Time to give Dr. Bob AND his puppets on the school board THE BOOT
We’ve got a huge pile of uselessness at the top of the food chain in the Moore County Public Schools. Our superintendent, Bob Grimesey, cried on-cue and on-camera to pull his chestnuts out of the fire and reverse the decision to fire him a few years ago. The school board — meant to be a source of oversight and the eyes-and-ears of the public — has been reduced to little more than a Greek chorus and echo chamber for dear ol’ Dr. Bob.
Since nearly being fired, Dr. Bob has become a master of PR and optics. With the help of a compliant, unquestioning local newspaper, he’s turned the Moore County school system into his own personal fiefdom answerable to NO ONE.
The system blows through its cash? No problem. Send a few token screaming mommies — and some system employees concerned about job security — to the county commissioners to demand bond issues and tax increases.
The modus operandi in Dr. Bob-Land is to cram authoritarian measures down the throats of parents and taxpayers, and then get the dictation pool at the local paper, and the bumps-on-a-log on the school board, to help “sell it.”
The current uproar over redistricting is just the latest example of Dr. Bob’s Goebbels-like propaganda skills. Racial and economic diversity, as well as test scores, are driving this maddening process. Not common sense or the needs of the kids or any of that “silly” stuff.
I KNOW that the public hearings Dr. Bob conducted were near-riots. Parents were being force-fed bullcrap and they were tired of it. The local media was taking dictation for Dr. Bob and telling its readers that everything is A-OKAY. People lost patience, and really let their alleged public servants know how they really felt about being ignored and having stuff that threatens their property values and affects their families negatively crammed down their throats. (But according to The Pilot, everything is just FINE.)
Interestingly though, our local paper is now covering a handful of parents thrust out there by Dr. Bob and his minions to complain about the lack of “civility” in discussions about redistricting and other school affairs.
(When someone starts moaning about a lack of “civility,” it is usually a sign that they are aware you are onto them AND their bullcrap, and that you just might lose your cool and slap the hell out of them.)
But what can we do to fix this maddening mess?
Target each and every one of the scoundrels currently sitting on the county board of education. They are all useless. Every last one of them. They are not doing a bit of oversight. They are not looking out for me and you. They are not doing their jobs.
Voting for Ed Dennison or Bruce Cunningham because you enjoy their company at Pinehurst cocktail parties is stupid. Beyond stupid. Those two have been a big part of the problem FOR YEARS. Way too many people have voted for Dennison and Cunningham for reasons other than their performance on that board. And THAT has to stop.
Pam Thompson — who has lost every race she’s ever run — got elected this time mainly because people in Pinehurst sought advice from Cunningham and Dennison on whom to vote for. Her opponent was an outspoken former schools employee who had a lot of tough questions for Dr. Bob.
And we just couldn’t have THAT, could we?
Helena Wallin-Miller, the current board chairman, spends so much time in the paper defending Dr. Bob and his bureaucrats you’d think she was the paid spokesperson on the system staff. No watchdog attitude. No oversight going on there. She needs to go, too.
The three other empty suits need to go, too.
I know that the school board is not the most exciting, sexy form of public service. The Pilot ignores it — except when Dr. Bob pages them. The public is mostly in the dark about what happens in that central office in Carthage.
Even if you don’t have school-age kids, what happens in the the system is important to you. It affects property values. The current value of your home will drop like a rock if you are redistricted into a low-performing school’s territory. The school system affects economic development — whether businesses move here, whether families keep moving here.
Start paying close attention to these people. It’s important. And when some of them show up on the election day ballot, vote them out. It’s time to start showing Dr. Bob who the REAL BOSSES are.
It’s what we have in Pitt County. Dr. Ethan can do anything. Spend anything. Let his leadership run wild and no one cares!
Sadly, this is how it goes in almost every county I have lived in. The school board is typically just a rubber stamp for the superintendent, never questioning them or the other educrats who accompany him.
Pretty much is a spot on article. I am not impressed. Originally I was engaged by Helena about my emails with the promise of getting back to me, but then that fell by the wayside and I have not received anything back to date. I’ve written them 4 times at least via emails and comments cards. I want to know why racial redistribution is being entertained under the false flag of “building utilization”. it is ridiculous.
