCPS letterhead or involve staff. And they have to clearly be requests and be clearly optional (or for something specific like buying an item). At least, that is what the FAQ's say.

Ohhhh.........what a mess.
Attachments:
WPHS Band Booster payments FY 2015_Redacted.pdf

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Re: FCPS High School Music Classes 2014-15
Posted by: senza sord----- ()
Date: March 06, 2015 09:14AM

Let's do an analogy. Pick one situation-----

Do you think government email should be managed in a government system, or in a private system where only the owner and their buddies have access to the emails and get to pick and choose what they consider public information/record and aside from a major very expensive legal intervention there is little anybody can do about it? Not that that would ever happen........

Now substitute "money" for email.

Got it?

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Re: FCPS High School Music Classes 2014-15
Posted by: Just a reflection ()
Date: March 06, 2015 09:17AM

Parents at our FCPS HS started a football boosters club. Roped off a section of the bleachers - reserved for football booster parents only. I thought it was obnoxious - didn't reflect well on our school. Our son played varsity and I reluctantly paid the booster fee and kept my mouth shut since I didn't know if there might be repercussions for our son if I didn't. But I never sat in the special booster section. Before we had a child in HS we would still go to the games. It was nice to cheer the team along side football parents. The team is the school's team. They are playing for the school/community - not for the glory of their particular parents.

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Re: FCPS High School Music Classes 2014-15
Posted by: what a bunch of snots ()
Date: March 06, 2015 09:25AM

This is obnoxious. Make that noxious. Athletic Boosters are a whole different can of worms, yet with many similarities.

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Football Boosters
Posted by: A Dark Hole. ()
Date: March 06, 2015 09:37AM

I would have told them to shove it.

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Vendini Situation
Posted by: senza sord--- ()
Date: March 06, 2015 10:25AM

Communications from Dr. Lockard (Deputy Superintendent) to a stakeholder-

"First of all I appreciate the time and effort you have spent advocating for the public and your effort in improving the financial management practices of the FCPS music program. It is FCPS’ continued desire to ensure that all Virginia Freedom of Information Act (VFOIA) requests are responded to in a timely manner and transparent manner, and I recognize that there are issues that still need to be, and are being, addressed.

We acknowledge that your VFOIA request regarding Chantilly High School Vendini payments was not adequately responded to. Staff are working to ensure that the information that you have requested is provided to you. To that end, FCPS is taking the following actions:



1. Request copies of bank and financial statements from the Chantilly High School Music Booster Organization for the Vendini payments:

2. Determine what revenue received by Boosters through Vendini has been recorded in FCPS local school activity accounts

3. Contact Vendini Corporate Systems to obtain a list of schools using this service

4. Assess and work with schools to ensure compliance with revised regulations

5. Monitor revenue collections from FCPS sponsored events and ensure it is deposited directly in Local School Activity Accounts"



The situation was that it was put out via the school website that Chantilly High School uses Vendini to collect payments for student performances with an admission fee. The school regulations firmly and clearly say this money is supposed to be run through a school account. That makes the money and all records associated with it public information.

Come to find out the money wasn't going to Chantilly High School. The money was going to a private parent non-profit bank account. To the tune of well over $200,000 over three years. There was a heated debate in obtaining bank records regarding these funds. This situation has been corrected. Booster bank records were obtained. Uh, yeh.

There are other ticketing systems besides Vendini being used....all this money is supposed to go through the school accounts. This should also apply to Drama. You don't like it, take it up with your School Board member or the school administration.

Thank you, Dr. Lockard.

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Re: FCPS High School Music Classes 2014-15
Posted by: Locked does not care ()
Date: March 06, 2015 02:27PM

Lockard has the same attitude when it comes to Boosterthon. He thinks it is great, does not care about all of the fiscal abuses.

Hopefully in November all of the school board will be thrown out of office. The new school board can get a superintendent who is honest and progressive. I sure do hope Garza is renting as she will be headed back to Texas soon.

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Re: FCPS High School Music Classes 2014-15
Posted by: tobeprecise ()
Date: March 06, 2015 03:05PM

To be honest, virtually no one cares one way or the other. Some enjoy watching the train wreck but in reality it's trivia.

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Re: FCPS High School Music Classes 2014-15
Posted by: senza sord------- ()
Date: March 06, 2015 03:14PM

Have fun with Phase II.
The School Board stipulates that public funds are not be used to fund Booster clubs and PTA's. "No gifts or loans to Booster clubs." Admission fees are public funds.

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Re: FCPS High School Music Classes 2014-15
Posted by: The Word ()
Date: March 06, 2015 10:01PM

No loans or donations out of school activity funds to Booster clubs. Public funds are not to be used to fill up Booster bank accounts.



IX. LOANS, GIFTS, AND DONATIONS
*>>>A. Loans – loans to individuals or groups such as PTA's and booster clubs are prohibited.
B. Gifts and Bequests – gifts should not be solicited or accepted without the approval and
discretion of the principal. Gifts of equipment placed in a school facility will become the
property of FCPS and is subject to transfer or redistribution as needed.
1. Cash Gifts – cash gifts may be accepted for purposes specific to the approved use of
school funds. Such gifts must have a designated purpose in writing.
2. Memorial Gifts or Bequests – memorial gifts may be accepted with a designated
purpose specified in writing. If no specific purpose is identified in writing by the
donor, the principal will determine the use that will benefit the student body the most.
C. Donations and Contributions – principals have the discretion to permit charity fundraisers
on an exception basis, with advanced approval from Risk Management and the
appropriate region assistant superintendent.
*>>>>>1. Prohibit the use of school activity funds for donations to any organization, even if the
purpose is intended to benefit the school.
2. Avoid any situation that may be construed as an attempt to avoid FCPS policies or
regulations.

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Re: FCPS High School Music Classes 2014-15
Posted by: @! ()
Date: March 08, 2015 04:18PM

@!

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Re: FCPS High School Music Classes 2014-15
Posted by: Tax Payer1 ()
Date: March 08, 2015 04:36PM

If you are eligible for free or reduced meals at school, Fairfax County will
help pay for your marching fee.

that means we pay for it but anyways ow much did u have to pay to Brandy for this?

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Re: FCPS High School Music Classes 2014-15
Posted by: staccato ()
Date: March 09, 2015 09:03AM

Every single deposit on here is like the school system writing a check out of public funds and making a donation to the Booster club. And there are probably other sources. There was a total of about $225,000 on three tax returns for admission fees. All student performances are school-sponsored. All the money collected for admission is public funds/school activity funds.

This is like the Athletic Boosters taking all the gate receipts at the football games and putting them straight into their bank account.

>>>>>The school system is not allowed to make donations to Booster clubs. The school system is not allowed to fund Booster clubs using public funds.<<<<<
Attachments:
Vendini_General Ledger - CHBoosters.pdf

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West Potomac High School Band
Posted by: banking 101 ()
Date: March 10, 2015 12:46PM

Regarding the checks made out to "West Potomac High School Band" and deposited into an account assigned to West Potomac High School Band Patron Organization-
>How were these checks endorsed? The front is supposed to match the back which is supposed to match the name on the account.
>This isn't any different than taking checks made out to West Potomac High School and endorsing them and putting them in the Booster bank account.

###This is check/banking fraud.

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how to endorse a check
Posted by: checkmate~ ()
Date: March 10, 2015 03:00PM


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Re: how to endorse a check
Posted by: senza sord-Langley ()
Date: March 12, 2015 07:10AM

We are going to look at a few trips. Let's start with Langley.

This subject has been brought up before. Why in the world would anybody pay over $1000 to chaperone a school trip? Why are you paying to volunteer? Volunteers are part of the trip. Just like the hotel, the bus, the teacher, etc. They are a requirement of FCPS. You are helping out FCPS. You are helping out the other parents. You are protecting their children for them. The cost of the chaperones can be rolled into the student cost. It isn't like this is a vacation for the volunteers. You are working 16-24 hours a day.

This is like babysitting someone's children and YOU paying THEM for the privilege of babysitting their kids.

I don't get it.
Attachments:
Langley Chorus 2015 Spring Trip_Redacted.pdf

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Re: how to endorse a check
Posted by: senza sord-Langley ()
Date: March 12, 2015 07:51AM

Another Langley trip. The Orchestra.

This form refers to "LOS Orchestras". LOS=Langley Orchestra Society. Just WHO do you think you are? These orchestras are NOT part of the Langley Orchestra Society, they are NOT sponsored by the Langley Orchestra Society, you have NO right to call them "LOS Orchestras". These orchestras are part of the school system. Let's set this straight right now, once and for all.

Again, we have parents paying almost $1500 to help out the school system. Paying to volunteer. For all of two nights in New York.

