Update 3/5/08: This post now has 2,003 comments! However, it has exceeded the capacities of our server and has been truncated recently at about 1,529 posts. But one of our readers has stepped up to the plate and painstakingly copied all of the comments into three NEW posts:
- SAUSD-Mijares corruption thread, 2008 Comments
- SAUSD-Mijares corruption thread, 2007 Comments
- SAUSD-Mijares corruption thread, 2006 Comments
We have also started a NEW open SAUSD thread, which I hope our readers will post to regarding new SAUSD news and views.
You can also go to our home page and go to the right column. Click on “SAUSD Posts” and you can get links to ALL of our past SAUSD articles.
I must say, I am amazed at the stories that have been posted on this blog in the wake of Al Mijares’ exit from the Santa Ana Unified School District. I am posting this item merely to give SAUSD bloggers a place to post their comments. Post away my friends – we have an opportunity now to finally do away with the corruption left over from the Mijares regime. Change is at hand, but we must remain resolute.
I noted that someone affiliated with the SAUSD administration recently posted a threat on this site – alleging possible legal action against SAUSD employees who post anonymously on this site. That is despicable and a form of terrorism. Do not let fear restrain any of you from revealing the truth.
The final challenge we face in Santa Ana is to replace Mijares with someone competent. We won’t have another opportunity like this anytime soon. This process must be open and focused and whatever else happens we must keep Audrey Noji out of the Superintendent’s position. As a member of the Cerritos College faculty and a member of the teacher’s union at that campus I opposed her when she tried to get a job at our campus. If she goes after the SAUSD superintendent post I will do so again. I know we can do better!
All of my children are in the SAUSD system. For their sake and that of all schoolchildren in the district, I urge those who are rebelling against the last vestiges of Mijares’ broken empire to keep the information flowing and to do whatever it takes to ensure that our next superintendent will be up to the task. Mijares certainly was over his head throughout his doomed tenure.
http://smallbusiness.findlaw.com/business-operations/insurance/liability-employee-acts.html
Many states have allowed claims for negligent hiring and negligent retention. Although these lawsuits have not yet appeared in every state, the clear legal trend is to allow injured third parties to sue employers for hiring or keeping on a dangerous worker. What can you do to stay out of trouble? Here are a few tips:
Great Job Lewis Bratcher! While you were sleeping and since AUGUST you’ve been overseeing overcrowding and have done NOTHING to correct it. There is more to this story.
Register article
http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/homepage/abox/article_1651253.php
14% of Santa Ana 9th-grade classes above size limit
School district officials will try to balance the English and math classes to meet state mandates and secure funding.
By FERMIN LEAL
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
SANTA ANA- About 14 percent of all ninth-grade English and math classes in Santa Ana Unified are above the limit set by the state’s class-size reduction program, placing the district at risk of losing additional funding, a new district report reveals.
From the start of the school year through the end of February, 55 of 401 freshman English and math classes at the district’s five high schools hovered above the state-mandated average of 20.4 students per class.
The district receives $204 yearly per student from the state if these high school classes are kept below an average of 20.4 students through the entire year.
These classes were identified in the Santa Ana Unified’s latest Class-size Average Summary, a monthly report prepared by district staff to track compliance with the state’s high school class-size reduction program. Most of the 55 classes had between 21 to 25 students since August, according to the report.
cqt96
No. No work gets done because that is not what it is about. Its all about keeping a fat salary and surrounding oneself with other lazy, greedy bastards who are in the game for the same reason.
These people do not CARE. Caring is weakness and that might cause trouble. So they don’t return phone calls, they don’t solve problems, they with hold information, they use rudeness as a way to stave off questions and requests, they do special favors for special people, they mismanage funds for their own gain.
It is a greedy game of status,money and power.
Period.
If the situation doesn’t enhance one of those areas for them, then it won’t be a priority. Fix the street problem? Why? That money can be diverted. Maybe pave the rich neighborhoods so that will keep anyone with more power/status/money away and reduce the chance of exposure.
Give the kids an authentic education with the funds offered by the state? Screw that. We need to blow $750,000 on fluffing up the offices so that our power and status looks better. And we’ll pocket some of that money if we can. And we’ll make sure our toadies and our crooked buddies get a piece of that too.
Screw the kids and their parents. They’re nothing.
It’s not just a white person game. It is a power and abuse of authority game. Open to all colors and sizes.
