Now HCDE Hiding Foundation Problems

Most Texas school districts benefit from the added support of a local Education Foundation. Operated by local business and community leaders, their Foundations raise money to bring added financial support to their local teachers and students.

The funds flow FROM the foundation TO the ISD.

But that’s not how it works at the Harris County Department of Education (HCDE)– the ONLY remaining County School Board in Texas.

In 1993 HCDE’s Superintendent, Dr. Shirley E. Rose, filed Articles of Incorporation for HCDE to have its own foundation called the Education Foundation of Harris County. (EFHC)

Instead of volunteer community leaders operating EFHC, HCDE used education property tax dollars ($200,000+) to pay for EFHC’s “staff.” The “staff” made sure the basics were done - meetings held, officers elected, website maintained, IRS 990s filed, etc.

HCDE even had a separate budget code for tax funds going TO EFHC.

During Texas Senate hearings on bills to close HCDE in previous legislative sessions, Senator Bettencourt discovered that property tax dollars were flowing TO EFHC instead of FROM it, and in response, HCDE’s current Superintendent, James Colbert, implied that the practice would stop. 

The following year, HCDE’s budget showed NO funds going TO EFHC. It appeared all was well.

But documents acquired through open records show something different. 

After EFHC lost its HCDE funded “staff” - EFHC fell apart.

EFHC has not held a meeting since 2017.

EFHC hasn’t filed an IRS 990 form since 2017.

EFHC’s 2018-2019 budget shows $500,000 – the majority of its revenue – coming FROM HCDE, even though HCDE’s published budget no longer includes a page for EFHC.

EFHC’s website address www.efhc.org  hasn’t been active in the last year.

Further digging shows that EFHC has become an HCDE “SHELL CORPORATION.”  

There is no “Foundation.”  

It is simply HCDE employees using the Foundation name – without any written authorization -  to acquire grants from outside sources.

Then HCDE employees invoicing EFHC to transfer the grant funds to HCDE – minus a 1% cut for “administrative costs.”

Is that even legal?





Well, legal or not, whatever is going on is apparently SO IRREGULAR that a simple public information request – the communications between two HCDE employees and EFHC – compelled the HCDE attorney to get the Texas Attorney General to block the information from public release claiming “attorney client privilege.”

Interesting that the two HCDE employees hiding behind “attorney-client privilege” are the same two HCDE employees who have been signing EFHC’s “payment authorization” forms – Danielle Bartz and Jesus Amezcua.  Coincidence???

Other irregularities found through public information:

With no documentation showing a vote or appointment to office, HCDE’s superintend, James Colbert, somehow became an officer of EFHC and co-signs checks from EFHC to HCDE.

Without any documentation naming HCDE employee Danielle Bartz as the “Registered Agent” for EFHC, records show Danielle Bartz used her HCDE credit card online to file EFHC’s non-profit corporation documents with the Texas Secretary of State on 4/16/19. The funds used were from HCDE’s “Department Wide – Misc. Operating Cost” budget.

Without any documentation proving his election to the position, HCDE employee Danielle Bartz reported James Colbert as the Secretary of EFHC on official documents with the Texas Secretary of State on 4/16/19.

Notice the discrepancy between the officer list Danielle Bartz officially reported to the Secretary of State on 4/16/19 and the 2018-2019 officer list included in recent EFHC grant applications.

Also note the “under penalty of perjury” statement at the bottom of the document.

In 2018 without any documentation proving permission from EFHC to use their name, and without EFHC holding any EFHC meetings to vote on approval, multiple HCDE employees filed grant applications and received funds in the name of EFHC. Some examples are shown in the chart below:

HCDE Employee	Grant Application Recipient	Application Date
Sharvon Pipkins	Stewart J Rahr Foundation	2/28/18
Sharvon Pipkins	Aetna Foundation	4/18/18
Gayla Rawlinson	Brown Foundation	4/23/18
Danielle Bartz & Joyce Akins	Wells Fargo	8/2/18
Sharvon Pipkins	Whataburger	8/27/18
Sharvon Pipkins Kamaya	Linde Engineering North America, Inc	8/31/18
Andrea Segraves & Vida Avery	HEB	9/11/18
Trina Finley	Henderson Foundation	11/15/18
Lisa Felske	WATER	11/28/18

Records also show that HCDE employees:

- assisted in producing EFHC’s IRS 990 filings and IRS extension letter

- are serving as EFHC’s bookkeeper/accountant

- are making payments on behalf of EFHC

For example:

On 4/10/19 HCDE employee, Simone Llorens, used HCDE’s credit card to renew EFHC’s domain name www.efhc.org.  The funds used were from HCDE’s “Technology Support Services – Contracted M&r Networks” budget.