It looks like the money is running through the LOS. That is how the checks are specified to be made out. This is an incredibly bad idea and needs to stop. Nothing personal, but those are public funds. Everything about the transactions is public record. You signed school forms. You have the right to see all contracts, receipts, spreadsheets, accounting data, etc. You obtain this information via the school system. The officers have to turn over any requested records to the school system. You also have the right to meet with a school official and discuss the records and financial management of this trip.

You have the right to buy this trip at cost. If there is any money left over you need to be offered that back. They do not have the right to scoop anything left over and put it in their General Fund. The people who travel do not have to pay for people to go on the trip who need financial help. If they are going to help somebody out the money has to come from somewhere else. And there isn't one price for people who fundraise and another price for people who don't.

It's a little late, but I would be asking some major questions about the LOS insurance policies. Again, nothing personal. Ask to see the policies. Will they show them to you? Does the policy cover the officers for handling public funds/an agreement with a school system? They have an agreement with the school system if they are handling the money for them. What are the limits of the money coverage? Have they been doing what is required to keep up the policy like double-signed bank statements and audits or reviews? My old group wasn't doing audits or reviews (in spite of being in the Bylaws and the parents being told it was a requirement and part of their process), which probably negated the policy, which meant all the money we gave them over the years was probably totally uninsured. Every insurance company I talked to required audits or reviews. We turned over millions of dollars to them. And we were probably not insured, in spite of paying the premiums. I started with my old group in 2001 and figured all this out 7-10 years later. You have the right to have your money heavily and completely insured.

I learned the hard way. Pay attention.
Attachments:
Langley Orchestra Spring Trip2015.pdf

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Re: how to endorse a check
Posted by: senza sord-WHS Chorus ()
Date: March 12, 2015 07:58AM

Westfield Chorus.
Again, the trip money is running through the Boosters. Don't do this. This needs to stop.
Chaperones are paying for the privilege of working 16-24 hours a day.
All of the Langley comments apply here, too.
Attachments:
WHS Disney 2015.pdf

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Re: how to endorse a check
Posted by: senza sord-AHS ()
Date: March 12, 2015 08:13AM

Annandale Orchestra.
The money is running through the school. Thank goodness for that.
No refunds after 1/31 or something to that effect. You always need to get the terms straight on what is refundable. There are different types of expenses, some of which can be refunded, some of which can't. It also depends on the timing. So, if you have an unexpected problem, talk it over with the school administrators. They can also bring in the Business Office to take a look at the situation. Don't take "No Refunds" without asking some major questions and asking for proof. But, don't go casually signing your child up for a big expensive trip and then backing out, either. And don't casually sign your child up for a big expensive trip that you can't even begin to afford and expect somebody else to pay for it and throw a temper tantrum when they don't.

The issue of the trip being optional and not affecting your child's grade is nicely and clearly presented. That is another good point. All these big expensive trips are optional. Completely optional. There might be a very rare exception if you are in a small specialty group and this was made clear with a signed agreement right up front.
Attachments:
AHSBoston Trip Packet Spring 2015 Orchestra.pdf

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Re: how to endorse a check
Posted by: Jeeves ()
Date: March 12, 2015 04:13PM

The Langley entourage travels to New York in limos.

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Re: FCPS High School Music Classes 2014-15
Posted by: mixedup ()
Date: March 12, 2015 04:35PM

You are one for constantly sending mixed signals. From the start you have railed against how parents are being gouged, but also from the start you have encouraged increasing the costs on parents.

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Re: FCPS High School Music Classes 2014-15
Posted by: Senza sord- ()
Date: March 12, 2015 06:23PM

mixedup Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> You are one for constantly sending mixed signals.
> From the start you have railed against how parents
> are being gouged, but also from the start you have
> encouraged increasing the costs on parents.


My personal feelings on the chaperone issue are very strong and clear that chaperones are doing the school system and the non-traveling parents a favor. I think anybody who pays to chaperone a school field trip is maybe long on money and short on common sense and is being taken advantage of. I also think this leads to only people who can afford to do this doing all the chaperoning. This puts a huge burden on them.

I don't think I am sending mixed signals at all. I think people should pay for what they use. I think Booster clubs need to quit taking it upon themselves to finance replacing uniforms. A carefully calculated rental fee should take that right off their list. I think Boosters should quit being used to finance frm kids. That is what the Equal Opportunity Fund is for. I think people should pay a full fee for consumables, meals, etc. instead of the schools expecting Boosters to somehow come up with a bunch of money. I think more and more things should be rolled into the fees for courses and trips as allowed by the VAC instead of relying on "donations". That is sloppy. I think the days of treating Booster clubs like they are piggy banks that have magical unlimited funds should be over. Right now. I think Booster clubs should get out of the business of financing college educations for a select few and use the money they are able to raise only on the high school program needs. College is not your problem.

I also think the school system should quit buying meals, pizza, offsite admins, refreshments, parties, etc. for the staff and use the available money to pay for more Finance Tech support so they can quit relying on volunteers to do their work. I think there are still some very confused parents out there who think these are their programs and their problems and are being take advantage of and some are overstepping their limits. I think there are some staff and parents who need to start doing what they are told and quit telling parents to pay money to Booster clubs that they don't have to pay and taking advantage of their ignorance.

I don't think I am the mixed up one.

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Re: FCPS High School Music Classes 2014-15
Posted by: fortissimo ()
Date: April 21, 2015 02:21PM

Here is some fodder for all the lawyers and everybody else out there who think Booster club and school personnel rights take precedence over the rights of mere citizens. Here are three opinions from the FOIA Council on public records created by outside parties that are not subject to FOIA. These opinions are very closely watched and used for analyzing FOIA issues by a lot of people.

The first is dated March 13,2013. It was obtained while in the heat of battle over obtaining some FCPS school trip records. The principal offered trips on school forms, let the Booster group process the money, and then the school system tried to walk away from their responsibilities to produce records. Aside from the comments that records had been received from the school system (they were actually obtained directly from a Booster club after a very mysterious intervention by the school legal team) and the comments about there not being any FOIA problems, it points out quite nicely the issues of Booster clubs needing to cough up public records upon request. Mainly because they are working as an agent of the school system, who is the custodian of the records, even if not in physical possession of them. The principals retain responsibility for anything they delegate to a Booster club. The regulations call for school activity funds to be accounted for by the school system. I think Ms. Everett conveniently/politely missed the part about how it took a year and a half to get the records out of the Booster club and that they should have come from the school system not the Booster club but FCPS was trying to dodge their responsibilities.

I will add the Booster lawyer who mailed these records pointed out that these were really corporate records and could only be shown to certain people or he and the Booster club would do nasty things to the requester of the records. Right.

The other two nicely point out the responsibilities of non-public bodies who have public records in their possession, and how the funding of the entity determines if it is a public body, and how some records held by the non-public body are public records subject to FOIA and some are not.
Attachments:
opinionsX3.pdf

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Re: FCPS High School Music Classes 2014-15
Posted by: staccato ()
Date: April 21, 2015 03:11PM

Now we are going to talk about "what is a public record". Here are excerpts from a Library of Virginia Guide. The Library of Virginia is a lot more than a library. They are tasked with the preservation of all public records, the instructions of exactly how to do it, etc.

>A public record is anything documenting a transaction or activity by or with any...employee of state government or a political subdivision.

>A public record is also anything that is required to be submitted to a public agency.

So, even if these records are with a non-public entity, if they fit this description, they are public records, and those records are the responsibility of the custodian.

Here are four situations that are being hotly debated right now. Let's take a vote.

1. An FCPS teacher demanded money from students because they were going to take her class. The money was labeled an FCPS fee. It was for a specific school-sponsored activity. The teacher directed the money to go into a Booster bank account. Are the receipts supporting the collected money public record or not? How about if some of the receipts are with the Booster club? Is the school system the custodian of the records and obligated to provide them even though they are not produced by or in the possession of the school system?

2. An FCPS teacher demanded money from students because they were going to take her class. It was NOT labeled an FCPS fee. It WAS for the support of a public school class. This was the action of an employee of a political subdivision. The school regulations also call for any money involving students, personnel, and school activities (which a class is) to be the responsibility of the principal. They are school activity funds. Are the receipts supporting the usage of the money collected public record or not? How about if some of the receipts are with the Booster club? Is the school system the custodian of the records and obligated to provide them upon request even though they have not produced them or currently have them in their possession?

3. A parent group put out a bill that had the FCPS fee on it, as well as a "Booster payment" directed at every student. The principal was responsible for the communication of FCPS fees, so they either delegated this to the Boosters or allowed this to happen somehow. These were on the very same page. The Booster president told the parents to make out the checks for the Booster payment to the school program, NOT the Booster club. They then put those checks into an account that had the name of the Booster club on it (according to documents received from the school system). The teacher is listed on their tax return as a key player and also listed as a member of the Board on parental communications. This would indicate they have some involvement with the money usage in their official capacity as a public school teacher. The money collected was from students who signed up for a class, so you have the critical words student and school activity there. Are the receipts supporting the usage of the funds public record or not?

