Monday, July 23, 2012

Bonnie Cerace Threatened to Kill Man with Gun – Police Report

TGS Watch has acquired an Irving Police Department incident form for an Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon incident on Sunday, March 7, 1982. The report indicates it was filed on April 1, 1982 and referred to a Dallas County Grand Jury. Beyond that, there is no indication as to the final disposition of this case.



The report indicates that Bonnie Cerace, current principal at The Galloway School in Friendswood, Texas, attracted the attention of the Irving Police Department by allegedly “pointing [a] gun at [complaintant G.A. Fritz], threatening to kill him.”



TGS Watch believes this matter is the same incident TGS Watch reported earlier where Irving Police referred an Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon charge against Ms. Cerace to the Dallas County Grand Jury. Both the Irving Police Department document and the related Dallas County Court document contain the same serial/case number 11545. Even after examining both official documents, the final disposition of the case is unclear.



A supporter of The Galloway School claims to have knowledge about this matter, but some of it contradicts official police records.  The TGS supporter specifically denied that the incident involving Ms. Cerace involved the use of a gun despite the Irving Police Department report.  Secondly, the TGS supporter suggested that at least one child was present when Ms. Cerace committed the acts leading to the Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon grand jury referral.  TGS Watch has no evidence contradicting the claim that one or more children were present at the Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon scene.

Parents need to evaluate whether The Galloway School is an appropriate place to send their children when the principal has been accused with Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon, particularly when children may have been present during the incident.  TGS Watch takes the physical safety of young school children very seriously and would not enroll Jr. TGS Watch or Younger Brother TGS Watch in a school where people in leadership positions have these kinds of allegations in their past.  Recall, too, that Ms. Cerace has reported on-going threats, including an incident at The Galloway School described by the Friendswood Police Department as a Terroristic Threat in 2011.  A reasonable person may conclude that The Galloway School does not adequately protect the physical safety of its students.

Area public schools provide a more rigorous academic program while simultaneously providing more transparency regarding its school safety / background checks processes.

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Comment Moderation

TGS Watch has been extremely tolerant with respect to the comments. In fact, TGS Watch has only deleted one comment.  In a comment left by an ardent supporter of The Galloway School, the author identified some children and where they may be located.  We determined that this comment violated basic internet security, and we deleted it. It was an easy call to remove the offending comment.

Over time, though, the comments have degenerated into an incoherent mess dominated by personal attacks.  This will not continue.  We will immediately begin deleting comments that are not related to the topic of the main post.  Going forward, if you'd like to comment on the HISD ethics investigation of The Galloway School Board President Dot Woodfin, please seek out a post related to your comment.  Likewise, if you'd like to comment on the Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon allegation against The Galloway School principal Bonnie Cerace, please make that comment on an appropriate post.




TGS Watch will not change the settings on comments so that they must be pre-approved, but we will not hesitate to remove comments we determine to be off topic or a personal attack on anyone.  We reserve the right to change the settings at any time, and our decisions are final.

Please continue to make topical comments on appropriate threads.  We will not delete comments based on their point of view -- we will only delete them if they are off topic or contain personal attacks.  Thank you for your understanding.

==

*** UPDATE ***
June 12, 2012
11:14 p.m. CDT


TGS Watch has received a special request from a long time reader and vociferous supporter of The Galloway School to remove all comments left by her in addition to any comments referencing her name. We here at TGS Watch respect our readers and commenters, and whatever reason she had for her request, we have decided to honor it. Readers may notice a large number of comments have been removed by the administrator. These comments were removed in deference to this request.

TGS Watch extends this offer to any supporter of The Galloway School who has a similar change of heart or any other commenter. Please contact the blog administrator and we will ensure that your comments are also removed.

~TGS Watch

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Dot Woodfin Admits Ethical Violation

Dot Woodfin, the Board President and CEO of The Galloway School engaged in a Q & A session answering questions related to the Houston ISD ethics investigation that found her to have very real conflicts of interest involving the sale of MindOH! character education software to HISD schools while she was an employee of the HISD and also owning a significant stake in the company selling MindOH! software. TGS Watch provides some of Ms. Woodfin's statements.

