Lealman Community Campus

Well well well...looks as though our little neighborhood won't have to worry about another corrupt charter school invading our neighborhood and overburdening us with traffic.

No more idiotic, inconsiderate, self entitled parents glomming onto the idea of their kids attending what they perceive to be a private school setting at tax payer's expense.

No more low class jerks parking in our yards, knocking over our mailboxes, blocking our driveways, throwing garbage in our streets and yards, screaming obscenities, and abusing their relationships with deputies for personal gain.

No more obnoxious teachers and staff filing false police reports, trespassing, or having screaming matches with their husbands in the school parking lot.

Ambulances and emergency vehicles will able to get in to assist, parcel delivery and lawn services will not be disrupted...

Gosh, who ever thought we would miss the school? Cause we don't. Oh, does that sound smug? Sorry not sorry.

And now, with the county having purchased the site and opened a community center we will not have to worry about dealing with all of that again.

Some People Never Change

Gosh, so much happens when one steps away from blogging for a few days, hmmmm?

I guess my stepping back a bit really flustered a few in the "Hope For Windsor" crowd, as one of them had to push back from the trough of self pity and entitlement to leave a comment.

Jeb Bush and his Industry of Corruption

To quote the brilliant activist blogger Diana Ravitch,:
"Jeb Bush is trying to present himself to the public as a moderate. Nothing could be farther from the truth. When it comes to education, Jeb Bush boasts of the wonderful transformation of the schools in Florida, but that is not an accurate portrayal of what Bush actually did. With his far-right dedication to privatization, he has created a voracious industry of greed, which relies on the public’s gullibility. Some of his allies are getting very rich, but the children of Florida are not benefitting by the opening and closing of charter schools, many of which operate for-profit."

She  is citing this article : 

How Jeb Bush's Florida Plan for School "Choice" Created an Industry of Corruption and chaos by Jeff Bryant

http://www.truth-out.org

Both are great reads and I recommend them highly. 

Did Everyone Enjoy?

Quite a few cars showed tonight. I saw a lot of school people. Didn't realize it wasn't "to honor" the neighbors after all.

And It's Just Going To Get Worse Folks

So we all know what it's currently like every morning and afternoon.

Well now imagine this....

Cheap Grub and Poor Service

I knew not very many seemed inclined to attend, but I thought there would be more than this:

Bill is Back to Reaffirm What This Blog Has Said All Along

As usual "Bill Windsor Parent" was right there ready to respond to this blog that means nothing to him:

Traffic study

October status of Traffic Study:
Windsor Academy Travel to School concern # 13142 & 13144 Looking for Crossing Guards, speed regulations, traffic signs for school that is shoehorned in at the dead end of street. 175 vehicles moving in and out. Increase to enrollment projection. No secondary egress on this property. Looking at putting No Parking signs. Will not be able to complete driveway and expansion plan. Not sue of completion date yet. Speed signs need to be put on 45th Street and 54th Ave N. Will test Collaborative agreement. Signal Warrant Study at 45th St and 54th Ave. Robert left message with asst. principal about contacting his parents to look at other means of access. Major construction in place. link: https://www.pinellascounty.org/MPO/agendas/STSC_Meeting/Sep%202014%20STSC%20Agenda.pdf

April status of traffic study:

Windsor Academy Travel to School concern # 13142 & 13144 Looking for Crossing Guards, speed regulations, traffic signs for school that is shoehorned in at the dead end of street. 175 vehicles moving in and out. Increase to enrollment projection. No secondary egress on this property. Looking at putting No Parking signs. Addition completed. They have traffic circulation under control. Still waiting for certificate of occupancy for second floor. Went from 500 to 1000 student capacity actually doubled. Speed signs need to be put on 45th Street and 54th Ave N. Will test Collaborative agreement. Signal Warrant Study at 45th St and 54th Ave. Robert left message with asst. principal about contacting his parents to look at other means of access.
http://www.pinellascounty.org/mpo/agendas/STSC_Meeting/STSC%20agenda%20Apr%202015.pdf

Joke of the day...traffic enforcement

ENFORCEMENT
Enforcement may be considered education through experience due to lack of knowledge, error, or careless behavior on the part of the driver, bicyclist, motorcyclist, or pedestrian. Being cited for a moving traffic violation or receiving a ticket is certainly learning the hard way.

The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO)(hahahahahahahahaha), the Florida Highway Patrol (FHP), and 13 municipal law enforcement agencies are responsible for upholding and implementing Florida traffic laws. (That was the funniest punchline ever, huh?)

(Note: other jurisdictions actually do enforce traffic laws...guess their wives aren't the assistant to the Principal like our great ,helpful Deputy Dressbeck's wife is. But that isn't a conflict of interest, huh?)

