The Real Reason we are Rebuilding Three Schools
The bond had zero to do with our children and everything to do with two taxpayer funded lobbying groups, TASA/TASB, profiteers and public private partnerships. Read each link and especially the article from the DMN. There is so much money to be made in education and off the backs of our children and ultimately the taxpayer. We need school board members who are the voice for the taxpayers and parents and who will put the interests of our children first. As my opponent stated, "the bond was not really about enrollment and more about learning environments."
We have been duped.
It all makes sense now why HPISD would tear down three historical buildings in exchange for these 21st century future-ready learner facilities when enrollment is actually down.
TASA Visioning Institute:
The reason SHW (now Stantec) funded the TASA Visioning Institute was because they would get the contracts to design the "future-ready" schools. They needed the superintendents' buy-in to make it happen.
Visioning Institute co-sponsors: the Texas Association of School Administrators; the Texas Leadership Center; Keith Sockwell, who conceived of the initiative; and the SHW Group, which provided financial support.
The superintendents invited to participate were those with whom Sockwell had been visiting, and who, for the most part, were SHW Group clients.
SHW Group agreed to pay for facilitation, materials, cost of resource speakers, and publication of the initial draft product that would be used to foster intentional conversations around the agenda promoted by the proposed principles and premises.
The group was funded by the SHW Group (Stantec), a Plano-based architectural firm, and headed by Keith Sockwell, Otto's former right-hand man who now runs an education consulting group owned by SHW. The district has hired a member of Sockwell's firm, Cambridge Strategic Services, to moderate a committee that will suggest ideas of what Plano ISD's academy could look like. Cambridge will return in the fall to help rewrite Plano's strategic plan for its long-term vision.
HPISD: Designed by Stantec, the new HPISD schools will be "high-performance" buildings that meet the standards established by the Texas Collaborative for High Performing Schools for energy efficiency, water conservation and resource reduction. Balfour Beatty will leverage the latest technologies, including BIM and BIM 360 Field, and lean construction methods such as pull planning and integrated-team alignment to achieve the schools’ progressive design.
A vote for Meg Bakich is a vote to preserve district independence, educational traditions and academic excellence.
Early Voting:
4/24-4/28, 8 AM-4:30 PM
5/1-5/2, 7:00 AM-7:00 PM
HP Administration Building, 7015 Westchester
Election Day:
5/6 7:00 AM-7:00 PM
Highland Park Middle School, 3555 Granada
Meg Bakich for HPISD School Board, Place 6
Please feel free to contact me with any questions, ideas or concerns.
Pol. adv. paid for by Bakich For HPSID Trustee