Dot Woodfin Admits Ethical Violation

Ms. Woodfin outright agrees that she violated a conflict of interest provision in a state statute. Ms. Woodfin seems to be under the impression that her ignorance of the ethical standard means that there was no violation of the standard.
Q: Do you agree that [HISD's] finding that there is a conflict of interest in violation of the statement government code was wrong ...

Ms. Woodfin: Had I had knowledge of the protocol of this policy, I would agree ...

Q: Which protocol are you talking about? Standard Practice Memorandum 4168?

Ms. Woodfin: The one that you're speaking of here, which I -- if a person owns 10 percent or more of the voting stock or shares of a business entity, prior to this, I had no knowledge of that.
This ethical violation relates to Ms. Woodfin's 12% ownership in a company named MindOH! LLC. While Ms. Woodfin was an HISD employee, this company earned nearly $200,000 in revenue from the school district. HISD investigators determined that this was a conflict of interest. We are shocked to see Ms. Woodfin suggest that her ignorance of this ethical standard is a mitigating factor.

::

Dot Woodfin Fails to Comply with Houston Independent School District Standards

Below are several examples of HISD standards that Ms. Woodfin failed to comply with:

HISD Standard:
"If an administrative employee of HISD or a member of his or her immediate family is an officer, agent, or a member of or owns a substantial legal or beneficial interest in any corporation, firm, partnership or other business entity doing business with HISD or its affiliate organizations, he or she shall file a sworn statement with the HISD Board of Education Secretary disclosing such interest."

Ms. Woodfin admits she never filed the required statement:
Q: Did you ever file a sworn statement with the HISD Board of Education Secretary disclosing your interest in MindOH!?

Ms. Woodfin: No.

--

HISD Standard:
"It is strongly suggested for the protection of the administrator that any administrator having any interest, regardless of how small, seek written clarification concerning possible conflicts of interest."

Again, Ms. Woodfin admits that she didn't seek the recommended clarification of this HISD Standard:
Q: Is it true that you never sought written clarification concerning your possible conflict of interest between your involvement in MindOH! and your position at HISD?

Ms. Woodfin: Yes.

--

HISD Standard:
"It is recommended that any administrative employee in doubt about a potential conflict of this nature [transactions with other entities in which the employee has a position or interest] seek written clarification concerning any transaction or potential transaction which might create a conflict of interest."

You get the idea. Ms. Woodfin admits she didn't bother to get this clarification either:
Q: It's true that you never sought written clarification concerning any transaction or potential transaction with MindOH! with respect to whether it might create a conflict of interest?

Ms. Woodfin: Yes.

::

Ms. Woodfin Doesn't Understand Accountability Systems

Long after Ms. Woodfin was in the eye of the metaphorical ethical storm that culminated in an unflattering article in the Houston Chronicle, Ms. Woodfin still did not understand the ethical standards HISD accused her of violating. This lack of knowledge suggests to TGS Watch that Ms. Woodfin had little interest in learning about the ethical standards.
Ms. Woodfin: I don't understand these [HISD ethics] circulars, the Accountability System, the Texas Local Government Code, Section 16 of the Special Act of 1923 because I do not know what those state.
TGS Watch believes that the Houston Independent School District is a professional organization. We've got to believe that HISD offers ethics training to its employees. Regardless, most ethical standards are common sense. We can't imagine that anyone could fail to see the MindOH! transaction as ethically dubious.1 A good employee will know when s/he is approaching the boundaries of unethical conduct and will seek clarification and advice. Ms. Woodfin seems to have a strange lack of curiosity about the ethical standards she was subject to.

==

TGS Watch is utterly amazed that not only did Ms. Woodfin fail to provide required disclosures and other clarifications, she seems to have no interest at all in ethical standards. We can only hope that things have changed at The Galloway School and that there aren't any related-party transactions between the school and Board Members / Administrative Staff. What are the chances that Ms. Woodfin even bothered to learn the Conflict of Interest policy at TGS?

==

1 Ms. Woodfin's role in the MindOH! scandal at HISD reminds TGS Watch of the corrupt acts of Andrew Fastow leading up to the collapse of Enron. Mr. Fastow was an employee of Enron Corp. and the General Partner of LJM2, Co-Investment LP. Fortunately, under Superintendent Abe Saavedra, HISD was far more sensitive to corruption in 2004-2005 than Enron was in 2001.

