Elia: "...this never happens again." (but tragedy had already happened).

Many do not realize that there was a reprehensible additional 10 days of Hillsborough County school district management silence regarding the death of Isabella Herrera. These 10 days are in addition to the 9 months of silence where the School District never disclosed the death to the school Board or to the public after Isabella Herrera passed away on January 26, 2012. The initial 9 months of silence ended on October 22, 2012 with the death of Jenny Caballero who drowned in a retention pond at Rodgers Middle School. Now you might have thought that the death of a second student would have demanded that district management inform the school board of Isabella Herrera’s death 9 months earlier, but school district management continued their silence for an additional 10 days until the Herrera family filed its lawsuit on November 1, 2012 and which point the school district management had little choice and was forced to take some kind of long overdue action at that point.

 So you have to wonder what happened during those 10 days. Superintendent Elia knew about the January 26, 2012 Herrera tragedy. Then Chair Candy Olson also knew about it. Some District Staff clearly knew about it. The Sheriff’s Office knew about it.  You would have thought, in the aftermath of the Caballero tragedy that they had to have realized the tragic consequences of their previous failure to disclose this and take action 9 months earlier. You would have thought that someone would have been compelled (perhaps by guilt?) to admit the tragedy of Isabella Herrera to the school board. You would have thought that at least one person would have said something like “Oh, by the way, probably should have mentioned this sooner but another ESE student choked on a bus and died back in January.”

But no one said anything.

And there was even a board meeting on October 23, 2012 (the day after Jenny Caballero’s death)which, of course, included Superintendent Elia and Chair Candy Olson, and all the school board members and most all the division heads who sit right there in front of the board at every meeting. Anyone can view this video online at http://sdhcwebcasts.com/index.html and it is particularly disturbing to view this video knowing what we now know which is that many of these people know about Isabella Herrera’s death but they will sit their expressing their concern for Jenny Caballero’s tragic death while continuing to ignore the death of Isabella Herrera.

At 3:10 referring to the Caballero family, Superintendent Elia states: “I also told them we would do everything we can to find out exactly what happened, and that we would do everthing we can to make sure that this never happens again.”

Why was that not the case after the Isabella Herrera tragedy?

What is particularly disturbing is that it is "School Bus Safety Week" October 22-26, 2012 and if you check the agenda you will see Item 9.05 recognition of "School Bus Safety Week". This item is being submitted by both Cathy Valdes, Facilities Division (transportation/buses) and John Franklin, General Manager of Transportation. John Franklin was the one that received the Subpoena to produce the Herrera video way back when. Logically he would have informed his boss Cathy Valdes.

Item 9.05 states that the Strategic Objective is to:

Demonstrate "best practices" in all aspects of safety including students, employees, visitors, facilities, transportation, and health. The theme "I See The Driver, The Driver Sees Me" is derived from LAST YEAR’S poster contest and reminds students, bus drivers, and motorists of their roles in assuring the safe transportation of students to and from school. 

Think about that- LAST YEAR was when Isabella Herrera died for lack of prompt attention on a bus ride home and the District's bus safety theme was "I See The Driver, The Driver Sees Me". Coincidence? We think not and yet the school board claims they had no knowledge of this tragedy. Did our local news reporters ever bother to investigate this? It's doubtful if they even know. 

At 82:00 John Franklin states: “This year’s theme is- I see the driver, the driver sees me” and adds “I would like to share a few numbers which are indicative of our commitment to safety.”

Think about that- In the aftermath of the Herrera tragedy where the child first went unnoticed and then inadequately assisted (all of which is still unknown to the public at this board meeting) - the school district's theme for this year is- I see the driver, the DRIVER SEES ME. We are not making this up; we encourage you to view it yourself online.

Lewis Brinson, Administration Division is present and ironically his agenda includes Item 7.03 Change of Placement of Exceptional Student Education Students which states the “Strategic Objective to Promote a Culture of Safety”. 

Joyce L. Wieland, General Director, Department of Exceptional Student Education even has an item on the board agenda. She and Wynne A. Tye, Assistant Superintendent, Curriculum and Instruction have item 1.02 on the agenda however it is NOT an item to inform the board of the Herrera Tragedy or recommend updated policies, training and qualifications; far from it. Joyce Wieland will let the Herrera Lawsuit do that. She will then wait until December to resign. 

Now, you would have thought that their heads would have exploded from the pressure to confess knowledge of this tragic transgression, or from the sheer insanity of the charade but their silence continued, and not a word was said about Isabella Herrera choking on a school bus until after the lawsuit was filed on November 1.

 It is fascinating to view this now, knowing what we now know- a ESE child chocked on a school bus and they kept it quiet for 9 months and did not bother to inform the school board or the public, but even after a second ESE child dies they still refuse to disclose that death and make absurd representations. These are the people running your school district.