UPDATE: Comments on this thread are now closed. The new 2009 thread is available at this link.
I wrote a post on July 16, 2006, entitled “SAUSD corruption coming out with Mijares gone,” and it blew up to over 2,000 posts. However, it 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 four NEW posts:
- SAUSD-Mijares corruption thread, 2008 Comments
- SAUSD-Temporary Thread (Migration 5/16/2008) Comments
- SAUSD-Mijares corruption thread, 2007 Comments
- SAUSD-Mijares corruption thread, 2006 Comments
Also, don’t forget you can go to the right sidebar of any page page and search for “SAUSD” to get links to ALL of our past SAUSD stories.
I have been honored that this blog has allowed so many people to vent their frustrations with the SAUSD administration and school board. We will continue to shed light on these issues and I hope that our readers will continue to use this blog to communicate about the corruption at SAUSD.
SAUSD does not belong to the administrators or to the school board. It belongs to us. We will have an opportunity this fall to take back the school board, with three seats opening up. I pray that good candidates will emerge so we will be able to do exactly that. Until then, please keep the comments coming! But post them here, to this new thread. Thank you.
http://preview.tinyurl.com/5o5dq6
Thursday, December 11, 2008
$71 million Santa Ana school cuts likely to hit classrooms hard
Superintendent Jane Russo says potentially devastating cuts are ahead for county’s largest school district.
By FERMIN LEAL
The Orange County Register
Comments 14| Recommend 0
SANTA ANA – Santa Ana Unified may have to cut $25.7 million from the budget for the current year and up to $46 million over the next two years because of the state budget crisis, Superintendent Jane Russo said during a community meeting this morning.
Russo spoke to about 50 parents, community leaders, city administrators, college officials, and others during the informational meeting aimed at raising community awareness about how the state’s $10 billion budget deficit will impact local schools.
“In the past, we’ve always said we would try to keep budget cuts as far away from the classroom as possible,” Russo said. “But we are going to be right in the middle of the classroom now with these proposed cuts.”
School board members and district officials have not formally identified how $25.7 million would be cut from the district’s $500 million annual budget this current year. Over the past five years, officials have already slashed more than $130 million from the 54,500-student district’s budget. Previous cuts include the reduction of hundreds of custodians, security guards, clerks, teaching positions, nurses, librarians, administrators and other positions. Officials have also cut millions from music and arts programs, reduced work days for most employees, and adjusted health benefits.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has proposed cutting about $2.5 billion from public education this year to help erase the state deficit.
Santa Ana Unified receives nearly 90 percent of all budget revenues from the state, or about $5,819 per student each year. Russo said the ongoing state cuts could mean up to $400 a year less in funding on average per student.
“All these cuts are sending a bad message to the students,” said Victoria Zaragoza, a parent at Kennedy Elementary. “We are making them pay for the mistakes of growups. We’re telling them they are not valued.”
Countywide, most school districts are also predicting a dire forecast for schools. Some districts, including Capistrano Unified and Los Alamitos Unified have already started cutting from their budgets.
In Santa Ana, a budget committee made up of parents, community members, and educators will convene next week to begin identifying potential cuts. There is no current timeline of when the school board might vote on any proposed cuts, officials said.
Contact the writer: 714-445-6687 or fleal@ocregister.com
jpalacio@pacbell.net
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
State budget crisis could cost Santa Ana schools $46 million more
Santa Ana Unified will hold public meeting Thursday on potential impacts of state budget on district.
By FERMIN LEAL
The Orange County Register
SANTA ANA – The ongoing state budget crisis could eventually force Santa Ana Unified School District into another $46 million in school cuts, district officials said Tuesday.
“It will be very difficult to keep schools open with these types of cuts,” said Ron Murrey, the district’s associate superintendent of business services during the school board meeting.
Murrey said the figure was just an estimate at this point based on projections that the state could face a deficit of up to a $20 billion to $28 billion over the next two years.
School board members said mid-year budget cuts are likely for the 54,000-student district, but trustees have not formally considered a specific amount or identified places for cuts. Over the past four years, officials have already cut more than $90 million from the district’s budget.
Santa Ana Unified, the county’s largest district, receives most of its $500 million budget from the state, like most districts across California.
“Just because we’ve developed an expertise in budget cuts doesn’t mean we should be in the forefront when it comes to the state running out of money,” said trustee Audrey Yamagata-Noji.
Trustees and district staff will hold a special meeting Thursday for the public on the impacts of the state budget crisis on the district. The meeting begins at 7:30 a.m. at district headquarters, 1601 E. Chestnut Ave..
Contact the writer: 714-445-6687 or fleal@ocregister.com
More….
jpalacio@pacbell.net
Monday, December 8, 2008
Conference: Schools facing $1 billion-plus midyear cut
Parents will be asked to step up to the plate with carefully crafted fundraising strategies.
By SCOTT MARTINDALE
The Orange County Register
ORANGE – Public schools in the state likely will be forced to trim their budgets by at least $1 billion in the middle of this school year, putting an extraordinary burden on parents to find ways to effectively bridge the financial gap in a matter of months, school fundraising experts said at a statewide conference Monday.
The state Legislature is expected to act as soon as mid-January on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s proposed $2.5 billion midyear cut to K-12 public education, said education financing lobbyist Kevin Gordon, the keynote speaker at the California Consortium of Education Foundations’ annual conference at the Doubletree Hotel in Orange.
“I’m fully expecting that where we end up is $1 billion to $1.5 billion in midyear cuts,” Gordon, president of the Sacramento-based School Innovations & Advocacy lobbying group, told about 100 conference attendees. “… It will be another draconian budget that will send us into a tailspin.”
Particularly challenging for parents and fundraising groups will be differentiating this year’s dismal budget message from the “sky is falling” message that reverberated loudly in communities across California last spring, Gordon said.
In Orange County alone, more than 1,900 teachers faced termination last spring, but as the budget picture improved for education, the number plummeted to about 100 by September. Many of those who lost their jobs were temporary teachers working on one-year contracts.
“It’s important to fight the fight and illustrate the cuts to our communities so they get it,” Gordon said.