Most concerning to me is the Texas Attorney General allowing HCDE to  block release of communications between EFHC and HCDE employees…

                   

because of the parallels with the 

Dallas County Schools (DCS) scandal.

I knew something was highly irregular in 2016 when DCS used their attorney to try to block release of their stop-arm camera contracts in order to “protect” the business interests of Force Multiplier Solutions owned by Bob Leonard.

But I NEVER imagined the secrets they were attempting to hide would land both the Dallas County Superintendent and Bob Leonard in federal prison for 7 years each for what prosecutors said may be "the largest domestic public corruption case in history."

Makes me wonder just how deep the deception may be at HCDE and why the Texas Attorney General is helping them hide it.

Note: Supporting Documentation

I requested the following information from HCDE. HCDE claims there are no records responsive to my request.

1. Any document(s) showing (1) the date Danielle Bartz consented to be the registered agent for the Education Foundation of Harris County and (2) the person(s) assigning her that responsibility.

2.All communications received by Danielle Bartz instructing her to electronically file the April 15, 2019 Periodic Report for the Education Foundation of Harris County with the Texas Secretary of State.

3. All communications received by Danielle Bartz giving her the names and addresses of all directors and officers she listed in the April 15, 2019 Periodic Report for the Education Foundation of Harris County with the Texas Secretary of State.

4. Any document(s) showing (1) the date James Colbert became an officer of the Education Foundation of Harris County and (2) the title of his office with the Education Foundation of Harris County

5. Any document(s) showing authorization from the Education Foundation of Harris County(EFHC)  to the following HCDE employees allowing the HCDE employee’s to represent EFHC in the grant applications below:

HCDE Employee	EFHC Grant Application Recipient	Date
Sharvon Pipkins	Stewart J Rahr Foundation	2/28/18
Sharvon Pipkins	Aetna Foundation	4/18/18
Gayla Rawlinson	Brown Foundation	4/23/18
Danielle Bartz and Joyce Akins	Wells Fargo	8/2/18
Sharvon Pipkins	Whataburger	8/27/18
Sharvon Pipkins Kamaya	Linde Engineering North America, Inc	8/31/18
Andrea Segraves and Vida Avery	HEB	9/11/18
Trina Finley	Henderson Foundation	11/15/18
Lisa Felske	WATER	11/28/18

Colleen Vera

colleen@TexasTrashTalk.com

Notice to Harris County Republicans

On 3/29/15 I filed a complaint with the  Harris County Department of Education (HCDE) Trustees over their USE OF OUR LOCAL TAX DOLLARS TO SUPPORT DEMOCRAT CAMPAIGNS.

The HCDE Board will be deliberating the issue at their board meeting on 4/21/15.

Agenda items (8A/9A)

A brief history

HCDE established a 501(c)(3) called The Education Foundation of Harris County (EFHC)  to “support” HCDE, and uses Harris County property tax funds  to supply  EFHC free:

• Office space
• Meeting facilities
• Six figure salary to their CEO
• Website support
• IT services
• Auditing services
• Record storage
• Grant writing services

EFHC Leadership includes:

• a CEO paid with HCDE tax funds
• HCDE Superintendent serving as Board Secretary
• an HCDE  Board Trustee  serving as a liaison member

The Problem?

EFHC’s Board meets six times per year. Their meeting minutes are distributed via HCDE’s tax funded email system and stored by HCDE employees.  At three of those meetings held at HCDE facilities with HCDE Board and Administration participating, the minutes show Douglas Kleiner (EFHC President/CEO) allowed:

• HCDE Board Member Diane Trautman to report on political campaigns involving HCDE Trustees and
• Support the Democrat candidates for public office

Quotes from EFHC’s official meeting minutes:

9/26/13: …We need to make sure we have a competitive candidate to fill that slot and most importantly one who supports HCDE and its programs. Also, in 2014, Debbie Kerner is up for re-election, and we need to support her.

3/27/14: The primary elections are over and the two candidates for HCDE Trustee positions I would ask you to endorse and vote for in the upcoming November election are Debbie Kerner, current HCDE board vice president and Melissa Noriega, former Houston city councilwoman and administrator at HISD. The opponents for both of these women support the abolishment of HCDE, Michael Wolfe and Don Sumners.

5/22/14: …Trautman also noted that she was elected Board of Trustees Vice President, taking Debra Kerner’s place. She also reminded the Board that elections are this fall. Two candidates will be on the ballot for HCDE Trustee positions that she feels are most supportive of HCDE’s mission: Melissa Noriega and incumbent, Debra Kerner.