I have to and the whole BOE not got NOTHING BACK and after 3 emails 2 calls to each ones still nothing. At this point I know they not going to respond and won’t answer questions in meetings. It’s pointless now to move above them
Clifton, I agree with you. No oversight at all. I said this back in 2015 when a group of screaming parents forced elected officials to reinstate this man. All anyone has to do is look at how the school system has declined under his rule of thumb. Parents do not need to sit back and let this board of education dictate everything. Get a backbone. Parents were able to overthrow four board members and reinstate a superintendent. Feel the same way about the county commissioners. If they don’t stop this crazy spending spree they aren’t going to get my vote.
I’ve emailed, sent questions into the portal, gone to meetings and again submitted questions. Still NO ANSWERS. The line is our street. Someone please tell me where we go? Even administrators at the meeting couldn’t answer this simple question. My kids want to know if they have to move to North Moore from Pinecrest and we can’t even get an answer. How is that fair. Answer everyone’s questions. And they wonder why parents are upset?
They don’t want us to know. The portal is a joke. They really just do not care and that is obvious. The overcrowding is at west pine middle so their solution is to build 4 elementary schools. We are spending 103 million and not even getting a new middle school. That second draft has southern middle over capacity. The whole thing is nauseating. None of these board members will get voted back in.
That woman in the video from Carthage who was talking about parents acting uncivil has a kid in private school. Her husband hates public education and wants all three of their kids to go private . Nice that she has that option.
I think we, are many families we know will be headed to private school in the coming years. When they assign schools so far from homes and employment they limit parental involvement-which is key to a child’s success.
I’ve fought the government school monopoly for literally DECADES when whole language destroyed the reading ability of ALL races.Then we had rain forest math, Pumsey the
Dragon (to undermine belief in God!) etc. I found the ONLY SOLUTION possible was to remove my child from this literal bastion of stupid!
Yes, it’s very inconvenient, but when you realize that your kids are being FORCE FED SECULAR PROPAGANDA (global warming; sex rights in kindergarten etc) all of which undermines your BIBLICAL VALUES, you will see you must make a sacrifice: literally for your child’s soul!
Competition is the ONLY SOLUTION to government control. I fought the “First in America ” c*ap Dr Russo preached to us; then OBE, Race to the Top and COMMON CORE (further dumbing down our kids’ knowledge of basic facts!) and now we have a new priesthood song and dance team, the very disappointing Dr Bob and this school board. You are right: ALL need to go. The LAST man we had on the school board , armed only with a high school diploma and more COMMON SENSE than all the rest of them, and wise beyond all their phd’s, was Bill Garner. Of course, he was mocked and scorned by these educated fools, yet courageously stuck by his principles because he saw through their progressive nonsense. (read Marxist folks!)
School Boards are useless rubber stamps today until we get rid of teacher’s unions and the farce of “experts” who run this well greased bureaucracy from the Feds on down.
A Bible educated home schooled child is a far greater contribution to our American culture than the snowflake generation leftists are now turning out.
This is happening all around the country. You need more school choice. This is the reason charter schools are popping up all over the place. This superintendent might think he is doing the right thing but he isn’t. This will hurt public education and the community will suffer.
Where is the county voice which is us.Glad someone is speaking up and willing to take action.If it took our voices to keep this head swollen dictator then let us bombard our county officials and state officials with facts about it until.We pay his and their salaries.And yes put the heat to them when election time come,but also while they bask in their comfort zones.The future of our kids is worth a little effort on all our parts.
Won’t let you speak ask questions.. It’s nothing but per bullies at its best. Bob and his staff . don’t care about our kids. All he ( Bob) want is the scores. Stoop as lows as purchasing land in Aberdeen on Highway 5
that’s next to a superfund site. No matter how much it cost us. Money , our Kid , teachers or school staff.
Wallin-Miller needs to go because she has a difficult time telling the truth. I’ve seen a combination of emails from several parents and she cannot keep her story straight. Get them all out and start over.
Vote out this entire board ASAP! Speaking of the BoE, how diverse are they. One Republican out of 7. Not very diverse. Idiots, the whole lot of them
We are going to give up and go private because I will not allow my child to be indoctrinated by this lunacy. I will continue to fight this BoE however. For the goodness of the future. I can’t stand the thought of my children or their children living in a world where students are asked to compare Bill Clinton to a priest for a school paper! True story!
