macgruff - What's your point?

I know this is a little late in the game, but it appears as if there was a bit of impropriety on the part of Mr. Keirns. Check out his CCAP entry filed yesterday:

http://wcca.wicourts.gov/caseDetails.do;...

I worked in government as do education employees. When the crap goes down the weakest link gets the ax never the management. They NEVER take responsibility for their actions or the lack of. Trust me there are allot of school employees that need replacing but it never happens because as long as the management is not embarrassed by the wrongdoing comming to light, it's business as usual. Only when it becomes evident that it will get out into the public knowledge do they take actions. Burton is just as guilty but the cover up is to get rid of the lineworker or the weakest link who takes the "blame" while the manager takes the "bow". The school districts all need to get rid of allot of mangers and hire more workers. The educational system is top heavy with management as to cover themselves with layer after layer of management so they can always go down the line claiming "not me" till they get to the weakest to take the fall. Replace many of them and then hold management accountable for their job duties FIRST.

"Any person that would contact the gazette after he was "fired" and/or resigned to air his dirty laundry is not a professional and never will be."
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Sometimes, especially in the public realm, that is what it takes in order for the truth to get out.
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So far we have heard only what Bunton wants us to hear.

localboysince1968 - great point. If the problem was a funding issue, the Director of IT has to have the persuasion and presentation skills necessary to make the case to the board, etc.
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I just hope the school board doesn't pay an outside search firm $26,000 to refer a replacement !

Gosh, imagine that...the B.O.E. actually firing someone for incompetence. If they really had the nerve, there are several people that should also have gotten the axe over the years. They usually wait until the bad apple retires.

At anytime, did the IT manager assess his system and notify upper mngt the need for additional funding, or support? You would think the first thing the IT manager would do coming in, was review his whole system and identify any support or gaps in the system, and notify the district in a report. If they then ignored, or declined to give him the support he needed, he then has covered his behind, and when or if he was blamed for any breech of the system and fired, he could seek legal assistance for being terminated under wrong pretense. I don't know this Brandon, but maybe he was inexperienced enough to do the incoming assessment and present his report to the district. I think he will learn now. That is part of becoming experienced.

I have read all the comments and I can say after working limitly with the man good bye and good riddance. Any person that would contact the gazette after he was "fired" and/or resigned to air his dirty laundry is not a professional and never will be. Doug Bunton is a good man and people in this town should stop thinking that the employees of the district have always got an agenda or are looking for a "scapegoat". This was a virus that happened and the district was not prepared, totally separate from wether Mr Keirns is or was a good manager - which he was not! Get over it!

Frusion, I'm with you as I stated in an earlier post on the previous article from yesterday. Again, there is no true acceptance of responsibility by any of these people who are supposed to be working for the public and most important the advancement and learning abilities of our children, not to mention being role models.

Flipside, I agreee with you, although the IT Manager may have made a serious mistake, there is no way that he is the sole problem, having worked in a similar position before and knowing how the education systems work (heck any organization) budgeting and big spending doesn't just happen at one person's judgment, and if it did or does, well, that unearths a bigger problem. Not to mention as I posted earlier too in agreement with you - finding a replacement is going to be a difficult process and hopefully that replacement knows the disaster they are getting themselves into.

I refuse to judge or comment on the qualifications, experience and so on of the individuals involved, because quite honestly I don't know that information. I could have a PhD in Chemistry and still blow up the lab. A degree or certification is only as good as the person behind it. I do agree with you though, justsaynotomath, that you get what you pay for (even though I don't know the salaries of these folks), there is a reason certain folks 'cost' more than others - they (not to mention their current employer) feel they are worth it (and are probably right).

Somewhere along the line someone said something about needing an evaluation of the department. I think it stems further than that and just like the Majik years of the Packers, some serious reconstructing of the team needs to occur. The number of staff is irrelevant to the quality or amount of work they can take on. The oversight of the by the administration is only as good as the amount of involvement they have and the list goes on. I revert back to my earlier comments on yesterday's post and again say that these people need to step up to the plate and take responsibility, quit pointing fingers and work as a team to restore order and some bit of confidence in regards to the technology in the district.

justsaynotomath,

I agree with your statement that "cheap is not the way to go for this position or you end up with this outcome." However, free solutions are not always the best route to go for an enterprise solution. They often times have limitations. At other times, what is free to you as a home user is not free to a school district or company. The licensing for products such as Avast for example are free to home users, but are not free for a business or government office to use.

This is why I would never take a public IT job. You get what you pay for. Increase the salary or you will get more inept individuals in these leadership positions.

I'll have my resume in today

JSNTM-Thanks for my laugh of the day.

How does one spell 'scapegoat' in Janesville?

"Brandon Keirns, who had worked for the district less than a year..."

Did he have the funding to do what was needed?

Did he have the support to do what was needed?

Was he given the AUTHORITY to do what was needed?

Was he issued a target to wear on his shirt when he joined the district?

What a shame...

Good luck finding a replacement. Anyone with the skills and abilities needed for the job is certainly smart enough to RUN from this.

frusion - you are correct. Two of my three kids lost school work because of the district's issues. This is more than a Keirn's issue - it starts at the bottom and goes all the way up the ladder. Who is at the top that is ultimately responsible? Doug Bunton - the school board should look at his lack of action while the problem was occuring.

The school board has set a interesting precedent with this action. They have now shown an ability to terminate for incompetence. Do they have the will to sustain this new-found ability and aim their terminating power at other less than competent employees? Or does it take embarrassing publicity repeated over an extended period of time for the board to decide to pull its trigger?

What about Doug Bunton? Am I the the only one that sees a slippery guy that is not standing up to the plate? Correct me if I missed it but has this guy stood up at all and said I am sorry this happened. It was under my watch and I missed the fact the house of cards was caving in. And how about an apology to me as a parent for the fact I have not been able to monitor my children's grades. And how about an apology to the teachers for the inconvenience and lost productivity. And how about an apology to my son in his programming class because he lost his project on your v drive. Anything Mr. Bunton? Am I the only one that thinks you hold some responsibility at all toward this? One last thing Mr. Bunton, use who you want on your staff as a scapegoat, but YOU are lucky you are not in the private sector because you have been sent packing several weeks ago.

Or maybe DuWayne was just being symbolic when he said he was "fired", because when somebody forces you to resign, even though it's technically not being fired, for all practical purposes you're basically fired. The only difference is that now when Keirns applies for his next job he can say he resigned instead of being fired (although since his "resignation" is public I don't see what difference that would even make).

"Oh Rob"

You can resign AND be fired. (I remember Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore doing that to each other back in the day.) The contract termination may not have been official until it was approved by the board. Or Keirns could have resigned with an oral statement but not a written one. It depends on the contract.

The article clearly states: "Brandon Keirns, who had worked for the district less than a year, told The Janesville Gazette last week that he was given the option of resigning or being terminated. He resigned."
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How then can Severson say "The gentleman is fired."