The Clique and Buna Schools? Part 2

 I sometimes get information from people, well, I never suspect or expect to contact me. And this happened yesterday while I was trying to watch both the Texans and the Cowboys prove once again, neither is going to the Super Bowl this season./ 

I guess I need to go ahead and switch and quit American football, and switch to watching the football(Soccer for the uneducated) leagues out of the UK. I am pretty much there now, and on Sunday afternoon, catch a little nap....

But, that's neither here nor there.....

Yesterday, minding my own business, I receive a phone call during the game. And normally with strange phone numbers, I assume it is SPAM and ignore. This one had a 994 exchange, what is or was a landline in Buna, TX. 

My first thought was, " In 2026, who still has a landline?" ( My 95 year old mom has a cell phone.) 

And I answer.

This person is someone I would consider, well, " close to be in the clique." At least, they know some people. 

I thought I was going to get jumped on and chewed out......No, they did not.....

They were basically confirming something that I had heard earlier.  

It seems a number of individuals within the "Clique" are not happy with what is going on with Buna ISD leadership. 

The problems, they are stuck. Be it to save face, or economics( Everything boils down to money, more than you know.) or just what, they are saying, and is according to yesterday's source, " We have to figure out a way to ride this out." 

They are upset with the number of people leaving the school, and they know that the district is hemorrhaging kids.  

And here is a kicker, some in the clique are happy kids are leaving, " get rid of undesirables"  " keep the district small." 

While others are upset wanting Buna to grow, hoping to make a profit from it. 

Yeah, you are getting a Waffle House and I am not lying, I want to go about 3AM  on Saturday to WH, get some Pecan Waffles, some bacon, perhaps sausage,  and hope for a show. 

But people do not move to a community because you now have a Waffle House.  

Believe it or not, people sometimes move in due to the school district and if it is any good. 

And while there is disagreement, they actually are upset, both sides, pro-growth, anti-growth with the school district.....As the caller yesterday said.....

" The district just isn't the same place it was not that long ago...." 

 

This Made me Sad.....

 Very brief blog this morning.

I make no secret that I am attended seminary back in the day. Thought at one time I was supposed to go that way, but I keep going back to the Pauline statement....

 "  For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing."

                                                                                                        Romans 7:19

I was sent this in my news.

The University of Edinburgh will stop offering Bachelors and Master's degrees in Divinity.  In the UK, those are the tradition degrees needed for becoming clergy.  

No one in the UK are going into the ministry.  

Edinburgh was the major divinity school for the Church of Scotland( In America, they would be called  Presbyterians and yes, just like here, there are different denominations of Presbyterians)

Just not enough students. 

I know in this country, there are churches having a difficult time finding qualified ministers. ( Had a church even approach me, I told them " I am trying to stay out of Hell now, I will pass.")

No, the divinity school remains open at the University of Glasgow, but that city is awful. You can get your throat cut there. 

443 years of offering these courses, and now no longer offering divinity degrees.  And that is why universities were first started, to train clergy. 

It makes me sad...... 

 

Buna ISD and " The Clique" ...And the Process.....Part 1

 Brief couple of paragraphs before I go into the blog.....

Here is the process of writing, and you remember, I almost write every day. It feel funny when I do not. Most blogs are written early morning, even before " Matins" or Morning Prayer as the Anglican Church would say.... 

Second, and I suspected this already.........They read the blog in the local school administration.....To which, I say, welcome, please subscribe to the new Substack page. You may as well, we all know you're reading the blog. I got a couple of Buna ISD stories I am working on, you may not want to miss... ( I knew that there are board members who read the blog, I hear their displeasure through secondary sources.)

And get ready, or actually I should  say, I should steady myself for the blowback, as the people in Buna would have you believe that their " Clique" is as mythical as Greek gods, Aliens from Outer Space, and Bigfoot...... 

But, many of you reading this know it exists, including the writer of this blog, and once employed by the Buna ISD, it took a year, but it often rose its head for things, often imagined that I had done. 

In the last fortnight, I have heard from 4 different faculty members, different campuses, all talking about the " Clique" at Buna, especially those who have infiltrated the Buna ISD. 

I understand, at least once a semester, often more, I got in trouble with a member of the " Clique."   As a " World Famous" scientist once told me, "we are jumping from one pile of manure to another." But if you ever teach school, you'll understand trouble finds you, and it doesn't take long to find. Even when you are trying to behave yourself. 

As a former Buna ISD employee said, " I know how hurtful it can be to work hard, care for the students, and still feel that you are being judged or treated differently for reasons that have nothing to do with your work." 

Another, " I worry if my 'spouse' and I can make it without my salary, but I am done, we are not to October, and I may quit at Christmas. I may get my certificate pulled, but I can no long stand the other teachers. All from Buna, who think that they are from the community, go to XYZ Church and somehow they are special." 

And my favourite. " They are from Buna, it's not like they are a bunch of Yale or Princeton grads running around here. " 

The last one, I laughed at last one, it's Buna. I make the analogy, " It is Vidor North." I know, I grew up in Vidor, you are not any better, and in someways you are worse. You still have a place called the " Quarters." 

Again, as I have said for years, Buna in many ways is stuck in 1952. 

More stories in Part 2.  

