CVESD Reporter

Sweetwater legal fees effort fizzles

2012-01-31T11:33:00.000-08:00

Shame on the teachers union for not calling a halt to corruption years earlier. There were articles for years in the San Diego Union Tribune about the strange legal fees paid to Bonny Garcia. Why was CTA silent? Because CTA gets cooperation behind the scenes from corrupt board members in most districts.

Sweetwater legal fees effort fizzles
Proposal to fund them for 3 current and one former official dies
Ashly McGlone
UTSD
Jan. 31, 2012

An effort to have the Sweetwater school district pay up to $1.3 million in legal fees for current and former officials ran into trouble Tuesday as the idea lacked support from the community and the school board.

Items on the agenda to fund the legal defense of former board member Greg Sandoval and current board members Pearl Quinones and Arlie Ricasa did not move forward, as no one on the board moved the items for action.

Quinones, Sandoval and Ricasa are charged by the District Attorney’s Office with accepting gifts from contractors, failing to report them on required state forms and then voting for contracts for the donors. They have pleaded not guilty. All three were on the agenda for $400,000 in fees.

Board member Bertha Lopez, whose home was raided but she was not charged, was on the agenda for a $100,000 of legal fees. She withdrew the request around 12:45 a.m. Tuesday at the end of a seven-hour meeting.

As the district laid out the agenda, board members would be able to recuse themselves from the vote on their own legal fees, but approve the expense for colleagues.

Attorneys Cory Briggs, from a citizens group suing for return of payments to contractors, told the board that recusal would not work to cure a conflict of interest for board members voting.

The meeting was the first since Jan. 4, when District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis issued the charges.

More than 700 people gathered in the gymnasium at Hilltop High School for varying reasons. A group of about 30 people in attendance supporting board member Arlie Ricasa wore blue ribbons.

At least 200 held signs reading "Recall or Resign."

Mar Vista High School teacher Lauren McLennan served three members --Ricasa, Jim Cartmill and John McCann -- with recall notices.

McLennan, a leader of the newly created "Occupy Sweetwater" movement, said trustees must be recalled because they "have let scandal after scandal occur on their watch because they are more focused on their political careers than their duties as school board members."

"We are not recalling them simply because of the felonies and misdemeanors,” McLennan said. ‘’This is for years and years of neglect."

Craig Miles, teacher and varsity tennis coach at Montgomery High School, said, "You have to be here because this is about the future of the district, not only for the board members but about the bond money and how it is being used and who is trying to control it."

Miles cautioned the public to reserve judgment.

"The turnout is good and this process will play out but the legal issues have to be respected and they often take time and everyone is innocent until proven guilty, not just accused."

Many members of the public expressed ardent opposition to the proposed payment of legal fees.

Sofia Reyes, 11, took to the podium Monday to urge board members to not approve the legal fees.

"That money shouldn't be used to pay for the board member's attorneys. It should go towards improving the schools," Reyes said. "Clean up your act. Next year when I enter middle school I want to be proud of my district, not ashamed by what they have done and hidden from us."

When the Trouble Started for Sweetwater Schools

2012-01-28T12:46:00.000-08:00

Bond money seems to have gone up in smoke in other school districts, but Bonnie Dumanis focuses on Chula Vista Democrats. Why?

When the Trouble Started for Sweetwater Schools
January 23, 2012
By Rob Davis

The construction company's website implicitly acknowledges the potential for public officials to abuse their posts. But the Seville Group says it stands above that. Integrity isn't just a buzzword, its About Us page says. Ethics are at the core of the company's existence. Without ethics, there is only failure.

Click on the company motto — Edge, Execute, Excel — and its principles appear.
"We have a simple test," it says. "Before you make any decision on behalf of the company ask yourself these questions: Is it illegal? Is it immoral? Is it unethical? Is it stupid? Most public officials who get into trouble should have answered ‘yes' to one of these questions. The same is true for companies that work for public agencies."

Trouble started for the Sweetwater Union High School District on a spring evening in 2007, with what seemed like a routine decision on an innocuous agenda item involving Seville. Months earlier, voters had approved borrowing $644 million to modernize the South Bay school district's buildings. Now, the public agency overseeing the South Bay's middle and high schools had to choose someone to oversee all that spending.
The selection process had been exhaustive, board members were told. Then-Superintendent Jesus Gandara recommended what he said was the top firm: a joint venture of Seville Group and another company, Gilbane. The board hired the venture and handed it $7.5 million in work.

But Gilbane/Seville hadn't initially been the top firm. The district's internal ratings were tossed out. That happened routinely.

The district's decision to hire Gilbane/Seville — and later to give it even more work — brought instant criticism, even allegations of corruption. Now, five years later, it has led to criminal charges, in what District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis says was a pervasive pay-to-play scheme.

At the same time Gilbane/Seville leapfrogged another company ranked higher, it bestowed its largess on officials handing out tens of millions in contracts. Court records show that Gandara, who recommended the company, saw "Jersey Boys" with a Gilbane contractor and was treated to expensive dinners at restaurants across the region.

When Gandara's daughter competed for the title of Miss Texas, where they lived previously, the contractor, Henry Amigable, stepped forward with a $1,000 sponsorship, court documents say. When then-board member Greg Sandoval's daughter vied to become Miss South County, Amigable wrote a $500 check, records show. Gandara, Sandoval and two current Sweetwater board members — Pearl Quiñones and Arlie Ricasa — all face felony charges of failing to report numerous gifts from contractors.

The case strikes at the heart of the South Bay political establishment. Beyond those charged, investigators have searched the home of Bertha Lopez, a Sweetwater trustee whose husband, Jose, is the Otay Water District's president. They've also searched the homes of two former Southwestern College officials, Nicholas Alioto and John Wilson.

Investigators have interviewed the mayors of Chula Vista and National City, county supervisors and a San Diego city councilman. Jaime Bonilla, another Otay Water District board member, is also mentioned in search warrants; Bertha Lopez and Seville employees had an appointment to dine at his house.

The case has widely been publicized as a bribery investigation. Dumanis has said the officials accepted "what amounted to bribes." But only one person faces a bribery charge, Gilbane's former employee, Amigable.

Prosecutors haven't charged anyone with receiving bribes. School officials instead are charged with failing to report gifts and filing false gift disclosure forms, both felonies. Prosecutors have also leveled lesser misdemeanors, alleging the school leaders had a personal financial interest in their decisions.

The circumstances speak to the unseemly side of politics, a world where gift-giving, influence peddling and campaign donations are all routine and legal — to a point. Politicians across the county regularly receive campaign funding from lobbyists and contractors doing business with their agencies. It's how the system works.
California law allows public officials to accept up to $420 in gifts annually from businesses and people working with their agencies. The gifts have to be disclosed, and they can't be explicitly traded for someone's vote. Prosecutors say the Sweetwater officials far exceeded gift limits, taking thousands without reporting it on state forms submitted under penalty of perjury.

The case also shows how a typically unseen influence game is played. One example: Prosecutors say Southwestern College's Wilson fed inside information to one construction company, recommended the firm for a job, retired a month later and then went to work for it. No charges have been filed related to it, though Dumanis has said more charges could be forthcoming in the case.

Prosecutors haven't disclosed everything that they uncovered while executing search warrants in December. But the evidence they have released so far connecting the gifts to favorable votes is largely circumstantial.

Weeks before Gilbane/Seville got that Sweetwater contract, Quiñones went to Seville's president for a favor. Quiñones was prepping for a bigger political stage and wanted a resume builder.

She asked Rene Flores Sr. to contact then-Assemblyman Joe Coto, D-San Jose, on her behalf, court records show, and sent Flores her resume. "[H]ope you can help me with this... it is really important to me," she wrote.

Flores forwarded the resume to Coto, according to emails released by prosecutors, telling the assemblyman he hoped he would find Quiñones "an appropriate compensated commission where she might serve the State of California." Quiñones was considering running for state office, Flores said, and hoped to raise her profile and make more public appearances.

As the vote on Gilbane/Seville neared, court records show Flores emailed Quiñones to say he was trying to set up a meeting with Coto. "And again, I want to thank you very much for your support," Flores wrote.

Quiñones replied that she could meet a couple of weeks later. "Please let me know..." she said, "and also I support those that support me!"

Questions about impropriety arose from the moment the deal with Gilbane/Seville was struck in 2007.

Nick Marinovich, a contracting expert who served on an earlier construction oversight committee, publicly questioned the school board's decision to hire Gilbane/Seville.

Marinovich had spent nearly three decades overseeing public construction projects for San Diego County. He knew how contractors were supposed to be selected — with a process free of political influence, without top executives getting involved.
But Gandara had participated and recommended Gilbane/Seville, even though another venture, Harris/Gafcon, ranked higher and was drawing good reviews as the district's current construction overseer. So Marinovich went to the board and lodged his criticism. The reaction? "Indifference," Marinovich said.

"It didn't pass the smell test," he said in a recent interview. "It was really just a gut level reaction."

Community concerns persisted. A 2008 San Diego County Taxpayers Association report urged more transparency for Sweetwater's construction hiring, noting that any questions about Gilbane/Seville could've been avoided if the district had been open about its reasons. The report noted that at least one unnamed community member was worried about possible corruption.

Gandara had repeatedly intervened in the district's selection process for construction companies. A 2009 voiceofsandiego.org investigation found that lower-ranked firms were routinely picked. One law firm, Garcia, Calderon & Ruiz, was hired even though it rated last out of four firms. The internal rankings were often disregarded, the investigation concluded, making it difficult to determine why the district hired the firms it did. Both Seville and the law firm have since had their work suspended. Seville says it isn't a target of the D.A.'s investigation.

Concerned parents routinely went to board meetings throughout 2009 and 2010, criticizing the board for its oversight of construction spending and for accepting campaign donations from companies working for the district. One parent, Stewart Payne, said he thought the board's behavior was strange enough that he went to the FBI in early 2011. Then he and other parents went to the district attorney.

"I just said: Something's wrong here, I don't know what it is, but something's not making sense," Payne said. "Something was just wrong."

DA: 5 Charged in School Corruption Case

2012-01-04T12:54:00.000-08:00

I think that skimming money off an agency is not as serious as subverting the functioning of the agency. Of course, skimming money does undermine the agency, but often it's a small potatoes operation. The folks who use agencies for their personal goals and those of their political allies might not skim as much money illegally, but often they take vastly larger sums legally. They do it in plain sight.

Investigators call it a corrupt, "pay-to-play" bribery scheme
By Sarah Grieco
NBC San Diego
Jan 4, 2012

Charges have been filed against five current and former Sweetwater school officials in a South Bay corruption case, according to District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis.

Former Superintendent Jesus Gandara, former board member Greg Sandoval, current board members Pearl Quinones and Arlie Ricasa and construction contracting executive Henry Amigable have all been charged with crimes.

Felony charges include bribery, perjury and influencing elected officials. Misdemeanor charges were also filed

If convicted, the maximum sentence would be four to seven years.

Gandara had the most charges with seven counts of felony and three misdemeanors. Amigable, whose company also allegedly made campaign contributions to board members, received two felony charges.
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The yearlong investigation began when the DA office received multiple anonymous tips on the behavior of the past and present school board members.

Investigators are calling it a corrupt, "pay-to-play" bribery scheme, involving South Bay schools and college boards.

Dumanis said the case is believed to be the largest of its kind in San Diego County.