The culture of corruption is about incompetence and greed and the need to have money, power and status at all costs.
Its time to change course.
Anonymous Says:
4/13/2007 3:30 PM
#35 writes …
“Screw the kids and their parents. They’re nothing.”
This district has been very successful in keeping the parents at bay and nurturing their puppet parents Rosa Alda & Victoria Zaragoza.
Luckily Alda’s time as PTA president has ended, but Zaragoza continues to rule DELAC.
DELAC needs new leadership. No more puppets that Russo and Noji can control.
http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/homepage/abox/article_1651253.php
There is no legitimate chain of command. Christine Anderson gets sent out to try and put out fires because the real culprit or culprits won’t admit to what they have done is wrong. Jane Russo knows about the fraud at both levels and like a deer in the headlights she is paralyzed. Then the predictable excuse making begins lead by that boob Dr. Noji. The same Noji that covered for the last internationally publicized fraud that the principal at Saddleback so boldly committed. Noji said she would look into the matter. Fat Chance. Now new charges of fraud are met with her same weak response. She does not care about the Santa Ana community. Resign. You are shameful. Axe Lopez for being such a big liar,too.
Incompetents – Apr. 14, 2007 12:14 PM Remove Comment
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Why does no one step up to the plate and accept responsibility for this? Whether it be the school board and or district administration, who is accountable? Who is minding the store? The district is absolutely paralyzed right now while waiting to see where the axe will fall. While we might like to blame individual site administrators, this is a problem throughout elementary and secondary schools. Have you noticed a common thread in all district and school board responses? It’s not my fault! With the elementary CSR discrepancies, the response has been that it’s just a misinterpretation of the state requirements. Yeah, right! With the 9th grade discrepancies now bubbling to the service, the focus seems to be on achieving the correct teacher student ratio for the balance of the school year in order to be in compliance. Yeah, right! The common thread is gross incompetence at the district level and an appalling lack of regard for the students’ best interests. It is truly shameful.
SAUSD Employee – Apr. 14, 2007 08:55 AM Remove Comment
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What is this “remove comment” at the end of the last to posts? Both have pretty good comments.
By the way in case it got passed anyone. I suggested a state takeover about 400 posts ago. Ya all about getting it yet? I don’t feel like getting PC today so here’s the deal. You get what YOU aren’t paying for. Take it or leave it. I’m leaving it. The only bad mark on my teaching credential is I worked here.
#877
Yeah, we get it. Bratcher, Stainer, Trigg, Lopez & Russo must go.
Sources confirm Saddleback has been altering class rosters for nearly four years.
# 878
Why am I not surprised about Saddleback. In the latest report from the Times Santa Ana High also had an issue over class sizes in the 9th grade. It sort of makes you wonder what must have been going on at Valley too??? Not to mention the other High schools.
I loved Richardsons comment about the issue should have been sent downtown. Hello??? Isn’t that what the Washington teachers first tried to do and finally had to go public to get any results?
If we have learned anything from this the last place we should take anything that looks like fraud is downtown. Even with a warning downtown thought they could continue this scam. Any warning they get now will most certainly be buried fast.
It will be interesting to see what the auditors come up with. One of the papers reported that the auditors were taking “random samples” instead of looking at every class. That does not inspire me to have much faith in this audit. I am also not very thrilled that the state didn’t just do it themselves since the auditing firm had done business with the district before.
Duh, Valley HS has been falsifying class rosters for sometime; Mijares & Winston Best protected Espinosa. That’s why Mijares, Espinosa & Best led the charge to discredit the Valley counselors.These ethical and dedicated educators uncovered their scheme to boost ADA revenue. These counselors are the unsung heroes. Unfortunately Tom Harrison, past SAEA president, was in cahoots with Mijares and they mounted a campaign to make them disappear from SAUSD. Lynn Kramer, the $100K salaried academy counselor, aided Mijares & Espinosa in discrediting and rallying other Valley teachers to exert pressure on the union to release the two, first-year counselors; have a seasoned administrator involuntarily reassigned to the classroom; and castigate a long-time employee to a series of assignments. Many lives were destroyed to protect Mijares’s scheme to boost revenue. Under Mijares tutelage, Russo learned to stay the course of boosting revenue; keep the BOE in the dark; and not be forthright when communicating with teachers, parents and the community.
B & S are not the only attorneys working overtime.
Stainer, Bratcher, Lopez, Trigg and Russo must go.