Sadly we are going to go private too. I will still try and make the right thing happen because this is incredibly wrong. You can’t promise people new schools and then send them to different schools. Sending children to a school in the middle of a toxic area is poor judgement on the superintendent and board of ed. I don’t care what any report says, it’s just bad and makes me think they don’t really care about children.
Advocates for this are not being harassed; it has been the other way around. I’ve seen it all over social media and comments on The Pilot articles. I’ve saved all of it and I would like to see the ‘harassment’ the others have claimed to endure.
I bet a lot of people are regretting having Dr. Grimesey reinstated. Need to get rid of that Parents for More too because the people behind that were big in getting the wrong thing to happen.
This definitely feels like we are living in a dictatorship. You can’t ask questions, you’re told what to do and you’re shamed for being vocal. We are also going private but like the others have said, will continue to fight. Our first choice should always be public education but they are taking that away from us. I’m sure Bob is getting pressure from the state because of his low performing schools but instead of addressing the problem it is much easier to shift kids.
This will not help the low performing kids. It is a band aid solution. I was told by a board member that they had planned this before the bond referendum and when I asked why it wasn’t included in the wording, I was told that they ‘legally’ did not have to include it. I asked if they felt it was deceitful and the board member shrugged and repeated again that it was not ‘illegal’. If they thought getting money for the schools was difficult before, imagine what it will be like when they want us to vote to approve another bond or tax increase.
It’s a real problem when we are spending 65k for a third party company to do bogus work but our teachers are still buying their own supplies. It is a problem when we are spending $3,600,000 for an architect firm to design three different plans for three schools (why can’t we use one for all three) while some of our teachers work two jobs just to be able to pay bills. I agree with what everyone else has posted, they all need to go. They do not care about our students stability or well being (hello toxic school) and they don’t care about our teachers.
Sadly, we a leaving public school as well. We saw the writing on the wall and thankfully applied early, beating the rush of private school applicants.
I wont let my exceptional children suffer at the hands of someone making decisions for them. We make the choices for OUR children based on their needs. And the needs of our family which include proximity to home and work, reliable transportation, teachers that aren’t fired mid year, kids allowed to attend field day, not having it taken away due to an unexcused absence.
Kim, you have every right to do what is best for your children. Do not let anyone make you feel bad for doing so either. The proponents of this mess have insulted many of us for only thinking of our own children. The truth is a lot of us have been fighting for all of the students but at the end of the day it’s only natural to put our own children first. This doesn’t mean that we don’t care. Very smart of you to jump on this right away. I’ve been on the fence for a while especially after learning that students only watch CNN at the middle school. Now we are definitely making the move to private school. Like most families, this corrupt incompetent boe and superintendent have pushed us out of the public school system. I feel sorry for families who do not have the option to get out. Hopefully we will get more affordable private schools and more charter schools.
Parents do not have to put up with this but perhaps they don’t know. It looks like the board of ed and super timed this perfectly. Parents will forget about it during the summer and that’s when the board will carry through with their plan. You got to give them credit for that. Pretty clever.
Well we might of been born at night,but not last night.Well our children are our most precious resource that we have besides air,water,bread.They have mostly what we give them by our examples at home with us.Gods word says raise them up in the way he has thought us in him and they will not stray away.The Examples we have today in our governments,federal,state,and local are running to much of our lives.So forgetting where we come from and where we’re going is not a option.We have raised seven children and we have 18 grandchildren and raising one of the 18 for past 12 years of her 13 years of life.And I’ll be dang if she or any of the rest will be raised to take more than they give or live only for self and make only dollars and no sense.We love em and that is just the way it works I would not have one to fall, not mine or yours.So if we be parents,and citizens of this country,state,county,how can we let go of what’s going on.No ones perfect, no human being.When our kids do wrong we hold them responsible,I know I was,ouch.So if their Peers or educators, and there are some excellent ones in our schools here in our county, plenty who have spoken up, but ignored like us, are made silent by a self willed supper,and school board,what is that teaching our kids,i’ll tell you,shut up,we ‘ll take care of it , now go about your labors! Hum not me and ours,sorry.Not what was meant for any one of us from the foundation.