Saturday, June 2, 2012

Commenter: Child Present at Incident that led to Bonnie Cerace's Assault with a Deadly Weapon Charge

TGS Watch has previously provided documented evidence from Dallas County that The Galloway School principal Bonnie Cerace had been charged with Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon1. The commenter, who identifies herself as a parent2, does not provide any documentation for her story. However, she says that a young child was present during the incident that led to Ms. Cerace's charge for Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon:
A very close family members baby had been taken from the babies mom by his father. (they were in a custody battle). I can't blog to much surrounding the moms fears of the baby being in the hands of his father but it was enough to risk there lives and face grown men alone to protect him. When the mom (miss ceraces close family member) contacted the police they were told they couldn't help until she had him back. They were told to go get the baby. The mom and Miss Cerace went to Dallas to the house the baby was at and did just that. They got him back. Things turned out very ugly and was a big battle to get the baby.

Spelling and grammatical errors in original
Up front, we want to point out at least one factual inconsistency in this comment. Dallas County court records indicate that this event happened in Irving (Filing agency TX0571500 is the Irving Police Department), not Dallas. TGS Watch also finds it hard to believe that any law enforcement agency would instruct a parent to "risk there [sic] lives" in a contentious custody battle. Again, the person making this assertion provides no documentation for her version of events, so it isn't unreasonable to believe that she is embellishing the factual record.

TGS Watch finds this account of the events leading up to Ms. Cerace's charge of Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon to be utterly frightening. Why would Ms. Cerace put herself in a position where there would be a "big battle to get a baby"? In the opinion of TGS Watch, this account (if true) shows that Ms. Cerace has extremely poor judgement when it comes to the safety of children. TGS Watch wonders how any insurance company could provide liability coverage to a school if even half of the allegations found in this comment are true.

:::
1 Dallas County court records indicate that the felony Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon charge was eventually reduced to a misdemeanor. *** SEE UPDATE BELOW ***

2 The parent (a supporter of The Galloway School) who made the assertion that children were present during the event that led to Ms. Cerace being charged with Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon has requested that her name be removed from this blog. Consequently, the comment that includes this information has also been removed. TGS Watch retains the original text in electronic form. See the update at the bottom of this post for more information.

===

***UPDATE***

Please see this comment with discussion that the hard-to-decipher Dallas County court document is inconclusive regarding the disposition of this case. All we can really divine from it is that the Irving Police Department filed an Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon charge against The Galloway School principal Bonnie Cerace with Dallas County.

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Dot Woodfin: Conflict of Interest at HISD

Today, we review a 2004 draft memo (the "Memo") prepared by the Houston ISD Office of Internal Audit. This document relates to a Conflict of Interest investigation involving Dot Woodfin, the current Board President and CEO of The Galloway School.

Link: April 2, 2004 Houston ISD Memo


In 2004, Dot Woodfin was manager of Houston ISD's Character Education Department. Ms. Woodfin had co-founded a company called MindOH! which produced Character Education software. About 95% of MindOH!'s $200,000 in revenues were generated through sales to Houston ISD. HISD's internal audit department investigated the apparent conflict of interest of having a district employee's company sell a product to the district. Here are some highlights from the memo:

Mixed Reviews of Quality of MindOH! Software

It appears that the decision to purchase software similar to that which MindOH! offered was at the discretion of individual campus principals. At least two HISD principals did not see the value of MindOH! software.

A principal at Edison Middle School reported to the internal auditors that he initially used MindOH! software for two years free of charge. He dropped it because he "didn't feel the software was worth the asking price" of $5,000. (Memo, page 2)

Another principal at E.O. Smith Middle School claimed that "the reason I have the software is that it is included in the grant package and he had no choice but to use the software" (Memo, page 2). The Memo seems to indicate that this principal never made a purchase request for MindOH! software and that he did not want it. The internal auditors called Pamela Branch, the Grant Coordinator, to provide details regarding the matter. The Memo doesn't make it clear what role Ms. Branch had in the purchase of MindOH!, but it seems clear that the purchase went outside the normal process of originating at the campus level. We're left to wonder who forced MindOH! on E.O. Smith Middle School.