At this point, any lawssuits will go against then district because of the established patterns of employee abuse and dishonesty.
There is no credibility. And now there are teachers willing to put their names on their posts so networking with other beaten-up employees will be much more easy in order to build up a case.
Russo has lied. Was it deliberate on her part or was she gullible and just parrotted what she was told? Either way, that cannot happen again.
Tomorrow the the teachers will be back and there will be more questions asked and more answers demanded. This is not going to go away. If Russo insists on lying even once more, I say it is time to take quick and decisive action on her, the board and architects of this planned fraud.
According to the Register the High School 9th grade classes were found to have student size problems district wide BASED UPON MONTHLY STAFF REPORTS. Yet just a week or two ago Superintendent Jane Russo made comments to the contrary. These are reports sent downtown! How much more is the community going to take from what appears to be out right lies from the top administration?
A quote from the Register:
School Board member John Palacio, an outspoken critic of the district staff’s handling of the recent class-size controversy, said he was surprised at the high number of high schools above the state limit.
“If the district prepares these reports monthly, why don’t we address the issue as soon as we know the classes are over?” he said. “Why are we waiting until now?”
Tom Harrison (
Someone needs to go to jail when the district is made to pay back millions of dollars that the board of education stole from the state by using fraud to rip off both the students and taxpayers. This district has a real investment in making sure the students do worse and worse each academic year so that it can take in more and more site improvement monies. Combine the strategy of not even having the decency to hire enough qualified substitutes, all the while, laying off large numbers of teaching staff to cut corners and you can see why Trigg considers this a profit driven organization. Profits go to the top, while the community and children are shortchanged on educational services that state monies were supposed to fund. Teachers are getting completely sick of being pressured by corrupt and incompetent management
#882
I’m still trying to understand why the BOE hired a supt. who has no prior experience as a supt. Furthermore, she lacks the traditional Ed.D. for such a lofty position, but the BOE is paying her in excess of $250,000 a year.
She’s been Supt. less than 4 months and look at the havoc she has brought to SAUSD.
The BOE needs to cut this one loose, fast.
Anonymous Says:
4/17/2007 1:21 PM
A small tremor could be felt throughout Saddleback HS when teachers and staff learned of Fred Gomeztrejo’s appointment to Valley HS as principal.
Fred joined SAUSD in the fall, as an AP. He hails from Redondo Beach where he was a principal. Most find it curious that Fred stepped down when he came to SAUSD.
Fred is well known on campus as Esther Jones’s Hatchett Boy. Currently two Saddleback teachers are out on stress leave because of his constant harrassment.
Meanwhile, Valley teachers are dumbstruck over the Supt.’s decision to recommend this out of control administrator to the BOE for the position of principal at Valley HS. And they are in disbelief that the BOE confirmed Russo’s recommenndation. Teachers are quietly talking about funding a recall of Audrey Noji,Richardson and Avila. They consider this move an investment in the education of the students.
District admins are currently wrestling with the very low enrollment numbers at Godinez, however that’s only the beginning of their troubles. Most teachers are talking about NOT returning to Valley. They endured the antics of Tony Espinosa for too long, and feel betrayed with the appointment of Tony II.
If the directors of High School Inc. are in agreement with this appointment, then their project is a joke and could be on the path to failure.
Has the stress of the audit and falsifying documents impeded the judgement of Juan Lopez and Jane Russo?
# 886
What makes you believe the stress impeded the judgement of Russo, Lopez, Trigg, or most of the BOE. They knew what they were doing when they pulled the phantom roster scam. The assignment of the VP at SBHS to Valley as Principal should not be a surprise. What is a surprise is the approval by the board while under fire.
They all still think they can do whatever they want without having to account for it. Only the teachers,reputable staff members, and community can put an end to it.
Congratulations David Barton. Your leadership in the Long Beach Board of Education has helped your own district achieve great things:
http://www.latimes.com/news/education/la-me-briefs5.2apr05,1,4210542.story?coll=la-news-learning
http://www.lbusd.k12.ca.us/district/board_of_education/index.asp
Five urban school districts, including the Long Beach Unified School District, were named Wednesday as finalists for the annual $1-million Broad Prize for Urban Education, which honors urban school systems judged as making the greatest progress in raising student achievement.
Long Beach is the first former winner since the competition began in 2002 to return as a finalist, according to the Los Angeles-based Broad Foundation. A winning district is not eligible to reapply for three years.