Midyear cuts would be different in that teachers cannot be laid off before the end of a school year. Hence, school districts would look to cut things like school supply budgets, music, arts and sports programs, as well as non-classroom employees who aren’t under yearlong contracts.
With school districts increasingly relying on local community support to make up for the shortfalls, conference speakers emphasized that parent groups will need to carefully craft their fundraising strategies and marketing messages to effectively reach their target audience.
About 85 percent of the households in any given community do not have children in public schools, so the only ways to reach out to the community at large are through nonschool groups – service organizations, senior centers, chambers of commerce, community events and corporate sponsorships.
One key to tapping into the community’s pocketbooks is to understand how people think and what will motivate them to help their schools, said Wayne Padover, associate professor of educational administration at National University in Los Angeles.
“It’s hard for people to hear schools need money because more than half of the state budget is for education,” Padover said. “But the reality is, are we willing to have a generation of students that won’t be served while we’re waiting on the Legislature?”
Tim Shaw, founder of the Irvine-based Empower/Excel consulting firm and a former president of the Irvine Public Schools Foundation, said the foundation was able to increase its direct-mail donations from about $25,000 per mailer to $1 million or more per mailer by hiring a marketing firm to understand how Irvine residents think. The marketing firm surveyed residents on why they moved to Irvine and how they got information on their schools, he said.
“It really wasn’t that expensive,” Shaw said. “We learned that people (in Irvine) wanted to have kids, and they saw the strength of the schools tied to property values. We crafted our marketing strategies based on that appeal.”
Contact the writer: 949-454-7394 or smartindale@ocregister.com
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From the Los Angeles Times
California fiscal officials try ‘Scared Straight’ approach with Legislature
In a rare joint session of the Assembly and Senate, officials depict the dismal consequences if Democrats and Republicans fail to address the state’s projected $28-billion budget gap — and soon.
By Jordan Rau and Patrick McGreevy
December 9, 2008
Reporting from Sacramento, Jordan Rau and Patrick Mcgreevy — In the 1970s, hardened felons tried to deter juvenile delinquents from lives of crime through “Scared Straight” presentations in which they portrayed prison life in all its brutal unpleasantness.
On Monday, California’s top fiscal officers attempted to deliver a similar jolt to state legislators who have yet to address a $28-billion projected budget gap.
In a rare joint session of the Assembly and state Senate, the treasurer and controller, along with the senior fiscal advisors to the Legislature and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s administration, depicted the dismal consequences of a continued budget impasse between legislative Democrats and Republicans.
The upshot:
* Before the end of the month, state road and school construction projects — heralded as the best economic stimulus the Capitol can offer — will go idle.
* By March, California will run out of cash, forcing thousands of vendors to take IOUs or nothing at all.
* And by June, the lawmakers will face a financial disaster that will require twice as much in painful cuts or tax increases as currently proposed.
“As unpalatable as tax increases or further program cuts may appear, neither is as toxic to the state’s fiscal heath as doing nothing,” said state Controller John Chiang.
Democratic leaders called the unusual session in hopes that lawmakers would take action on the fiscal emergency Schwarzenegger declared last week. Although the state’s grim situation has been apparent for months, GOP lawmakers nixed a Democratic plan just before Thanksgiving to reduce the gap by tripling the state’s car tax and cutting programs.
“I think some of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle are living in denial, frankly,” Assembly Speaker Karen Bass (D-Los Angeles) said before the session.
Yet there was little indication that the two-hour session had shifted the political dynamic. Bass planned to spend today in Washington, D.C., pressing the federal government for financial assistance to ease the crisis, something she has emphasized repeatedly.
The Republicans, who attended reluctantly, refused to accept tax increases, instead emphasizing the importance of limiting state spending and ferreting out waste and bloat in existing programs.
“I didn’t see a lot of productive work there today,” said Senate minority leader Dave Cogdill (R-Modesto). “I think it was more about trying to heighten the intensity around this thing and push people to a place that they have been trying to push us to for a long time, and I don’t think it’s going to work.”
Sen. Dave Cox (R-Fair Oaks) held aloft two weighty yellow tomes produced by the last effort to trim state government — Schwarzenegger’s 2004 California Performance Review, which suggested 279 ways to save money by reorganizing the state bureaucracy. Almost none were adopted.
In his comments, Mac Taylor, the Legislature’s nonpartisan fiscal analyst, described the folly of trying to close the gap either by taxes or through spending cuts alone. A tax-only solution would require increasing the sales tax by 2 cents, adding a 15% surcharge to the personal income tax and hiking corporate taxes by 2% — making all of those taxes the highest in the nation, he said.
Taylor said erasing the budget gap by cuts would require lawmakers to end all funding for the University of California and state universities, welfare grants, developmental health services, mental health and in-home supportive services.
Chiang, the controller, said the state faces a $2-billion cash crunch in March because it cannot borrow all the money it needs because of the international credit crisis and the state’s troubled fiscal condition.
State Treasurer Bill Lockyer said that within two weeks, the state will start “shutting down” nearly $5 billion in public works projects, including road and school building efforts, unless lawmakers make a dent in the budget gap. He said the state is having trouble selling bonds that finance those projects but calling them off would translate into $12 billion in losses to private contractors working on them.
“Billions of dollars that would have gone to private sector businesses, creating tens of thousands of jobs, would be cut off,” Lockyer said. He advised legislators: “Stop relying on the tooth fairy and other fantasies” that there is some painless way to resolve the crisis.
Mike Genest, Schwarzenegger’s finance director, resorted to the language of 12-step programs when he told lawmakers that “the first step of solving a problem is recognizing you have a problem.”
Michael Villines (R-Clovis), the Assembly GOP leader, said all of four presenters had given similar briefings to the Republican caucus.
“We already have all this information, and the tough choices are clear,” Villines said. “There is no doubt that they have painted a bleak picture, and it is a bleak picture.”
Rau and McGreevy are Times staff writers.
jordan.rau@latimes.com
patrick.mcgreevy
@latimes.com
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Schwarzenegger warns of state worker layoffs
By Jon Ortiz
jortiz@sacbee.com
Published: Monday, Dec. 08, 2008 | Page 13A
California’s financial troubles have prompted Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to start talking about state layoffs.
