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Post by techie on Sept 13, 2005 10:04:49 GMT -5
Good to see that the Elementary Boards for two of the schools are back up. The "back door approach" hasn't worked because the boards were shut. These Boards are back up and working which is great! But nothing was given as an answer as to why they were down. Look at the Eastplain site and go to Ms.Fallen, You will see the site is running but a space is left on the site where once was questionable material. No statment of fixing the site has been given.
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Post by rinx on Sept 13, 2005 12:30:37 GMT -5
Yes YR.. I would assume the district would have it's own dedicated email server (computer)
For not being as technically savvy as some of us you did very well.
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Post by elphaba65 on Sept 13, 2005 13:25:12 GMT -5
Great idea! Hope you get an answer. I still haven't gotten an answer to my email asking what happened to the JUNE 29 REVOTE BANNER that Rich-man said was ordered from the sign company yet never put up (across Hicksville Rd) to notify the public of the new date as the original one had been. I also asked if the school district had been refunded the money for a banner never used.
Funny you mention that, I asked the same question the day of the budget vote. I was told that Ralph Raymond had volunteered the Massapequa Fire to hang the sign. I would imagine we did not get our money back, it wasn't their fault that the sign was not put up. I guess rather than save the district money Mr. Raymond cost the district money and perhaps the passing of the budget as well.
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Post by yruohk on Sept 13, 2005 18:44:50 GMT -5
I was told that Ralph Raymond had volunteered the Massapequa Fire to hang the sign. I would imagine we did not get our money back, it wasn't their fault that the sign was not put up. I guess rather than save the district money Mr. Raymond cost the district money and perhaps the passing of the budget as well. My understanding was that the sign company was responsible to hang the banner. Maybe the info I received was wrong. Maybe there never was a sign ordered to announce the 2nd vote date? Why would Raymond cost the district money, it wasn't his responsibility to hang the banner even if he volunteered. The responsibility lays on the shoulders of the one who is at the helm.
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Post by concerned on Sept 13, 2005 20:16:43 GMT -5
Dear Members - Please post any updates you might have from the meeting tonight.
Thanks.
Concerned
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Post by techie on Sept 13, 2005 20:28:43 GMT -5
To "concerned"
It seems that a few more people took "Crazy Joe's" advice and went to the BOE meeting to get the straight "poop". Evidently that is exactly what they got when they started to ask questions. I would rather listen to a talking horse, than have something else put in my face. Of course, of course,...
Please, I know some of the people that were there post, I hope you can quickly and let us know the progress that was made. (oopps, sorry, I have to go to a closed session!)
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Post by concerned on Sept 13, 2005 20:54:48 GMT -5
Techie-Sorry. I am not getting what you are saying, but I think it is obviously intended to be with humor. I thought tonight was a "work" meeting which means "no questions". Do you know if it was well attended, or are you waiting too to hear what happened. Thanks!
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Post by techie on Sept 13, 2005 21:19:29 GMT -5
Sorry "concerned", It was an attempt at humor. The "Crazy Joe" part was in reference to the Seinfeld character "Crazy Joe DaVola". On this forum jdavola kept telling people to go right to the source to hear the "real" answers. I couldn't make it to the meeting,,but thanks to the use of cell phones I found out that the BOE was going to a private session after people started to ask obvious questions. Even if this session was a "work" session there should still have been an attempt to let the community know what was going on with the Web Sites. Ms LaPier was there and they should have let her speak to the group for a moment. With the district in the state of distrust that it is in , you would think that the BOE would use any time to give their side of the story.
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Post by Go Plainedge! on Sept 13, 2005 21:44:41 GMT -5
Sorry "concerned", It was an attempt at humor. The "Crazy Joe" part was in reference to the Seinfeld character "Crazy Joe DaVola". On this forum jdavola kept telling people to go right to the source to hear the "real" answers. I couldn't make it to the meeting,,but thanks to the use of cell phones I found out that the BOE was going to a private session after people started to ask obvious questions. Even if this session was a "work" session there should still have been an attempt to let the community know what was going on with the Web Sites. Ms LaPier was there and they should have let her speak to the group for a moment. With the district in the state of distrust that it is in , you would think that the BOE would use any time to give their side of the story. I was at the BOE meeting. Ms. Laplier did speak and informed the group of the website status. It sounded a little fishy to me and no one questioned it. I'm too tired to go into detail but will give my information tomorrow.