The prize money goes to scholarships for graduating seniors.
Other finalists are Bridgeport Public Schools in Connecticut, Miami-Dade County Public Schools in Florida, the New York City Department of Education and the Northside Independent School District in northwest San Antonio
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If this district really wanted to do things correctly and have strong educational goals and objectives, the BoE and superintendent would tap Dr. Barton and his knowledge on how to accomplish educational leadership with integrity. Apparently he is on a winning BoE. Only Pompous snobs would refuse to consider collaborating with a positive leadership example such as David Barton.
Question: Why is Trigg still in charge of finances? He doesn
I used to go to Valley and I cannot believe Ms Kramer and Mr Lamers are part of this conspiracy. Hey, then Mr Lamer is one bad apple from most of the teachers trying to do good. Brainwashing all his students. Ms Kramer, u supposed to be helping the community bring up these students into future leaders of America not criminals. I thought they were good people. I am very disappointed to read all of this. I see Mr. Lamers on his bike every morning between 5:30 am and 6:00am on Edinger by Centennial Park. I’ve been meaning to say “Hi” to him, but after all this, its just shameful to even acknowledge him:( I say both of them should hang the towel by now.
Regarding the alleged substitute shortage: The district has only themselves to blame. But rather than accept responsibility for a shortage, they send a letter to the subs as if it’s the subs fault there is a shortage. The real reason for the shortage is that the district is too cheap to hire fully credentialed teachers. They use subs, rather than hiring credentialed teachers, to save money. With the class size reduction (CSR) scandal, what has happened is that the district brought in subs in order to qualify for the CSR funding. At the elementary level alone, 30-35 substitute teachers have been taken out of the regular sub pool to fill the phantom classes. The same situation appears to happen with the 9th grade CSR. How many subs has the district lost from their sub pool because someone downtown thought it would be cheaper to fill the open CSR classes with subs and avoid hiring credentialed teachers?
I guess “Administrator of the Year” Trigg is again balancing the budget on the backs of students. Again, our students lose. No wonder we are a failing district.
A disgusting tactic that Juan Lopez in HR uses is to threaten a teacher with having their credential revoked at the California Teacher Credentialing office. Usually he will use this tactic in combination with false written accusations in a meeting. Don
New Administrator of the year, Jack Oakes:
http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:qSNqRjqipVMJ:www.sausd.k12.ca.us/departments/rop/docs/agenda_2007-03-07.doc+Jack+Oakes+Santa+ana&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=4&gl=us
Maybe he can explain how the new principal of Valley was chosen, based upon the minutes of the last High School Inc meeting.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeUk2vSCRrQ
I love this video and what Mr Palacio has to say. Why can’t we vote him for SAUSD President of the Board of Education and kick Richardson out?! Hey I contacted Telemundo, hopefully they can cover this story too:)
http://www.sausd.k12.ca.us/departments/pio/release.asp?id=139
Two Key Posts Filled at Santa Ana Unified School District
Santa Ana, CA – April 19, 2007
The Santa Ana Unified School District has recently named candidates to two key positions within the District. Cathie A. Olsky, Ed.D., has been appointed to the position of deputy superintendent, and Fred Gomeztrejo was named principal at Valley High School.
Dr. Olsky has served in various positions at multiple California school districts for the past 15 years including South Pasadena Unified School District, San Gabriel Unified, and Alhambra Unified School District. Some of her notable positions held were assistant superintendent, director of Education Services and Staff Development, and site administrator. In her role as deputy superintendent for Santa Ana Unified, Dr. Olsky will assist the superintendent in the overall operation and management of the district.
She received her B.A. in English at La Verne College in La Verne, Calif., and a master’s degree in Education at the University of La Verne. Her doctoral studies were completed at the University of La Verne in 1998.
Mr. Gomeztrejo began his educational career as a physical education teacher in 1986, and most recently was assistant principal at Saddleback High School.
He received his B.S. in Physical Education from the University of La Verne and his master’s in Education from Azusa Pacific University.
If you are harassed and subjected to bullying to the point that it makes you ill, it is your right as an employee to get medical help and open up a workman
The anonymous posting dated 4/20/2007 #895 had some specific information of the new SAUSD appointee Cathie Olsky. The posting provided a brief resume outlining Dr. Olsky
If you need an employment attorney, a number of High School and Intermediate School employees have the name of or are using the services of attorney Ernie Ching of Anaheim Hills. 714-637-9888.