Such law enforcement covers 25 jurisdictions within Pinellas County . The MPO works with law enforcement by providing traffic crash data which assists them in determining the possibility of placing officers at high crash locations.

Parts of the above taken from the Pinellas County Metropolitan Planning Organization SCHOOL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY COMMITTEE AGENDA WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2014 :
https://www.pinellascounty.org/MPO/agendas/STSC_Meeting/Sep%202014%20STSC%20Agenda.pdf

Dangerous Dogs

 Has anyone seen those huge, scary looking German Shepherds  that run loose occasionally? They were running in the drop off circle the other day.
 Can you imagine if  dog that size were to have bitten or knocked down a child or a teacher?!
 They are a real menace, and potentially very dangerous.
 My neighbor tells me they run loose all the time and have even knocked someone down before, injuring them.
  Seems the owner ( if he was the responsible type..or at least the type who could handle large dogs like that) would care more.
  Wonder if animal control, or the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office would care????

Same old, same old

It's nice to know that things never change with the assholes at the "F" school Windsor Prep :)

I only wish we had all been told that the inconsiderate staff and parents bought our neighborhood when they started taking our tax dollars to fund their failure charter school.

Typical

 Was talking to a neighbor who recounted a fairly typical experience that happened to them Thursday.
  Seems they were driving home around 1p.m, maybe a little before. When they were waiting at a stop sign (three way stop) to turn onto 46th st, a small yellow hatchback was approaching the opposing stop sign.
 In typical "F" school Windsor Prep Academy parent/driver fashion, the yellow car blew through the stop sign, nearly clipping the front end of said neighbors car ( who had right of way). The yellow hatchback then proceeded to roll through the stop sign turning off of 46th st onto 52nd ave., and then rolled through the stop sign turning off of 52nd. st. onto 45th street.
  Now kids...can we all guess where they were headed? Ding ding ding..winner winner chicken dinner...you guessed right. They went straight into the "F" school Windsor Prep's parking lot.
  I wonder if  the "I own the road so rules don't apply to me" yellow car's driver drives like that when they have their child in the car, or if they just save that behavior for when they are driving alone, and disrespecting other people's neighborhoods?
  Thank goodness it was during school hours so no kids were out, but there could easily have been one of the many elderly neighbors walking, or perhaps the gentleman who walks his grandchild in the stroller, or folks walking their dogs...any number of people or situations...and the obnoxious little yellow car would probably just keep rolling right on up into the obnoxious "F" school Windsor Prep's parking lot.
The sad thing is if one of these inconsiderate jerks were to hit someone, would the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office even care? Probably not ( unless there was a way to garner some positive publicity for the agency)  since they haven't cared so far.

Haven't disappeared

I've been so busy working on something that I have slowed down a bit. Rest assured progress is being made on something and it takes a lot of my attention. I still have to load the videos and pictures I have and I have a good post coming up.
There should be some good activity this weekend.
Meanwhile...has anyone noticed the ugly paint scheme. While the colors didn't look so awful on the one story building, on the two story you really can see how similar the tan/golden color is to baby poo at certain times of day. Perhaps it didn't seem so bad on the smaller building because it was shaded by trees. Unfortunately all the trees had to be bulldozed so that the eyesore could be constructed. 41,500 square feet of baby poo  and burgundy hideousness. Lol.
Also...when did the "F" school, Windsor Prep's fearless leader Mrs Jessica Clements promise these parents that the building would be ready? Because we are well into October and the property and building are still a mess. Just wondering.

Today's Joke

How many teachers does it take to make Windsor Preparatory Academy a D, C, B, or A school?

Who Knows? They haven't hired them yet.

Hahahahahaha

***** Windsor Prep "F" School extraordinaire*****

Another neighbor fighting back a bit

Here's what some of us have to do to ensure that we are able to get out of our driveways. We park at the ends of them:

Tit for Tat

  Another fun thing in dealing with the "F" grade charter school Windsor Preparatory Academy is how the staff, and a couple of the parents seem to relish the idea of "getting you back" for speaking out against this school, and standing up for your neighborhood.

Has anyone noticed that the school has built the Dumpster containment practically in the next door neighbors front yard? The cafeteria will be in the new building, so logic would dictate that the dumpsters would be better over on that side of the school, perhaps back by the exit so that it would be easy for the Garbage trucks to reach them, and so the unpleasantness would be removed from both the residential area, and from the drop off/pick up circle.  Now the neighbors have the noise of the truck to look forward to, along with the accompanying stench, and possibly rodents that the dumpsters will bring or attract. NICE HUH? Do any of you people who hate us neighbors want that in your yard? Volunteers? No? 

  To make it even better, neighbors have had Code Enforcement called on them, property damaged that the school now refuses to repair and which they caused, harassment at work and in our yards, lies told about us to County Officials, and to parents at the school. It's been quite the roller coaster ride...and for what?