"For years, public officials regularly accepted what amounted to bribes in exchange for their votes on multi-million dollar construction projects," she said. “This case is outrageous and shameful.”

There are allegations of lavish meals, $1,000 bottles of wine, Southwest airline tickets, Lakers and Rose Bowl tickets that helped win multi-million dollar contracts for school construction.

Investigators from the DA’s office searched seven homes, including those of Quinones, Ricasa and Board Member Bertha Lopez. Investigators took computers, calendars and other records.

Dumanis repeatedly said during a press conference that the investigation is ongoing and additional charges or defendants could be possible.

The arraignment for Gandara, Sandoval, Ricasa, Quinones and Amigable is scheduled for Jan. 13

School Officials Accepted Thousands in Gifts: DA
Lavish meals, sporting events tickets and more given to school board officials
By Paul Krueger
NBC San Diego
Dec 28, 2011

The homes of three school board members were raided Dec. 20 by DA investigators.
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Investigators are calling it a corrupt, "pay-to-play" bribery scheme, involving South Bay schools and college boards.

Allegations of lavish meals, $100 bottles of wine, and Rose Bowl tickets that helped win multi-million dollar contracts for school construction.

According to search warrants made public today, one school board member got tickets to Padres, Chargers, Angels and Lakers games -- sometimes in the stadium's private suite -- plus two nights at the Biltmore Hotel in Pasadena and tickets to the Rose Bowl.

Last week, investigators from the District Attorney's office searched seven homes. The targets include three members of the Sweetwater Union High School District: Pearl Quinones, Bertha Lopez and Arlie Ricasa.

Investigators took computers, calendars and other records, but would not disclose the reason for those raids.

These search warrants, unsealed Tuesday in Superior Court, provide new details about an alleged felony bribery scheme involving a construction company executive who pursued school administrators and board members with gifts, in return for their approval of school construction projects.

One investigator calls it a "corrupt pay-for-play culture" that tarnished the Sweetwater Union School District, and Southwest College, in Chula Vista.

At the center of the alleged scam is Henry Amigable, who worked for Gilbane/SGI construction management.

Investigators say he spent thousands of dollars on food and wine for school board members, including a $1,700 restaurant meal.

Amigable's company also allegedly made campaign contributions to board members, to get the inside track on business, and spent more than $2,000 on theater tickets and dinner for South Bay board members and administrators, including former Sweetwater superintendent Jesus Gandara.

Gilbane Construction also allegedly paid a $1,000 beauty pageant fee, for Gandara's daughter, and a $500 beauty pageant scholarship for the daughter of former Sweetwater board president, Greg Sandoval.

Sandoval allegedly got those tickets to sporting events in San Diego and Los Angeles, and the New Year's eve hotel stay in Pasadena.

According to the search warrant, Sandoval "had his hand out for gifts so often, even employees from the construction company remarked that he has no shame."

Judge finds CVESD retaliated against Joyce Singer Abrams for union activity

2012-01-02T14:29:00.000-08:00

A recent PERB decision finds:

"In addition to all of the above circumstantial evidence of unlawful motive, there is also direct evidence of unlawful motive in the statements made by [Larry]Cunningham...If Cunningham had been misquoted or misunderstood, the District could have called him to testify; indeed, the record was left open for that very purpose. But the District did nothing."

From the Joyce Abrams' November 23, 2011 PERB decision against Chula Vista
Elementary School District:

STATE OF CALIFORNIA DECISION OF THE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS BOARD

JOYCE SINGER ABRAMS, Charging Party,
V.
CHULA VISTA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL DISTRICT, Respondent.

November 23, 2011

Appearances:

California Teachers Association by Brenda B. Sutton-Wills, Attorney, for Joyce
Singer Abrams;

Fagen Friedman & Fulfrost by Susan B. Winkelman, Attorney, for Chula Vista Elementary School District.

Before Martinez, Chair; McKeag and Dowdin Calvillo, Members

November 23, 2011

...Accordingly, the Board adopts
the proposed decision as the
decision of the Board itself, as
supplemented by the following
discussion of the District’s
exceptions.

For reasons explained below,
however, the Board does not
adopt the AL’s proposed order
and notice...

At all relevant times here,
members of the BTSA Advisory
Board were: (1) Lebron; (2) CVE
President Peg Myers (Myers); (3)
Katy Croy, a Point Loma
Nazarene University
representative; and (4) Principal
Tom Glover.
In another part of the record the
composition of the BTSA Advisory
Board is
described as including Kathleen
Fernandez, a teacher...

Abrams’ 2007-2008 Term and
Reapplication for the 2008-2009
Term

Abrams served as a BTSA
Induction Program SP for the
eighth consecutive school year
during the 2007-2008 term She
entered into an SP agreement for
that term on or about
September 10, 2007, agreeing to
adhere to the SP agreement and
the BTSA SP Guidelines.

...
The BTSA Advisory Board met on
July 16, 2008. The Advisory Board
reviewed the
reapplications and the logs kept
by the SP’s documenting how
often they met with their PT’s.
The Advisory Board determined
that 14 of the SP re-applicants,
including Abrams, had not met
the one-hour per week meeting
requirement...

Lebron testified about the August
11, 2008, meeting with Abrams as
follows:
Q Did you tell her that the logs
were incorrect and that you
would fix them?
A Not that I would fix them. I told
her that, yes, they were
incorrect...

Sometime thereafter,
Lebron met with Cruz for
approximately 45 minutes to
review the logs of these re-
applicants.
Lebron testified that after
reviewing the logs with Cruz, she
continued to believe that the
Advisory Board’s original
determination was correct. The
Cabinet, however, ultimately
reinstated all but two of the 14
re-applicants who initially had
been told by the Advisory
Board that they had not been
renewed for the 2008-2009
term. Cruz testified that Dennis
Gascon (Gascon) was the only
other SP besides Abrams
who was not reinstated by the
Cabinet.

The fifth qualification listed in
the BTSA SP Guidelines, which
requires the SP to be either a
permanent or retired teacher
in the District, was omitted
from the Notice.

By letter dated September 17,
2008, Cruz informed Abrams that
she was not selected
for the 2008-2009 school year.
The letter contained no
explanation of the basis for the
decision.

Abrams filed level I and level II
grievances on October 3, 2008,
and a second level II
grievance on October 14, 2008.
By letter dated October 16, 2008,
Cruz dismissed Abrams’
grievances on the ground that,
as a retired teacher, Abrams
was no longer covered by the
CBA.

Myers had earlier decided not to
file a grievance on behalf of the 14
BTSA SPs whose
reapplications had been denied
because it was her understanding
that the District was going to follow
through with her recommendation
that they all be reinstated.

On November 10, 2008, at 9:41 a.
m., Cunningham left the following
telephone message
on Abrams’ answering machine:

Joyce, this is Larry again. I’ve
been in LA for the last five days,
but give me a, give me a call on my
cell phone. It’s probably the
easiest place to get a hold of me,
[phone number omitted]. I
talked to Lowell [Billings] and Tom
[Cruz], and it really comes
down to the point that they just
wanted to go in a different
direction. I mean, they felt that,
you know, you’ve always been
very negative about what the
District did and where they were
going and what direction they were
going in, so they just felt they
wanted to go in a different
direction. And so that’s what they
told me about it. So, if you want to
discuss it further, give me a call,
but that’s what I got from it. Talk to
you later. Bye.

On November 12, 2008, Abrams
spoke to Cunningham by
telephone. Admitted into
evidence at the hearing was a
note Abrams made memorializing
their conversation:

I stated that I had given my heart
and soul to the CVESD for 39
years. That, in all of those years of
employment, not once was
there a reference to my negativity
in any evaluation that I had
received. He said he thought that
it was in reference to my
association and activism in the
union, CVE.

I stated I thought there were laws
against being retaliated against
because of my union participation.

I have been singled out and
discriminated against.

...At the hearing, Cruz testified
that the Cabinet did not renew
Abrams’ SP position solely
because of her interpersonal
skills. In response to a question
from the ATJ inquiring into the
nature of the Cabinet’s concern
about Abrams’ interpersonal skills,
Cruz testified in pertinent part:

So the five executive directors and
the superintendent are actually
in those classrooms on a regular
basis. And it was from, many of
those folks had brought up
concerns about her positive
nature on
matters, how she, her outlook and
support of the District. And
there were concerns that she
may not be conveying the kinds of
messages to our new teachers
that we would prefer, because
her interpersonal skills were
abrasive and short whenever
others had interaction with her

During the 2007-2008 school
year, however, no individuals at
the Cabinet level had
observed Abrams in either her
teaching or SP role.
Prior to the 2007-2008 school
year, two of these individuals had
observed Abrams in
her classroom on occasion. As
there is no dispute that Abrams
was renewed for the 2007-2008
school year, it must be concluded
that whatever classroom
observations there might have
been
prior to the 2007-2008 school
year, none were found to be
disqualifying.

When asked to elaborate on
Abrams’ interpersonal skills during
cross-examination, Cruz further
testified:

As far as, and I’m using global
generalizations, she didn’t seem
to be happy or content with the
School District, critical about
the District about management
this, or principal this, or
teachers this.

It just seemed that Joyce was
not a happy positive person in
her interactions with the adults.

In contrast to Cruz’s testimony that
Abrams "was not a happy positive
person in her interactions with
adults," the direct documentary
and testimonial evidence on
this point supports the
opposite conclusion as a
factual matter. Performance
evaluations date-stamped in
Human Resources on January 5,
2006, September 21, 2004, June
24, 2002, September 5,
2000, May 20, 1998, and June 1,
1994 were received into
evidence...

Emily Claypool (Claypool) was
Abrams’ PT in 2000. Claypool
testified that Abrams
was friendly, supportive,
knowledgeable and available. She
considered Abrams to be her
mentor, and a strong advocate for
teachers.

DISCUSSION
The ALJ concluded that the
preponderance of the evidence
showed that the District had an
unlawful motive in denying
Abrams' SP reapplication for the
2008-2009 school year within
the meaning of EERA section
3543.5, subdivision (a). In its
exceptions, the District contends
that Abrams did not meet her
prima facie burden; that the AL’s
proposed decision is not
supported by the evidentiary
record; and that the ALJ’s
proposed remedy is not
appropriate.

...
Here, as the ALJ found, there is
ample circumstantial evidence
of unlawful motive.
Regarding the timing of the
adverse action, the District is
correct that Abrams had been
involved in her union for a long
time without incident. There may
not have been a single
triggering event. As the ALJ
observed, Abrams continued to
serve as a member of CVE’s
board of directors until just prior to
the denial of her reapplication. It is
worth noting that the
first time the District denied a
reapplication of Abrams was
immediately upon Abrams’
retirement and loss of active union
membership and membership on
the CVE board of directors.

In addition to all of the above
circumstantial evidence of unlawful
motive, there is also
direct evidence of unlawful motive
in the statements made by
Cunningham.

On top of all this, Abrams testified without contradiction that District board member
Cunningham, explaining the District’s denial of her reapplication, told her that the District found her "very negative," and he thought "it was in reference to [her] association and [her] activism with the Union." If Cunningham had been misquoted or misunderstood, the District could have called him to testify; indeed, the record was left open for that very purpose. But the District did nothing.

Even as hearsay, Cunningham’s statements to Abrams were admissible to corroborate
the other evidence of retaliation. (PERB Reg. 32176.)2

Furthermore, as admissions of a party, the statements are also admissible as independent evidence of retaliation. (Evidence Code, § 1220.)
In short, the preponderance of evidence shows that the District denied Abrams’
reapplication to be a support provider because of her union activity, and for no other reason.

