I am struck by the hypocrisy of the situation over at the El Paso Independent School District.
The other day 16 school district employees were evidently told that their would either resign or they would be fired. Their offense? Their GED certificates might have been false. Many of them were in custodial positions. These people are hardworking caretakers of our children and our facilities.
Why the ultimatum to resign or be fired? Could it be that the district was trying to keep their unemployment costs down by scaring the individuals? Was criminal action against the employees threatened? In the end we may see the lawyers swoop in on this one and the taxpayers will have to pay the bill for the district’s poor handling of this situation.
On the other hand we have a superintendent that does not have the state mandated superintendent’s certificate that he needs to hold his position.
His contract with the district gives him three years to obtain the certificate. We will pay for all expenses related to him trying for it, including travel expenses for him and his wife.
We deserve better
Brutus
elpasospeak 
Perhaps the difference is that the Superintendent was not hired under false pretenses.
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Yes.
Then again qualifications were waived for the most senior person in the district but were not waived for the common worker.
Brutus
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Well said. Totally agree. I also wonder why the EPTimes put the story top, page 1. Maybe there wasn’t a happy ballpark story to run.
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Hmm, Custodial Services contracted out. Maybe ?
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There must be an underlying agenda for this mass action, probably the paving of the way for the outsourcing of custodial jobs, which has been discussed in the past.
If EPISD mounted a widespread investigation to delve into the employment applications and educational credentials of custodians, the job applications and educational records for every single employee should be reviewed and investigated. It cannot be a coincidence that the credentials of not just one, but numerous custodians became a focal point of administrative investigation simultaneously.
Maybe our new super, who isn’t certified, is concerned about the qualifications of our custodians.
Maybe this is part of a Scared Straight campaign to show students what will happen to them if they fail to graduate.
This drama, another theatrical production staged by EPISD, proves there is neither amnesty nor a second chance for those who most need and deserve it. (Our governor loves to talk about second chances.) The District could have shown some compassion, especially if some of these people were loyal employees with records of good job performance. As an example, EPISD could have suspended these workers without pay for a brief period or reduced their pay rate and told them they had “x” amount of time to complete their GED. They could have even helped these individuals with the GED process. Instead, the EPISD superintendent imposed the death penalty — being unemployed without a high school education.
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Lots of internal services like custodial are ripe for outsourcing. The key to successful outsourcing is to set and monitor meaningful service levels.
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Yes but they need to have competent people on the district side of the table to manage the vendors.
EPISD has some good people but some of their people do not know how to work with a business.
Brutus
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How about some heads rolling (people getting fired, that is) for their negligence (laziness? incompetence? irresponsibilty? fraudulence?) in checking out backgrounds, GED certificates, etc. for these people, some who’ve been on the job for years, which might mean more personnel workers, their supervisors, and their assistant superintendents. There is a hiring process of which everyone involved has accountability and should be dealt with equitably. Are teachers, aides, bus drivers, food service workers, and others being hired without being properly vetted? Looks like our esteemed board of managers may need to stay on evern longer.
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Were the credentials of the esteemed members of the board of managers verified? Oh, I forgot; that wasn’t necessary because they are political appointees, one of whom on more than one occasion has said “It’s not what you know, but who you know.”. The fired custodians didn’t know the right people.
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A worker does not REALLY “Need” a GED to do “Janitor” work.
If they have been on the job with good performance for a year or more, might as well keep them. Seems like they might be worth keeping.
it costs A LOT to interview and hire and train new workers.
However, lieing on a job application, WILL get people fired.
If they single out these janitors, might as well go thru and vet all applications.
Maybe they are just trying “to make a point”.
There are a LOT of janitors from years past, that are 50+ years old that do not “Have a GED”, and maybe didnt NEED ONE to get hired back . . . . 30 something years ago.
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