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Now for a new thread on the controversies that have surrounded @MNPSDirector -- just the facts, no emotions. If you missed the #MeToo thread, see below: 1/
.@WillPinkston "pointed to the issue of lead in schools' drinking water as one issue that originated before Joseph took the job, but that Joseph's administration has tried to tackle." 2/ tennessean.com/story/news/edu…
The truth is that the testing began before Dr. Joseph, but then his administration sat on the results until our investigation began 3/ newschannel5.com/news/newschann…
More from the original investigation: 4/ newschannel5.com/news/newschann…
MNPS knowingly let some students drink lead-contaminated water for an entire school year. It occurred inside Tusculum Elementary, one of the district's poorest and most diverse schools with students from all over the globe. 5/ newschannel5.com/news/newschann…
Even after a second round of lead tests, @MNPSDirector's administration continued to sit on the test results 6/ newschannel5.com/news/newschann…
To his credit, his administration did act when we obtained a secret recording detailing how the MNPS facilities official cooked up a plan to bypass lead filters 7/ newschannel5.com/news/newschann…
But @MNPSDirector director continued to insist that his administration was fine with lead levels of 15 ppb. (There is NO safe level of lead.) It took pressure from @NashvilleHealth Department to force a 5 ppb target. 8/
Then, an MNPS maintenance worker brought us a sample of contaminated water and another secret recording that proved the district was flushing away the evidence before it tested for lead 9/ newschannel5.com/news/newschann…
.@MNPSDirector and his team still continued to insist there was no problem, even after we consulted one of the top experts from the Flint lead crisis 10/ newschannel5.com/news/newschann…
.@MNPSDirector and his team finally fixed the problem -- only after @MayorBriley twisted his arm 11/ newschannel5.com/news/newschann…
Before we leave the lead issue, we should note that @MNPSDirector's team immediately put facilities director Dennis Neal on leave while the district investigated. 12/ newschannel5.com/news/newschann…
But @MNPSDirector's team intervened to keep principal Sam Braden from being placed on administrative leave after multiple complaints over several months. It even took two days after our first story 13/ newschannel5.com/news/newschann…
But there's more! 14/
When one of @MNPSdirector's key allies struggled in her re-election campaign, he directed staff to put out a positive story praising her work. He claimed it was coincidence. MNPS board did nothing 15/ newschannel5.com/news/newschann…
When he was recorded hinting that bus drivers should vote against one candidate for vice mayor, the MNPS school board again did nothing 16/ newschannel5.com/news/newschann…
"Unauthorized Purchase Requests" - where MNPS violated its own purchasing rules - skyrocketed during his administration. UPRs used to hire acquaintance with theatre background to consult on ACT testing 17/ newschannel5.com/news/newschann…
Joseph's team picked favored companies for no-bid contracts. MNPS board approved contracts for one amount, but administration signed contracts for higher amounts. 18/ newschannel5.com/news/newschann…
One of Joseph's friends - after he finally got into trouble for sexual harassment - suggested: ""This is one of the few districts where I've ever worked where the number of vacancies goes up instead of down. People are leaving. People are not happy." 19/ newschannel5.com/news/newschann…
Obviously, you have to consider the source, but we hear this from a lot of MNPS employees 20/
"Part of that mistrust, Carrasco said, has come from Joseph's failure to tap into the knowledge that was already here -- opting instead to bring in a slew of outside consultants to tell teachers how to teach." 21/
After our investigation uncovered questions about the credentials of some of the people that @MNPSDirector brought with him, he ordered his staff not to answer our questions 22/ newschannel5.com/news/newschann…
All of which points to some pretty legitimate questions. What do you think? 23/