The District is therefore found to have retaliated against Abrams in violation of EERA section 3 543.5(a), as alleged in the PERB complaint

PERB Decision No. 2221 Case No. LA-CE-5289-E

DA's office raids South Bay politicos

2011-12-21T10:53:00.000-08:00

Bonnie Dumanis seems to have a strange focus for her public integrity unit. It seems to target Democratic Chula Vistans almost entirely. San Diego is a big county, Bonnie. Are you influenced by your boss, Greg Cox, whose wife is the Republican mayor of Chula Vista? This article suggests that Republicans on the Sweetwater Union School District board might also have put pressure. It is interesting that the home of Jesus Gandara was not searched. They wouldn't leave him out, it would seem, unless he were providing information voluntarily.

DA's office raids South Bay politicos
Warrants served on six former and current officials and one contractor
By Wendy Fry, Jeff McDonald and Ashly McGlone
Dec. 20, 2011

Months of investigation into potential corruption at Sweetwater schools and Southwestern College prompted the District Attorney’s Office to execute search warrants Tuesday at the homes of six sitting and past officials.

Also searched was the holiday-decorated home of Henry Amigable, a construction contractor who has worked for both districts.

The searches began early and went on throughout the day at residences from Bonita to Escondido. Investigators spent hours at each site, carting away computers and boxes of documents and declining to comment on the unfolding criminal case. No one was arrested.

One of the first places to be searched was the National City home of Sweetwater Union High School District board member Pearl Quiñones, with agents arriving at the East Sixth Street residence as early as 8:30 a.m.

Quiñones sat on the living-room sofa flanked by two agents as investigators boxed up evidence and carried it out to waiting vehicles. She declined to comment through an investigator.

Later in the day, investigators executed search warrants at the homes of Sweetwater trustees Arlie Ricasa and Bertha Lopez.

“The district attorney is doing their job and I don’t have anything to hide,” Lopez said. “That is the bottom line.”

Five District Attorney’s Office staffers entered Ricasa’s home on Sunny Crest Lane in Bonita even though she was not home at the time. Ricasa arrived at about 1:40 p.m. She said she didn’t know why investigators were there or what they might be seeking.

Absent from the list of those whose homes were searched was Jesus Gandara, the former Sweetwater superintendent who was fired by the board in June amid a series of stories by The Watchdog. Several focused on the district’s interactions with contractors.

The District Attorney’s Office declined to discuss details of the searches, beyond confirming for the first time that it was conducting a criminal probe.

“We can’t comment on a pending investigation,” spokesman Steve Walker said. “I really can’t go any further than that.”

Search warrants typically are signed by a judge only after investigators sign affidavits laying out their case for why they should be permitted inside the home of a suspect or witness.

The affidavits relied on by the District Attorney’s Office were sealed by the court for 10 days. Typically, they would be available for public scrutiny sometime next week.

Those targeted for raids share a web of connections, tied to construction bond measures approved by voters within the two districts.

Amigable works for Echo Pacific Construction, which has won contracts with Southwestern and Sweetwater. He did not return messages left at his home and on his cellphone.

Amigable previously worked as a senior executive at Gilbane Building Co. at the time it won construction-management work for Proposition O, the $644 million bond measure Sweetwater voters passed in 2006.

Echo Pacific was given a $4 million Southwestern contract three weeks after it went on a Napa Valley wine weekend with college officials — a getaway won at auction for $15,000, benefiting a scholarship fund. Amigable went on the trip, which was the subject of a Watchdog story last year. Nicholas Alioto, then Southwestern’s vice president for business and financial affairs, also went.

Alioto’s home was searched Tuesday. He could not be reached for comment but said at the time of the previous story that it was normal for contractors to bid in fundraisers for prizes that bring time with key decision-makers.

Amigable prepared a fundraising dinner prize paid for by an architectural firm — sushi with former Southwestern President Raj Chopra.

Authorities also searched the home of former Southwestern director of business affairs John Wilson.

Two of the officials whose homes were searched have ties to both institutions. Ricasa is a Sweetwater board member and serves as Southwestern’s director of student development and health services. Former Sweetwater board member Greg Sandoval is also former vice president of student affairs at Southwestern.

Contacted by telephone early Tuesday afternoon, Sandoval said he knew nothing about being the subject of a raid and added that he had rented out his home in Escondido and had moved to Moreno Valley.

An hour later, he answered the front door at the Escondido home on West El Norte Parkway and declined to discuss the search that had just concluded on the premises.

“No comment,” he said, before shutting the door and drawing the blinds.

Weeks ago, prosecutors executed a search warrant at the Pasadena offices of SGI Construction Management, the firm paid tens of millions of dollars to supervise Sweetwater’s Proposition O projects.

Jaime Ortiz, the SGI bond manager, confirmed the visit by investigators but said he was informed his company is not a target.

Superintendent Ed Brand, who replaced Gandara on a temporary basis in June and was installed permanently by the board last week, did not return calls.

Those whose homes were searched
By Jeff McDonald and Ashly McGlone
Dec. 20, 2011

Day-end total on South Bay raids: 7

Nicholas Alioto

Former Southwestern College vice president for business and financial affairs. Alioto, 46, resigned in February, after The Watchdog published reports about a trip he took in 2010 to Napa Valley with a developer. Three weeks after paying $15,000 to tour the wine country with Alioto and others, Echo Pacific Construction of Escondido won a $4 million contract with Southwestern College. Prior to his resignation, Alioto also was criticized for inviting several Southwestern College contractors to a wine-and-cheese fundraiser for board members.

Henry Amigable

A former senior vice president at Seville Construction Services of Pasadena, which won a $2.7-million contract from Southwestern College. Amigable, 47, attended the same Napa Valley event Alioto attended in 2010. According to his profile on the online networking site Linked In, Amigable left Seville in February, the same month that Alioto resigned from Southwestern College. The same website notes that Amigable now works at Echo Pacific Construction.

Bertha Lopez

A National City schoolteacher, Lopez served for 10 years on the Chula Vista Elementary School District before winning a seat on the Sweetwater board in 2008. She had been a consistent critic of Superintendent Jesus Gandara before he was fired, even though she dined with him at district expense 11 times, according to The Watchdog’s report in April. Lopez, 57, has historically ended up on the losing end of divided board votes. She is up for re-election next year.

Greg Sandoval

Served four terms on the Sweetwater Union High School District before deciding not to seek re-election in 2010. Sandoval, 57, formerly worked as a vice president for student affairs at Southwestern College and resigned after being accused of sexual harassment. The Watchdog reported earlier this year that Sandoval dined at taxpayer expense with Gandara 41 times over a three-year period.

Pearl Quiñones

Worked as a school dropout counselor before winning election in 2000 to the Sweetwater Union High School District board, where she was just elected president. Quinones, 59, was a key supporter of Gandara, and dined with the former superintendent at taxpayer expense at least 49 times in three years. She also was criticized in 2009 for attending too many conferences at district expense. She defended those expenditures as a good way to get educated about the duties of a public school-board member.

Arlie Ricasa

A graduate of Sweetwater schools, Ricasa now works as the director of student development and health services at Southwestern College. She was first elected to the Sweetwater board in 1998 and last year was re-elected, in part with the aid of thousands of dollars in campaign donations from Proposition O contractors. Ricasa, 47, serves as chair of the board of directors of the MAAC Project nonprofit in Chula Vista. In January, The Watchdog reported that state auditors found MAAC leaders wrongly commingled federal stimulus funds. Ricasa dined with Gandara 92 times at taxpayer expense over the same three-year period.

John Wilson

Former director of business services at Southwestern College who has since worked as a consultant on bond projects. The U-T reported in 2008 that Wilson was dating college board Trustee Yolanda Salcido, and that Salcido voted on raises for Wilson and on construction contracts he recommended to the Southwestern governing board. Salcido’s campaign signs were in Quiñones’ garage when it was searched by investigators.

Bertha Lopez Received Money From Contractors and Law Firm Connection

2011-12-21T10:31:00.000-08:00

This article is interesting for two reasons. First, it has intriguing information. Second, it suggests who may have put pressure on Bonnie Dumanis to conduct these raids.

Bertha Lopez Received Money From Contractors and Law Firm Connection
June 17, 2011
posted by Southern Exposure
San Diego Rostra

It’s interesting that Board Member Bertha Lopez keeps throwing stones at everyone else for taking money from contractors and the law firm for Sweetwater Union High School District. Most concerning, however, is her complete lack of forthrightness when it comes to her own campaign donations. Lopez attacks other board members for their donations, while continuing to say her votes are independent, but where is her openness about the campaign money she took from the very same contractors and contributor connected to the legal firm?

Just go to the county website and search under Lopez’s last name to check out her filings. You will find the following campaign contributions totaling almost $20,000:

Barnhart – $5,000
Design Acquisition Corp – $3,000
Marston & Martson – $3,000
CTE, Inc. (Thomas Gaeto) – $1,000
Rotech – $2,500
Consulting and Inspection Svcs – $1,000
Jose Mireles, Latino Builder – $500
Romero Leonor (HAR) – $250
Seville – $2,000
Laura Martinez – $1,000

The San Diego Reader recently published an article [see below] calling out Board members who took money from Laura Martinez (who apparently co-owns a house with Sweetwater Attorney Bonifacio Garcia), but the story fails to mention that Bertha Lopez also received $1,000 from Martinez. The Reader story seems to be in response to an interview with Lopez — did it not occur to the reporter when listening to complaints from Lopez that her contributions should be checked as well?

Also interesting is that Lopez received a $500 campaign contribution from Mark Watton, general manager of the Otay Water District, where husband Lopez sits on the board. What on earth could Mark Watton care about who gets elected to the board of SUHSD? He and his wife live nowhere near the district. Yet, Jose Lopez, Bertha’s husband, is Watton’s boss...

Sweetwater Union High School District Money Trail Gets Longer
By Susan Luzzaro
San Diego Reader
June 7, 2011

In a recent interview, Bertha Lopez voiced a strong opinion about Sweetwater Union High School District attorney Bonifacio Garcia. Lopez, who has been a Sweetwater boardmember since 2008 and served as a Chula Vista boardmember for ten years before that, said she did not trust the advice offered by the attorney. Why not?

Garcia recently advised the board to hire attorney Greg Vega to do an independent review of district expenditures. According to Lopez, Garcia did not reveal that Vega had worked for the district. A Union-Tribune story also reported that Vega reviewed Garcia’s employment contract last July.

Garcia has been the district’s main attorney since l996. In 2006, the Union-Tribune wrote, “South County’s high school board has scrapped a $400-an-hour contract with its main attorneys in favor of a $320,400-a-year deal designed to rein in legal spending that topped $1.1 million in the year ending June 30.” Garcia, with the firm Burke, Williams and Sorensen, was the main attorney.

Garcia formed a new firm (Garcia, Calderon and Ruiz) and continued to work for Sweetwater. Changing names does not appear to equal reining in legal spending: Garcia’s current contract with the district is $84,334 a month, or a little over $1 million a year.

Citizens for Good Government in the South Bay was a political action committee that operated out of Garcia’s office until March, when it became inactive. Yuri Calderon, a member of Garcia's law firm, was the treasurer. Garcia gave generously to this committee, as did Laura Martinez, who co-owns a house with Garcia in Sierra Madre, California, according to documents.