But slicing the state payroll takes far more than the flick of a pen.
At a Los Angeles event last week, Schwarzenegger said the state has to look at all areas of government to close the $11.2 billion funding gap this fiscal year.
“I think the longer we wait the more we will have to lay off people from government,” he said in response to a question about the state’s financial health. “And I think because of the delay now, we are almost, I think, forced – as a matter of fact, we are going to have a meeting … about that, how many people we need now to lay off in order to make ends meet.”
Schwarzenegger spokesman Aaron McLear said the governor met last week with advisers about cutting state jobs and other cost-saving measures.
McLear declined to discuss the details, but, he said, “what I can tell you is that the budget shortfall is so serious that we are preparing for more deep cuts.”
Unlike Schwarzenegger’s recent proposal to furlough state workers one day each month, a governor can impose layoffs without getting state worker unions or the Legislature to go along.
But the process from ordering job cuts to actually eliminating them can take months.
Generally, state workers with the least service time are the first to go. Some workers whose jobs are eliminated can take lower-level positions by bumping employees with less seniority.
The state gives workers 120-day “surplus” notices that their jobs may be eliminated. Depending on the terms of labor contracts, unions get a 30- or 60-day heads-up on which jobs could take a hit.
Individual employees get 30 days’ notice before they’re dismissed. The notification periods can overlap.
Labor organizations say they are perplexed by the governor’s remark about layoffs.
“Putting all this stuff in the paper and offering sound bites doesn’t solve the problem,” said Yvonne Walker, president of Service Employees International Union Local 1000. The local represents about 95,000 state employees.
“There are going to have to be cuts. We’re going to have to raise taxes. We need to go after federal money,” Walker said. “But let’s sit down and see how we can work this out.”
Olin King, president of the Association of California State Supervisors, called cutting state jobs a “draconian remedy” that would put a disproportionate burden on civil servants.
“It’s possible that the governor is posturing,” King said. “But he might be quite serious about it. Either way, it’s not a prudent way to deal with a crisis that affects all Californians, not just state workers.”
State worker Sue Rasberry said she and her co-workers in the agency where she is an office technician are “definitely concerned” about the layoff talk. She also wondered about whether any savings realized through job cuts would be offset by higher unemployment and a decline in consumer spending.
“Don’t just walk us off the end of a gangplank and then realize you actually needed us to help row the boat,” Rasberry said. “With no income, I won’t be buying things. And is laying off employees really a viable solution when you think about the impact of all those unemployment payments and the impact of higher unemployment in California?”
About 112,000 state workers are employed in the Sacramento region, roughly 10 percent of the work force. According to the Service Employees International Union, state workers put more than $15 million every day into the region’s economy.
Five years ago, another budget crisis proved how challenging it is to rein in California’s complex bureaucracy. In 2003, then-Gov. Gray Davis ordered 20,000 vacant state positions slashed when budget troubles hit.
Just a few months after he issued that mandate, half of the 16,000 jobs immediately eliminated by the order were restored because they were considered essential.
A Davis spokeswoman noted at the time: “It’s one thing to talk about reducing government as a monolithic whole. But when you get down to the level of talking about specific jobs and the people who fill them, it gets more difficult.”
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Call The Bee’s Jon Ortiz, (916) 321-1043. Read his blog, The State Worker, at sacbee.com/blogs.
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State building projects will end without budget, Lockyer warns
By Steve Wiegand
swiegand@sacbee.com
Published: Monday, Dec. 08, 2008
State Treasurer Bill Lockyer warned legislators today that absent a fast solution to the state’s budget crisis, $5 billion in public works projects will grind to a halt within two weeks, creating thousands of layoffs and delaying construction of projects all over California.
“We can no longer both lend money for projects and lend money to the general fund for cash flow,” Lockyer told a rare joint session of the Legislature in the Assembly chambers. “It means the economic stimulus that we all want won’t occur.”
The projects range from synchronizing traffic lights along Folsom Boulevard to building classrooms in San Diego. The cutoff of funds would halt not only projects in the planning stages, Lockyer said, but those that had already broken ground.
Lockyer’s warning came as legislators and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger wrestle with a state budget deficit that is expected to climb to more than $28 billion over the next 19 months.
The treasurer was one of a quartet of state financial officials who addressed lawmakers, and laid out an apocalyptic vision of California’s future:
• Legislative Analyst Mac Taylor said that trying to close the gap through budget cuts alone would mean slicing the equivalent of all state spending on state colleges and universities and all social service programs, from welfare to aid to the developmentally disabled.
• Mike Genest, Schwarzenegger’s director of finance, said that gloomy projections of the future gap between revenues and spending are getting darker by the day.
• State controller John Chiang said the state could face running out of money by March, be unable to borrow, and be forced to issue the equivalent of IOUs for only the second time since the Great Depression.
All four urged the Legislature, which flopped in its efforts to come up with a budget-balancing plan last month, to act quickly.
“Make no mistake,” Chiang said. “A delay in acting would be catastrophic.
Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, D-Los Angeles, said before the presentation that the purpose of the hearing was to confront legislators who just took office last week with the dire reality of the situation, and re-emphasize it to some of the veteran lawmakers.
“I think that some of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle are in denial, frankly … the goal of today is to make sure there is no excuse for the denial moving forward.”
While some of the officials’ warnings have been sounded before, today’s presentation spelled out both the enormity and complexity of the situation.
As Lockyer explained, local and state public works projects are financed from the state’s Pooled Money Investment Account (PMIA), which is comprised mainly of the state’s general operating fund, special state funds and money deposited by cities and counties. When building projects are proposed, the sponsoring entity borrows money from the fund (about $660 million worth each month), and the fund is repaid when Lockyer’s office sells bonds.
But Lockyer said that because of the state’s pathetic financial condition, there’s no market for bonds. Without bond revenues, the PMIA must hoard its current revenues to fuel the state’s general fund so it can pay ongoing bills.
“In nine days … we’ll be forced to start shutting down planned expenditures for highways, schools, flood control and other things,” he said.