4. A teacher is supposed to have a budget sheet in their files for every Booster club at their school. It is right in the school regulations. The word "must" is used. This is something that is "required to be submitted". Important words there. The school apparently does not have the record, but they sure know where to get it, because these very people are processing public funds for the principal. Is the school system saying they only have to provide what they have produced or have in their possession correct, or should the principal contact the Booster club and get the record that he is mandated to have in his possession?

What do YOU think? I know what I think.

This is why you need to pay attention to what you are told to do.
Attachments:
whatisapublicrecord.pdf

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Re: FCPS High School Music Classes 2014-15
Posted by: OldGuy ()
Date: April 21, 2015 04:09PM

I am simply amazed at the sheer volume of information and documentation that you have accumulated and the time you have spent posting this.

I had no idea!

I was a professional musician for a number of years and hated high school band, it did nothing to advance my musical career.

The astonishing amounts of money involved here blows me away.

Thanks for your efforts and time.

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Re: FCPS High School Music Classes 2014-15
Posted by: senza sord... ()
Date: April 21, 2015 04:32PM

OldGuy Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I am simply amazed at the sheer volume of
> information and documentation that you have
> accumulated and the time you have spent posting
> this.
>
> I had no idea!
>
> I was a professional musician for a number of
> years and hated high school band, it did nothing
> to advance my musical career.
>
> The astonishing amounts of money involved here
> blows me away.


>
> Thanks for your efforts and time.

Oh these are wonderful programs and fantastic training and experiences. Music kids are terrific. I think most of the professional musicians I know got their start in high school.

However, that does not give teachers and some parents the right to take advantage of other parents and the children. This is public education, NOT their little dreamland. They have rights. It is time to clean this up. This has gone on long enough.

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Re: FCPS High School Music Classes 2014-15
Posted by: staccato ()
Date: April 21, 2015 04:41PM

>> >
> 4. A teacher is supposed to have a budget sheet in
> their files for every Booster club at their
> school. >
>
Dang it. A PRINCIPAL is supposed to have a budget sheet in their files. I'm tired.

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Re: FCPS High School Music Classes 2014-15
Posted by: fortissimo ()
Date: April 21, 2015 05:28PM

http://foiacouncil.dls.virginia.gov/ops/03/AO_19_03.htm

Here's another one. A public body can't delegate it away and forget about it.

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Re: FCPS High School Music Classes 2014-15
Posted by: TrueTheVote ()
Date: April 22, 2015 09:00AM

I vote yes on all 4.
1. It is labeled as an FCPS fee. Yep.
2. Employee, students, school activity. Yep.
3. With the teacher on the tax return and listed as on the Board, and the money being taken from students for a school activity, yep.
4. Yep.

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Re: FCPS High School Music Classes 2014-15
Posted by: I second the motion ()
Date: April 22, 2015 04:43PM

TrueTheVote Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I vote yes on all 4.
> 1. It is labeled as an FCPS fee. Yep.
> 2. Employee, students, school activity. Yep.
> 3. With the teacher on the tax return and listed
> as on the Board, and the money being taken from
> students for a school activity, yep.
> 4. Yep.


Agreed.

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Re: FCPS High School Music Classes 2014-15
Posted by: 58863179 ()
Date: April 22, 2015 06:17PM

So what exactly is in those receipts that somebody doesn't want leaked? How hard is it to get a piece of paper? Something isn't kosher.

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Re: FCPS High School Music Classes 2014-15
Posted by: OldGuy ()
Date: April 23, 2015 07:41AM

SenzaSord, all of the professional musicians I know and knew got their start way before high school band and all had private teachers, and all practiced individually 2 to 4 hours every day for years. YOu don't become a professional musician from participating in high school band.

Still I think the information that you have accumulated and the issues you've discovered deserves major kudos.

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Re: FCPS High School Music Classes 2014-15
Posted by: senza sord.... ()
Date: April 23, 2015 08:16AM

OldGuy Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> SenzaSord, all of the professional musicians I
> know and knew got their start way before high
> school band and all had private teachers, and all
> practiced individually 2 to 4 hours every day for
> years. YOu don't become a professional musician
> from participating in high school band.
>
> Still I think the information that you have
> accumulated and the issues you've discovered
> deserves major kudos.

Well, you are entitled to your opinion. I think it is all part of the experiences and training. You move from Junior Symphony to Youth Symphony to college and onward. You start out in Children's Choir, advance to Concert Choir and Madrigals and Show Choir, and get more training in college.

And thank you. All I did was read the school regulations and the state educational laws and start asking questions and asserting my rights as a citizen. And flatly refuse to give up my rights under any circumstances. To say it has been ugly would be an understatement.

This whole situation got entirely out of control over the years. If the PTA sent every child a bill with a due date for $100 and told the parents to pay up, or the teachers sent out material with their name on it telling families to do this, the school system would be all over them. This is absolutely no different. I don't want to hear any more crying. Things just need to be structured properly and the school fees need to be assessed and collected. Some schools are not doing this, and then everybody is totally in a lather with fundraising, selling stuff, and pushing parents around. Collect the fees, run them through public accounts with public records, and use donations for the extras. The state educational laws support this. They don't support what has been going on over the years. There always was a Fee Notice, it just was not updated and implemented. There always was a Trip Financing regulation. It said the money had to be run through school accounts and the principal was responsible for the trip. That includes the money. The 5810 has always said any money involving students, personnel, property, and school activities is the responsibility of the principal. Fundraising in public school has always been optional. Can't people read?

What were people thinking? Why is this so difficult? Why has this taken over FOUR YEARS to straighten out? Those regulations and educational laws were put into place to protect families from people who are totally out of control and make sure that the public's right to access the records pertaining to their money is protected. They were also developed to ensure that the programs are consistently funded in a manner appropriate for public education.

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Re: FCPS High School Music Classes 2014-15
Posted by: senza sord... ()
Date: April 23, 2015 08:33AM

Oh gosh, I almost forgot. I am stupid.

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Re: FCPS High School Music Classes 2014-15
Posted by: semi al fine ()
Date: May 04, 2015 09:13AM

Parents-is anybody rattling your cage right about now because you didn't pay your (in)voluntary commitment payment to a Booster club that "didn't exist" according to FCPS, your $160 Booster payment, your $140 Booster payment that will cause the entire community to be upset and disappointed if you don't pay it so it is a "necessity" and kind of maybe semi-required, you didn't sell enough pie so you need to pay extra you slacker, you didn't volunteer so you owe the Booster club $50, you didn't pay your $500 "or the world as we have know it will end" Booster semi-donation, "your fair share of our budget", etc.? Are they threatening to turn you into the school and your kid will be put on the fines list? Is anybody telling you your kid won't walk at graduation if you don't pay your Booster bill? Is anybody cornering you in the Orchestra room? Putting the screws on you in the Chorus closet? Is a Band Mom being nasty to your kid (I know how THAT goes)? Is anybody making fun of your kid in front of the other children about this? Are they sending you nasty e-mails showing you that your Booster account is seriously in the red because you didn't make a $100 Booster payment and the school year is ending and how dare you? Are they threatening collections?

Guess what? YOU DON'T HAVE TO PAY ANY OF THESE AND NEVER DID. Unless membership in the Booster club was optional. If you don't want to pay up, DON'T! And if an FCPS teacher or principal is telling you that you have to pay up, ignore them. If staff is getting ugly, REPORT THEM.

There's nothing anybody can do to you. The only fees that can be put on the student fines list are those labeled FCPS fees for approved consumables, uniform and instrument rental, etc. that run through the school system. Of course, there was that one (were there more?) interesting FCPS-labeled fee for an FCPS-sponsored activity presented on an FCPS template by a Booster club that even SIGNED THE FRIGGING MOA that the Booster club scooped into THEIR bank account and now nobody wants to talk about it....Perhaps it has something to do with inappropriate diversion of public funds or contract violation or is a "personnel issue" since the teacher's name was listed as the contact person for that interesting arrangement.... Now, if you bought a pair of shoes or a dress from a Booster club you have to pay that, but the school can't do anything to you. That was a purchase from a private organization. Uniform rental should be running through the school because that is public property, just like the instruments. If it isn't billed out as an FCPS fee, you don't have to pay it. Band, Chorus, Orchestra, and yes, Guitar.

Of course, if you are one of the pathetic people who signed your kid up for $1000 school trip, your principal made the ridiculous decision to run the money through a Booster club, and you haven't paid, that is a whole different story. You technically owe the Booster club but kind of really owe the school system but maybe really kind of not. And if somebody let your kid on the bus or plane without paying first, that is their own darn fault.