According to records kept by the San Diego County Registrar of Voters, Jim Cartmill, a Sweetwater boardmember since l996, received $5000 from the Citizens for Good Government in South Bay in last November’s election. He also received $5000 from Laura Martinez. Arlie Ricasa, first elected in 1998 and re-elected last November, received $5000 from Laura Martinez. And newly elected John McCann received $900 from Laura Martinez.

Chula Vista school’s turnaround turns head

2011-12-20T10:57:00.000-08:00

How did CVESD do it? Maybe this story offers a clue, since there has been no real change in how the district approaches education.

Chula Vista school’s turnaround turns head
Elementary charter has gone from federal improvement list to distinguished status
EducationViews.org
November 23, 2011

A charter school in Chula Vista was performing so poorly on state assessments that it made the federal watch list for three years. Now it has staged a dramatic turnaround that is attracting international attention.

Today, the 822-student school has test scores among the highest in the Chula Vista Elementary School District and has been recognized as a California Distinguished School. The dual-language immersion campus has become a type of laboratory where professors from San Diego State University as well as educators from Mexico, England and Switzerland visit, hoping to discover the secret to its success.

Chula Vista Learning Community Charter, which was on the federal “program improvement” list until 2008, has raised its Academic Performance Index scores from 680 in 2005 to 880 in 2011, exceeding the state goal of 800. Every March, hundreds of parents converge on its parking lot to submit applications, with some camping overnight. Last spring, 320 applicants were turned away.

At this school, everyone has a role in the education of children.

Teachers are encouraged to be “teacher scholars” and are expected to keep up with research being done in the field of education. Parent involvement is a high priority, with parents required to volunteer 30 hours a year, including attending parent meetings where administrators offer tips for helping with homework and review lessons their children are being taught.

Students at the school take half their courses in English and half in Spanish each day, and also get weekly instruction in Mandarin, a third language added two years ago. About 95 percent of students at the K-8 school are Latino, with about 53 percent English-language learners and about half come from families poor enough they qualify for free or reduced lunch.

Parents say they like the school for the language immersion and rigorous instruction. Martha Garcia, whose 4-year-old daughter is in kindergarten, said she’s pleased so far. “She reads already in both languages,” Garcia said.

Those who cannot meet the time commitment are asked to leave. “We are a choice school. You choose to be here,” said school Director Jorge Ramirez.

The campus’ turnaround caught the eye of researchers at San Diego State University who were looking at schools that have had success in closing the achievement gap.

SDSU professor Cristina Alfaro is among a team of seven SDSU researchers with the College of Education with expertise in literacy, biliteracy, administration and child development who are studying every aspect of the school — from how its administrators lead staff to how teachers collaborate and develop curriculum to better target the backgrounds of their students.

Alfaro said teachers at the school work closely together, analyze test data to see where gaps exist and alter teaching plans to shore up weak areas.

CVESD board member Bejarano linked to firm that tried to smuggle son of Gadhafi into Mexico

2011-12-08T10:29:00.000-08:00

U-T: SD Firm Linked To Mexican Plot To Smuggle Gadhafi's Son
Veritas Worldwide Security Says Its Associates Were Only In Mexico To Collect Money
Wendy Fry, U-T
10News.com
December 7, 2011

SAN DIEGO -- Mexican authorities on Wednesday said they thwarted an attempt to smuggle a son of former Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi into a resort near Puerto Vallarta, a conspiracy they say involves two associates of a San Diego-based security company.

The associates of Veritas Worldwide Security are being detained in Mexico, along with two others who have been arrested, after an investigation dubbed by authorities as "Operation Guest," according to Mexican authorities and an employee of the company.

Veritas specializes in clandestine operations, armed combat and provision of weapons, according to its website, and it lists Chula Vista Police Chief David Bejarano as its executive vice president for law enforcement training.

Bejarano, who is also a former San Diego police chief, said Wednesday he was a vice president with the company on paper only and has not had any contact with anyone from the company since January.

"I have no idea who is working for the company. I have not done any consulting for the company. I have not received any compensation from the company," Bejarano said. "I wasn't aware I was on their website. I just assumed that the company never got started and I never heard any more."

Saadi Gadhafi, 38, a former professional soccer player, is accused by the Libyan National Transitional Government of commanding Army Special Forces military units that brutally suppressed demonstrators during recent final uprisings against the regime. He is wanted by Interpol and is being held in Niger without extradition.

Four suspects in the smuggling attempt — including a Canadian woman named Cynthia Vanier identified as the mastermind — are under house arrest in Mexico.

Two people connected to Veritas were identified by Mexican authorities as members of the criminal network planning the operation — Gabriela Dávila Huerta and Pierre Christian Flensborg. The authorities said the two arranged air travel to destinations included Mexico, the U.S., Canada, Kosovo and several Middle Eastern countries.

"The large economic resources which this criminal organization has, or had, allowed them to contract private flights," Interior Minister Alejandro Poire said at a Wednesday morning news conference.

According to Gregory Gillispie, director of special operations for Veritas, Huerta and Pierre are his associates through another company, G&G Holdings, and had been sent to Mexico to collect money for air travel.

Gillispie said the payment was for travel to Tunisia for Vanier. Gillispie said he knew nothing about what passengers were up to.

"I brokered an airplane deal," he said. "That's all I did."

Further, he said, his associates were not able to collect their payment before being detained.

Michael Boffo, a training official for Veritas, said Wednesday he is worried about his two co-workers detained in Mexico and that the situation is horrible.

Boffo confirmed the company has leased a plane to Vanier a couple times and also denied any responsibility for the plot.

"We weren't involved in it," he said. "If I rent a car to you and you go rob a bank with it ... "

Bejarano has a history with Joseph Casas, CEO of Veritas Worldwide Security, the San Diego company whose associates have been detained in Mexico over a plot to smuggle in Saadi Gadhafi.

Casas, an attorney, represented Bejarano in May 2010 in a dispute the chief had with a former business partner from an unrelated private security firm that Bejarano had co-owned.

Bejarano’s former business partner at Presidential Security claimed Bejarano was still writing checks and collecting a paycheck from the firm after leaving to become police chief in August 2009.

Bejarano said he was approached a year ago by Casas to provide “active shooter, threat training and first responder training” at a Veritas center in San Antonio. Bejarano is listed on the Veritas website as executive vice president of law enforcement training.

“Headquartered in San Diego, Calif., VW Security is in the ideal location to provide personal security detachments (PSD) to both American and Mexican clientele,” according to the Veritas website. Bejarano said he signed a contract with Veritas Worldwide Security, but would not provide it because it’s confidential. He said he has received no compensation from the company and may have made an investment of $500 in the venture.

“I’m not aware what they’re involved in or what they did, but obviously if they’re involved in anything illegal, I absolutely would not condone that or be involved in that,” Bejarano said.

The company’s website also states, “With kidnapping and border violence at unprecedented highs, VW Security can provide safety and peace of mind for a wide range of domestic and international scenarios.”

Bejarano leads a department of 224 sworn law officers, 100 civilian staff members and about 70 volunteers. He oversees a budget of about $44 million providing law enforcement services to the second largest city in the county with 225,000 residents.

In addition to being Chula Vista’s police chief, where Bejarano earns an annual salary of $187,000, he is on the board of directors at Vibra Bank and the Chula Vista Elementary School District.

Also listed among Veritas personnel, as vice president of acquisitions, is former Port Commissioner Michael Najera. He could not be reached for comment.

Allen School in Chula Vista loses score on teacher cheating concerns

2011-11-16T15:45:00.000-08:00

School loses score on teacher cheating concerns
Karen Kucher
SDUT
Nov. 15, 2011

CHULA VISTA — The state didn’t issue a key academic performance score for a Chula Vista elementary school this year after several fifth-grade students told their homeroom teacher they had seen passages of the English language arts test material prior to taking the state exam.

Allen School, a 300-student school in the Chula Vista Elementary School District, reported the irregularity to the state Department of Education in May.

As a result, the school was not issued an Academic Performance Index or API score for 2011. The district did receive score information for individual students, classes and grade levels.

“It was brought to the attention of the principal there,” said district spokesman Anthony Millican. “It was dealt with swiftly and decisively.”

Millican said the teacher is no longer employed in the district. He said he couldn’t say anything more because it was a personnel matter.

“It is very unfortunate this was done. This is a very high achieving school and we are certain that they are continuing to make outstanding progress,” Millican said. “During this year’s (testing) we expect them to do extremely well.”

In 2010, the school scored 881 on its API. A score of 800 is a state goal.

News of the school’s testing irregularities were included in a Los Angeles Times story Sunday that found about three dozens teachers in the state were accused this year of cheating, making mistakes or engaging in other misconduct involving standardized achievement tests.

According to a report Chula Vista submitted to the state, the teacher said she used poor judgment by downloading test passages from the Internet to use for test preparation.

Millican said the school principal sent a letter to parents in late August telling them about the incident.

Sweetwater Union High School District pushes charter schools out of guaranteed SDSU admission

2011-11-11T10:23:00.000-08:00

I looks like the charter schools are just going to have to do a really good job so that their students can get into SDSU without a special guarantee.

South Bay School Competition Heats Up
By Rory Devine and Sarah Grieco
NBCSanDiego.com
11/7/2011

Parents are up in arms about a policy change that could impact whether or not their children get a guaranteed admission to San Diego State University.

The former policy used to be students who continuously went to Sweetwater Union High School District from 9th through 12th grade could take advantage of the district’s contract with SDSU for guaranteed admission.

With the change, students now have to attend Sweetwater Union High School District from 7th to 12th grade.

The Chula Vista Elementary School District said that change means middle school students in the five charter schools outside Sweetwater will lose the SDSU guarantee.

But the Sweetwater superintendent said the change is aimed at giving students more time to complete their A through G classes necessary to get into college.

“It's really, really, really important for all kids to get as many classes out of the way in the 7th and 8th grade as possible,” said Superintendent Ed Brand. “We're the only district that can do that because A to G has to be approved by UC and CSU … we've done that in our district charter schools haven't.”

The rationale is that by giving students more time to take their A through G classes, more students will complete them.

“It's Sweetwater's decision to make … we're definitely disappointed we don't really understand the rationale, but we want to continue to have a dialogue with Sweetwater about this issue,” said Matthew Tessier with the Chula Vista Elementary School District.

While charters may offer the A through G classes in middle school, those classes cannot be approved by University of California or California State University systems.

Cafeteria boss leaving Chula Vista schools

2011-10-08T16:46:00.000-07:00

Cafeteria boss leaving Chula Vista schools
Ashly McGlone
SDUT
Oct. 7, 2011

CHULA VISTA — The food service manager at the Chula Vista Elementary School District will leave the district next month.http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

Dan Slavin, who earns $84,000 annually, joined the district in 2007. Slavin has been on a paid leave of absence in recent weeks and will remain on the payroll until Nov. 4, district officials said.

The departure comes after the district was hit with a $57,300 penalty by the state, reported by The Watchdog in August, for serving meals that did not meal U.S. Department of Agriculture nutrition targets, to qualify for reimbursement of free and reduced-price meals.

Among the findings: breakfast meals contained 31 percent fewer calories and 30 percent less vitamin A than they should have had, and lunches contained 17 percent less iron than required.

A state audit on July 28 also found the district had not completed a nutritional analysis for the district’s summer food program. As a result, the district was recently informed it will lose an additional $9,668, spokesman Anthony Millican said.