  Because no one wants to admit there is a traffic issue?  Because they feel they should not have to do anything to integrate peacefully into this neighborhood?  Because they don't want to just do the right thing and help the neighborhood they chose to invest in? Because the people who have lived in this neighborhood for years...well before this school, or any other even existed, do not matter? Because they are not concerned for the safety of the children who walk to the school either? Because selfish, self absorbed people do not care what they do to others? Or is it because they just don't want to be decent? It just proves money is the only bottom line that matters for the school...in fact for all Charter Schools.

  They post on their Facebook page  (  https://www.facebook.com/pages/Windsor-Prep/229033617173599?ref=br_tf  )  all of these rules and please don'ts, such as no parking in the culdesac across the street, yet that is where staff direct parents to "stage during afternoon pick up". They say if parents don't follow these rules then they will face consequences...and yet they do not even attempt to enforce them or chastise parents who break the rules. So clearly they do not care. When they direct people to stage in the culdesac, it literally traps people who live on the culdesac from getting out, and prevents  us from being able to get in. That is NOT right, no matter how you look at it.

  Pinellas County dropped the ball when they didn't do any kind of impact study, or seek input from the residents of the surrounding neighborhood.  The school purchased the property they are on, and charged full steam ahead with the construction/expansion, knowing full well the limitations of the property, and how the limited roadways would be impacted. They did not care. Now there is not even a sports field for the older kids, let alone parking space to accommodate the influx of cars. It's wonderful when there's a school event and the cars line our roadways, block us in, etc.

We neighbors along 53rd avenue, 52nd avenue, and on the two culdesacs are now banding together to stand up to this. Sharing our stories has been enlightening to say the least. What this school, and some of the parents have put us through is unbelievable. Elderly, and sick people literally threatened and insulted for asking people to not block their driveway or to not park in their yards!? How is that right?!

  What is especially sad is that  someone in the neighborhood, who's in the position to have helped, or who could at least have referred our concerns to the right people, had a neighbor emailing him pictures and imploring him to help with the traffic and parking issues through the agency he works for. Sadly, he could not have cared less  than his agency does. Of course his child attends the school too.

  So, now it's tit for tat, neighbors at odds, harassment, personal attacks, heels dug in. Remember that ALL of us have at least a little glass on our houses..even those who think they have an advantage. And when you are snapping pics over fences in the middle of the night, and using old contacts to try and get someone in trouble or fired, making people move their landscapes of thirty years or more, etc, it pretty much shows your character. What a shame that's how some are choosing to be. After all, at the end of the day character is what matters. Did  you stand up for what's right? Did you care about, or help your friends, neighbors, and community? No you did not. 

 And all of this over a glorified traffic complaint that the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office, and the school, could have mitigated last year before it got so out of hand.

Another article regarding Pinellas County scrutinizing Windsor Prep the "F" School

I just read this column regarding Charter Schools. I think it's a good read. I really like how he points out:

"It goes on to say that a school’s charter is reviewed periodically and can be revoked if guidelines on curriculum and management aren’t followed or if certain standards aren’t met. At a recent meeting of the Pinellas County School Board, four charter schools — University Preparatory Academy, Windsor Preparatory Academy, Newport Pinellas Academy and Alfred Alder Academy — were examined closely and put on notice that their performances were below average at best.

According to the Florida Department of Education, there are now nearly 600 charter schools in the state with a collective enrollment of more than 200,000 students. Following the movement started by former Gov. Jeb Bush, the Legislature has been supporting “school choice” to give parents alternatives when they’re not satisfied with traditional public schools. Bush also supported vouchers for students if they had attended an F school the previous year, which even could be used for private schools, but a court decision put a halt to it — for now."

Does this mean you can get vouchers to not attend Windsor Preparatory Academy? It is after all an "F" school. 

From the article:

"Which is why I’m glad the Pinellas school board is keeping a close eye on the county’s charters, especially those that perform no better than any other D or F public school.

Superintendent Mike Grego conceded that the whole concept of charters “was once an innovative, let’s-see-what-we-can-learn-from-them situation.”

Indeed, charter schools are a work in progress, but if the students aren’t  progressing any better than they would in a traditional public school, why bother?"

Yes, why bother? How is this school going to bring up it's grade? Recently a lot of charters have been scrutinized for their practice of dis-enrolling ( is that even a word?) kids. They kick out the underperforming, problem kids ( watch out you parents with kids who act up or are ADHD), etc. Public schools can't do that. They have to work with your child and develop a plan to help them. Charter Schools like Windsor Prep don't have to.

You can find the article here:

http://tbo.com/list/columns-jbrown/second-look-at-charter-schools-20140928/?fb_comment_id=fbc_698194286942836_698298456932419_698298456932419#f34a395a88