And they can't withhold your child's diploma for any of this, even the FCPS stuff. Pay what you have to and ignore the rest if you want.

Have fun with the bills!

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Re: FCPS High School Music Classes 2014-15
Posted by: warning. ()
Date: May 04, 2015 02:33PM


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Re: FCPS High School Music Classes 2014-15
Posted by: RfgTfR ()
Date: May 05, 2015 08:53AM

How come the money for the FCPS fee went into a Booster account? That was supposed to go to a school account. We signed the MOA & had to do that.

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Re: FCPS High School Music Classes 2014-15
Posted by: daring to be different ()
Date: May 07, 2015 06:50PM

RfgTfR Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> How come the money for the FCPS fee went into a
> Booster account? That was supposed to go to a
> school account. We signed the MOA & had to do
> that.


Herndon decided to write their own rules. To heck with the MOA-we are doing it OUR way.
This tied with the parent group that had the parents write checks to the school system and then put them into their own bank account.

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Re: FCPS High School Music Classes 2014-15
Posted by: B sharp ()
Date: May 09, 2015 10:57AM

Herndon Band parents did indeed agree to the MOA. The MOA clearly says all FCPS fees are supposed to be deposited into an FCPS bank account. The president signed the contract agreeing to do that. Would somebody like to step up and explain why FCPS fees were deposited into a Booster bank account? The teacher was listed as the contact person for payment issues. The information I was presented with showed that the $140 checks for pre-season, an FCPS-sponsored activity as presented on the FCPS template, were to be made out to the parent group. Which means they had to go into a parent group bank account. And now certain people don't want to show what was done with the money collected for an FCPS activity by a group that had a contract with the school system to do exactly that.

Let's hear it!!!!!!!!!!
Attachments:
Herndon MOA_Redacted.pdf
Herndon Band 2014_15.pdf

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Re: FCPS High School Music Classes 2014-15
Posted by: B sharp ()
Date: May 09, 2015 11:08AM

Regarding Herndon Band mystery money------>


Let's drop some major names on this. Dr. Lockard (Deputy Super) and John Foster (Division Counsel) don't want to talk about what went on with this. And Jane Strauss and Tamara Derenak Kaufax are in on this, also. Fully aware.

What exactly was the problem with the MOA? Parents, just exactly what happened with your FCPS labeled fee that you paid that got siphoned into a Booster bank account?

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Re: FCPS High School Music Classes 2014-15
Posted by: B sharp ()
Date: May 09, 2015 11:17AM

Herndon--

Would Ms. Jacoby, Mr. Bates, or Adrian Morgan care to explain how these FCPS funds ended up in a Booster bank account and nobody wants to talk about what happened?

Parents, what did they do to you?

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Re: FCPS High School Music Classes 2014-15
Posted by: B sharp ()
Date: May 10, 2015 09:06AM

Oh, and Dr. Garza also doesn't want to talk about it. Add her to the list.

Now we are going to have a chat about Centreville Band.

On the information I was sent (that had to be clarified by the way as I figured out I was sent the wrong information initially) Melissa Hall, Band Director, ordered the students to give $160 to the Booster club in order to take her class this year. Don't deny it, ma'am, your name was on the form as the contact. The Boosters are her friends and they like Band. That is the extent of their powers within the school system. It was made very clear that any money given to a Band Booster club had to be marked as optional. Everybody else got it. That was in the FAQ's and the Guidelines. This was not marked as optional on the material I was presented with. There was a due date and this whole thing looked really firm. Take a look and see what you think.

So, a county employee demanded a user fee for a county-sponsored activity that they are in total control of and ordered it to be given to her friends. Seriously. You can't make this stuff up.

And now Dr. Garza, Dr. Lockard, Mr. Foster, Ms. Kaufax, and Elizabeth Schultz don't want to talk about what happened, when state law and school regulations require that they are supposed to.

This is like going to a county Rec Center and having the manager tell you to make out your $160 check for a pass to the Boy Scout troop his son is in. Because they like the Rec Center and they are friends of his. And issuing you your pass, only it might not be for full value, but you won't know for sure, because the county officials who run the Rec Center won't tell you what your pass is worth, because they are also friends with the Boy Scouts and for some mysterious reason they like the money being handled in secrecy.

NOW do you understand the problem?

Don't write checks to Booster Clubs in order for your child to take a class or participate in a school-sponsored activity. If they are starting to do it again for next year, DON'T DO IT. Parents, you have the right to ask for a refund on this.

Happy Mother's Day.
Attachments:
centreville2014 Marching Band Packet.docx

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Re: FCPS High School Music Classes 2014-15
Posted by: B sharp ()
Date: May 10, 2015 04:35PM

Now let's have more fun with the West Potomac Band situation.

Remember, this was the group that told the parents that in addition to the FCPS fee for Marching Band, there was a $140 Booster payment for Marching Band. "Due now." Oh my. Look at the payment list. Looks like some families had two and three kids they paid this on. The checks were made out to the school system but were deposited into a Booster bank account. Incredible but true.

Don't forget, there wasn't supposed to BE any such animal. All Booster payments for anything were supposed to be optional. Only the school system is allowed to charge for school-sponsored activities like Marching Band. Sounds like they took it upon themselves to up and charge the parents a great big pseudo-fee for a school-sponsored activity. Hmmmm..........

Guess what- according to the Bylaws which just arrived, the Band teacher is on the Board and the Budget committee (you know, the people who plan this kind of crazy stuff), and to top it off, HAS THE RIGHT TO APPROVE DISBURSEMENT OF FUNDS THAT ARE NOT ON THE BUDGET AND EXPENSES THAT EXCEED THE BUDGETED AMOUNT. Just like the President. Believe or not, it's true. Read the Bylaws if you don't believe me.

So........ you have a school employee making independent decisions to spend money collected from his students by his friends, planned for by a committee he sits on, discussed by a Board he sits on, for a public activity under his control, and held in a private bank account. And Dr. Garza, Dr. Lockard, Mr. Foster, Ms. Kaufax, and Mr. Storck don't want to talk about what this was for. All funds associated with school-sponsored activities, students, and staff are public record because they are the responsibility of the principal. No matter where they are.

Parents, you have the right to ask for a refund on this payment. That's a tidy chunk of change.

DON'T MAKE ANY PAYMENTS TO BOOSTER CLUBS FOR CLASSES OR SCHOOL-SPONSORED ACTIVITIES. THAT INCLUDES SUMMER PRE-SEASON CAMP.
Attachments:
West Potomac BPO bylaws.pdf
WPHS Band Booster payments FY 2015_Redacted.pdf
WPHSBandfees2014-15.pdf

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Re: FCPS High School Music Classes 2014-15
Posted by: segue ()
Date: May 11, 2015 04:24PM

Here are advance plans for 2015-16.
Sample templates, etc.
My favorite parts are how all communications from Boosters or volunteers, including websites, have to be approved by staff. No going rogue. I know all about that.

I like the parts about clarifying who is asking for what. Boosters or school system. Remember, Boosters, these aren't your programs, trips, equipment, uniforms, etc. You are volunteers who just wanted their own bank accounts and didn't want to pay taxes so you formed a non-profit. Thank you for your dedication, but you don't work for the school system. Anything you to do to parents and students is ultimately their responsibility. Don't ever forget that.

All fundraising is optional, including Tag Day. Check.

Hopefully people will pay attention instead of changing the templates to do whatever they want like some people did this year. You had a lot of nerve.

I have already told them they need to define co-sponsorship because near as I can tell it is a figment of somebody's imagination. The fundraising processes need to be ironed out.

It's a start. We'll see about this.
Attachments:
Music Program Instructions (2)2015-16.pdf

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Re: FCPS High School Music Classes 2014-15
Posted by: but...... ()
Date: May 12, 2015 07:51AM

My favorite parts are how all communications from Boosters or volunteers, including websites, have to be approved by staff. No going rogue. I know all about that.
///////////////////////////

Problem is, a lot of the staff seem to be too emotionally involved to make impartial decisions that comply with school policy. If it involves getting money for their program, and possibly managing it off the radar, forge ahead. "Voluntary commitment payments" with a due date requested by and turned in to the teacher in order to reserve your child's spot in an activity (Marshall) that apparently didn't really exist (right) which means you are owed a refund if you kinda sorta paid this "imaginary" bill that your teacher sent you but maybe didn't, FCPS labeled payments going into a Booster bank account in defiance of the MOA (Herndon), checks being written to the school and deposited into a Booster bank account (West Potomac and others), optional payments that are called a "necessity" and rammed down the throats of families tied in with an activity and having a due date going to a Booster club at the request of the teacher (Woodson), "contributions/donations/whatever" for school-sponsored activities (TJ and others), "we need this $500 'donation' to heck with quid pro quo paid ASAP or the world as we have known it will end" (Madison), etc.

You name it, they have tried it.