“This issue arose from our good intention in making our meals healthier for our students,” Millican said. “We removed chocolate chip muffins from the breakfast menu. We reduced caloric intake specifically to address well documented high obesity rates among our youth. Apparently no good deed goes unpunished and in fact, it seems counterintuitive that the state would ask us to add more calories to the menu at a time when juvenile diabetes and obesity are skyrocketing, yet here we are, adding string cheese to the menu so kids will consume more calories.”

The child nutrition services department underwent a restructuring in early July, with food service supervisors no longer reporting to Slavin. Millican said the restructuring had nothing to do with the meal deficiencies and he could not comment on the reasons for Slavin’s departure.

Slavin did not return multiple calls for a comment.

The district, which serves some 27,400 students in Chula Vista, has since switched to a more user-friendly menu planning program as directed by state auditors, district officials said. Some 1.4 million free meals and 406,000 reduced-price meals are served annually in the district, for $5.2 million in combined state and federal funding.

Chula Vista teacher charged with child porn

2011-10-08T16:42:00.000-07:00

Chula Vista teacher charged with child porn
By Kristina Davis
SDUT
October 7, 2011

CHULA VISTA — A Chula Vista elementary school teacher was arrested Friday morning on suspicion of possessing child pornography, according to the FBI

Gary Delaney Phillips, 54, who teaches sixth grade at Clear View Elementary School, was taken away in handcuffs from his College Area home at 8:30 a.m.

According to the federal complaint, an FBI agent investigating traders of child pornography discovered emails from Phillips that expressed a sexual interest in children and indicated that he owned images of child pornography.

Investigators conducted a search warrant at his San Diego home Friday and seized images depicting children engaging in sexually explicit conduct, said FBI Special Agent Darrell Foxworth.

Phillips was booked into the Metropolitan Correctional Center in downtown San Diego and is scheduled to appear in federal court on Tuesday.

Police officers from Chula Vista and San Diego and agents from the U.S. Naval Criminal Intelligence Service aided in the investigation.

Phillips has taught in the Chula Vista Elementary School District for more than 20 years on at least three campuses during his tenure. He has been placed on paid administrative leave, said district spokesman Anthony Millican.

“We have been informed that the charges he is facing relate to conduct outside the workplace,” said Millican. “We have no reports of anything remotely like this at any point during his tenure in CVESD.”
Chula Vista teacher charged with child porn

By Kristina Davis, Reporter - Public safety

Friday, October 7, 2011 at 6:08 p.m.

CHULA VISTA — A Chula Vista elementary school teacher was arrested Friday morning on suspicion of possessing child pornography, according to the FBI.

Gary Delaney Phillips, 54, who teaches sixth grade at Clear View Elementary School, was taken away in handcuffs from his College Area home at 8:30 a.m.

According to the federal complaint, an FBI agent investigating traders of child pornography discovered emails from Phillips that expressed a sexual interest in children and indicated that he owned images of child pornography.

Investigators conducted a search warrant at his San Diego home Friday and seized images depicting children engaging in sexually explicit conduct, said FBI Special Agent Darrell Foxworth.

Phillips was booked into the Metropolitan Correctional Center in downtown San Diego and is scheduled to appear in federal court on Tuesday.

Police officers from Chula Vista and San Diego and agents from the U.S. Naval Criminal Intelligence Service aided in the investigation.

Phillips has taught in the Chula Vista Elementary School District for more than 20 years on at least three campuses during his tenure. He has been placed on paid administrative leave, said district spokesman Anthony Millican.

“We have been informed that the charges he is facing relate to conduct outside the workplace,” said Millican. “We have no reports of anything remotely like this at any point during his tenure in CVESD.”

School meals fell short, report says; Chula Vista Elementary School District faces $56,000 penalty

2011-08-12T18:16:00.000-07:00

School meals fell short, report says
Chula Vista Elementary School District faces $56,000 penalty
by Ashly McGlone
SDUT
Aug. 11, 2011

Meals served by the Chula Vista Elementary School District over 10 days in June and July lacked critical nutrients, such as vitamin A and calories, mandated by state and federal law, a state audit concluded.

As a result, the district is facing a $56,000 penalty, according to district estimates.

Auditors with the California Department of Education visited the district unannounced July 28 after receiving an anonymous complaint about the oversight. A summary of the visit was provided to the district last week.

Among the findings:

• Breakfast meals contained 31 percent fewer calories than they should have.

• Breakfast meals contained 30 percent less vitamin A than they should have.

• Lunches contained 17 percent less iron than they should have.

According to state and federal law, school districts are expected to meet 14 U.S. Department of Agriculture nutrient targets, including 100 percent of the calorie, vitamin A and iron targets. Districts must also meet the USDA nutrient standards to qualify for reimbursement of free and reduced-price meals through the National School Lunch Program.

In the Chula Vista Elementary School District, some 1.4 million free meals and 406,000 reduced-price meals are served annually, for $5.2 million in combined state and federal funding.

Since the district was directed to correct similar nutrient deficiencies in 2009 and “did not implement its corrective action,” the district will not be reimbursed for the breakfasts served during the 10 days of school, the report states, amounting to about $56,000 in lost funding.

Last spring, the district overhauled its menu to provide more healthy options, district spokesman Anthony Millican said.

Following a survey indicating 50 percent of sixth-graders in the district are overweight and 25 percent are obese, the district revamped its menu and decreased calories with the help of a chef from the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista.

The district must now add calories back into the menu, Millican said.

Auditors also found that no nutrient analysis was completed for food served through the district’s Seamless Summer Feeding Option, which provides meals to children in poor communities during the summer months without requiring paperwork. Auditors also noted that portions of fruits and grains served as a snack were insufficient. It is still unclear if the $16,000 in funding for that program will be affected, state officials said.

“We appreciate the thorough, professional review of our school menus, labels, and monthly nutrient analysis report. You will see findings that indicate instances where our monthly summaries did not match with what we served on a given day,” Millican said. “Human error will be corrected.”

The surprise visit came three years before the next scheduled state audit of the district’s child nutrition department. No routine internal audits are conducted, district officials said.

The district’s child nutrition services department underwent a restructuring last month, with supervisors no longer reporting to child nutrition program manager Dan Slavin. Millican said those changes are unrelated to concerns raised in the report.

Child Nutrition Services Supervisor Lillian Garcia, who routinely conducts the nutritional analysis and did not conduct July’s analysis, maintained the district meals served were healthy.

“We are offering good meals out there,” she said.

The district, which serves some 27,400 students in Chula Vista, was also directed to transition to a more user-friendly menu planning program by Sept. 1.

Jesus Gandara of Sweetwater High School District fired

2011-06-22T16:34:00.000-07:00

See Jesus Gandara posts.
See attorney Bonifacio "Bonny" Garcia posts.

Gandara’s ouster deal solidifies pension
Sweetwater contract calls for 18 months severance; superintendent wasn’t fired for cause
By Ashly McGlone
June 21, 2011

The terms of Superintendent Jesus Gandara’s severance from the Sweetwater Union High School District on will allow him to vest in his pension, a benefit he would not have received had he been fired outright.

Gandara, 54, will use accumulated sick and vacation days, plus administrative leave, to keep him on the payroll through Sept. 1, when he will achieve five years of service with the district.

He will also receive 18 months of severance pay, an amount district officials placed at $376,380, plus $40,295 in vacation and sick-leave payout -- for a total of $416,675.

Gandara’s $750-a-month auto allowance and his $800-a-month district expense allowance will halt immediately, according to a news release.

The district’s contract with Gandara says he can be fired for cause for “any act of dishonesty, fraud, misrepresentation, or other acts of moral turpitude.”

Instead of invoking that clause, the school board early Tuesday morning terminated him “at will,” a process that requires the 18 months pay by contract.

The district’s outside lawyer, Bonifacio Garcia, said, “The separation is effective Sept. 1. He is going to be using up his vacation pay and he will be on administrative leave until Sept. 1 to the extent that he is entitled under his current contract. The current agreement is 18 months plus whatever his vacation pay is, and the net effect is he gets the same even though his employment will terminate on Sept. 1.”

The value of Gandara’s health benefits will be deducted from his severance pay, according to the news release.

Details of Gandara’s pension were not immediately available. However, previous reporting by The Watchdog indicates that a pension for a five-year employee leaving at age 55 would be 7 percent of salary.

The Watchdog has contacted district officials and the California State Teachers Retirement System to seek a more solid number.

In response to the deal, teacher’s union president Alex Anguiano said, “I do believe that it was time for him to go. What it appears was that the district was moving to ensure he was vested in STRS. At that point in time he will be vested and he will be receiving a retirement package that really in my opinion was undeserved. He has really only been our state four and a half years. It essentially amounts to the plundering of our retirement system.

“I do think it is time to move forward and at the same time I think is it time for a good house cleaning.”

Gandara's 18-month severance will be calculated based on his $250,000 salary, spokeswoman Lillian Leopold said. He was paid $245,000 in the current fiscal year, because of furloughs. But, Leopold said, "There are no furloughs for management" in the fiscal year that starts July 1, so his severance will be calculated based on the higher amount.

Gandara was fired by a 5-0 vote of the school board early Tuesday morning.

Gandara came under fire after a series of Watchdog reports in The San Diego Union-Tribune.

The newspaper revealed Gandara’s charging of hundreds of meals to a district credit card, even though he is paid the $800 a month allowance for such expenses. The credit card was canceled in response to the report.

Another report revealed that Gandara invited district contractors and employees to his daughter’s bridal shower, complete with a “money tree” for contributions. He defended the invitations as evidence of his personal management style.

Discrepancies involving a public-relations firm, also exposed by the newspaper, are being investigated by the District Attorney’s Office. The P.R. professional, Scott Alevy, says that people disputing the bills he submitted to the district had to deny the meetings happened because of confidentiality concerns, a claim they deny.

The Watchdog also reported that the district’s plan to borrow $58 million against bond money, for operating expenses, was a possible violation of the state Constitution, which requires bonds to be spent for the purposes voters approve. The borrowing was canceled.

More recently, the paper revealed issues with grade changing and alleged forgery by principals who have been promoted to be top administrators at the district. The district says the alleged forgery was a simple mistake in using a boilerplate letter, and the grade changes were a matter of using the wrong form to record credit-recovery classes.

Last week, the newspaper reported that the district’s food-service director markets brands from her outside company at campus food courts. The administrator, Nancy Stewart, said she takes no money for the district’s use of the brands.

Chula Vista teacher layoff notices being rescinded

2011-05-27T15:12:00.000-07:00

Chula Vista teacher layoff notices being rescinded
By Ashly McGlone
May 26, 2011

Hundreds of layoff notices issued to teachers in the Chula Vista Elementary School District are being rescinded.

The district issued notices to about 300 of the district’s 1,400 teachers and other certificated staff, including psychologists and vice principals, in March.

District officials said the move to rescind those notices comes in the wake of Gov. Jerry Brown’s May budget revision, which maintained school funding at current levels — pending voter of approval extending certain tax hikes.

“It was unfortunate we had to go through the noticing process yet again. However, our teachers have been terrific in keeping the focus on the students and not getting caught up in what could have been a major distraction,” Superintendent Francisco Escobedo said in a statement. “Our goal has always been to keep teaching teams together and keep any cuts as far from the classroom as possible. We are very pleased to be able to bring back our tenured classroom teachers.”

Chula Vista teachers’ union President Peg Myers said the move relieves stress for educators.