Lockyer’s reference was to a meeting scheduled for Dec. 17 of the three-member board — consisting of Lockyer, Schwarzenegger and Chiang — that oversees the PMIA.
Lockyer said the crisis threatens $5 billion worth of projects in the current fiscal year and $8 billion worth in the fiscal year that starts July 1, and would cost the state as many as 200,000 jobs.
Chiang, whose responsibility it is to monitor the state’s cash flow, said that in normal years, the state borrows from internal funds and outside sources on a short-term basis. The borrowing is triggered by the fact that the state incurs a lot of bills early in the fiscal year but gets most of its tax revenue at the end.
This year, however, Chiang said borrowing internally had about reached its maximum, and private lenders weren’t eagerly lining up to lend the state money.
By the end of February, the state could be down to its last $882 million in cash, he said. By the end of March, it could be at least $1.9 billion in the red.
“Failure is not an option here,” he said. “Without coming together to address our budget problems, we will create a financial catastrophe from which it will take years to recover.”
#900
Anon, Article 25.3, 25.4 state (kind of clumsily)that teachers becoming credentialed and/or moving into “hard to fill” positions would get the stipend. The manner in which these articles are written allow Hammitt’s interpretation to knock them off the stipend after that first year. You are absolutely correct about the missing 25.5. Whoever copied the pages onto the website missed that article. 25.5 reads:
“Beginning July 1, 2001 and subject to passage of beginning teacher salary incentive legislation, the above stipend shall increase to 3% of Class IV, Step 7.”
This article really needs to be updated. There is current legislation, SB1660 (Romero) applicable to article 25.5, but appears to give SAUSD plenty of weasel-room to deny teachers in extra funds. You can check it here.
http://www.ccst.us/newsletter/2008/2008oct6.php
http://www.legisweb.com/calm/comments/Comments.asp?ref=urn%3Acalm%3A2007%3Asb1660%3Adoc
#904
Thanks for getting the topic back on track despite topic interruptus by anon 901-903. Reprints just aren’t needed when you can paste the link as you did for cost.us and legiweb.
#904 Your links and explanation of point 5 most certainly will be exploited by the district and taken as long as they can to drag it out through the grievance procedure. Again bad union contract language causing teachers to be victims along with students.
http://blogs.ocweekly.com/navelgazing/apples-and-oranges/no-need-to-hide-sausd/
No Need To Hide, SAUSD
Posted by Daffodil J. Altan in Apples and Oranges
December 11, 2008 9:55 AM
Permalink | Comments (0)
Thank God for screen grabs. Without them, and without Orange Juice Blog’s muckraking, we wouldn’t be able to share the (tricky) little hide-and-seek game Santa Ana Unified School District played with its constituents yesterday.
Art Pedroza, over at Orange Juice, caught the district in hideout mode when he took a snapshot of their website and wondered aloud why there was no information anywhere — in English or in Spanish — about a critical budgetary meeting tonight that will deal with the possible $46 million in cuts the district faces (read: potential school closures), because of the stalled state budget. The meeting’s open to the public, but the public didn’t know. Instead, it was outed in a Reg story which listed a 7:30 a.m. (instead of 7 p.m.) meeting time. Art noticed the meeting wasn’t listed on the district’s website and threw down a little blog pressure, urging readers to call or e-mail spokesperson Angela Burrell asking where the meeting info was.
Miraculously, the real meeting info was brought out of hiding today, a little late for parents who may have rearranged schedules and showed up for a 7:30 a.m. “community meeting” instead of tonight’s session. There’s no way of knowing if the district gaffe — which would have kept parents and teachers away from tonight’s meeting — was intentional. Could it be that district officials are a tad nervous that folks might show up wondering why assistant supe Juan Lopez was just given a raise and bumped up to associate superintendent during these hard times or if the district will proceed with remodeling projects at district headquarters in the face of more cuts (as it did this past summer)?
Only one way to find out: Special Board Meeting/Study Session of the Santa Ana Unified School District Board of Education; Board Room of the District Administration Building, 1601 E. Chestnut, Santa Ana; 7 p.m. tonight.
never underestimate the cleverness of the district. did they fullfill all Brown Act requirements?
Additional SAUSD Threads:
December 10, 2008
Why is the SAUSD not publicizing tomorrow’s budget crisis meeting on their website? By Art Pedroza
December 11, 2008
Another SAUSD budget crisis meeting set for tonight. By Art Pedroza
December 11, 2008
Will new SAUSD Trustee Roman Reyna be the “new Rosie?” By Art Pedroza
During a financial crisis one would trust that responsible administrators of public schools be maximally efficient with California public education funds, $5,786. per student, or about $32. per day for each student, ADA (average daily attendance) funds. However, next week the wrestling teams will miss classes for two days for a local wrestling tournament. The SAHS choir and the mariachi dancers will be gone all Friday to go caroling and entertaining around Santa Ana, including managers and staff at SAUSD district offices. Not to worry… students are considered at school when out caroling, dancing and wrestling, so the school will not lose the approx. $3,000. of ADA funds. The only loss will be instruction in mathematics, chemistry, biology, physics, geography, government, history, and English, that these students should otherwise be getting … and, of course, the pre-holiday break midterm exams that the more serious teachers will be giving.
I found this comment over on the budget crisis entries and thought it was interesting. True or not? I don’t know but it left me wondering since comments above here indicate school police were cut to 11 months and not hiring or expanding. If this anon comment is true, one might wonder the justification of expanding their police station during cutbacks?
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HEY, ART
DID YOU ALL KNOW???
Why is it that school police is expanding again(DIXON)? It has taken over the old electrical shop(complete remodel),has new walls, and four brand new offices that had been done in the first phase by outside contractors including ac for the old electrical shop.The new training room for the officers is in the center of this room. If you walk in new school police you will come to a bank style counter(wall with glass and a slit at the bottom and a door chime that rings as you go in). The old school police just had newly remodeled tile floors,new carpet, walls and paint. If we are in a budget crunch, why are we spending money on school police head quarters? If we are looking to save money, what about the School Police Chief? He gets to take a tax payer’s bike home somewhere out in Riverside (he makes enough to pay his own fast track) and parks it in the back parking lot by his office and covers it up daily like it was his. I take it the district pays for his gas and extra maintenace on that bike. As a Chief,wouldn’t we want one with a minimum of a B.A.?