Games, games, games. Come on, people. Your names were on the forms and this stuff went out to your parents in your syllabi and registration packets.

Parents, you have been told in no uncertain terms what your rights are. Don't make any payments to Booster clubs for your child's classes or school-sponsored activities, even if staff tell you to. There is no reason to do that. If you want to donate, wonderful.

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Re: FCPS High School Music Classes 2014-15
Posted by: Thanks to you.... ()
Date: May 12, 2015 03:13PM

Thanks to you this policy was created. Is it fair? It is not. IT IS CALLED SOCIALISM. If someone does not participate why should they get the same as someone who chooses not participate.

Here are some questions/ideas you should ask yourself?
1. Who do you think you are?
2. What have boosters organizations ever done to you?
3. You are preventing kids from going on trips because they are not allowed to personally fund raise.
4. Why do you care?
5. Maybe you should get a life.
6. Maybe you should get a job.

Boosters have done this for years so why do you think you can do this?
BOOSTERS HELP MANY KIDS SO STOP DOING THIS AND GET A LIFE.
Attachments:
Capture.PNG

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Re: FCPS High School Music Classes 2014-15
Posted by: doloroso ()
Date: May 12, 2015 04:20PM

IFA's are between you, the school system, and the IRS. I stayed out of those. May I suggest your child do some babysitting or lifeguarding. Boosters chose to be non-profits and if you don't like the IRS rules for non-profits call them up and talk to them about them. No personal gain in a non-profit. That is why it is called a non-profit. Personal gain is called getting a job.

I am going to write a book on what Booster clubs did to me and to thousands of students and their families.
I have a life. I have a job.

I did not write the state educational laws or school regulations. Take it up with your state legislator or school board member. Those exist to protect families with children in public school from being taken advantage of by people who don't know where to stop. As in, Booster clubs and teachers that are out of control. And there are plenty of those.
Running public funds through public accounts and county owned computer systems also assures the right to access all information on your money and protects your privacy rights. My rights to access public records on my money were blatantly denied by the school system. Many times. That is a really, really bad idea. That is called potential huge lawsuits for the county. Turned out my old group was skimming cash off of our trips and did not want to talk about it. When you don't have easy access to records that is what happens. They did not want to release records. Really bad idea. More big potential lawsuits.

Public and educational records are not supposed to be stored in attics, garages, and basements all over the county and on whoever's computer. They are supposed to be readily available. It's THE LAW. You don't like it, contact your state legislator.

Any money in a Booster bank account is at tremendous risk as the insurance coverage is often questionable. My old group was probably not insured for years as they never did any reviews or audits. Not what I wanted to hear when I was writing them checks for almost $2,000 a year.

Adjust.

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Re: FCPS High School Music Classes 2014-15
Posted by: doloroso ()
Date: May 12, 2015 05:01PM

I will also add, who do some of you think YOU are? Get a life.

Read the directions. Follow them. It's the law. Not following laws is a really, really bad idea.

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Re: FCPS High School Music Classes 2014-15
Posted by: senza sord.. ()
Date: May 13, 2015 08:40AM

I will also add that there have been numerous school staff members who have taken a lot of pride in their complete lack of understanding about what their responsibilities are under the public records laws, the school regulations, and the state educational laws. There still are.

Want me to name some names?????? I would be happy to. It is like the Who's Who of FCPS. School Board, administrators at Gatehouse and the school level, several teachers..... To one particular principal out there, when I signed contracts with you for trips totaling thousands of dollars, I expected that you would take your job seriously instead of treating the whole nasty situation like a joke, turning your back on me, and making fun of me. And then taking money I gave you to take care of our school and the children and going to fancy restaurants and buying tricked out hotel rooms, etc. You should be ashamed of yourself. That was a really bad idea. Because, you see, I read. I investigated. I researched. I asked questions. I demanded answers. I did your jobs for you many times. And I refused to give up the rights that all of you were so intent on taking away from me and thousands of families and I still do. Somebody has to watch out for these people and that apparently is me, because many of you are obviously unreliable. I do not apologize for that and I am a force to be reckoned with.

Get to work. Clean it up. Take care of these families.

Parents, do NOT make any payments to Booster clubs for your child's classes or school activities, no matter what creative terms they come up with or how much they bully you around. The Band stuff is already coming out for next year. Pull those public records. Ask questions. Demand answers. If you aren't sure, post the situation here for open discussion. Don't just lie there and passively put up with something you think is not right. You owe it to your children to make sure things are done correctly. And you don't have to sell pie to the entire neighborhood in order for your child to take a music class.

I wrote about $20,000+ of checks one year to my old parent group to help them raise funds. If I had known they probably were not insured due to their ignoring their Bylaws and not doing the audits or reviews I was led to believe they were doing I would have done things differently. These people also removed the transparency clause from the Bylaws. The clause that assured each and every parent the right to see the details on money they turned in to the group. That speaks volumes right there. Live and learn.

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Re: FCPS High School Music Classes 2014-15
Posted by: A needed change ()
Date: May 13, 2015 09:48AM

Complaining to the school board auditor is useless as this auditor is in the pocket of the school board.

There needs to be a proper oversight of FCPS funds. This is beginning to look like a third world country. All sorts of corrupt deals. Sole source contracts, money going to unexpected places, no response from school officials, no response from board members.

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Re: FCPS High School Music Classes 2014-15
Posted by: MASHED POTATO ()
Date: May 13, 2015 10:04AM

When Gatehouse gets a hot potato their way of dealing with it is to toss it around endlessly until it cools off.

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Re: FCPS High School Music Classes 2014-15
Posted by: senza sord.... ()
Date: May 13, 2015 11:43AM

A needed change Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Complaining to the school board auditor is useless
> as this auditor is in the pocket of the school
> board.
>
> There needs to be a proper oversight of FCPS
> funds. This is beginning to look like a third
> world country. All sorts of corrupt deals. Sole
> source contracts, money going to unexpected
> places, no response from school officials, no
> response from board members.


Then fight for yourself.

1. Find out what your rights are.
2. Get records.
3. Analyze the information.
4. Spread the word. That is big. FFU is great. In spite of the trolls and other garbage that shows up here.
5. Say NO. Be firm.
6. Follow up.

All easier said than done when you are dealing with an organization that is stuck in a heavily barricaded time warp.

But they sure can move when people threaten to take away their lunch money. Nobody cared about MY rights like that, or the rights of several thousand students taking music classes and their parents. They acted like they could have cared less. Weird type of "concern" if there was any at all. Parents and staff violating school regulations and playing with money taken from children? People demanding money that don't have the right to do so? People doing abusive things to children and parents? Problems reported and no action taken to advocate for the families? Sad. Lots of meetings and "moving forward" talk, though.

Anybody get any refunds this year? Some of those ill-disguised fees were significant.

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Re: FCPS High School Music Classes 2014-15
Posted by: this could be you! ()
Date: May 14, 2015 08:23AM

Thanks to you.... Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Thanks to you this policy was created. Is it fair?
> It is not. IT IS CALLED SOCIALISM. If someone does
> not participate why should they get the same as
> someone who chooses not participate.
>
> Here are some questions/ideas you should ask
> yourself?
> 1. Who do you think you are?
> 2. What have boosters organizations ever done to
> you?
> 3. You are preventing kids from going on trips
> because they are not allowed to personally fund
> raise.
> 4. Why do you care?
> 5. Maybe you should get a life.
> 6. Maybe you should get a job.
>
> Boosters have done this for years so why do you
> think you can do this?
> BOOSTERS HELP MANY KIDS SO STOP DOING THIS AND GET
> A LIFE.

http://www.kentucky.com/2008/08/10/485490/fund-raising-takes-a-hit.html

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Re: FCPS High School Music Classes 2014-15
Posted by: brainexploded ()
Date: May 14, 2015 08:40AM

It's stories like this that reveal just how badly the IRS and some of these laws need to be over-hauled. Perhaps a few more cases like this will bring about change in the tax law and IRS interpretation. It seems to me to be a victimless "crime."

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Re: FCPS High School Music Classes 2014-15
Posted by: contact information for you ()
Date: May 14, 2015 08:57AM

brainexploded Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It's stories like this that reveal just how badly
> the IRS and some of these laws need to be
> over-hauled. Perhaps a few more cases like this
> will bring about change in the tax law and IRS
> interpretation. It seems to me to be a victimless
> "crime."


http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-tege/booster_club_field_directive_6-27.pdf

Good luck with fighting your battle. Go ahead and call them up.

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Re: FCPS High School Music Classes 2014-15
Posted by: }}}} ()
Date: May 14, 2015 10:23AM

brainexploded Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It's stories like this that reveal just how badly
> the IRS and some of these laws need to be
> over-hauled. Perhaps a few more cases like this
> will bring about change in the tax law and IRS
> interpretation. ***It seems to me to be a victimless
> "crime."


