APS transparency; an illustrative example of abject insufficiency

The leadership of the APS and their cronies in the establishment media would like stakeholders to believe that the administration of their trust and treasure by the leadership of the APS is transparent.  It is not.

The most current example; the meeting tomorrow of the Audit Committee, link, and their discussion of Ethical Advocate statistics.

Ethical Advocate is a whistle blower program.  It is the only venue where an employee or community member can file a complaint of administrative or executive incompetence or corruption, and be protected from retaliation over the complaint.  Supposedly; in practice the promised anonymity for the complainant is only temporary.

The Ethical Advocate statistics, link, will be presented by APS Director of Internal Audits Peg Koshmider.

The only information she and the leadership of the APS are prepared to produce is the number of complaints filed by month and year, and the number of complaints that have been "closed".

A "closed" complaint is a complaint filed against an administrator that is then adjudicated by another administrator.  An appearance of a conflict of interests is created when administrators investigate each other.

At one time, the school board addressed the conflict of interests by promising to review and approve the administrative self investigation of every single complaint.  When called on the commitment, they changed school board policy and abandoned their executive oversight over administrative self investigation.

In any event, there is a missing statistic.  How many Ethical Advocate complaints against administrators are settled to the satisfaction of the complainant?  How many complainants think their complaint was denied due process?

I have filed three complaints under Ethical Advocate and its predecessor Silent Whistle.

I complained that APS Supt Winston Brooks had abandoned his responsibilities as the senior-most administrative role model of student standards of conduct.

Later, I complained that, that complaint had been "closed" without due process.

And finally, I complained that APS Chief Operations Officer Brad Winter had promised to produce a candid, forthright and honest accounting of spending at 6400 Uptown Blvd. and did not.

All three of the complaints were "closed" though Brooks is still not accountable as a role model of student standards of conduct, and Winter has still has not told the truth about the millions and millions of dollars they have spent on their own offices.

Not so transparent; millions spent in and on their castle keep.

There is an ethics and accountability scandal in the leadership of the APS.  The lack of real transparency in the leadership of the APS in a manifestation of that scandal.

The media is complicit in, or complacent over the cover up of that scandal.  Their ongoing failure to investigate and report upon administrative and executive standards and accountability is a manifestation of their complicity and or complacency.




photos Mark Bralley