Terry Mathews attorney:
http://www.lawinfo.com/expert/lagunahillspersonalinjuryattorney/
He is the attorney representing staff at Valley who are claiming to have been harassed and had vile telephone messages left on answering machines. The case is in progress.
Blue Coyote Says:
4/22/2007 9:53 PM
#9
Russo is NOT an outsider. Russo enjoyed employment with SAUSD for over two decades, serving in several capacities, until her contract was NOT RENEWED. At that time she slinked to a very small district where she was ass’t supt. for a few years. When Audrey Noji went supt. shopping, she plucked Russo to return to SAUSD as Deputy Supt. for one year. When Russo’s one year internship with Mijares concluded, Mijares resigned and Russo was named interim supt.
It’s no secret that the months long supt. search was merely window dressing to appease the community. Russo was not the best qualified candidate for the position. Russo’s resume does not list any experience as a supt. nor does it include an Ed.D. or Ph.D. degree in education. The BOE’s decision to appoint such a person with no prior experience and reward Russo with an annual salary in excess of $250,000 has left many questioning the BOE’s rationale for gambling with an individual who has no proven record.
While this sordid mess has not been completely revealed or resolved there is one certainty surrounding this fiasco — at no time has Supt. Russo held herself or her cabinet *accountable* for this black eye. Supt. Russo has blamed the LA Times for daring to publish the district’s dirty laundry and she has launched an all-out attack on the teachers who have spoken to the press and SAEA. Her campaign to intimidate and silence is underway with the blessing of Rob Richardson and Audrey Noji.
In the past the district has relied on a variety of intimidation tactics to silence certificated and classified employees. And it has been successful. Russo’s lack of political astuteness has hindered Russo from adequately assessing current conditions. Couple this with Audrey Noji’s zeal to control and retaliate and the perfect storm for a sea change at SAUSD is churning.
No, Supt. Russo is not an outsider. She is very much an insider who is embroiled in a scandal that rests squarely on her door step.
The road to reform was promised by the recall activists and they served up Rob Richardson as its savior of reform. It’s been over four years and the road to reform never materialized. So called community activists harnessed their money, political cache and energy to rid their neighborhood of an elementary school. They gave permission to an outsider, Ron Unz, to prance into town and dictate his English only philosophy because of his unlimited funds. None of the so called recall activists have ever spent time in a classroom teaching and none of them hold any educational degrees or credentials. Their meddling was self-serving – no school in my backyard. Their hypocrisy is boundless. And when their community needs them most, they remain silent on the sidelines out of loyalty to their social pals.
It’s the teachers that must move the corruption and fraud front and center. Teachers, who do not live in your community, are alone in this fight for the children of Santa Ana.
Richardson and his recall acolytes called for transparency, but in the end the prescription was too antiseptic .
Hey Thomas,
Did district hack Bernedette Medrano ever pay up those back taxes from SAEF?
Is the IT dept collecting overtime for monitoring this blog with masked IP addresses and tracking email sent to district employees? The same IT department that allows nudie pictures to be accessed by school computers because someone doesn
I see the Register and LA Times are reporting that the district is out about 2 million so far on the student roster mess. Interestingly the Register report was not only written poorly with bad syntax but left out another part of the story the Times included. The second half of the story is pasted below and probably more interesting to the staff than the findings so far.
——————————
After the presentation, she (Russo) reiterated that no teachers would be blamed for publicly revealing the irregularities.
However, relations between Santa Ana Unified teachers and administrators appear to be deteriorating further.
In a heated written exchange earlier this month, Russo accused some teachers’ union leaders of behavior that was “subversive,” “divisive” and “disingenuous” and of “perpetuating a media feeding frenzy of criticism towards the district,” while the union countered that Russo was violating state labor law by attempting to intimidate teachers who speak out.
Attorneys with the California Teachers Assn., the parent group of the Santa Ana teachers’ union, are drafting a complaint that Russo violated the state’s Educational Employment Relations Act and plan to file it early next week with the Public Employment Relations Board, said David Barton, president of the Santa Ana Educators Assn.
“We won’t allow ourselves to be bullied,” he said. “We believe that the law is on our side. [Russo] overstepped her authority.”
The union’s labor-law complaint stems from an April 16 letter Russo sent to Barton, the union’s board of directors, district administrators and the district Board of Education.