 View the documents: here 

Federal Law

EFHC has filed with the IRS as a 501(c)(3). The IRSwebsite reads:

Under the Internal Revenue Code, all section 501(c)(3) organizations are absolutely prohibited from directly or indirectly participating in, or intervening in, any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for elective public office. Contributions to political campaign funds or public statements of position (verbal or written) made on behalf of the organization in favor of or in opposition to any candidate for public office clearly violate the prohibition against political campaign activity.  Violating this prohibition may result in denial or revocation of tax-exempt status and the imposition of certain excise taxes.

Thus, EFHC is not in compliance with the U.S. Internal Revenue Code.

Texas Law

Texas Ethics Commission Opinions read:

Section 255.003 of the Election Code states that an officer or employee of a political subdivision may not knowingly spend or authorize the spending of public funds for political advertising. “Spending” of public funds includes the use of political subdivision employees’ work time, the use of existing political subdivision equipment, and the use of facilities maintained by a political subdivision. Ethics Advisory Opinion No. 443 (2002) (EAO 443).

We also caution that government resources generally may not be used for campaign purposes. See Penal Code § 39.02.

A Short Guide To The Prohibition Against Using SchoolDistrict Resources For Political Advertising In Connection With An Election  pamphlet produced by the Texas Ethics Commission states:

An officer or employee of a political subdivision may not spend or authorize the spending of public funds for political advertising. 

 ”Political advertising” is a communication that advocates a particular outcome  in an election

The prohibition applies to any “officer or employee of a political subdivision.”  In  other  words,  if  a  school  district  employee  makes  a decision to use district resources in violation of the prohibition, the employee could be fined by the Ethics Commission or  held criminally liable.  School board members, as “officers”of a school district, are also subject to the prohibition.

 A  school  district  board  member  or  employee  would  violate  the  prohibition
by “spending or authorizing the spending of public funds” for political advertising.   

Also,  it  is  not  permissible  to  authorize  the  use  of  the paid time of the school district employees to create  or  distribute  political  advertising.  For  example,  school district staff may not copy, staple, or distribute political advertising on work time. 

Another  provision  of  the  Texas  Election  Code prohibits a school board member for employee from using or authorizing the use of an internal mail system to distribute political advertising. An internal mail system is a system operated by a school district to deliver written documents to its board members or employees. A violation of this prohibition could also lead to the imposition of fines by the Ethics Commission or to criminal prosecution. 

View supporting documents: here 

Not a Simple Mistake

A mistake is something happening one time. Someone beginning to speak in support of a candidate in a local election before being stopped by the CEO of a 501(c)(3) reminding the board that by law they can’t discuss candidates or campaigns.

But these minutes show the activity was not only routine, it is so acceptable at EFHC that it was included in their OFFICIAL MEETING MINUTES!  Two out of six meetings in 2014 means 33% of their meetings included political campaign activity. That is no simple mistake.

Action Needed

The political activity by the EFHC is a repeated and blatant violation of both the Internal Revenue Code and Texas Election Code. Because HCDE is supporting this activity with Harris County taxpayer funds I urge HCDE to immediately:

• sever all ties between HCDE and EFHC including removal of EFHC and all EFHC documents from HCDE property and servers
• initiate legal action to force EFHC to refund all public funds it received from HCDE since 9/26/2013
• approve a public censure of HCDE Trustee Diane Trautman for using her position as EFHC liaison for political purposes
• issue a public apology  to the Republican Party of Harris County for allowing the use of public funds to promote Democrat candidates for County School Trustee

Voice your opinion

You may voice your opinion to the HCDE Board via email:

Republicans
Angie Chesnut, President	achesnut@hcde-texas.org
Kay Smith, Vice President	kasmith@hcde-texas.org
Marvin Morris	mmorris@hcde-texas.org
Don Sumners	dsumners@hcde-texas.org
Michael Wolfe	mwolfe@hcde-texas.org
Democrats
Erica Lee Carter	elee@hcde-texas.org
Diane Trautman	dtrautman@hcde-texas.org

You may voice your opinion to the HCDE Board via phone message: 713-694-6300 

You may also speak in person during the Open Forum at the HCDE Board meeting

on Tuesday,April 21, 2015 at 1:00pm. 

Location: HCDE Administration 

                Ronald W. Reagan Building 
                6300 Irvington Blvd. 
                Houston, TX 77022

                map

Board Meeting Agenda: Items 8A and 9A

Colleen Vera

colleen@TexasTrashTalk.com