Cuts need to hit the Police station. We had a child porn offender (same guy that got a female officer pregnant under his watch) and a police officer that beats his girl friend up and tells her not to say anything to the police. The list goes on and on. Only SAUSD(Russo) would fund this mini Police Dept. that has nothing but rejects for PR. SAUSD is a district that is VERY TOP HEAVY and a there is a lot of mismanagement. Good job in your promotion JUAN LOPEZ — another 20 thousand a year! Perfect timing! Will you be part of helping lay off Classified??!!
WHY? WHY is it necessary to have school police? Why can’t the district partner with SAPD and have a few officers assigned as a school task force like they have in Irvine and other districts?
WHY continue to bear the expense of police officers in a school district that has to cut educational personnel so deeply? Has anyone ever questioned the Board?
# 911
The why of school police, or DSO’s for that matter, all fall back to another proposition 8 passed in 1982 called the victims bill of rights. Within this bill was a section providing the right for students to attend safe schools and provide a safe learning environment. Generally speaking, this forced all school districts to take some kind of action to protect staff, students and property. School police already existed in some districts but this bill mandated some kind of show of safety by all districts. Districts were given the choice of hiring their own police, city police, or security officers. Many districts opted for city police on campus’s known as school resource officers. Other districts provided their own staffs.
The problem was cost. School police are cheaper than city police and security officers are cheaper than either of the other two. So why school police? Aside from the cost, districts discovered they virtually had no control over city police on campus while they could restrain their own police and security forces. The down side, in the beginning was that school police and security were not as well trained as city police. Today that isn’t the case as school police are required to undertake the exact same training as city police PLUS specialized training in school law.
Considering the violent crime rate in Santa Ana it is obvious that having armed police or security is almost a must. Does it have to be school police? No. But the district has to provide something to protect the students and staff. Believe it or not except for some obvious waste, the SA school police are very proficient. Sadly the most current obvious example of waste is the report of this new police station. At a time when people are losing jobs, this did not seem like the right time to almost thumb their nose at the other department employees.
In regqards to the school district police, for the most part, they are superfluous. Jane has said the next cuts will come from the middle of the classroom. Why?
Before we hit the classrooms, shouldn’t the issue of the school poice dept. be put on the table? While we do need a safety officer (DSO) or two on the campus sites, we don’t need the school police.
It hass been interesting to note that over the years the SAPD, when called, have always responded much quicker the our district police? Again, I ask why are we funding separately what already exists for free in the city?
#913
Now I understand your thinking more clearly and I wasn’t clear enough in my answer as it related to your inquiry.
The fact is nothing comes free. Back in the early 90’s the city did provide city police for the High School campus’s. But they were not free. The district had a contract of some kind with the city. The district paid the city police salary for that officer to be there. A salary which is about 15-20 percent higher than a school police officer.
The problem I mentioned before was that the district could not control these city officers. What I should have said was that the district could not keep these city officers at the schools all the time. They would run off to assist or even handle city police calls leaving no police officer at the school for prolonged periods of time while the district paid for it.
Sometime later, under the now gone Chief Miyashiro, the district was convinced that it would be cheaper to hire and place school police officers at the high schools replacing the city police officers.
Around 1999 City police Chief Walters proposed to the district a plan to completely takeover all school police functions offering the added services of detectives, helicopters, dogs and all the other stuff the city police had that school police did not. This would have been something like a city contracting the sheriff’s department to handle law enforcement in a city.
The board was again convinced they were better off with their own police, based on prior experience with the city officers. They declined the proposal.
Today things have changed for the worse. The school district is not the only one in debt. The city of SA is also millions of dollars in debt. City police are now understaffed just like everybody else. I doubt they have the manpower or money to retake over the schools without charging the district a lot more than it takes to maintain the current school police.
Again I remind you that under the 1982 law the district must provide a safe school environment. Can they do that with unarmed DSO’s? I don’t know. But I do know that if you want a city police officer on your campus full time, the district is going to have to pay for it. Nothing comes for free anymore.
As a footnote do not misunderstand me as saying that the school police are being managed properly. School police need to be focused on the schools. I’m told that the motorcycle cops write tickets all over town as do some of the campus officers and officers working patrol. This is being done in the name of revenue for the district. If the school police expect to stay in business they really need to quit playing in the city and stick to what they were hired to do.
I have no idea what Ms. Russo and Olsky have in mind in referring to cuts “far or close to the classroom.” Classrooms have been pounded continually for the last 2 decades, with accelerated attacks in the last few years.
When I began here, we had an average of about 28 students per classroom teacher, thanks to a 75% dropout rate. [ Rate based on graduating less than 300 seniors in 4 years starting with a freshman class of 1200. School admin’s get far lower rates by scamming statistics in a variety of clever ways,] For about a decade beginning in the mid 80’s we started in September with 40 or so in the classroom, but by the end of November were below 30. From the mid-90’s grad rates increased so we were getting a little over 50% graduated (600+ with the same 1200 frosh class). Good news, but resulting in most classrooms packed with 35-37 students, pushing the limits of the Contract AVERAGE class size of 32.5. Then, about 3 years ago new director of HR Juan Lopez announced a “corrected interpretation” of AVERAGE class size by including teacher’s preparation period as a “class of zero students” into calculating the average, effectively pushing the contract limit of 32.5 up 20% to a 39 student average per class – all without bargaining. Of course we’ve protested, but Lopez basically said “suit me”, which we have in the filing of a contract grievance. This process takes about 2 years to resolve if the District fights it, which they are. So, while 15 years ago most teachers here had about 140 students to teach each day, many today have over 200. A lot of teachers have to “hot seat” several students, meaning several students won’t have assigned seats in class, but will each day will take the seats of absent students, of which there’s usually enough.
Now Ms. Russo says the District is going to have to make cuts which may directly effect the classroom. I have absolutely no idea what she is talking about.