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Post by techie on Sept 13, 2005 21:58:22 GMT -5
Thanks for the correction"go plainedge!". My appologies to the BOE and MR. Richman for the earlier post.
I am looking forward to hearing what you gained from the meeting. What was the "fishy" feeling that you got about the explanation from Ms LaPier?
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Post by yruohk on Sept 14, 2005 2:17:31 GMT -5
What was the "fishy" feeling that you got about the explanation from Ms LaPier? I'm glad I wasn't the only one that felt this way. As for not asking any questions, it was clearly stated that the BOE format had changed from the original one in which the public was allowed to speak to the BOE being the only one at work. Typical! And the website down/hacked defense went on for approx. 20-25 minutes. Evidently this board has been monitored carefully as much of what's been questioned here about the website was addressed by her not that I think it was satisfactory. I know there's equipment in that BOE room to use so that whoever is speaking can be heard such as microphones. Guess if you can't hear you can always be told "you didn't hear right". I did take the liberty to follow LaPier out to personally ask her to be more clear as to how and why we were singled out to be "hacked". I would suggest anyone here or not here, write her for specifics. I think she might oblige some of you who are more "computer savvy" as she gave a shot at insulting me by implying that it would be over my head as what happened was too complex for me to understand. I must say, for someone who oversees the entire website setup, she did not have a clue (or so she says) that the 2nd grade website easily leads to porn. If I being not so computer literate was able to go from 2nd grade to porn so easily, then how is she the expert who hasn't a clue? How many parents at home make sure their little ones have no access to undesirable sites? What would they think if they knew little bobby or suzi had the access in school? I did mention the link on the site which is the door to cyberspace to which she acknowledged so how is it she doesn't know that's a doorway? Leaves one to wonder who's the "expert".
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Post by concerned on Sept 14, 2005 6:36:57 GMT -5
Yruohk-What do you mean the format changed? The Tuesday meeting always used to be the work session, where we couldn't get hand-outs and couldn't address the board. The Thursday meeting was open to the public and questions were allowed at the end. The Tuesday meeting used to be in the conference room and the Thursday meeting was in the BOE Area. Does this mean that Thursday's meeting is a work meeting where you can only be seen but not heard?
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Post by Go Plainedge! on Sept 14, 2005 7:04:52 GMT -5
The format changed from the SUMMER. In the summer they are a little more relaxed. Now that school is in session, they will follow the usual format (changing from the summer format) of a Tuesday work session and Thursday public session.
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Post by Go Plainedge! on Sept 14, 2005 9:42:18 GMT -5
Here is what I took away from last nights meeting. If someone has additional information, or if I misinterpreted something please feel free to add on to this. I will add my personal opinions after each item. Let’s start with the website because I know people are very anxious to hear about this
1. Ms. LaPier was invited into the meeting to explain what happened to the site and what the current status is. She explained that when she first came to the school, she didn’t have any web experience. She also said that she wasn’t really familiar with a Windows environment because she was very focused on open source/Linux and PHP scripting (what the site is built on). The school at the time had a contract with someone to maintain the website and with her now employed they felt it be best that she take over that responsibility. They needed a server to host the site and she offered her server as she was familiar with it.
The server was hacked by (they think) someone in Germany because the content that was left behind was in German. The server (box) was used to host video content. The database files (which the site is built on) were not altered or deleted.
At the same time the other servers went down in the basement (Tarentella/Wingate and Isabel) and that there were issues with those. Apparently there were accounts that were not password protected and “hackers” were able to access the sites and use the servers for their own purposes. These other servers deal with the email and Powerschool, etc.
The solutions were as follows: Get a redundant firewall and slowly work with the teachers and administration to change their passwords to ones that are more difficult to detect or crack. Ms. LaPier stated that “.org” and non profit websites are usually targeted as the hackers know that the non-profit organizations don’t have the resources of a full tech department and it makes them an easy target.
OK , here are my questions that NO board member asked. I can somewhat understand that some of them don’t know computer technology. However, some claim to have many years of technical experience.
1. Where is the back up tape? 2. Why wasn’t the site restored with a back up tape? 3. Why are there two servers in the basement of the PHS and the website server located in California? I can somewhat understand this if there was a hosting company in California that the school used, but she said it was her server that she and her SON operate. 4. If the school has their own servers, why wouldn’t we host the site here in the first place and back up the site on tape and at another location? 5. Do we have the bandwidth to host a website? A T-1 line is needed (or equivalent) to maintain the bandwidth. 6. Where is the back up tape? (I know I said this already) 7. Why wasn’t the site restored with a back up tape? (I know I said this too)
My overall opinion is that she seems like a very nice person. But, I think she’s in over her head and needs help. Websites are not her thing. I don’t understand how an employer that has a Windows based environment can hire someone with limited Windows knowledge.
