Trails in the Sand by Peter Traciet, the Street Detective
The sand is soft but Peter’s back is bent and his feet are digging in slowly and surely making progress.
It appears that groping is a common theme with the Broward School Board. Another Board member has been accused of groping and this time the accusation is coming from a student. The last time an accusation occurred was between a Board member and an adult employee who later claimed to not be offended. Ol’ Pete questions whether the employee was even in a situation where he could safely be offended considering the groping came from his boss’s boss. It appears nothing has happened to address this particular Board member’s inappropriate workplace behavior. Ol’ Pete is thinking that may change now that this new accusation has reared its ugly head.
The most recent accusation is not as clear. Ol’ Pete is told that a Board member greeted a student with physical touch and the student later reported that he had been groped. The Board member doesn’t deny touching the student as a part of greeting but vehemently denies anything inappropriate with the physical interaction. Unlike with the first accusation, Pete is hearing the Board is actually paying attention to it and is scheduled to address it publicly at a Board meeting. The Detective believes that an accusation of groping a student is a serious deal that must be taken seriously. The Board member denies the accusations and is characterizing it as a witch hunt because of her vocal stand on parental rights issues.
Peter has popcorn and a slurpee on standby because this exchange ought to prove beyond interesting.
As Ol’ Pete surfed the internet, a response from Board member Jeptha “Jeff” Holness popped onto the screen. Holness was able to provide credible proof that he graduated from Nova Southeastern University (NSU) with a doctorate in 2005. Holness even shared pictures of his doctorate degree and of him walking across the stage shaking the president’s hand.
Still muddy and unclear is whether he graduated from Dillard High School. Holness posted passing scores from a high school assessment in October 1988. Unless his diploma was conferred in December, how could he have been a 1988 graduate from Dillard? The Detective reviewed a partially covered document that indicates that Holness graduated from a Broward school in June 1989; however, the majority of the document was covered up with only the top portion in clear view. the Street Detective is wondering what is it that he is hiding? Clearly a man with a doctorate is not shy to share the entire transcript of his high school matriculation. Something in the milk jug aint clean. There are even more questions that Holness needs to address.
Is it 1988 or 1989? What sitting Board Member forgets the year they graduated from high school?
Why does no one know or can recall Holness?
Is there someone that Holness knows who can come forward and vouch for him being there…. a fellow student, teacher or other employee?
Why is Manchester High School in Jamaica claiming Holness as an alum and why didn’t Holness address and clear this up?
Why is Holness claiming Manchester High School if he actually graduated from Dillard? Holness con-veniently claimed to be a Dillard alum while running for a District 5 seat, yet he is credited for major support and fundraising for his 30th high school class reunion for Manchester High School, not Dillard High? No one recalls Holness from the late 1980s as a Panther and no one recalls him participating in the last 30 years in any alumni activities. Yet, he professes to be a proud Dillard graduate.
Holness was a generous donator for Manchester High but as a proud Dillard alum, he has not been a frequent visitor or supporter of the school nor his 1988 or 1989 class.
With all this mud, it’s no wonder Holness’s legitimacy as a Panther is in question and will remain in question.
Ol’ Pete is just reporting the news and doesn’t want a sandstorm from nobody.
You be the judge.
Meanwhile, Ol’ Pete will continue dragging these Blue and Gray sands in search of Real Panthers.
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