:::

Dot Woodfin had an Active Role in Facilitating the Purchase of MindOH! Software

We'll just let the language in the Memo speak for itself to explain this matter:
Ms. Woodfin has an actual conflict of interest because she provided advise [sic] via e-mail in the purchasing of the MindOH! software. (Memo, page 3; emphasis added)
This seems pretty clear. Ms. Woodfin advised HISD employees how to complete a purchase that she had a financial interest in.
Ms. Woodfin contacted the Purchasing Department to "speed up the process as the schools are anxious to get the program."
It looks pretty bad that Ms. Woodfin attempted to "speed up the process" to transfer taxpayer funds from HISD's checking account to an entity Ms. Woodfin had a financial interest in.

:::

Conclusions

Again, the Memo speaks for itself.

1. Prohibited acts under State of Texas rules:
Ms. Woodfin has a real conflict of interest with HISD because she acted in an administrative role to facilite the payment of MindOH! Software, and has an ownership interest in MindOH!. Grant funds were used to make the software purchase from MindOH! Th[is] is prohibited by The Financial Accountability System Resource Guide Module 1. (Memo, page 4; emphasis added)
--

2. Conflict of Interest under Texas statutes (Local Government Code):
Ms. Woodfin has a real conflict of interest with HISD because she is an employee of HISD, and an interested person because of the value of her investment in MindOH! as a founder. (Memo, page 5; emphasis added)
--

3. Conflict of Interest under HISD's Charter:
Ms. Woodfin is employed by HISD so there is a real conflict of interest, because she is directly interested in any purchase made by HISD from MindOH!. HISD has made purchases in the amount of $58,495.00 with GF1 Funds and $129,500.00 with SR1 Funds. (Memo, page 5; emphasis added)
--

Ms. Woodfin has a history of serious conflicts of interest, some of which smack of self-dealing. It is virtually impossible to acquire hard or soft copies of financials from The Galloway School. Therefore, it is almost impossible to determine if Ms. Woodfin is engaged in similar activity related to her position as Board President and CEO of The Galloway School. Tuition paying parents -- BEWARE.

Monday, May 28, 2012

Dot Woodfin: Ethics Probe

From a July 2005 article in the Houston Chronicle:
The recently retired director of a Houston ISD program that teaches students moral values is under investigation for a possible violation of the school district's ethics policy.

The inquiry into former character education manager Dorothy "Dot" Woodfin is focused on her ties to MindOH, a character education curriculum company she co-founded in June 2000 while working for the Houston Independent School District. The principals of about 30 HISD schools spent $195,995 with the company between June 3, 2002, and Oct. 29, 2004.
Dot Woodfin and a possible ethics violation. This doesn't seem to be the kind of person you'd want as Board president and CEO of The Galloway School. But that's what Ms. Woodfin is doing now.

The Chronicle continues:

HISD officials also revealed little about the investigation's progress, which grew out of a financial review of MindOH invoices last year.
Well, HISD officials may have revealed little to the Houston Chronicle, but TGS Watch has been provided with internal Houston ISD documents about this matter created by HISD's internal audit department. Documents reviewed by TGS Watch show that the following statements may not provide an accurate picture of the situation:
Woodfin didn't solicit HISD business, but made regular sales calls to other school districts ...

Top HISD officials, including former Superintendent Kaye Stripling, knew Woodfin was a part owner in the company and raised no ethical questions about the arrangement ...

Woodfin severed ties with the company last fall [2004], selling her interest in the company when Saavedra questioned whether it conflicted with her oversight duties for the school district
Stay tuned ...

Monday, May 21, 2012

Jay Aldis (Bracewell & Giuliani) writes a Dumb Letter


Bonnie Cerace throws a temper tantrum


Just a reminder to check in with Galloway School Concerned Parents on a regular basis.  There are several new posts there including a rather amusing letter from Bracewell & Giuliani's Jay Aldis, the attorney representing The Galloway School. Be sure to join the fun ... a lot of readers are having a good time with Mr. Aldis' letter in the comments.