I think the district will eliminate 20 to 1 classes at the elementary level. That would allow them to eliminate 1/3 of the teaching positions for grades 1-3…several hundred teachers’ salaries…so they can continue with pay raises for District deadweights and ongoing renovation of District offices.
Sad.
We are already using our Title 1 funds to fund regular classes and they average over 35. I don’t really think that the proper use of these funds is to use them to lower class size in regular classes, but that is what is happening. If it weren’t for this improper use of funds, our average class size would hover around 45 students.
The school police dept didnt get expanded. The chief and lieutenants office was moved from building services to a space that was the old mechanics shop which had no walls or ceilings. It now has the fingerprint and id card facility, investigator, and chiefs office. The lieutenant and chiefs office in building services was taken over by Dixon.
The area where the officers work was painted and a really nasty twenty year old carpet was replaced with tile. The district had also not cleaned the vents since the beginning of time and black stuff was blowing out causing people to get sick.
There has been no replacement of the lieutenants position and all officers pay was reduced by 8% or one months pay. I’m sure the officers would rather have the income than the new tile.
The take home motorcyle needs to go back in service with a new motor officer to help with traffic control. Where it should be.
Another Anon,
I appreciate you clearing that up. As I prefaced by reprinting the “anon” comment..”If true” since I had no way of knowing. I assume the claims of a glass security cage in the department are false as well even though some truth about the motorcycle and the chief appear to be valid. One thing about this thread is eventually most of the truth comes out.
I suppose you could call it a “glass security cage”, but it’s not a cage, it’s just a walk up window because there’s no one at the front desk (no help) all of the time, so visitors ring the bell.
Since the following was the topic of discussion at the December 11th Board meeting, I’m even more certain that SAUSD will eliminate K-3 class size reduction in order to make sure there is enough money to give raises to District level adminimal strators and continue to renovate District offices.
PRESENTATION
• Class Size Reduction Programs: Quality Education Investment Act (QEIA) and K-3 Class Size Reduction (CSR)
CLOSED SESSION AGENDA
A. With respect to every item of business to be discussed in Closed Session pursuant to Government Code Section 54947:
EMPLOYEE NEGOTIATIONS: SAEA Bargaining Unit
Mr. Juan Lopez, District Negotiator
B. With respect to every item of business to be discussed in Closed Session pursuant to Section 54957:
Teacher #916
I’m the first to admit I don’t know the rules for all the grant titles, acts, measures, and whatever other programs the district plays monopoly money with but obviously you have some knowledge. More obvious is that the district doesn’t give a whip about following those rules. Those who care such as yourself find they don’t know how to fix it even when it is so in your face. Eventually the house of cards falls. The victims are the students and employees.
As a retired building service executive told me about 20 years ago, “Ask for double what you need so you get what you expect. Then spend it all on anything you can so the following year their are unfinished projects and you can ask for an increased budget”. It seems that concept still works.
to anon 911…cuz this ain’t Irvine.
Another Anon #920
Ok, I think I understand it now. Instead of just a front counter they added a glass barrier teller window kind of deal like a lot of city police departments and CHP have in the front lobby to keep people confined to the front lobby. (normally bullet proof glass) The Chief’s office was moved back over in the police department so they took over the empty space next door that was some kind of shop. They also expanded the fingerprint area there and added the detectives office. Is that about right?
The original anon post I brought over to this thread also mentioned a “training room” in this shop area. Is this wrong too or an exaggeration?
Another Anon #920
Here is another post from some anon put up on the latest budget crises meeting tonight (Monday)thread. This person seems to say more than just one shop was taken over by school police. Since you have said only the neighboring shop was taken over the clear question, since you seem to know, which is it? The post is as follows:
anon Says:
December 15th, 2008 at 1:47 pm
I think were OK remember Mr. Lopez just got a new title and a $20,000.00 dollar raise with it. HA HA HA.
and the start of construction started up again in the district offices(check out school police) it has grown from its corner office and expanded 3 or 4 more shops, but yet it just a remodel.
As far as I know it was previously one shop area which was directly adjacent to the original police serivce office. Yes, it’s more space than the previous lieutenant and chiefs old offices because it now accomodates the finger printing and id card processing. If there was someone to do the work, the fingerprinting could create income for the district because there are few places the public can go to get fingerprinting done. If there’s a training room, it’s empty.
There are no plans for more employees to fill this space if that’s what people are thinking. Why the district admin made it this way, who knows? I can only guess that building out several offices was more cost effective in the long run?
The glass partition is not bullet proof, and as previously mentioned, no one mans the front desk so there’s a door bell for visitors. Police documents do need some level of security, so you don’t want an area that people can just walk in and out of.
No defense of the decision making here, just providing a less exaggerated view.
Some blogger folks have implied the employees initiated and created this buildout. The employees were told the funds used for this remodel were “catagorical” but employees feel they paid for it with cuts to their income.
I don’t think it was 3-4, that’s not true! but the shop that you are talking about is the old electrical shop that’s part of school police. I think that theirs a shop in the middle of the old police and the new police offices. I was told by an employee that the so called training room is in the new area. Its just a big room!
Thanks for helping to expain part of school police remodeling story. When the OC Weekly wrote the story probably one of the most interesting paragraphs was this one.
When the Weekly inquired about the additional remodeling, Deputy Superintendent Cathie Olsky pointed out that the gutting of an old workshop and subsequent plans to re-floor, re-window and repaint it, plus the installation of a sprinkler system, light fixtures and carpeting is not a remodel, but a “conversion.”
“Paint and carpet is what you have to do. It’s not being remodeled. It’s being converted from a workroom to an office,” she says of the expansion of the School Police division. The last cost figures she saw for the conversion, she says, were for “$13,000 or $14,000.” But according to district invoices obtained by the Weekly, the conversion has cost upward of $70,000, and it isn’t finished. Plans for the expansion were not publicly disclosed this year, according to district meeting minutes.
Olsky apparently can’t count since the expansion was for at least 3 offices and the fingerprinting department. Except for the school police chief’s office, the old department already had a detective office, a Sgt office, and a traffic office. All added during a previous remodel when school police took over the Civic Center office and part of the paint shop.
