I don't care if the person/persons responsible are here still or retired/gone. Whoever is responsible for this should be held accountable.

brwe, what your not getting is that the board signed up for the role of overseeing the school administration processes. That is precisely why they are there, to provide the checks and balances needed to ensure the system works for the benefit of students and taxpayers. To say they don't have responsibility towards this issue is just not accurate. Pay or no pay, the people on a board like this know what they are getting in to. Many times it will be a thankless job but to serve on a board is a duty some people choose to accept full well knowing the only thing they are going to get out of it is self satisfaction and an occasional thank you. And in this case public ridicule because they didn't do what they promised when they ran for the position.

theone......You might want to get your facts straight before you comment. The only ants crawling around are the ones that are obviously between your ears.

It's been my understanding (but let me know if I'm in error)that the school board is unpaid & is part-time--whereas the administration is well-paid (my opinion), full-time, & actually ADMINISTERS the school district on a daily basis (hence, the name). Should the administration choose to be less than forthcoming with information needed by the board to make their decisions, it seems idiotic to say they're equally at fault. If you can find several all-knowing citizens to replace the current board members, go for it!

badger4life, it certainly does matter who is to blame. It's thinking like yours that allows for laziness and lack of accountability. It DOES matter who is at fault.

Does it really matter who is to blame? It never should happen in the first place. The checks and balances system between the district and the board is non existant. The new administration is always blaming the past administration. However, the current school board has been around for quite some time and has been involved with both administrations. If know one is checking on things or overseeing things, ultimately the same mistakes/errors will continue. Perhaps it's time to vote this spring for a few new members!

Don't worry about the money though, they can just take it out of the "Fund Balance" like they do for all the other mistakes, errors, miscalculations, etc, etc.

brwe, how we can blame them is in accountability. The board and administration should have been receiving report-outs on the status and health of the project. In the case of the board you can't let them off the hook with "no news is good news". They are equivalent to the project sponsor role like you would find in a professionally project managed project. Where I work you'd be shown the door with this kind of irresponsibility.

How can you blame the board when no one ASKED for their approval?

There is always extra money built into the contract bid for extras.....WHO was overseaing OUR money . Obviously no one....WE should be furious about this..It is OUR money that is being spent and lining others pockets, when we can least afford it.

NVgrf is a former Janesville teacher who transformed into a Gazetteextra website troll.

He's kinda like those little ants that always show up at a picnic.

NVgrf, long end of the deal? It's the kids that will pay for this so not holding to the project budget has NO one coming out on the long end of the stick. You sound like someone that would run up your credit card with no regard to the fact it needs to be paid off at some point.

Finally, kids coming out on the long end of the deal. In education lately it has been the other way around.

I voted OTHER on the poll.

- The project manager should have been doing report outs on the status of the project. That includes not only the progress of the work but also project spending It is the PM's job to make SURE there are no surprises

- Administration and board should have been on their toes to makes sure they were listening to the status of the project that would have included work progress and spending.

Blame? If your child was sneaking out at night and then telling you that they slept like a baby, do you blame the child or the parent? Does it matter? The policy and oversight MUST be put in place to avoid ever letting one hand not know what the other is doing (or not doing for that matter). Unfortunately, the previous Finance Director left June 30, 2009 and the Comptroller left in November, 2009. So...regardless of wanting to fire the whole group, it is pretty evident that programs will likely suffer instead because the money was moved without permission or discussion of the School Board. In any economic time $3 million is a ton of loot, but right now, it may as well be the entire project!

Sorry- you're right granpa. My bad.

Outrageous!

outragous!

There is absolutely NO excuse for a 3.6 million dollar over spending.

Administration and school board members need to be held accountable. Tim Cullen is mad about it? I bet. To the media I'm sure he is to save face...he's laughing all the way to the bank behind closed doors.

With GM gone and the county in the shape its in let alone Janesville, who is gonna pay for it?

Oh that's right, the kids!