“Dr. Escobedo has been very cognizant of what this does to teachers and he has worked with me the entire time,” Myers said. “It means they can leave school and not have to worry about filing for unemployment.”

As of May 20, 160 notices had been rescinded, according to Myers. That number is expected to reach 300, a district spokesman said.

The district estimated that it would face a $14 million deficit in its $193 million budget under a worst-case funding scenario. Under a best-case scenario, the district would face a $6 million shortfall, a deficit it could cover with its $32 million reserve account.

Meanwhile, at least 70 layoff notices issued to nonteaching employees have been rescinded, a union official said. More rescinded notices are expected.

In April, 300 of the district’s 1,100 nonteaching employees, including librarians, custodians and instructional assistants, received notice that their jobs are not guaranteed next year. An additional 11 nonteaching employees were given pink slip notices in May.

The new school year begins July 20.

Chula Vista Elementary School District is the largest elementary district in the state and serves 27,400 K-8 students and 840 preschool students on 45 campuses.

Citizens Denied Attendance to Sweetwater Union High Meeting

2011-05-22T12:40:00.000-07:00

Citizens Denied Attendance to Sweetwater Union High Meeting
By Susan Luzzaro
San Diego Reader
May 20, 2011

On the evening of May 17, 40 minutes before a Sweetwater Union High School board meeting was scheduled to begin, John Brickley and Fran Brinkman attempted to enter the board room. According to Brinkman, a number of parents and teachers had come to ask the South Bay school-board members to dismiss the superintendent.

Superintendent Jesus Gandara has made a number of Union-Tribune headlines of late. An article on Gandara’s daughter’s wedding highlighted his financial ties to Proposition O contractors; another article questioned his use of a district credit card (the account was subsequently canceled).

Brinkman said that as she and Brickley approached the board room, they could see people sitting inside; however, they were prevented from entering by a district representative who told them the empty seats were saved for administrators and presenters. They put in a call to the district attorney’s office and were advised that they were within their rights to go into the meeting. Brickley and Brinkman then went around the district employee who had tried to block their entrance, and they took a seat.

Shortly thereafter, a 911 call brought a Chula Vista police officer to the scene. “It was a little scary, but we knew we hadn’t done anything wrong,” Brinkman said. She told the officer, “We’re not causing a disturbance,” and they were allowed to stay.

Another attendee interviewed for this story, Maty Adano, corroborated Brinkman’s account of the events and said she didn’t understand why there often were either Harbor Police or Chula Vista police at the Sweetwater meetings.

Superintendent Gandara and board member Bertha Lopez were not available for comment...

Sweetwater vendors invited to 'money tree' event

2011-05-21T15:45:00.000-07:00

See all Jesus Gandara posts.

Sweetwater vendors invited to 'money tree' event
Contractors and employees celebrate bridal shower for Gandara's daughter
By Tanya Sierra
SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE
March 23, 2011

Sweetwater Superintendent Jesus Gandara hosted a bridal shower for his daughter at a Bonita restaurant this month, inviting contractors who stood to benefit from his decision-making on district business.

The invitation, which indicated a money tree would be available, was also extended to employees who work for Gandara.

Gandara, along with three Sweetwater Union High School District board members who attended the March 5 event, said they saw nothing wrong with inviting district contractors to such an occasion.

Nonprofit chairman billed Sweetwater taxpayers for his work

2011-05-20T15:40:00.000-07:00

Nonprofit chairman billed Sweetwater taxpayers for his work
Head of scholarship foundation says board members aren’t supposed to be paid
By Wendy Fry and Ashly McGlone
SDUT
May 19, 2011

Charges to the district by public-relations consultant Scott Alevy involving his unpaid work as chairman of the Sweetwater Education Foundation:

June 23: Extensive discussion with Ed Lopez, Sweetwater Education Foundation, on potential and methods of community outreach using Compact for Success and foundation scholarships for more positive community and student perception: $187.50

June 24: Discussion with (district lawyer) Bonny Garcia on Compact/Foundation discussion and impacts of budget and issues on other districts in region: $125

June 30: Discussion with several district parents about perceptions of district, administration, curriculum, Compact for Success and facilities: $437.50

July 20: Discussion with Bonny Garcia on public perceptions, issues and potential for additional outreach with SDSU and the Compact for Success to highlight a more positive community and student perception: $187.50

July 24: Discussion with several current and former district teachers and administrators and parents about perceptions of district, including thoughts on the administration, curriculum, Compact for Success and facilities: $437.50

Oct. 12: Discussions with Ed Lopez/Sweetwater Education Foundation and Jeff Marston on scripting and issues for foundation dinner. Discussion with Juan Garcia/Chevron about district issues and support for projects: $250

Oct. 20: Sweetwater Education Foundation annual dinner. Discussions with district leadership and board plus educators and business leaders about district issues. Public presentation to 300 as chair of event: $750

Jan. 31: Lunch meeting with Ed Lopez, Executive Director of the Sweetwater Education foundation. Discussed Compact for Success scholarship levels, responses from contacts for funding on perceptions of the district and strategic input: $375

Total: $2,750

Source: Alevy’s invoices
Previously

Sweetwater P.R. bills don’t match memories

Sweetwater president seeks P.R. audit

Sweetwater hires former U.S. attorney for probe

Two golfers offer views on P.R. contract

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* Nonprofit chairman billed Sweetwater taxpayers for his work
* Sweetwater hires former U.S. attorney for probe
* Company Issa founded underpaid tariffs
* Schools miss out on field fees, report says
* Savings on sea urchin committee may be elusive

CHULA VISTA — When 300 people attended the fifth annual Sweetwater Education Foundation gala in October at the San Diego Hilton Bayfront, they ate a steak dinner and heard a performance by Bonita Vista High’s show choir.

The host was Scott Alevy, a former Chula Vista councilman who serves as chairman of the foundation.

What most people in attendance didn’t know was this: While they each paid $250 to attend in support of scholarships, Alevy charged the school district for his attendance. The bill? $750 (plus $18.70 for mileage).

Alevy is a public-relations person for the Sweetwater Union High School District’s contracted law firm, but that role was not well-known. Although his hourly rate of $250 is paid by district taxpayers, the arrangement was not approved at a public school board meeting.

The stated purpose of his P.R. work is to support labor negotiations, which is not part of the mission of the nonprofit foundation he chairs.

When Alevy was originally interviewed April 11 about his P.R. work, he said, “This doesn’t have anything to do with my work on the Sweetwater Education Foundation. My work for the district is completely separate.”

The Watchdog has since obtained documents showing the foundation work on his district invoices. Alevy billed the district for six line items involving foundation issues and discussions, totaling $2,750...

Schools chief charges meals despite allowance; Meals went mostly to Sweetwater school board

2011-05-15T12:29:00.000-07:00

Jesus M. Gandara

Over three years, Gandara billed $11,500 to his district credit card for 303 meals...Sweetwater cut $11 million from its budget this year and is facing a $25 million deficit next year.

Schools chief charges meals despite allowance
Gandara gets $800 a month for expenses, but still uses district credit card to eat out
By Tanya Sierra and Ashly McGlone
SDUT
April 4, 2011

South County schools Superintendent Jesus Gandara receives an $800-a-month allowance for expenses in addition to his $250,000 salary, but has charged hundreds of meals on top of that on a district credit card.

Over three years, Gandara billed $11,500 to his district credit card for 303 meals, according to documents obtained under the California Public Records Act...

“It is my duty to make myself available to the community,” Gandara said in a statement. “These meetings are held with board members, community members and parents, and I make myself available on their schedules. Oftentimes that is before and after work hours, and during meal times.”

Since business is discussed, he charges the meals to the public agency, Gandara said.

...Gandara’s contract to run the Chula Vista-based district with 41,454 students and 5,257 employees grants him a $750 a month auto allowance and $800 a month for other expenses.

...San Diego Unified’s Bill Kowba brings his lunch to work almost every day, a district spokesman said, and has billed no meals in the past six months.

The same holds true at the Grossmont Union School District in East County. Superintendent Ralf Swenson charged fewer than five meals in the eight months he has been with the district, spokeswoman Catherine Martin said.

In Poway, Superintendent John Collins expensed fewer than five meals since arriving in the district in July, schools spokeswoman Sharon Raffer said...

Sweetwater cut $11 million from its budget this year and is facing a $25 million deficit next year. In recent years officials threatened to lay off teachers, expanded class sizes and cut a number of programs to make up for cash shortfalls. No teachers were laid off this year; last year, six teachers were let go.

Sweetwater board president John McCann, a former Chula Vista councilman who is expected to run for mayor, would not talk about Gandara’s expenses.

“We have found $33 million in budget savings which has enabled us to not layoff any teachers and are still scrutinizing every budget item to find additional savings,” McCann wrote.

Board members Arlie Ricasa, Jim Cartmill and Pearl Quinones did not respond to requests for an interview. Board member Bertha Lopez, who has been a frequent critic of Gandara, did agree to discuss the matter.

“I didn’t know he was doing this,” she said. “I knew he had an $800 expense account. That’s where I would expect the money for the meals to come from.”

In addition to the meals, Gandara spent $5,730 on airline tickets, $4,745 in hotel charges and $7,360 for conferences and other expenses between November 2007 and December 2010, the review of his bills shows.

Seated: Arlie Ricasa, Pearl Quinones, Bertha Lopez; standing: unknown individual (even the district website does not identify him), John McCann, Jesus Gandara (superintendent), Jim Cartmill
Meals went mostly to Sweetwater school board
Superintendent had cited community outreach when credit card issue arose
By Ashly McGlone
SDUT
May 13, 2011

...Some $12,560 was charged to Gandara’s district credit card for 366 meals from November 2007 to March 16, when he stopped using it.

The most common meal partners for Gandara were members of the school board, who took part in 238 of the meals.

Trustee Arlie Ricasa dined with the superintendent 92 times, followed by trustee Pearl Quinones at 49 times. Former trustee Greg Sandoval met with Gandara 41 times, according to the records, while trustee Jim Cartmill met with him 38 times and Bertha Lopez met with him 11 times.

Newly appointed board member John McCann appears seven times, including once as a Chula Vista councilman before his job on the school board.

Gandara’s credit card paid for 27 meals for staff members, ten for union representatives and six for superintendents from other school districts.

Twenty-five meals totaling $863 were missing documentation to indicate who Gandara ate with, if anyone. Another 25 meals were purchased for Gandara with no indication that anyone accompanied him.

The remaining 35 meals were purchased for community members including parents, area city council members or chamber of commerce leaders, among others...

Jim Groth and Imperial Valley locals on California State of Emergency rallies

2011-05-11T14:49:00.000-07:00

Imperial Valley locals to attend California State of Emergency rallies
By ROMAN FLORES
Imperial Valley Press
May 10, 2011

...“(Monday) was the kickoff of the state of emergency and there were more than 300 current teachers and retired teachers, counselors and librarians to kick off the week,” said Jim Groth, CTA board member, Imperial County representative and Chula Vista teacher, on Monday on his way out of Sacramento.

Groth said CTA representatives met at the state Capitol for interfaith prayer services and a march around to the Capitol building.

“We broke off and had teams of teachers go to the legislative offices and talk to them about passing the next fiscal budget for our students,” he said.

“The Legislature has the authority to extend the taxes that are going to expire June 30,” Groth said.

“It’s going to take two Republicans in the Assembly and two Republicans in the Senate to meet the two-thirds requirement to pass a budget that would include the tax extensions,” he said.