Still admittedly cramped the school police managed to function pretty well over the last decade in those quarters.
The need to add a Chiefs office is understandable since this Dixon guy found that he needed to roll 3 offices into one for himself. In fact Dixon has quite a history of overkill when it comes to building things. Over at Capo he was held primarily responsible for the new district office laughingly called the “Taj Mahal”. In fact the place is so big part of Capo’s recent cutback plan is to lease out part of the building to other business’s.
It is easy to see why Dixon left Capo, but it is hard to understand why this board hired him and approved some of these remodeling jobs.
Although undoubtedly happy with the expanded digs, I don’t think the school police members should be blamed for what Dixon and the police chief schemed. The OC weekly shows overall the district playing 3 card monty with the remodeling costs including some funds intended for the new site north of Spurgeon Intermediate.
Draw your own conclusions from the article yourself.
http://www.ocweekly.com/2008-12-04/news/santa-ana-unified-school-district/
http://blogs.ocweekly.com/navelgazing/notes-from-the-banana-republic/accused-saddleback-high-molest/
Accused Saddleback High Molester Ordered To Stay Away From Schools for at Least Three Years
Posted by Gustavo Arellano in Notes from the Banana Republic
December 16, 2008 9:47 AM
Permalink | Comments (2)
The case of Saddleback High special-ed assistant Alonso Manuel Gonzalez–arrested Nov. 17 on charges he sexually molested a student at the SanTana high school–continues. Today at an arraignment hearing in Orange County Superior Court, Judge Cheryl Leininger allowed Gonzalez to remain free on $25,000 bond and set a Jan. 13 preliminary hearing on the case. The dour-looking Gonzalez didn’t offer a plea; instead, he stood quietly as Leininger issued a protective order for discovery, required Gonzalez to “stay away from the victim” (Leininger’s words, not mine, so I’m not putting in the mitigating “alleged” in front of the word) and turn over any weapons he may possess. But the whopper: Gonzalez can’t set foot on a school campus for three years unless a judge says otherwise. Maybe all of this is standard protocol in molestation cases, but something smells rotten in the Banana Republic, and it ain’t the strewn trash off Standard… and betcha Saddleback High administrators say nothing about this case to parents!
Here’s a neat little story on construction for OC schools put on hold due to the current budget crises.
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/unified-union-high-2259751-joint-fullerton%20
Note that SAUSD has over 55 million in project value; has 10 million underway but needs more money approval; and over 45 million approved, in the pipeline and ready to start.
With layoffs, declining enrollment and even a vacant new school all of last year, do you think that this Bozo Dixon really was the right choice for Building Services? Meanwhile his triple office remodeling and the school police offices keep on expanding. Anybody care? Anybody home?
Anyone who is being contacted on personal or cell phone numbers by Esther Jones trying to be their “fiancial planner” should contact Juan Lopez immediately. Several staff have gotten unwanted and unexpected calls on their unlisted numbers supplied to Jones from the front office.
Jones was caught stealing money from an ASB account for the diabled students, her training and experience as a “financial planner” should be thoroughly questioned and any potential clients should really consider what a failed principal could offer in the way of help when she has an international reputation for educational fraud. Who in their right mind would want HER to have their Social Security number?
#931
Contact Juan Lopez? Are you serious? This is the same guy that just got a 20k raise, put another layer of building services in, cut classified to shreds, and helped cover up Esther Jones activities over at Saddleback until it finally went public. Call Juan Lopez? Hell no!
I don’t seem to recall Esther Jones being arrested for theft. Does anyone else? Come to think of it since Lopez probably has kept the recent sex scandals at SBH and Valley from parents, I can’t think of any reason to call Juan Lopez for anything.
Anon- The guy is sleazy, there is no question about that. I can’t figure out why he still has a job. There’s something very strange about his continued employment with SAUSD.
Anon Teacher,
I don’t see anything strange about it at all. He covered for Esther Jones until she was outed and then fired. #931 says she is an “international” fraud as well as saying she committed theft. OK fine. Why is she not in jail? I don’t know Esther except through this blog so I don’t know if any of it is true or false. But I do know Juan is part of what is commonly called a Cabal including most of the BOE, Olsky, Lopez, Dixon, and Boden.
By the way. According to the Register a Teacher’s aid was just arraigned for sex with a student. No not at Valley, but at community Day school. AND it happened clear back in June-July. I wonder if those parents were notified? Gustavo over at the OC weekly how did you miss this one?
What the hell is with this district?
I am sure that all of the principals (who took a 4% pay cut this year) were thrilled to be told at this week’s District meeting that Lopez received a promotion and a raise. So much for priorities. BTW, does anyone know the following: his new title, when this job title was approved, when the Board voted on this?
936 Your Answer is:
Associate Superintendant and it was approved at the last Board of Education in November 2008.
Mr.Lopez’s raise is more than I made last year as a certificated substitute teacher with SAUSD. They start calling me at 5:00 AM to cover vacancies all over the city for $105 a day.
SAD…
to see that SAUSD
gives the best to those who rule
to all the rest
they serve gruel
welcome
to the
serfdom
SAUSD teacher,
Yep and as long as the sheep elect or re-elect this board which feeds off the city leaders you can only expect more of the same.
Time to unionize, eh, substitutes?
My goodness, anon, I’d never payed attention to what substitute teachers are paid. Long-term $120 a day, and regular sub $105. That would be a $17.5 hourly wage then, but a long-term substitute would be expected to plan lessons and grade papers … an 8-hr day, minimum … $15/hr for the long-term. Does either get health benefits? I truly don’t know … couldn’t find that on the district web-site. Considering 180 days of school, the district then only pays $21,600 for a long-term sub for the year, if they don’t get benefits. No wonder they seem grumpy, I never asked ’em.
Here are some recent OJ links that highlight SAUSD’s disturbing practice of non-notification against families of potential victims of sex crimes related to recent arrests of school system employees.
