The face of censorship – OCHSA Principal Sue Vaughn
What sort of art school practices censorship? That question was answered this week when Sue Vaughn, the principle at the Orange County High School for the Arts (OCHSA), literally stopped the presses – she interfered with the publishing of the school paper because she didn’t like something that a student reporter wrote about a school vendor.
“Taylor Erickson, 17, a senior at the Orange County High School of the Arts in Santa Ana, said Principal Sue Vaughn primarily objected to an article reporting that independent vendor Alegre Foods is a Christian company whose “mission” is to “serve God.” The Long Beach-based group was hired this year to run the school’s cafeteria,” according to the O.C. Register.
Unbelievable! This is 100% censorship and it is an unconscionable abridgment of free speech rights. And the experts agree. “Two leading authorities on the First Amendment rights of student journalists say that administrators at the Orange County High School of the Arts crossed a legal line,” according to the O.C. Register.
More after the flip…it turns out the food vendor has received O.C. health violations!
The fact is, Erickson was right – the school, which is a public school, did pick a wacky religious Falsely representing self to officer.”outfit to run their cafeteria. Students and parents deserve to know how this vendor was picked.
And the news gets even worse for OCHSA. I looked up the owner of Alegre Foods, Otto Penarredonda. I found a guy by that name who was arrested in 2004, here in Orange County, for “False evidence of registration with intent to defraud,” and “Falsely representing self to officer.” He was sentenced to 30 days Service in lieu of jail and 3 years probation.
In 2007, the same guy was busted again, this time for “unsafe speed for prevailing conditions.”
This year, in July, Penarredonda and his fellow company officers were sued for breach of contract/warranty by a guy named Tim Ho.
And there is even worse news. I searched on the Orange County Health Department’s resataurant/food service inspection website and found two private schools, at churches, where Alegre Food was issued citations for numerous health violations, including: lack of certified food safety person; evidence of vermin activity; unsanitary equipment; lack of food thermometer; low hot water; lack of handwashing; inappropriate sanitizer level; improper food storage; lack of or unsanitary conditions; inadequate hygiene; and facility not fully enclosed.
Why did OCHSA pick Alegre Foods as their cafetaria vendor? Why did the Principal overreact when the student reporter called out this vendor? Why hasn’t this Principal been reprimanded? These are good questions. To email the Board of OCHSA click here.
One more question – what sort of art school practices censorship? Answer – not one I would want my kids to be involved in.
I agree with the OCHSA volunteer who said this is blown out of proportion. The person who went to the OC Register without bringing their concern to the school first clearly has an ulterior motive of some kind as this is entirely inappropriate and unprofessional. There are so many other issues in our world that deserve our energy and thought that I find it amazing that there is so much focus on this issue….
Art,
you are COMPLETELY wrong. Most students at OCHSA are not wealthy, they are middle-class families. The art conservatories ask for $3000 per year because it is a public school that gets government funding for academics only. If the family cannot pay the $3,000, they still get to go to the school 100%.
OCHSA is a great community.
OCHSA does, in fact, give back to Santa Ana. Camp OCHSA is a camp run COMPLETELY VOLUNTARY by OCHSA staff and students COMPLETELY FREE OF CHARGE for Santa Ana children.
Co your research.
Having a child that’s been to El Sol, Jefferson and now OCHSA, I know our Santa Ana kids are getting into OCHSA and not just as ballet folklorico practitioners but integrated arts, visual arts and music and theater. Without doubt, numbers could be better, and the Camp OCHSA program is a step in the right direction, then again, another high school like OCHSA would be a step in the right direction as well. It is a program that works (otherwise we wouldn’t have the fuss about who gets in and who doesn’t) and, rather than tearing something down that gets results, perhaps the more constructive path is finding a way we can get a similar, homegrown program started.
Les Morrals
Why reinvent the wheel?
OCHSA is lacking so much
it would be very difficult to start another program as such in these times.
We simply need to improve OCHSA.
The criticism on this blog is meant to make passions EXPLODE— and drive forces into action
whether for or against, even if you are opposing OJ
all efforts are good– the bottom line is
This is one to grow on for Vaughn the principal. She may be good, but there is always room for improvement.
The child reporter for OCHSA is a local hero and should be treated as such by the students at OCHSA.
We are all here to support OCHSA, including the moderators of this blog– I speak for them because I know that regardless of the messenger—the message is one and the same-
take care of Santa Ana- we are housing your OCHSA world, transparency, and a more inclusive agenda on behalf of OCHSA admin. and stakeholders.