End- Part 1  

Please subscribe to Substack..... https://thegovteachpartdeaux.substack.com/publish/post/217362671

 

  

Readers- New Information

 I am in the process of setting up a Substack site/. You have got to remember, the ole Govteach is pushing 70 his next birthday and well, technology for me, is often stuck about 1980. I can do it, but I get mad doing it. 

Why Substack?

It seems everyone and their brother is setting up on Substack from Robert Pape to John Batchelor. 

I am trying to get a podcast going plus a blog. 

Yes the website is ' The Govteach Part Deaux. ' 

 I do not know if I will go there permanently,  or have both site, or even if I will have special Substack posts. 

I know the podcast will only be on Substack. But we are not there....yet. 

My nephew has been gigging me to start a podcast, and I don't know, it might be like Tim Dillon's, me ranting and raving about everything from Buna Schools, to National U.S. Politics, to the economy, to whatever I feel like. 

Be gentle, I am going to mess up starting this new adventure, more than even I know. And I am considering having "Guest Writers" on the blog.  We will see. 

So, don't get upset when you see a blog from Substack on Facebook. It is me. 

And please, subscribe.  

If you are hardcore Baptist, don't read the sentence below.  

BTW- I am looking for a bottle of " Writer's Tears" Irish Whiskey for my Podcast set. If you see a bottle in your travels, please let me know where you saw/found it.  

 

Lots of Mail from Several Mad Buna, South Jasper County People......And, Calm Down

 I was somewhat surprised at the number of people looking to get their children out of Buna ISD. Just have " Had enough" with the as one person put it, "the shenanigans the district is pulling."

Some of these people I had in class when I was the gov/eco teacher at Buna, well, they never said a peep in class, and with this present " regime" as one called them,  they have become " Tiger Moms."

We here at the Compound have witness " Tiger Moms" in Far East Asia firsthand, and these SETX versions are mainly concerned with fair treatment of their children, and well, sorry Buna, in my years of association with you, you were the most political most "clique" district I was ever associated with, and while I was there, Magnolia ISD had a financial meltdown. 

And still, for some reason, I always had a love/hate relationship with the place.....

The people who sent me message are done. 

Some have already pulled their kids out hoping for a place in Evadale ISD, others, are looking at moving mid-year, if they can " just find one more spot." as one parent wrote. 

I know some of you are thinking violence is a solution, let me remind you, it'll only get you a free trip to the county hotel, and the accommodations are not like a 5-star Hyatt.  

And I know, the vast majority of you are just letting off steam. But take the high ground. Show some class, even it it is often hard to do so.....

 

Writing on Evadale? Some Buna Parents? Why do I Hate This Town?

 Brief blog for a Monday...

A source has told me, that the lower school addition to Evadale ISD will be done they are projecting for December. 

I was told that allegedly they will be able to start taking Buna kids on the waiting list. I know there are Buna parents who have pulled their kids out of the Buna Schools, homeschooling and waiting until opening become available in Evadale ISD.  

Right now, Evadale has the largest Freshman class it has ever had.....Take note Buna. You are already the smallest school in your UIL District.  

The new part of the Evadale upper school is scheduled to be done by March. Now that late will they accept students? 

- Finally, was asked in my PM's why I hated certain towns.

In truth, I am am ambivalent about most places. 

The only 3 towns that I really hate are....

Nederland- They were our band rivals back in the middle 1970s. 

Orangefield and later Winnie ( East Chambers)- They were our competition in district for UIL Academic Contests when I was at BHS.    

And at this point, I don't really care about them..... 

 

I Came So Close Buna-Ex's....A Question.......Louisiana......Britbox....Blue Bell?

 -The Computer decided I needed to listen to the " Mad Dogs and Englishmen" album this morning......All 2 hours.....Yeah, Joe Cocker can't sing, but the band Leon Russell together is worth a listen, and yeah, it was recorded live across America when I was in high school.....And yes, I have the 2 LPs.....Someplace.....

-Two classes as I have mentioned earlier had a 20th and a 30th reunion and I remembered a few people I taught being in those classes, I so wanted to show up and make fun of.....Trouble is, were they there? And how long before by Ulster-Irish Presbyterian mouth gets me into trouble? So, I stayed home and watched Tech and Houston. 

-The Question of the Day- A crossover from my Facebook site.....How many folks actually stayed and watched the band after the game?

- Apparently it was play a Louisiana school last night.....Buna, Deweyville, Evadale, and Vidor all played high schools from Louisiana.  

- For you with Britbox, Cooper and Fry is worth a watch, if only for the scenery. It takes place in the Peak District of Derby-shire, England but in reality, it is filmed in rural Ireland for tax reasons. The plots are okay and it is worth a watch.

Tuppence and Tommy on the other hand is pretty bad, that said, I don't care for the old TV versions either.  

- I keep telling you to keep and eye on Europe. I still look for Russian airstrike of some sort to hit German, Poland, France and possibly England..... Lots of rhetoric from both sides.....

- Is it just us, as has Blue Bell Ice Cream slipped? 2 of our last 3 half gallons were not up to Blue Bell standards. We got some Great Divide and it was good, but you can't really mess up vanilla or chocolate....

- Have a good weekend, don't plan to blog until next week.