Trials In The Sand By Peter Traceit, The Street Detective
Ol Pete’s not sleep. The trails are picking up because schools in session. Pete’s nostrils were filled with the smell of bus fumes on Monday as they cranked up and began picking up children all over Broward county. Rumor is that New Pete(Superintendent) was on one of those busses and he rode happily to his first of several school stops.
New Pete stood in front of the press at the end of the day and proudly represented Broward as the new Super. Ol Pete thought namesake represented well at the podium as he recalled his day with leading lady, Lori Alhadeff at his side.
Ol’ Peter Traceit is not just focusing on what happens in the classroom but is taking a careful sleuth at what’s happening outside classroom instruction. Traceit uncovered some dirt around construction about a month ago. This construction business is so convoluted and dirty, The Detective is still actively beating the pavement trying to clear the path.
Pete’s latest news is Broward schools is secretly putting together its plan to “right-size” or “repurpose” about five schools. The words they use are right-size and repurpose, but the bottom line is they intend to close some schools that are supposedly under enrolled. Ol Pete has spent some time on the district’s website and there aren’t many schools in the district that are at or near capacity. There are dozens upon dozens of schools from elementary, middle, and high that don’t have enough students, yet sources are telling Ol Pete that the schools making the short list for closure are all in Black neighborhoods. Schools out west like Silver Shores Elementary that is seriously under enrolled hasn’t made the closure list. And to add insult to injury, there has been nothing, to Pete’s knowledge, to engage the affected Black community around these school closures. Black folk are sleeping through the revolution and Broward district is grateful for the ignorant slumber.
As Ol ‘ Pete studies the names of schools on the secret list, what comes to mind is “follow the money”. The land on the east side of Fort Lauderdale is premier and developers will be chomping at the bit for these properties. Black schools on the east side of Fort Lauderdale sit on prime property and this will drive the decision to close these schools, and not under enrollment. You heard it first from Ol’ Pete. Broward schools is looking for money to continue squandering away on bad construction deals and the Black schools are just the properties that will pay heftily.
The question swirling in Ol Pete’s mind is how much of this money will be reinvested in schools that remain open in the neighborhood that these students will be rerouted to? Every penny of profit should be reinvested in the same community these right sized and repurposed schools are in. The Street Detective doubts it and Black folk are sleep on it.
There will be some disrespect that I hope the Black community is ready for.
If you recall, the district went through a similar process about a dozen or so years ago when it closed Arthur Ashe Middle School and made the community all sorts of promises about providing Workforce opportunities to community residents. Not one report has been published with data to support this closure and repurposing of Ashe. In fact, every single time Ol Pete drives down 19th Street and glances over, the memory of the school district paving over the tennis courts to make parking spaces for employees makes my eyebrows curl up.
It appears Pete ain’t the only one digging up dirt. Is it possible that the President of the Broward Teachers Union would pull out all the stops and not leaving a stone unturned if she is searches for dirt on Black principals? Black on Black crime is real because The Detective is told some are tapping the shoulders of Blacks to help destroy Blacks… but what’s new. There is a very sickening pathology among Black people that stems all the way back to slavery with the House and Field Negro. Watch Django Unchained for a deep down and dirty understanding of how some cunning white folks have been able to tap into Black folk with low morals and low self-esteem and convince them to work against those they call their brother or sister.
It’s prescribed beautifully in the Lynch papers. Pick up a copy and read it.
Ol Pete is here to expose the dirt and it doesn’t matter who is unclean. It could be Black folk, White folk, Old folk, Young folk, Friend folk or Foe folk or LGBTQIA+ folk . It you’re dirty, look for Ol’ Pete to expose you.