“The issues remain very separated by party lines,” he said. “We’re asking Republicans to do the right thing for the students of California and pass a budget including the tax extensions.”

“What we hope to do is bring awareness of this issue (of budget cuts),” said local CTA chapter president Gaylla Finnell. “During this week, CTA’s hope is that people will contact their representatives and let them know to not cut education.

“We need to take action and put pressure on our representatives,” Finnell said.

Though Imperial County Teachers’ UniServ staff couldn’t comment on exactly who will be attending, UniServ did say two busloads are expected to attend a state of emergency rally Friday in San Diego with others traveling on their own. About 125 to 150 teachers, students and others from Imperial County expect to be in attendance.

Groth also said some school board members from Imperial County will attend Friday’s rally in Sacramento.

Sweetwater district employee who lost in court files for bankruptcy

2011-04-23T16:11:00.000-07:00

Sweetwater district employee who lost in court files for bankruptcy
By Ashly McGlone
SDUT
April 23, 2011

CHULA VISTA — Following a loss in court against the Sweetwater Union High School District and a trustee, district administrator Charlene Lemons-Shivers has filed for bankruptcy.

A 16-year district employee and Del Mar resident, Lemons-Shivers claimed $562,800 in assets and $873,300 in liabilities to 18 creditors, including attorney Dan Shinoff, who represented the district and trustee Bertha Lopez as defendants in the lawsuit.

Shinoff was seeking $21,000 in attorney fees and some $5,000 is owed to Lemon-Shivers’ attorney, Josh Gruenberg, according to the filing.

A judgment in the lawsuit was issued in January in favor of the district and Lopez. Lemons-Shivers filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy March 19.

While serving as director of alternate education, Lemons-Shivers filed the lawsuit July 8 alleging she suffered retaliation, civil harassment and emotional distress after reporting a subordinate was working unapproved overtime. Lemons-Shivers alleged Lopez was a friend of the employee and retaliated against her by visiting the alternative education department unannounced and asking pointed questions. Lopez said she was doing her job as a board member.

More than $83,000 was spent by the district on the case, with $40,000 spent on a consultant for an investigation and report on the matter. The report, by Puente Consulting, concluded there was no evidence Lopez acted inappropriately or that she knew the employee in question. It also said Lopez asked questions about the alternative education program months before the overtime issue arose.

According to the bankruptcy filing, Lemons-Shivers listed a leased 2008 Mercedez Benz CLK currently worth a reported $21,255 as both an asset and a liability. The monthly payment is $477.

Her largest monthly expenditure is $3,577 for the mortgage on a rental home in Chula Vista valued at $600,000, followed by the cost of her son’s private school.

Her expenditures reportedly exceed her income by $2,000 a month.

She claimed $127,600 in annual earnings in her current post as director of education technology supervising seven people...

Some 300 nonteaching employees in Chula Vista schools will get layoff notices

2011-04-07T10:46:00.000-07:00

Some 300 nonteaching employees in Chula Vista schools will get layoff notices
By Ashly McGlone
SDUT
April 6, 2011

About 70 nonteaching staff in the Chula Vista Elementary School District rallied outside of the district office before Tuesday night's board meeting. Trustees voted unanimously to issue 300 layoff notices to nonteaching employees later that night.

CHULA VISTA — More than a quarter of the nonteaching staff in the Chula Vista Elementary School District will soon receive layoff notices.

Citing state budget problems, trustees voted unanimously Tuesday night to issue about 300 layoff notices to nonteaching employees in the district.

Some 1,100 bus drivers, instructional assistants, custodians, librarians and other nonteaching workers are represented by the Chula Vista Classified Employees Organization. About 70 rallied outside of the district offices before Tuesday night’s meeting wearing shirts that read, “Classified Cuts Hurt Kids Too!”

Among the hardest hit were support services to special-needs students and the district’s state-run preschool program.

More than 170 special needs-related positions will receive layoff notices, including about 45 special education instructional assistants, 96 bus attendants, who accompany students with severe disabilities on their way to and from school, and 30 student attendants who work with special needs students.

More than 34 preschool instructional assistants also will receive notices, putting the programs in jeopardy, according to Sandra Villegas-Zuniga, assistant superintendent of human resources.

At least 12 English-language learner instructional assistants also will receive notices.

“It’s a blow for all of us and it will affect the services we give for our kids at the school site as well as the district office because cuts were from every level in this organization so it’s hard,” Superintendent Francisco Escobedo said.

“There will be less support for (English-language learners and special-needs students) and those specific target groups so we will have to figure out ways to enhance our efficiencies, but it becomes very difficult to do that with less people.”

The three-year contract for nonteaching staff expires this year, but the parties have yet to meet at the bargaining table to negotiate a new contract.

“The unanimous vote was no surprise and now we wait for negotiations and sit down and negotiate the effects of the layoffs,” said Ernie Gutierrez, president of the Chula Vista Classified Employees Organization.

The district estimates that it would face a $14 million deficit in its $193 million budget under the worst-case funding scenario. Under a best-case scenario, the district would face a $6 million shortfall, a deficit it could cover with its $31 million reserve account. It did not offer specifics on how much money the layoffs would save.

Nonteaching staff must be notified of potential layoffs 45 days before beginning the next school year, according to district spokesman Anthony Millican.

School ends June 2. The new school year begins July 20. Some 300 teachers of the district’s 1,400 teachers received layoff notices in March.

Sweetwater UHSD's Jesus Gandara strikes again: inviting contractors to bring cash to bridal shower

2011-03-26T11:48:00.000-07:00

Bridal Showers and Choosing Companies in Sweetwater
March 24, 2011
by Emily Alpert

The Sweetwater Union High School District superintendent invited construction contractors who might benefit from his decisions to a bridal shower for his daughter that mentioned a money tree on the invitation, the Union-Tribune reported today.

Arguing that there was nothing wrong with inviting them, Superintendent Jesus Gandara told the Union-Tribune that he doesn't have final say over which companies are chosen for school district projects; the school board does. The U-T reported:

According to district policy, the superintendent and his staff have the ability to reject contract bids and to accept them, subject to board approval. He is also required to "provide guidance to the board to assist in decision-making."

As part of guiding the school board, Gandara has made his preferences for construction companies known in the past. A few years ago, we reported that Sweetwater had repeatedly chosen companies that weren't ranked highest by their own staff. Twice Gandara had weighed in, once pushing for an architect that built schools he liked, once on which program manager to pick:

Nick Marinovich, a community member who sat on the oversight committee for an earlier school construction bond, complained about the process for picking the new program manager, Gilbane/Seville Group Inc., which had ranked lower than another company.

"The superintendent steered it the way he wanted it to go. It was bogus," said Marinovich, who has worked for more than a dozen years as a project manager with the county of San Diego and briefly for the losing company. ...

Gandara said Sweetwater had good reasons for weighing other factors besides Harris Gafcon's ranking. He was displeased with renovations done under the last bond at Sweetwater High School. Stucco around new windows didn't match the surrounding building. Rain gutters on the buildings were twisted.

So while the school board does make the final decision, the superintendent can influence that decision — and in the past his input has been important in deciding companies' fates.

Teacher layoffs in Chula Vista stir debate over value of public input

2011-03-22T16:51:00.000-07:00

Shame on CVESD for not evaluating teachers effectively, and laying off the incompetent teachers.

Teacher layoffs in Chula Vista stir debate over value of public input
San Diego Union-Tribune
By Ashly McGlone
March 22, 2011

Following a wave of teacher pink slips in the Chula Vista Elementary School District, members of the district’s budget advisory committee wonder if their input was lost in the debate over spending.

The Board of Education authorized layoff notices for about 350 teachers, or nearly 30 percent, of its 1,200-teacher workforce Feb. 15; the advisory committee favored other cuts and recommended only 60 teacher notices based on proposed class size increases in the earlier grades.

The 53-person committee, which met four times since January to analyze and prioritize cuts, comprises 44 school site representatives, three administrators, three teachers union representatives and three representatives from the union representing nonteaching employees.

Zaneta Encarnacion, a committee representative for Wolf Canyon Elementary School, was surprised to find out the district approved the notices weeks before the budget committee finalized its recommendations on March 2.

“The biggest concern is as a parent who cares about the school budget, and is willing to take time away from my work and my family to look at the school budget, when the effort you put into it appears to be in vain if nobody is going to be looking at it,” she said. “As far as the whole public process, it leaves little to be desired.”

Committee members were tasked with identifying $8 million in potential budget cuts in next year’s $193 million budget.

The district estimates that it would face a $14 million shortfall if a measure seeking a proposed tax extension is not placed on the ballot and approved by voters in June. Under a best-case scenario, the district will face a $6 million shortfall, a deficit it could cover with its $32.5 million reserve account.

The committee identified $6.5 million in cuts, and suggested the school board kick in more money from the reserve to fill the remaining gap. It also suggested the district look for additional federal dollars and cuts in areas that were not offered for consideration.

In an item on the school board’s March 8 agenda, the district said it was collaborating with the budget advisory committee and offered four basic areas of cuts totaling $8 million. Those included up to $3 million in maintenance and technology; the committee recommended $1 million in cuts “due to school maintenance requirements and technology licensing requirements.”

The district said an additional $2 million could be cut from money it gives to individual schools to use as they desire; the committee suggested only $1 million and ranked the item the lowest among their eight priority cuts.

Increasing class size in the earlier grades by two students could save $1 million annually, while an increase of four students could save $2 million, according to the district. The committee recommended the former option, which would raise classes from 20 to 22 students in kindergarten through third grade.

Both parties suggested the elimination of five vice principals, saving $450,000, and $1 million in cuts from the Educational Services and Support Center.

The committee also recommended eliminating school resource officers, saving $350,000; the after-school program at 24 schools, saving $650,000; and reduced clerical, custodial, and library staff hours, for $1 million in savings.

Jason Holleron, a committee member representing Juarez-Lincoln Elementary School, recognized that the district’s hand was forced by state deadlines, but said, “I think the plan was in place regardless of what the advisory committee may have suggested. They had an idea of what they were already going to do.”

He doesn’t believe the district will actually lay off 350 teachers. Some 310 notices were sent to teachers, psychologists, vice principals.

Pat Miller, vice president of the union representing nonteaching employees, has been a member of the committee for several years and says that the district’s action was expected. She said there is no reason for concern.

“People have to remember the committee is an advisory committee,” she said. “They have to look at the worst-case scenario. They (issue notices) to cover themselves by law.”

District officials stand by the timeline and the move to notice hundreds of employees. State law requires layoff notices be sent by March 15...

Massive teacher layoffs possible in Chula Vista

2011-03-05T09:12:00.000-08:00

Massive teacher layoffs possible in Chula Vista
By Ashly McGlone
March 3, 2011
SDUT

The Chula Vista Elementary School District is in the process of issuing potential layoff notices to hundreds of teachers and other credentialed staff.

Among the possible cuts are some 300 teachers, vice principals and psychologists. The district employs some 1,400 teachers.

The district estimates that it would face a $14 million deficit in its $193 million budget if the governor’s proposed tax extension is not placed on the ballot and approved by voters in June. Under a best-case scenario, the district would face a $6 million shortfall, a deficit it could cover with its $31 million reserve account.

Principals have been encouraged to hold one-on-one meetings with potentially affected staff, and larger meetings were held throughout the week with district staff. Employees were also provided information on how to file for unemployment.

The purpose of the meetings?

