OPINION: Certified ISO auditor is flabbergasted by LW School District remodernization practices

"Certified ISO auditor is flabbergasted by remodernization practices of LW School District," By Grayling Gentry

OPINION:  For the purpose of public safety, the FDA holds medical device manufacturers accountable for each tiniest component of every device, conducts surprise on-site audits, and requires thorough double-checking of every conceivable aspect of the equipment through mandatory validation processes conducted by outside auditors such as UL.

But who is checking our school districts' legal output?  I am. And that's just not right.

As a certified ISO auditor and regulatory affairs coordinator, I am flabbergasted the more I learn about LWSD's sloppy regulatory submissions, lack of legal compliance, and its casual accounting practices. Older schools such as Rose Hill have been allowed to deteriorate, and have been left to operate with original 1960s HVAC systems, filthy duct work and leaky roofs despite district access to over $2.5 in maintenance funds.

New schools cost taxpayers up to four times more than the national average. Board members entrust building site evaluation to contractors, approve massive projects after simply reading high-level summaries, and write checks for millions to fulfill change orders without conducting significant, in-depth investigations of chronic overrun causes and conditions. But hey, when you're in the business of cranking out new $50 to $150 million schools every 12-15 months and are on an avowed mission to tear down every school in the district every 40 years, who has time to sweat the details?

One district oversight, such as "neglecting to mention" two enormous, highly pressurized and potentially deadly aviation fuel and gasoline pipelines in an environmental assessment, can do enormous damage -- not only to the health, safety and happiness of thousands of people, but to the district's image of credibility and trustworthiness. Add to this error all of the other "oversights" in the STEM SEPA/DNS debacle and you have serious red flags that should have state auditors' eyebrows raised. But it doesn't. Because nobody in government dares mess with education: the most sacred of all cash cows.  Read More >>

LETTER: STEM School plans raise questions, By Grayling Gentry

LETTER:   Sadly, I am not surprised that LWSD would try to build outside the GMA boundaries, ignore traffic and carbon issues, pass off a hastily conceived plan for a science center with no labs, or sacrifice acres of forest to development of a "school" lacking auditorium, gym, cafeteria or library. The mantra is "less is more" where services and amenities in new schools are concerned -- but that chant changes when it comes to money.

Taxpayers in this district are paying up to four times the national average for throw-away schools that the district promises to tear down in just 40 years (please don't let them near my solid, properly maintained mid-70s house!). Planned obsolescence of schools serves only the special interests -- who greedily line the public funding troughs nationwide, sucking down billions of dollars that voters intended to go towards children's educational causes through approval of bonds and levies. We said help the children, not "Help yourselves"!

What is shocking, is that any credible logistics analyst would approve a critical educational sub-system that wastes thousands of collective student-hours annually. Survey upon survey show that high school kids face increasing pressure due to overly busy extra-curricular schedules and ever-heavier school workloads. The answer cannot be to force them to take up to four bus rides per day. Ridiculous.

Opinion By Grayling Gentry
LWSD parent and volunteer