The letter questions the union’s sincerity in working with the district, specifically the union’s grievance chairwoman, Jennifer Isensee. Citing an e-mail Isensee sent to teachers urging them to speak to reporters, Russo wrote, “In fact, this subversive behavior is counterproductive, having the potential for far-reaching consequences to the Santa Ana community at large.”
She urged Barton to “seriously examine the motives” of union leaders who have participated in such activities.
The following day, an attorney representing the union responded, wrote Russo, calling on her to immediately stop trying to silence Isensee and other union members.
“While the public’s awareness of the problem may be embarrassing to you and other administrators under whose watch these allegations first arose, your heavy-handed attempts to silence Ms. Isensee and to intimidate others who might also wish to speak out about the district’s practices do not reflect an intention, on your part, to ‘take full responsibility’ for the conduct at issue,” wrote attorney Carlos R. Perez.
On Tuesday Russo said she wrote the letter “in the hope that we could further honest communications, and that’s all I ask.”
How is trying to take away freedom of speech EVER a good idea? If Russo is trying to come across as a lawless tyrant, well she
Really, Jane, is that the best you can do? Write complaint letters for teachers to shut up about the fraud you
I smell district lawyers on this one. What kind of advice are they giving these days? Stonewalling and blame shifting? Can they be counted on, in any way, to actually help solve the accountability problems in SAUSD? The district lawyers seem to carry their own brand of liability. Instead of SAUSD becoming more transparent and accountable over the years, it has now stumbled down into the pits of actual criminal activity. This type of organized crime scheme is unacceptable. What are the district
# 906
Assuming you are right I can’t forget that Russo was trained by Mijares. It seems to me if Russo was an innocent novice, she wouldn’t have made public statements or written memos attacking the teachers. I haven’t read anything about who implemented this program yet, have you? They are circling the wagons and blaming no one which to me means they all are equally involved and responsible.
If they get away with it, who do you think will be cut to make up for the 2 million (maybe more) they are losing?
#907
Who has not heard the line: “The district said ______”
“The district says _________ is legal”
Etc…. Like the district is a living breathing blame mongering being. Well, that was before there was any kind of accountability. Barton is not giving that group of thugs and cheats any room to run. The Times and Register is all over the story. Pressure on some board members to do the right thing by community members and this blog that records the stories of the wrong doing and waits for the answers to the questions that will lead us to find out who came up with that plot to steal.
SAUSD cannot afford this level of incompetent decision making. Jane is still burning through the cash like it was nothing, trying to shore up her inadequate skills.
Official statement:
http://www.sausd.k12.ca.us/super/2007-04-25_csr_status.asp
Public Statement from Superintendent Jane Russo
Preliminary Class Size Reduction Audit Status
April 25, 2007
The preliminary results of an audit of Class Size Reduction (CSR) in grades K-3 is now available to staff and the public. Santa Ana Unified School District initiated the audit on April 3 in response to issues that arose regarding modifications made to the program as of February 13. At its April 10 Board of Education meeting the District proactively expanded the audit to also include ninth-grade classes. Preliminary findings were presented at the April 24 Board of Education meeting.
We commissioned the elementary audit so that a thorough and independent analysis of the program would determine if there were reporting or implementation issues related to modifications at the elementary level. Preliminary results from the elementary program are outlined in the following sections.
Preliminary Results
A $2 million dollar lesson learned.
Why is it that men and women, with advanced educational degrees, cannot master communicating with school sites the guidelines expected of them to ensure state funding?
It’s difficult to believe that so many school sites got it wrong. And what about principals asking teachers to falsify documents?
Supt.Russo, your adminstrators may not be so bright, but most people know when they’re being played. You are a player just like Mijares, Noji and Richardson.
Offical BS:
When did the buzz word “proactively” hit? As soon as this mess was unearthed. The only proactive motivation was knowingly being caught with no defense.
According to the Register:
Auditors visited have 12 elementary schools since the review began nearly three weeks ago. They interviewed staff at each school, including at least one teacher from grades kindergarten through third. The audit of the elementary grades should be completed within a few weeks, White said.
Despite the poorly written article if I read it right the auditors interviewed “at least one” teacher from K-3 at each school. That resulted in a potential 2 million dollar loss. How about interviewing EVERY teacher involved in the class reduction program? How much more would that unearth in undeserved monies?
I think SAEA should closely, and I know they are, look at these results with a tainted eye and ask why every class involved was not audited.