I invite any administration, BOE and even Ms LaPier to come on here and truly explain it to the masses……again.
2. Construction update – The new middle school was rumored to having leaks. After an investigation, it was discovered that there was a condensation problem with the pipes. The school is still holding a large sum of money from the architect and engineer. 200 ceiling tiles were removed and will be replaced by the contractor when the pipes are wrapped and the condensation issue is resolved.
These things are expected and constant tweaks are needed in new construction
3. Fuel Oil – The school based this years their oil usage on last year’s usage and added a 15% overage. The lasted prices are at $2.21 was Empire State oil. This is the company that NY State awarded the contract to. Well, apparently we are NOT locked in at a price (even though were told last meeting that we were. This Empire State Oil does not offer a lock in price. At the current oil price, we will be $55,000 over budget. Tom Dick asked if there were other bids received. At this point there wasn’t and they will obtain them. Mr. Richman stated that based on the winter, we may need to cut additional programs and services to make up the difference. The board requested that running total be kept throughout the winter season so that they can see where the situation is and NOT be hit with the overage number after the fact. Mr. Richman also made it clear that he informed the teachers that once were out of paper, that’s it, there will not be any more purchased – so it wisely.
So, we're NOT locked in as we were originally told in August. Why not? This should have been done back in April. Why would someone come to a meeting and only offer the information of potentially being $55,000 over and NOT seek other bids prior to a Board meeting and come to a meeting FULLY informed? Let’s see how poorly this debacle plays out. This is horrible money forecasting skills!
4. Class size – It seems like we have growth in the district and more students registered for Kindergarten this year then anticipated. The Administration wanted to add another K- teacher and create another class ASAP at West. We learned that we received more State funds this year than last and that this additional money would pay for the teacher. The K- class sizes are about 23-26 students and the new teacher would reduce them to 18-20 students.
If we are having an oil (and potential supplies) issue, wouldn’t the extra state money be able to pay for this? Then next year, let’s deal with the class size as I don’t think we’ll be on a contingency budget next year.
5. Packard – It seems like the school district is close to finalizing a deal with BOCES to lease the space for 5 years. BOCES may insist on 250 parking spaces and the school lot only has about 160. Today, Mr. Richman will speak with the BOCES people and see if they really need the spaces and if it’s a deal breaker, it may need to be done. BOCES will require some interior demolition to be done by Plainedge and they (BOCES) would also be responsible for some construction. However, the TOB is interested in buying the land and building a park and senior center. There is about 7.8 acres and its value is about $6,000,000 (according to Mr. Richman). Nassau County Police are still interested in creating an academy and they don’t need additional parking. Richman said he doesn’t believe selling it is the right choice, especially with a potentially increasing student enrolment.
I agree that selling is NOT the right choice. However, Is the lease with BOCES long enough to recoup some of the incurred expenses that the School will take on to solidify this deal? No board member asked that question. As far as the NCPD wanting the site, I thought we were told that Suozzi put a stop to it and it was no longer an option. What happened? How did this get revitalized?
Well those are my notes and thoughts. If you attended the meeting, please add or correct anything you see.
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Post by concerned on Sept 14, 2005 11:20:33 GMT -5
Plainedge-Thanks for clarifying about the meetings and about what happened last night. There's a lot to digest and definitely some inconsistencies. With regard to Cynthia's qualifications, it does seem curious that she was hired. What is her background? Her company is located upstate. Is that where she is originally from prior to Plainedge? I thought some other people who work(ed) for Plainedge were from upstate too? Does anyone know? Certainly, she earns a handsome salary of I believe around $125,000. Why wouldn't she know web page development if she is the Chief Technology Officer. I will check my notes, but I believe at some point the justification for her raise this year had to do with all that she was able to contribute to the school. I have to question that now based upon last night's meeting and based upon the earlier segment that had been posted on this site where she went out to a group forum asking for input on the new middle school.
There was no timeline offered as to when the site will be back up and running? I guess the hacker just added videos? They didn't actually impact the site or do anything destructive? I am not clear on that part.
If anyone can clarify, thanks.
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