***So are you saying that this is indeed a crime?

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Re: FCPS High School Music Classes 2014-15
Posted by: Westfield Chorus trip $ ()
Date: June 15, 2015 04:36PM

Westfield Chorus-Here is your trip. It is a mess. There is more information coming.

This is supposedly the most recent payment spreadsheet from within the last week. There are a whole bunch of people who haven't paid up yet. It is JUNE. The trip was in APRIL. People are GRADUATING. According to this, you are still missing over $5000 in payments. Even when you get those, it looks like you are short several thousand dollars.

The teacher signed this contract and the school regulations are that only the principal can commit school activity funds. They are not allowed to delegate this to staff.

So, who is liable for the missing money?

Good luck.

If I were you I would be asking some major questions right about NOW.
Attachments:
Westfield Chorus Trip_Redacted 2015.pdf

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Re: FCPS High School Music Classes 2014-15
Posted by: Westfield chorus trip ()
Date: June 15, 2015 04:41PM

Don't believe me?
The payments you made are school activity funds. They are the responsibility of the principal even if they delegate their work. Even if they delegate their work to a non-profit. That was their choice. Live and learn.

You don't have to pay for those who didn't.

Good luck.
Attachments:
r5810contractual authority.pdf

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Re: FCPS High School Music Classes 2014-15
Posted by: Westfield Chorus trip ()
Date: June 16, 2015 05:39AM

If any staff member signs a contract obligating funds that does not have the authority to do so, they can be held personally responsible for the money.

Ms. Pierce is not on The List, so unless there is something else floating around out there................
Attachments:
N5011contracting authority.pdf

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Re: FCPS High School Music Classes 2014-15
Posted by: McLean Orchestra trip ()
Date: June 16, 2015 08:10AM

McLean Orchestra (and everybody else out there pay attention)-

Don't EVER sign a school trip contract saying "no refunds" without asking a lot of questions. EVER. They aren't supposed to put it out like that unless it is absolutely true. Ask to see the contract with the travel agent and any other vendors. You have a right to see those.

You were told that once you made the deposit there weren't any refunds. That wasn't true. Look at the 35 day cancellation policy in the contract. If you were in this situation you might have been eligible for a partial to full refund depending on the timing and if you were able to transfer your trip to another student. If you have an issue with this talk to your principal. If that doesn't work, go to your Super and demand that this be evaluated by the Comptroller. It has been done before. Trust me. I know. They don't automatically get to keep all of your money if you have a change in plans and your child can't go and you appropriately notify the staff member in charge of the trip. If you did this and the staff member did not handle this properly you can still receive the refund you were entitled to. Make sure you have proof of correspondence in writing. Now, if you talked to a volunteer about this, the staff are responsible for anything they said to you, because this was a school-sponsored trip. The volunteer should have referred you to a staff member. Don't talk to volunteers about these types of issues. A staff member or volunteer talking to your student to ascertain whether they are traveling or not does not count. The contracts are between the parents and the school system. Minor children cannot contractually obligate (and even the 18 year olds do not sign the school forms unless they have legal status to do this with the school system). This has happened before. The child said YES. The parent said NO later on. The parents got a big refund. Trust me. I know. Now, if you had a bunch of money down, or paid the deposit and then disappeared, and you didn't bother to ask any questions or notify a staff member and your child did not travel, well then you are one sorry son of a gun (and so is the school staff member who didn't check with you appropriately) and you all deserve whatever happens to you. No sympathy on that.

Student fundraising credits are past history.

I don't know what the free trip for the Stellar Student is about but that is between you and the Comptroller's office.

EVERYBODY- Pull your contracts and the payment spreadsheets right now and start doing the math and asking questions. The school system has to provide them to you if you signed school forms, even if a Booster club handled the money. That is how I got these. If things don't look right the Comptroller's office can be brought in to evaluate the numbers. Trust me. I know. They have also tried to shift the expenses for students having financial difficulties to the other travelers. You don't have to pay for anybody but your child(ren). Trust me. I know. If they try to tell you the trip is closed down it is NEVER closed down. Don't believe them. Trust me. I know. There was a situation where a volunteer kept the spreadsheet and was marking down great big payments that were never made, and not crediting great big payments to people correctly, and they had to pull all the deposit slips and re-create the spreadsheet and call dozens of families to straighten it all out. And this was AFTER the trip was "shut down". Closed. Done. It ain't over until it is over.
Attachments:
McLean Orchestra trip 2015.pdf

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Re: FCPS High School Music Classes 2014-15
Posted by: KmlOjdyh ()
Date: June 17, 2015 12:11PM

Westfield Chorus trip $ Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Westfield Chorus-Here is your trip. It is a mess.
> There is more information coming.
>
> This is supposedly the most recent payment
> spreadsheet from within the last week. There are a
> whole bunch of people who haven't paid up yet. It
> is JUNE. The trip was in APRIL. People are
> GRADUATING. According to this, you are still
> missing over $5000 in payments. Even when you get
> those, it looks like you are short several
> thousand dollars.
>
> The teacher signed this contract and the school
> regulations are that only the principal can commit
> school activity funds. They are not allowed to
> delegate this to staff.
>
> So, who is liable for the missing money?
>
> Good luck.
>
> If I were you I would be asking some major
> questions right about NOW.




Why haven't these people paid? That is called stealing.

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Re: FCPS High School Music Classes 2014-15
Posted by: huh???????? ()
Date: June 19, 2015 01:14PM

Regarding the teacher signing the $55,000 travel agency contract-

Aside from buying my house, I have never signed a contract that big. Why would anybody in a non-executive position think it was appropriate to sign something like that at work? Do the principals require the teachers to do this for these trips? I don't understand this. Where I work only certain people can contract to purchase things, and I certainly am not one of them. The school system looks like they have a very obvious policy on this.

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Re: FCPS High School Music Classes 2014-15
Posted by: Westfield Chorus trip update ()
Date: June 30, 2015 09:29AM

The latest on the Westfield chorus trip. Since when does a teacher put a $2600 meal on her personal charge card for a school trip? Why should she assume that kind of liability?

This is the same teacher who signed a $57,000 contract with a travel agency that did not have the authority to sign contracts for FCPS, making her potentially personally liable for the money.


The money for the trip ran through a Booster club. If somebody had embezzled all of it, and it has happened before, how would the bills have been paid in order to fulfill the contract? Even with insurance (if they even paid up) they aren't going to pay up without a thorough investigation, which takes a lot of time. Some of these groups have not been doing what is needed to cooperate with the policy stipulations, like reviewing bank statements and doing audits and reviews. If things aren't done properly, they have every right to not approve the claim. In the meantime, the travel agent is going to want to be paid. On time. In full. The parents are going to want the trip they paid for. Or, they are going to want their money back. Was she prepared to write a check of this size out of her personal bank account?


Teachers should not have to assume this kind of personal liability for a school trip. Parents deserve the safety of a heavily insured trip account.

The regulations clearly state that only the principal can contract to commit school activity funds. This cannot be delegated. The payments for this trip and this meal were school activity funds. The school system can't insure school activity funds held in a Booster club bank account.

Don't do this.
Attachments:
Updated Westfield Chorus Trip_Redacted.pdf

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Re: FCPS High School Music Classes 2014-15
Posted by: McLean Orchestra trip addendum ()
Date: June 30, 2015 09:44AM

Here is more information that was obtained after insisting that the full FOIA request be fulfilled.

Anybody want to venture a guess as to whether this trip cleared a surplus or was in the hole?

If there was a surplus, you are entitled to a refund of your share of that.
Attachments:
Supplemental McLean Trip Info_Redacted.pdf

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Re: FCPS High School Music Classes 2014-15
Posted by: Langley Orchestra trip ()
Date: June 30, 2015 10:34AM

Sonya Williams signed the travel agency contract. This was about a $192,000+ obligation. Her job title is currently Director of Student Services at Langley High School. Unless she was the principal when she signed that contract, she did not have the authority to sign it and commit school activity funds. Which could have made her personally liable for the whole nine yards.

Principals are not allowed to delegate the signing of contracts to commit school activity funds. That is a firm written policy as noted above.

Payments for a school sponsored trip are school activity funds. This was a school sponsored trip. Running school activity funds through a Booster bank account is a really bad idea, as pointed out above. Insurance, liability, etc. Some insurance carriers do not cover officers of a Booster club for handling government funds or any agreement with a school system. Guess what????? These funds were the responsibility of the county. This whole setup was an agreement with a school system. Read your Booster insurance contracts and pay attention to the exclusions. What was the policy limit on the Booster insurance for the money? Was this group doing what was required by the insurer to have a valid policy? Does the policy even cover government funds? Are you sure?