These “prelimanary” findings of 2 million demand a full and complete audit!
What a sad day this is. District administration and BOE apparently operate under a code of silence. The day Jane’s selection as Superintendent was announced was a day of jubilation for district employees. Finally, we could see the light at the end of the tunnel. What fools we were! Screwed again. This is getting old. Somebody out there, please help us.
BTW, if you think things are a mess at the district, you wouldn’t believe how dysfunctional things are at many school sites. The CSR scandal is the tip of the iceberg. Sadly, have you noticed the lack of concern shown by district admin and BOE regarding the shortchanging these K-3 students have experienced? These kids never had a chance.
#911
The Register writer relies on the district’s pablem-fed stories; he lacks the initiative to go after a story. And it shows in his so-called reporting.
Is Christine Anderson still taking credit for this $2 million snafu?
This bears repeating from an earlier thread on contact information for President Rob Richardson:
Blue Coyote Says:
4/22/2007 9:53 PM
#9
Russo is NOT an outsider. Russo enjoyed employment with SAUSD for over two decades, serving in several capacities, until her contract was NOT RENEWED. At that time she slinked to a very small district where she was ass’t supt. for a few years. When Audrey Noji went supt. shopping, she plucked Russo to return to SAUSD as Deputy Supt. for one year. When Russo’s one year internship with Mijares concluded, Mijares resigned and Russo was named interim supt.
It’s no secret that the months long supt. search was merely window dressing to appease the community. Russo was not the best qualified candidate for the position. Russo’s resume does not list any experience as a supt. nor does it include an Ed.D. or Ph.D. degree in education. The BOE’s decision to appoint such a person with no prior experience and reward Russo with an annual salary in excess of $250,000 has left many questioning the BOE’s rationale for gambling with an individual who has no proven record.
While this sordid mess has not been completely revealed or resolved there is one certainty surrounding this fiasco — at no time has Supt. Russo held herself or her cabinet *accountable* for this black eye. Supt. Russo has blamed the LA Times for daring to publish the district’s dirty laundry and she has launched an all-out attack on the teachers who have spoken to the press and SAEA. Her campaign to intimidate and silence is underway with the blessing of Rob Richardson and Audrey Noji.
In the past the district has relied on a variety of intimidation tactics to silence certificated and classified employees. And it has been successful. Russo’s lack of political astuteness has hindered Russo from adequately assessing current conditions. Couple this with Audrey Noji’s zeal to control and retaliate and the perfect storm for a sea change at SAUSD is churning.
No, Supt. Russo is not an outsider. She is very much an insider who is embroiled in a scandal that rests squarely on her door step.
The road to reform was promised by the recall activists and they served up Rob Richardson as its savior of reform. It’s been over four years and the road to reform never materialized. So called community activists harnessed their money, political cache and energy to rid their neighborhood of an elementary school. They gave permission to an outsider, Ron Unz, to prance into town and dictate his English only philosophy because of his unlimited funds. None of the so called recall activists have ever spent time in a classroom teaching and none of them hold any educational degrees or credentials. Their meddling was self-serving – no school in my backyard. Their hypocrisy is boundless. And when their community needs them most, they remain silent on the sidelines out of loyalty to their social pals.
It’s the teachers that must move the corruption and fraud front and center. Teachers, who do not live in your community, are alone in this fight for the children of Santa Ana.
Richardson and his recall acolytes called for transparency, but in the end the prescription was too antiseptic
I am looking forward to the day when disgusted principals and vice principals feel free to expose the dirty secrets that they have been forced to keep because of intimidation of job loss by corrupt administrators ane inept BoE members.
It is going to be a seriously sweet read!
Let the truth rise!
An administrator once told me that it takes only about $40,000-$50,000 to get rid of an employee. If the district could drag the determined employee
In regards to post #909
That official statement is bullshit and I am calling BS. If that is really Jane Russo writing that garbage, then she needs to go now. That was as vague and unaccountable as anything that has transpired regularly in this district. This smells like something the inept legal team SAUSD uses, has put together. That statement was neither clear nor accountable. That gobbledygook statement is worthless.
1.)Where’s the $2 million memo that the auditors fingered as the culprit in this mess?
2.)It’s still unclear *why* teachers were asked to falsify documents.
2.)Why is Supt. Russo attacking the teachers for challenging the unethical practices of altering documents?
This posting should be considered as an addition to #897 posting dated 4/22/07.