Auditing of the Santa Ana student population is expedient to do so- the community is not at ease about this.
I say this with all due respect, you can’t judge OCHSA or OCHSA staff if you haven’t experienced it yourself. So stop judging. And I do know from experience that OCHSA is a wonderful school with a wonderful staff. Stop bombarding something that’s already a good thing and focus on an issue that does need help. You are wasting your time and do not know OCHSA at all.
Just in time:
Sorry, but I don’t follow your “reinvent the wheel” comment. My suggestion was not to reinvent the wheel but rather model a successful template. An 882 API score speaks to something positive taking place. Then again, if OCHSA is lacking so much, what’s the point of auditing?
In a perfect world, all the kids that audition to get into OCHSA, be they Santa Ana children or not, would have the portfolios, requisite talents and grades to get into the school. Were that the case, the 1400+ kids already in attendance would increase thus overtaxing the facility they’re in. That suggests to me more schools with programs similar to OCHSA. And, specifically, homegrown Santa Ana schools. The way schools get paid, OCHSA represents little threat to the SAUSD because the non Santa Ana children that attend don’t cost the district anything. The Santa Ana kids that do attend OCHSA cost the district because those kids aren’t seated at SAUSD classrooms thus robbing them of ADA.
I think efforts, like those taking place and El Sol and OCEAA, to help our kids get into a position to successfully audition for OCHSA is one step but also an eye towards replicating what’s already being done is advisable as well. Also we should make sure our kids take advantage of OCHSA’s Arts Enrichment Programs, they’ve got classes starting up in Oct. for kids in the 3rd grade on up; ballroom dancing, visual arts and guitar are some of the classes offered.
You know what I am a student at OCHSA. I just started there and it is the best school ever! I don’t care what you guys have to say about it. Your comments are just rude. There are no cliques or drugs or alchohol at OCHSA like other schools! So if you have something to say think about how horrible a “regular” high school experience is!
Oh my god! What is wrong with you people? Not ONE of you has the right to criticize this amazing school like you are so wrongfully doing. The children ARE NOT obese and they have physical education just like every other school, just in a different form! They are still required to take a minimal two years of it, exactly as every other high school in California. And as for the story, its just wrong. If you knew the true story you would have nothing to write about.
Wow… so many values and principles being thrown out yet none of you seem to be concerned about the food your children eat? One of your own children was addressing a fact maybe other classmates voiced, enough to even have him write the article and all any of you can take from this is that your “perfect” bubble isn’t that perfect for someone on the inside? Why does he not have the right to voice his opinion? Do you all take the time from your busy lives to sit with them and have a lunch with them… eat what they eat?
What if a student wrote a song… could be the greatest, but it upset someone, should that persons voice be kept from the world?
Double standards and judgement is what keeps us back as a society. Let the caged birds sing…
“The child reporter for OCHSA is a local hero and should be treated as such by the students at OCHSA.”
You should read the latest edition of the school newspaper. Lots of students are angry with the same “reporter” for her latest article which is rather tasteless and implicitly attacks several of her “fellow” students. Definitely not a local hero – students of tired of the controversy. Students are also considering starting up an alternative newspaper – and get this – the administration will be allowed to peruse it before publication!!
It is not illegal to censor minors. I wrote about that when I myself was a high school newspaper editor in the 80’s. I was upset about it. But the fact remains the school did not break the law in censoring the student because the student is not an adult.
Hi, David. This action by OCHSA did break state law. As a former editor, you should have learned to check facts before publishing. Had you done that, you would have learned not only that this action was illegal, but that the California legislature even passed a further law that emphasized the illegality of such censorship by a school. (The OCHSA administration tried a lummox’s legal argument that, in sum, said that students of certain public schools had fewer rights than students of other public schools, by virtue of type of public school attended. Right there, they should have realized how disastrously off course their affronted egos had carried them.)
That said, Mrs. Vaughn is hugely missed. There’s a saying attributed to Confucius: If you make a mistake and don’t correct it, then that is the mistake. Allowed, I believe Mrs. Vaughn would have quickly amended her error; the mistake came when the administration missed multiple opportunities to correct the error over the next 10 months and then sealed their fate on this matter by letting the newspaper faculty member go. She was right; the students were right; the administration was insistently wrong. A huge black mark on otherwise well-tended people. And I believe they are–but that makes this trangression so much the sadder.