Dec 11
2020
Since the spring, Geoff Kelly has been reporting on HarpData, the troubled tech firm awarded a contract to provide wi-fi access to thousands of Buffalo school students. On Thursday, he reported the company is going out of business, the wi-fi project unfinished. He discussed the saga Friday on NewsRadio 930WBEN.
Dec 10
2020
After nearly two years of doubts and delays, Buffalo Public Schools is canceling a contract to provide free wireless internet to some of the district’s neediest students. The reason: HarpData, the company the district hired to do the job, is going out of business. An attorney for HarpData, Joseph Makowski, confirmed that CEO Ivory Robinson Jr. is “winding down” the company’s operations. Staff has been laid off. The company’s offices on Delaware Avenue in downtown Buffalo remain under lease, Makowski said, but are closed for business. As a result, the beleaguered Connected Communities initiative — a $1.3 million project meant[...]
Sep 4
2020
Jim Heaney made his debut Thursday on David Bellavia’s talk show on NewsRadio 930WBEN. Heaney and Bellavia, in a 41 minute interview, discussed a range of topics, including the M.T. Pockets situation, Mayor Byron Brown, the city’s contract with its police union, and the Western Regional Off Track Betting Corp. The show broadcast in three segments, which are below. First segment, talking about Investigative Post, incident outside M.T. Pockets and problems with distance learning in Buffalo schools. Second segment, regarding Mayor Byron Brown, unions and police contract. Third segment, involving more on police contract and OTB.
Aug 12
2020
Jim Heaney follows up his story published Monday on distance learning in Buffalo schools with an interview on NewsRadio 930WBEN. Heaney tells Susan Rose and Brian Mazurowski that distance learning didn’t go very well last semester and the district officials tried to obstruct his reporting.
Aug 11
2020
Sam Radford believes distance learning in Buffalo schools has failed many students, as reported Monday by Investigative Post. In a 20-minute interview with Jim Heaney, Radford, co-chair of We The Parents and immediate past president of the District Parent Coordinating Council, spelled out the concerns he’s heard this spring and summer from the mothers and fathers of Buffalo students. Student participation was an issue – “Some kids logged on, some kids didn’t.” But the quality of instruction is a larger concern. “I think the learning is what suffered the most,” Radford said. “Some teachers were doing really great when they[...]
Aug 9
2020
This story began in April with a handful of simple questions: How many Buffalo school students are participating in distance learning? How many hours a day are they engaged in learning? And how much are they really learning? They were obvious and reasonable questions. So we posed them to the folks who run the school system. Their response: hysterics and stonewalling. We then turned to teachers, who, in often heartfelt terms, described their experiences working with students since schools shut their doors the middle of March because of the pandemic. Their experiences varied, but on balance they said distance learning[...]
Jul 20
2020
Note: This column originally appeared in Buffalo Spree. Our nation has a lot of work ahead of it if it is to address the structural racism laid bare by COVID-19, the killing of George Floyd and the protests that followed. Buffalo and Western New York have an even heavier lift. Much of the initial focus has been on reform of the Buffalo Police Department, and that’s certainly a good place to start. But the region’s problems run deeper – much deeper. They begin with segregation, which, going back generations, has advantaged whites at the expense of blacks in any number[...]
Jun 28
2020
HarpData, already months behind completing a project to provide wi-fi access to thousands of Buffalo students, sought work on another school district job earlier this year and is now complaining it didn’t get the contract. The district’s purchasing director rejected the company’s bid, deeming HarpData a “non-responsible bidder.” Now, three months later, HarpData is crying foul. Two weeks ago, months after the deadline to object had passed, the company filed a formal protest with the School Board, alleging irregularities in the procurement process and bias on the part of the district’s purchasing director. But district officials are adamant they had[...]