Further investigation has revealed that Gomeztrejo, the new Valley High School principal and CEO of High School Inc., was not released from Centinela Union High School District in June 2005. Gometrejo was transferred to Hawthorne High School after his wife barged into the Lawndale High front office demanding to have it out with a Lawndale assistant principal. Gomeztrejo was having an affair with the AP and his wife was hell bent to bring the tryst to an end. Embarrassed Centinela district officials transferred Gomeztrejo to Hawthorne High at the end of the 2005 school year in an effort to reverse plunging teacher morale at Lawndale High. Once at Hawthorne High School Gomeztrejo launched an anti-teacher campaign that, predictably, deep-sixed teacher morale there. Sources in the Centinela District said Gomeztrejo’s erratic behavior at Hawthorne High School force the District to let Gomeztrejo go without a demotion offer at the end of the 2006 school year.
None of the administrative postions held by Gomeztrejo listed in this posting or in the posting of 4/22/07 was included in Gomeztrejo’s application and resume to SAUSD in the summer of 2006 when he applied for the AP position at Saddleback High and in the winter of 2007 when Gomeztrejo applied for the Valley Principalship. SAUSD Officials Juan Lopez and Louis Bratcher have made public statements stating that no irregularities were uncovered by SAUSD when the District did a background check on Gomeztrejo.
Bullies depend on the cowardice of onlookers.
Bullies hate exposure. Let the truth rise!
The facilities at Godinez high school are open for reservations.
Organizations seeking to use the facilities Monday through Friday between
8 a.m. to 6 p.m. should contact the school. For reservations Monday
through Friday between 6-10 p.m. and weekend reservations, contact the
City of Santa Ana Parks, Recreation and Community Services Agency at
714-571-4200. Reservations made with the City of Santa Ana are subject to
fees as found in the City’s miscellaneous fee schedule; reservations made
through the school district are subject to SAUSD’s fee schedule.
Dolores Ramos
Parks, Recreation, and Community Services Agency
City of Santa Ana
Tentative Agreement
Between
Santa Ana Unified School District
And
California School Employees Association chapter 41
I. Salary: 5% salary increase effective February 1, 2007
II. Employee Benefits
1. Agree to three tier plan design (effective July 1, 2007)
2. Employee yearly contributions (effective July 1, 2007)
A. Blue Cross PPO-9% of the tiered rate
B. Higher priced HMO-4% of the tiered rate
C. Lower priced HMO-free
(EXAMPLE) Employee 2party Family
Blue Cross PPO (9%) $54.70 $113.80 $163.20
Blue Cross HMO (4%) $15.00 $31.00 $44.40
Kaiser 0 0 0
3. In cases where a member and spouse are both employees of the District only one shall have to elect the two-party or family contribution for their benefits to be fully coordinated under the group health plan.
4. Benefits design changes in the following areas (effective July, 2007)
PPO $20 office visit co pay
Emergency room $50 co pay
Prescriptions $10/20/40
Changes stop loss from $7500 to $1000/$2000
Changes deductible from $200/400 to $300/$600
Change hospitalization from 100% to 90%/70%
HMO Increase office visit copay from $10 to $15
Emergency room $50 copay
Prescriptions $10/20/40
Kaiser Increase office visit copay from $10 to $15
Emergency room copay from $35 to $50
Prescriptions $10/20/40
5. Empower the District Benefits Committee to research alternative benefits funding methods such as a jointly managed trust and report to the Bargaining Teams by September 2007
6. Dental Plan: Offer three Delta Dental Plan options. The Delta Premier Plan
#922.
I suggest you learn how to do math. A 5% raise with with some increase in contributions to PPOs (PPOs are optional, right? PPOs are a better plan so they cost more!), and plan design changes, (it costs more if you use it more) is not a 4% paycut.
And I also suggest you get a clue about the national health care crisis in the United States. Health care costs have been going up double digits every year. Santa Ana teachers have had a very rich health benefits plan. Talk to teachers in other districts, and talk to employees in other professions and find out how much they pay for health benefits.
Santa Ana teachers will get a 5% raise. PPOs will go up a bit. But contributions in our health benefits have not gone up at all in about 15 years! $5.00 for a copay? That is unheard of.
Orange Unified teachers pay over $800 per month in contributions for a family PPO. If you are unhappy that our health benefits costs are going up, then take on the insurance companies, the pharmaceutical companies, and the Bush administration for doing nothing about out of control health care costs.