DO NOT WRITE CHECKS TO A BOOSTER CLUB FOR A SCHOOL SPONSORED TRIP, EVEN IF SOMEBODY TELLS YOU TO.
Attachments:
Langley Trip_Redacted2015.pdf

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Re: FCPS High School Music Classes 2014-15
Posted by: senza sord.. ()
Date: June 30, 2015 10:39AM

Here it is again.
Only the principal can sign to obligate school activity funds. Payments for a school trip (or classes or any other school activity) are school activity funds.
Attachments:
r5810contractual authority.pdf
N5011contracting authority.pdf

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Re: FCPS High School Music Classes 2014-15
Posted by: VU79V ()
Date: June 30, 2015 04:59PM

Shouldn't you be going to the principal of the school instead of making an anonymous posting on a bottom-feeding website? You not making much sense if you trying to fix problem.

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Re: FCPS High School Music Classes 2014-15
Posted by: senza sord. ()
Date: June 30, 2015 05:03PM

VU79V Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Shouldn't you be going to the principal of the
> school instead of making an anonymous posting on a
> bottom-feeding website? You not making much sense
> if you trying to fix problem.


That's probably been take care of by somebody else.

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Re: FCPS High School Music Classes 2014-15
Posted by: mysterioso ()
Date: June 30, 2015 05:54PM

So, the official word on the street is that the Annandale High School Orchestra Boosters Officers apparently didn't create and present a budget sheet to their members school year 2014-15 in spite of it being required in their Bylaws and something that is typically discussed at each and every meeting and included with meeting records with a copy distributed to all members who attend the meeting and something that was required to be turned in to the school system.

The Officers were quoted by the school system as declaring that "it does not exist". It isn't on anybody's computer, in anybody's file folder or binder, etc.?!

Let's take a vote on how believable that is. Who is lying-

The school system
The boosters

If it does exist, how do the booster officers like somebody telling the world that they didn't do something they were professionally required to do? Brandy Reaves said that the school system was told "it didn't exist".

If it doesn't exist, how do the Booster officers like the whole world knowing that they don't care enough about their elected roles to present something as basic and important as a budget sheet to their members and the principal?

How do the other Annandale orchestra parents feel about this ridiculous situation being out there for the public? What kind of a parent group doesn't have a budget? What kind of a parent group has a budget sheet but lies to the school system and says they don't have one when they are required to turn one in? How do you feel about turning money over to Booster officers who either lie to the school system or can't be bothered following their Bylaws and the school regulations or can't be bothered keeping basic current records? I was in that situation once upon a time and did not like that at all, come to think of it.

Who wants to make a donation to the Annandale Orchestra Boosters? They obviously don't keep very careful records, don't follow all school regulations, don't cooperate with the principal, etc.

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Re: FCPS High School Music Classes 2014-15
Posted by: mysterioso ()
Date: June 30, 2015 07:29PM

Here is the proof that the Annandale Orchestra Boosters "don't have a budget sheet for school year 2014-15". I am not making this up. So Mr. Foster doesn't get upset, I am also enclosing a copy of FOIA which shows that public bodies also have to produce records that they own that are held by their agents, NOT produce just what they prepare or possess. Such as trip records and records pertaining to money involving students, school activities, classes, personnel, school property that are with a Booster group but are supposed to be in school records as per their written regulations. He DID incompletely quote the law to justify blocking access to public records.

Their Bylaws require the officers to present a budget sheet to the members. Article 6, section 6.01.


"Public records" means all writings and recordings that consist of letters, words or numbers, or their equivalent, set down by handwriting, typewriting, printing, photostatting, photography, magnetic impulse, optical or magneto-optical form, mechanical or electronic recording or other form of data compilation, however stored, and regardless of physical form or characteristics, prepared or owned by, or in the possession of a public body or its officers, employees or agents in the transaction of public business. Records that are not prepared for or used in the transaction of public business are not public records.


I also included the list of officers as displayed on the Virginia State Corporation Website. Which one told the school system there wasn't any budget sheet? Is this the group that didn't present a budget sheet to Mr. Randazzo as required by school regulations? Did this group even do a budget sheet as required by their Bylaws? Why doesn't anybody in the world have one single copy of it? A form that is referred to on almost a daily basis that was probably created on that wonderful invention called a computer. Really?

This was a group that was slated to process a school trip this year. The latest is that the school system did it. Thank goodness for that.

Is this the kind of group you want to make a donation to or have handle your money?

"No budget sheet." School regulations don't apply to us. We don't care. We don't bother keeping careful records or following our Bylaws. The principal also apparently doesn't care about doing his job properly.

Somebody produce the budget sheet and it will be posted and you all can show the world you take your work seriously and can be relied upon to do right by your members and fulfill your obligations as elected officials and public employees. And then all of you can argue with each other about whose idea this was.

And all the rest of you can pay attention. Particularly three other groups that are in the spotlight right now. Herndon Band, Centreville Band, and West Potomac Band. You took some money from students and people don't want to talk about it. What did you do? Take a bunch of people to Cancun? Can you prove your work?
Attachments:
annandaleorchestraboosters.no_budget-sheet.pdf

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Re: FCPS High School Music Classes 2014-15
Posted by: youareracist ()
Date: June 30, 2015 07:58PM

Single out Annandale like this is blatantly racist. You should know the difficulties schools like that have with demographics and volunteers. Give them a break. Everyone should be happy they even have band boosters at all.

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Re: FCPS High School Music Classes 2014-15
Posted by: mysterioso ()
Date: June 30, 2015 08:25PM

youareracist Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Single out Annandale like this is blatantly
> racist. You should know the difficulties schools
> like that have with demographics and volunteers.
> Give them a break. Everyone should be happy they
> even have band boosters at all.


Nope. Not racist. These people could not be located with the IRS or the State Corporation Commission a while back and they were handling significant public funds for the school system in a bank account that nobody wanted to release the name of the owner of. It was not a school account because it was at Navy Federal Credit Union. You can't do that. Somebody requested a copy of their tax return and identification, it was sent certified mail and signed for, and they did not respond to the request. You are required to respond to this type of request. It is Federal law. You have to identify who you are if you are putting yourself out as a non-profit and handling money and soliciting.

They are easily located now with both agencies using the exact same search criteria.

A budget sheet is basic material and it is a school regulation and it is in their Bylaws. So, produce it.

If you don't want to do what you are supposed to do when you are a non-profit (like identifying who you are) then don't go that route. Just run your money through a school account and skip all the work. That is a very valid option.

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Re: FCPS High School Music Classes 2014-15
Posted by: iiiiiiiiii ()
Date: June 30, 2015 11:31PM

What a shit show.

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Re: FCPS High School Music Classes 2014-15
Posted by: iiiiiiiiiiii ()
Date: June 30, 2015 11:37PM

shit show

A description of an event or situation which is characterized by an ridiculously inordinate amount of frenetic activity. Disorganization and chaos to an absurd degree. Often associated with extreme ineptitude/incompetence and or sudden and unexpected failure.

Similar:
fiasco clusterfuck

"The picnic turned into a real shit show because that bozo decided to throw rocks at that hornet's nest."

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Re: FCPS High School Music Classes 2014-15
Posted by: ; > ( ()
Date: July 01, 2015 05:26PM

Sounds like Annandale has been taking lessons from Hillary.

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Re: FCPS High School Music Classes 2014-15
Posted by: Shark!!!!!! ()
Date: July 02, 2015 10:57AM

And all the rest of you can pay attention. Particularly three other groups that are in the spotlight right now. Herndon Band, Centreville Band, and West Potomac Band. You took some money from students and people don't want to talk about it. What did you do? Take a bunch of people to Cancun? Can you prove your work?

<><><><><><><><><><>><>

Maybe they all took the money and are down at the Outer Banks.

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Re: FCPS High School Music Classes 2014-15
Posted by: Titanic ()
Date: July 02, 2015 08:21PM

Shark!!!!!! Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> And all the rest of you can pay attention.
> Particularly three other groups that are in the
> spotlight right now. Herndon Band, Centreville
> Band, and West Potomac Band. You took some money
> from students and people don't want to talk about
> it. What did you do? Take a bunch of people to
> Cancun? Can you prove your work?
>
> <><><><><><><><><><>><>
>
> Maybe they all took the money and are down at the
> Outer Banks.


They probably all went on a cruise with it.

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Re: FCPS High School Music Classes 2014-15
Posted by: Walter S. ()
Date: July 03, 2015 06:06AM

Oh what a tangled web we weave
When first we practice to deceive. - Sir Walter Scott (Marmion, 1808)

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Re: FCPS High School Music Classes 2014-15
Posted by: grave ()
Date: July 06, 2015 09:51AM

We are going to have a little chat. Back in February/March, a FOIA request was submitted for the records pertaining to the $140 fee that parents with children in the Herndon Marching Band had to pay for pre-season. That request was denied not only by Brandynn Reaves but by Mr. Foster, Division Counsel. Redacted copies of both communications are attached.