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Bonnie Cerace: Assault with a Deadly Weapon


Mrs. TGS Watch likes to talk on the phone.

She likes to talk on the phone A LOT!

Recently, Mrs. TGS Watch found herself talking on the phone with the District Court Clerk in Dallas County. Mrs. TGS Watch talked about children. She talked about vacations. Most interestingly, during the course of the conversation, the Court Clerk informed Mrs. TGS Watch that the principal of The Galloway School, Bonnie Cerace, had been charged with Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon.


Sadly, the Court Clerk was unable to tell Mrs. TGS Watch what the final disposition of the case was. That was disappointing.

We don't believe any other school in the country has a principal who has been charged with Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon. That isn't exactly the kind of thing The Galloway School should be proud of.



===

***UPDATE***
May 11, 2012
10:10 p.m. CDT

Shortly after placing the case number of Ms. Cerace's charge for Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon in the comments, a friend of TGS Watch provided us with a court record that provides information on the disposition of the case. The record indicates that the Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon charge filed by the Irving Police Department was reduced to a misdemeanor. Furthermore, it looks like Ms. Cerace received a probated sentence. Please review the document yourself. It isn't easy to decipher, but it is a primary source.

*** FURTHER UPDATE ***

See the discussion related to this matter here. The Dallas County court document clearly indicates that The Galloway School principal Bonnie Cerace was charged with Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon. The document states:
MISDEMEANOR REDUCTION_ PROBATED SENTENCE
That said, we still find the final disposition of this matter to be inconclusive.

Sunday, May 6, 2012

Jay Aldis: Time to Wear your Wise Counsel Hat

TGS Watch understands that an attorney is both a zealous advocate and a wise counsel to his clients.  Since we aren't a party to any lawsuit with the The Galloway School, we don't have any particular insight regarding the performance of TGS attorney Jay Aldis as a zealous advocate.  That said, TGS Watch is willing to give Mr. Aldis the benefit of the doubt.  We believe Mr. Aldis has been dealt an extremely poor hand in Solt et. al. v. The Galloway School et. al., and that he is playing that poor hand as ably as he can.

But there is more to being an attorney than just zealously advocating his clients' legal position(s) in pending lawsuit(s).  A good attorney is also capable of providing wise counsel on both legal and extralegal matters.  One of Mr. Aldis' clients is The Galloway School itself.  Mr. Aldis should be representing The Galloway School in the narrow matter of the existing lawsuit as well as broader issues pertaining to The Galloway School's interests.

In the opinion of TGS Watch, the current course of events threaten The Galloway School's existence as an going concern.  In other words, there is a meaningful chance that The Galloway School may close as a result of lawsuits, management decisions, and the resulting decisions of TGS families pursuing their own interests.

Jay Aldis of Bracewell & Giuliani represents The Galloway School.  It is time (perhaps past time) for Mr. Aldis to provide the School's leadership (Board of Trustees) advice on how to navigate TGS' broader interests.  Mr. Aldis should consider it a failure if his client, The Galloway School, ceases operations and closes.  Zealously defending The Galloway School in the narrow matter of the current lawsuit (and possible future lawsuits) is absolutely necessary.  But it is not sufficient.  Mr. Aldis also needs to counsel The Galloway School as an organization on matters that affect its very survival.

Many people, the author of TGS Watch included, want The Galloway School to thrive.  In order for TGS to thrive, the current leadership needs to change its behavior in matters that extend far beyond Solt v. The Galloway School.  Sadly, we are painfully aware that the current leadership of The Galloway School is pursuing its own interests to the detriment of the school itself.  It doesn't help that Ms. Cerace has an adversarial relationship with the truth.  In fact, we wouldn't be surprised if Ms. Cerace has made untruthful statements to her attorney, Mr. Aldis.  A proper fitting of an attorney's wise counsel hat would require Mr. Aldis to address the concerns that extend beyond Solt vs. The Galloway School as well as the lawsuit itself.  Mr. Aldis, as wise counsel, must determine if he can effectively represent the interests of The Galloway School as well as the competing interests of Bonnie Cerace, Bambi Teaff and Dot Woodfin.

TGS Watch will evaluate the performance of Mr. Aldis and will continue to opine on his effectiveness on these pages.