Saddleback Arrest (non-)Notification Watch: Day 29. By Red Vixen
Another SAUSD teacher’s aide accused of sex with a student. By Art Pedroza
———————————————————————————
To 936 and other interested parties, you can view the agendas and minutes from the SAUSD board on the website,
by clicking “About US” —>
Then —–> School Board
Left hand menu——> Meeting Agendas & Minutes
Click there and you will find the information for board minutes and agendas. SAUSD is usually slow to d/l the information and it is in PDF format. The most current minutes are from the November 25, 2008 BOE meeting.
From those notes on November, 25 you will see a sampling of what the board voted on. The last entry here you can view the vote for Juan Lopez which was a narrowly divided 3/2. I guess the question is; Why did those board members feel that Mr. Lopez needed a substantial raise during this terrible budget crisis?: REPORT OF ACTION TAKEN IN CLOSED SESSION
¬ Mr. Hernández reported that the Board had taken the following actions in Closed Session:
By a vote of 5-0, the Board took action to approve the suspension of a certificated employee as named in closed session.
Moved: Hernández ___ Richardson _ _¬ Yamagata-Noji ___ Avila ___ Palacio X
Seconded: Hernández ___ Richardson _X_¬ Yamagata-Noji ___ Avila _ _ Palacio __
Vote: Ayes _5___ Noes_______ Abstain_______ Absent ______
By a vote of 5-0, the Board took action to approve the suspension of a certificated employee as named in closed session.
Moved: Hernández ___ Richardson _ _¬ Yamagata-Noji ___ Avila _X_ Palacio __
Seconded: Hernández ___ Richardson _X_¬ Yamagata-Noji ___ Avila _ _ Palacio __
Vote: Ayes _5____ Noes_______ Abstain_______ Absent ______
By a vote of 5-0, the Board took action to appoint Robert Vicario to the position of Assistant Principal at Willard Intermediate School.
Moved: Hernández ___ Richardson _ _¬ Yamagata-Noji _X_ Avila ___ Palacio __
Seconded: Hernández ___ Richardson ___¬ Yamagata-Noji ___ Avila _X_ Palacio __
Vote: Ayes _5____ Noes_______ Abstain_______ Absent ______
By a vote of 4-0, the Board took action to appoint Samuel Perla to the position of Assistant Principal/Resource Teacher at Willard Intermediate School.
Moved: Hernández ___ Richardson _X_¬ Yamagata-Noji ___ Avila ___ Palacio __
Seconded: Hernández _X_ Richardson ___¬ Yamagata-Noji ___ Avila _ _ Palacio __
Vote: Ayes _4___ Noes_______ Abstain___1__ Absent ______
By a vote of 5-0, the Board took action to appoint Michele Cunha to the position of Coordinator of Student Achievement/Research and Evaluation.
Moved: Hernández ___ Richardson _ _¬ Yamagata-Noji _X_ Avila ___ Palacio __
Seconded: Hernández ___ Richardson _X_¬ Yamagata-Noji ___ Avila _ _ Palacio __
Vote: Ayes __5 __ Noes_______ Abstain_______ Absent ______
By a vote of 3-2, the Board took action to approve the reclassification of Assistant Superintendent Human Resources to Associate Superintendent of Human Resources.
Moved: Hernández _X_ Richardson _ _¬ Yamagata-Noji ___ Avila ___ Palacio __
Seconded: Hernández ___ Richardson _X_¬ Yamagata-Noji ___ Avila _ _ Palacio __
Vote: Ayes __3___ Noes___2___ Abstain_______ Absent ______
#942 SAHS Teacher,
Substitute teachers work on an “as needed” basis. We don’t get health benefits or holiday/vacation pay. Long-term substitutes must be fully credentialed if the assignment is more than 30 days. I had a semester-long assignment last year and had to do lesson plans, grades, make home phone calls, etc. The district gets a lot of bang for its buck with substitutes.
I’d bet that Avila and Palacio were the wise “noes” against this egregious action by “puppet” Hernandez, and the Rich/Noji/Russo axis of evil. It’s tragic to see the continuing self-serving aristocracy of Santa Ana District officials. May God forgive their many sins.
Last week SAUSD offered an apparently very attractive retirement incentive to eligible teachers, which includes a first year bonus of 70% of annual salary. The older teachers were all tapping their calculators, working the numbers 20-30 years out into the future, and it looks as if quite a few are going to take it. However, I’m only speaking of intermediate and high school teachers. The big teacher reduction needs to be at the elementary level, if, as we guess, the state is going to eliminate 20-1 class size reduction funding. There’s about 18,000 K-3 students with about 900 teachers. Letting class size go from 20 to 32 allows reduction of over 330 elementary school teachers.
I have a prediction. The District will not attempt to replace retiring high and middle school teachers, most costing the school district over $110,000 year in salary and benefits, until classes have begun next Fall. Because we’re packed already way over contract maximums (we’re grieving this), we’ll have a lot of classrooms with student numbers in the mid 50’s. We’ll march down to the school board meetings, yell at the school board, the board will demand that class size be lowered, and scores of substitute teachers (at $105/day) will be hired to replace the retired ones who had cost the district over $600/day. Still looking at classes in the 40’s, led by teachers with little experience in maintaining discipline, and without experience in planning and delivering an engaging and effective academic course, many classrooms will disintegrate into chaos. Sub teacher after sub teacher will quit in frustration – it’s only $105 a day. That’s my prediction for the new year. I’m taking bets – any takers?
I think the district has little credibility on budget issues now- they are still hiring and giving admin raises. Does AIG sound familiar?
#946 SAHS Teacher
No taker here. I crunched the numbers you provided and it makes sense given the district uses the ‘body count’ theory. If you keep thinking like that, you too could end up working on Chestnut St, assuming you are willing to give up your ethics for the pay raise.
Is it possible that SAUSD will come crashing down upon itself because of this gross mismanagement?
How long can the State of California look the other way? Will California keep rewarding SAUSD with more money for failing it’s students?
When will the madness stop?
This Blog reveals the truth eventually…..but nothing can be done about it……or so it seems.
Things continue as they always have.
Believe it or not….Chad Hammitt used to be one of the good guys. Now that is depressing.
Interesting things are starting to appear on this site