The details -

The Herndon Band Parent Organization signed the MOA with the school system. Enclosed are applicable portions of the MOA and the Guidelines to which they were all bound to follow. Of note-

The $140 payment was listed as an FCPS sponsored optional activity fee. Pre-season is an FCPS sponsored optional activity. The bill for the fee showed it was ordered to be paid to the parent group on a form WITH THE TEACHER LISTED AS THE CONTACT. Ms. Jacoby. That means she and/or the principal, Mr. Bates, allowed/ordered this money, FCPS school activity funds, to be processed through a Booster club bank account. That is a violation of Reg. 5810, which calls for all school activity funds to be run through internal accounts, and no school activity funds are supposed to be used to support a Booster club, even if the purpose is to benefit the school. It has said that for at least 20 years. Per the MOA and The Guidelines it was supposed to go to the school system and be put directly into a school account. The MOA calls for Booster clubs to cooperate with FOIA requests for information they hold regarding FCPS fees. FCPS had the right to terminate the agreement immediately for non-compliance by the Booster club, and records and collected fees were supposed to be turned in within three business days. The Booster Club was non-compliant with the signed agreement with the school system, even if the principal and/or teacher told them to not follow the signed agreement. The officers also probably put their liability and money coverage at risk both with the County and their private insurer, because they violated a signed agreement and had some type of arrangement with the school staff to violate the signed agreement, and they were all in violation of multiple school policies and printed instructions. With or without the MOA, if a county employee orders county funds to be managed by an outside party, and they are required to have these records in the county files, the outside party is acting as an agent of the school system, and the school system is the custodian of the records held by this outside party and is responsible to produce them for FOIA requests. The school system is also responsible for anything they allow volunteers to assist them with. They cannot delegate that away per Policy 1530.

Also attached is the section of FOIA explaining the legal processes for FOIA non-compliance. If the petitioner prevails, they are entitled to be reimbursed for their legal expenses (always expensive) along with a potential fine for the public body willfully and knowingly not producing public records they should have produced. Plus, the public body has to pay for legal counsel of their own. Lots and lots of taxpayer dollars with all this.

So, the school system/School Board was in a position of 1)explaining their way out of a writ of mandamus/injunction to a judge down at the Courthouse, in front of the public and the press, with a court reporter documenting everything. Either that, or 2)they could expectorate some documents. The judge was probably not going to care much about how the school system is "working to improve their relationship with Booster organizations", about how the school system is "moving forward", how they might figure this out "next year", how much they love and appreciate Booster clubs, how "we have been doing it this way for years", how "other localities do it this way", etc. FCPS chose Option #2. Attached are dozens of pages of records that they produced about four months after they were requested. They were supposed to be produced within 12 working days. Further analysis needs to be done. Some records are missing. All the judge was going to care about was the written policies, signed agreements, and FOIA. They probably would have asked the school system why they didn't exercise their right to seize money and records under the MOA and the state laws pertaining to public records and public funds held by an unauthorized party. The school system has the right and responsibility to obtain a court order if their information (and money) is being held by an unauthorized party. If you are non-compliant with a signed agreement, as the Herndon Band Parent Organization was, you have probably just become an unauthorized party, no matter what kind of deal you had worked with the principal and/or the teacher. If the unauthorized party does not produce the records (and money) upon being presented with the court order, the school system has the right and responsibility to make arrangements for law enforcement officers and the court to seize the documents and money in question. The school system also had the responsibility under FOIA to show a court-ordered extension to the requester of the records and did not provide that, even when the requester demanded it. Any failure to follow any protocol of FOIA can be deemed a FOIA violation. A FOIA violation is an administrative emergency.

If you don't plan to follow the MOA, then don't sign it. If you don't like FOIA, move to a different country or go work for a private school or send your child to one.

Whoever was involved in this little scheme made some very bad decisions.

The folks at Centreville and West Potomac also made some very bad decisions. The analysis is a little different.

Annandale, has anybody located a budget sheet yet? Non-compliance with your Bylaws is also grounds for the officers to be removed from their offices, but that is up to the parents to deal with.
Attachments:
foiaproblemsherndonband7.2015.pdf
Herndon Band Fee Payment Records_Redacted.pdf

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Re: FCPS High School Music Classes 2014-15
Posted by: variations on a theme ()
Date: July 06, 2015 02:58PM

Now we are going to take a look at Centreville Band. They were also referenced in the email from Brandynn and included in the email from Mr. Foster, Division Counsel. Receipts and contracts were requested, along with a student payment spreadsheet and accounting data showing income and expenses.

The Centreville Band Parents also signed the MOA, and by doing this agreed to run all Marching Band money through school accounts and have all Booster payments optional, and provide the school system with all information they wanted regarding marching band records and expenditures.

There was a $335 fee demanded by Melissa Hall, Band teacher at Centreville, which consisted of a $175 payment to Centreville High School, and $160 to be paid to the Wildcat Band Boosters. Her name was on the form as the contact person. TWICE. The whole thing was referred to as including marching supplemental, plus general band supplemental. There is no such thing as a "supplemental". You either have FCPS fees, or Booster donations. The school system, after four months of arguing, managed to extricate one little page out of these Boosters, who signed a contract to cooperate FULLY with the school system on records release for Marching Band expenses. Everybody was SO excited about the MOA.

The $160 collected from each student was apparently indeed applied to both General Band and Marching Band expenses. However, the school system says there aren't any receipts for the expenses, nor contracts for the supplemental instructors, all of which are supposed to be paid by the county, receive a tax statement, have background checks, etc. If so, the Wildcat Band Boosters (and the Centreville HS staff) are also in major violation of the MOA, multiple school regulations, state, and Federal laws.

The portion applied to General Band is also school activity funds, per Reg. 5810, in that it was money (a user fee) demanded by a teacher from students in order to take her class. This is also supposed to be public record. There aren't any supporting documents for that, either. There were due dates for both payments. These weren't donations, and you could have probably written off some of this on your taxes, but it is too late, unless you want to hash it out with the Officers, who aren't talking and apparently don't have any receipts anyway to figure it all out, and do an amended tax return.

So, parents, apparently your Booster officers are going to file their non-profit tax return without any supporting documentation on this money, have been issuing money to people helping out the school system and working with your children without contracts and adequate documentation and maybe under the table and probably no background checks, taking money from children and parents under the order of a school employee, and cannot prove how they spent it. They would never survive an audit. Is their accountant just going to take their word for it and put their name on the return? Do you do internal reviews? What are your internal reviewers going to say about this? What would your insurance company say if your officers could not provide one scrap of information on what they did with $15,000?????????????????????????????????? Do you even have insurance? Do you realize that if you don't do internal reviews or audits your policy is probably worthless?

If there is supporting documentation, the Booster officers are either lying to the school system (and they agreed to cooperate fully), or the school system is saying untrue things about the Centreville Wildcat Band Booster Officers.

There is no possible pleasant explanation.

Is this the kind of organization you want to give money to? Can't/won't provide receipts to justify expenditures and support their tax return and explain things to the insurance company if need be? I think you need to file a report with the Police Department because it sounds like you were swindled. The Financial Crimes Division phone number is 703-246-7800. This is also a group who refuses to hold up their end of the bargain in a signed agreement with a county executive. Just wonderful.

They can't even provide a record of who paid what and when.

Who is lying? Who took money and can't account for it? This is quite a soap opera.

None of this was my idea, so don't complain about me. I am just telling it like it is. No receipts, no contracts, no supporting documentation for $15,000 of school activity funds held by an agent of the school system handling school activity funds, demanded by a school employee.
Attachments:
CentrevilleExpense breakdown of $160 _Jun 23 2015.pdf

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Re: FCPS High School Music Classes 2014-15
Posted by: "don't cry for me..." ()
Date: July 06, 2015 03:57PM

Here you go. "No records."

Here is the list of officers who took $15,000 from you and are either lying, can't keep basic records, are taking money (user fee) from you as ordered by a school employee for a county activity and so are acting as their agent yet can't/won't produce a scrap of information about it, did not keep up their end of a signed agreement with the school system, are bringing in people to work with your kids and are paying them under the table and maybe without any background checks, don't follow school policies, are fixing to file an unsupported and maybe fraudulent tax return, or are being defamed by the school system. If the school system has the contracts with the supplemental instructors or receipts or supporting documents they aren't producing them, either. They were included in the request for information. They found out the hard way they have to produce employment contracts. If so, they are lying and making you look bad.

"No records." What a shame.

None of this is my idea.

It is what it is. But, which is it? None of these are good.

Parents, if I were you I would be making some phone calls.

If you all produce some contracts and receipts they will be posted to clear your names and your organizations.
Attachments:
CentrevilleWildcatBandBoostersxxx.pdf

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