To “put a human perspective on a very challenging budget issue,” district spokesman Anthony Millican said. “Our district is looking at draconian cuts if the tax extensions are not approved by voters.”

The impact of the cuts would be absorbed through larger class sizes and staffing shifts, Millican said.

Decisions have not been made regarding secretaries, janitors and other nonteaching staff.

“In the past we have been able to withdraw the pink slips not long after the March 15 deadline as more concrete information became available. This year it seems to be a lot more challenging in obtaining the crystal ball,” Millican said.

School ends June 2. The new school year begins July 20.

Chula Vista Elementary School District is the largest elementary district in the state and serves 27,400 students on 45 campuses.

Sweetwater UHSD out of compliance regarding 3 special education issues

2011-03-04T13:06:00.000-08:00

State clears Sweetwater on special ed
Regulators find the district’s diplomas aren’t unequal
By Tanya Sierra
San Diego Union Tribune
March 2, 2011

A state investigation into whether the Sweetwater school district gave substandard diplomas to certain students and did not provide them readily available college preparatory classes has found the district to be in compliance.

Officials in the Sweetwater Union High School District noted the findings this week, including three lesser issues in which they were found to be out of compliance.

“When someone throws a black cloud over the hard work of the district, it’s really unfair,” Superintendent Jesus Gandara said.

In October, two retired special education teachers filed a complaint with the State Department of Education claiming parents were never informed that diplomas offered by newly created Bounce Back Independent Study High School are considered of a lower tier by the military because it is not a traditional high school.

They also said special education students did not have access to the complete sequence of college prep courses necessary to get into college. That coursework includes foreign language, lab sciences and finite math.

State representatives met with Sweetwater teachers, counselors, students and administrators over two days in November. They returned in January.

Through various interviews and reviews, the state found Sweetwater offers standard diplomas for all students.

The state did find Sweetwater out of compliance in three areas.

They include not having a consistent process in place at all independent study high schools to allow students access to the general orcollege preparatory curriculum; not filling out the proper paperwork for student program changes and not including parents or other required attendees in meetings about student’s individual education plans.

Fran Brinkman, one of the retired teachers who filed the complaint, said she sees the state report as a victory.

“The district was found in noncompliance, and that speaks for itself,” she said. “We pointed these issues out and they didn’t want to deal with them, that’s why we filed a complaint.”...

Bejarano settles with partner in his security firm

2011-02-24T11:34:00.000-08:00

See all David Bejarano posts.

Chief, ex-partner settle differences
Allison K. Sampite
Oct 07 2010

Chula Vista Police Chief David Bejarano and former business partner Art Moreno reached a settlement agreement in their dispute over the operation of a security firm.

"He (Art) bought out my share of the business the first week of August," Bejarano said.

The two were co-owners of Presidential Security Services Inc., located in Chula Vista.

Earlier this year Moreno accused Bejarano of writing fraudulent checks on the company's account.

Bejarano countered by threatening to pursue a defamation lawsuit against Moreno.

In 2008, Bejarano was appointed president of PSSI through a shareholder's agreement and was issued 49 percent of stock shares in the corporation.

He resigned after being sworn in as Chula Vista's police chief in August 2009.

City policy prohibits officers from working for or owning a private security firm in Chula Vista.

When Moreno became president of the company after Bejarano resigned, he took steps to deny Bejarano access to corporate bank accounts. According to a complaint he filed with the city, Moreno said Bejarano continued to write checks from the company's account.

"This is simply a civil suit between two business partners, for whatever reason he's bitter and disgruntled," Bejarano said at the time...

Sweetwater UHSD has given almost $2 million to lawyers to fight athletic fields for girls

2011-02-23T14:56:00.000-08:00

See more articles about this case and the lawyers involved.

No wonder teachers are getting pink slips. The tax dollars are going to lawyers instead of teachers.

Gender-equality lawsuit costly for Sweetwater
By Ashly McGlone
February 23, 2011

Sweetwater Union High School District has boosted its legal services budget by $800,000.

Superintendent Jesus Gandara asked trustees last week to approve an $800,000 increase to the legal services budget from the district’s reserve as the South County school system is looking to close a $24 million shortfall in next year’s budget.

The rationale for the increase was tied to gender-equality litigation the district is working to resolve.

The district’s insurance policy on the case covered up to $850,000 in attorneys fees, a limit which already has been exceeded by $300,000. A measure asking for the increase stated the money would have gone into the legal services fund to “replenish the legal services account and accommodate future invoices.”

That wasn’t specific enough for trustees, who called for an amendment to the item specifying that the money be expended solely on the Title IX case. No part of the money may be used toward other legal fees or firms.

There are occasions when people ought to be fired

2011-02-09T18:03:00.000-08:00

To me, this sounds typical of just about any human enterprise, and precisely reminiscent of CVESD actions. Who's in charge at CVESD, at the CIA and elsewhere? Very likely NOT the best person for the job.

CIA Officers Made Grave Mistakes, Then Got Promoted
Feb 9, 2011
Adam Goldman and Matt Apuzzo
AP

In December 2003, security forces boarded a bus in Macedonia and snatched a German citizen named Khaled el-Masri. For the next five months, el-Masri was a ghost. Only a select group of CIA officers knew he had been whisked to a secret prison for interrogation in Afghanistan.

But he was the wrong guy.

A hard-charging CIA analyst had pushed the agency into one of the biggest diplomatic embarrassments of the U.S. war on terrorism. Yet despite recommendations by an internal review, the analyst was never punished. In fact, she has risen to one of the premier jobs in the CIA's Counterterrorism Center, helping lead President Barack Obama's efforts to disrupt al-Qaida.

In the years since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, officers who committed serious mistakes that left people wrongly imprisoned or even dead have received only minor admonishments or no punishment at all, an Associated Press investigation has revealed. The botched el-Masri case is but one example of a CIA accountability process that even some within the agency say is unpredictable and inconsistent.

Though Obama has sought to put the CIA's interrogation program behind him, the result of a decade of haphazard accountability is that many officers who made significant missteps are now the senior managers fighting the president's spy wars.

The AP investigation of the CIA's actions revealed a disciplinary system that takes years to make decisions, hands down reprimands inconsistently and is viewed inside the agency as prone to favoritism and manipulation. When people are disciplined, the punishment seems to roll downhill, sparing senior managers even when they were directly involved in operations that go awry.

Two officers involved in the death of a prisoner in Afghanistan, for instance, received no discipline and have advanced into Middle East leadership positions. Other officers were punished after participating in a mock execution in Poland and playing a role in the death of a prisoner in Iraq. Those officers retired, then rejoined the intelligence community as contractors.

Some lawmakers were so concerned about the lack of accountability that last year they created a new inspector general position with broad authority to investigate missteps in the CIA or anywhere else in the intelligence community.

"There are occasions when people ought to be fired," former Sen. Kit Bond said in November as he completed his tenure as the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee. "Someone who made a huge error ought not to be working at the agency. We've seen instance after instance where there hasn't been accountability."...

Instead of reappointing Padilla, the City Council appointed Ann Moore without following the same public process

2011-01-22T12:48:00.000-08:00

Chula Vista Port moves at odds with past process
By Tanya Sierra
SDUT
January 18, 2011

The last time Chula Vista appointed someone to the port commission it accepted applications for a month, narrowed the field to three finalists and conducted public interviews.

Last week it allowed its commissioner to be sworn-in as vice chairman in front of key political players across the county at the annual Port luncheon and then hours later voted him off the commission without so much as a word of warning.

Although no city policy was violated, questions about open government have been raised.

Steve Padilla, who had been filling a vacancy for just over a year on the Port District’s board of directors, was expecting to be reappointed to a four-year term as were his Port colleagues. He said he had no indication from any members on the Chula Vista City Council, that he did not have support to continue representing the South Bay city.

Instead of reappointing Padilla, the City Council appointed Ann Moore without following the same public process they went through the year before when selecting Padilla...

Comparing the Port Commissioners

Steve Padilla

•Mayor of Chula Vista from 2002 to 2006
•Chula Vista City Councilman from 1994 to 2002
•California Coastal Commissioner from from 2005 to 2007

Ann Moore

•Chula Vista City Attorney from 1995 to 2008
•Experience in land-use, redevelopment and environmental law
•Senior partner in the law firm Norton Moore and Adams

National City Elementary Teachers Cautiously Optimistic About Jan. 25 Return to Bargaining Table

2011-01-22T10:01:00.000-08:00

National City Elementary Teachers Cautiously Optimistic About Jan. 25 Return to Bargaining Table
Jan 21, 2011
Strike Plans Proceed Until Fair Contract Achieved

“National City’s teachers welcome the opportunity to return to the bargaining table with the district on Tuesday, Jan. 25” said National City Elementary Teachers Association (NCETA) President Linda Cartwright. “We’re hopeful that the school board is willing to bargain a fair contract now, which will include restoration of the five student instruction days so important to our students’ learning. But NCETA’s strike plans proceed, pending the achievement of a fair contract.”

NCETA members will picket in support of a fair contract at their individual school sites Tuesday morning from 7:30 to 8:00 a.m., with California Teachers Association President David A. Sanchez and CTA Board of Directors member Jim Groth joining the teachers at two nearby schools, Rancho de la Nación, 1830 E. Division Street and El Toyon, 2000 E. Division Street in National City.

Contract talks that began in National City last February broke down in July after the district refused to follow suit with the teachers in accepting a neutral fact finder’s settlement recommendations. The school board then cut five student instruction days and enacted an additional six days of pay cuts for teachers pleading fiscal necessity as justification.

Googins, Faigin battle for first city attorney in Chula Vista

2011-01-21T09:40:00.000-08:00

Googins, Faigin face tough battle for first city attorney
By Khari Johnson, SDNN
June 8, 2010
SDNN

Up to now, the city attorney in Chula Vista was appointed by the city council but Proposition Q — a 2008 ballot measure — changed city charter to make it an elected position and Chula Vistans will go to the polls Tuesday to choose between Glen Googins and Robert Faigin as their first elected city attorney.

With a salary of more than $200,000, the city attorney will be the highest paid position in Chula Vista city government.

Both Googins and Faigin promise to follow the rule of law, claim to be independent and accuse his opponent of being beholden to special interests trying to influence City Hall.

They see the position as an advisor, not policy maker, and share concerns expressed by members of the City Council and Proposition Q opponents that the office has the potential to become politicized and impact legal advice offered to the council and city departments.

But that’s also why both claim he should be elected, not his opponent.

“Obviously, now theoretically they’re more responsible to the people than the city council members,” said current City Attorney Bart Miesfeld, “but day to day responsibilities won’t change,” said

Faigin, a resident of Lakeside, has been the county sheriff’s chief counsel since 2002 and decided to run after members of the South County sheriff’s office told him no qualified candidates sought the position.

Googins opened his private practice handling real estate and development issues in 2004 after 11 years of similar work in the city attorney’s office. Disagreements with then City Attorney Ann Moore led Googins to resign, in the process receiving a $175,000 severance package.

Joseph Casas, the candidate endorsed by the San Diego County Democratic Party, dropped out of the race in March and is currently representing Police Chief David Bejarano against accusations of fraud by a former business partner.

“The downside to turning it into an elected position is that instantly the developers, Corky McMillan, all of those people start pumping money into campaigns because they want to influence city politics,” Faigin said.

By the May 27 financial filing deadline, Googins had raised $33,000 from 100 donors, including teachers, border patrol agents and city residents, but also several lawyers, real estate developers. In addition he raised nearly $1,000 from executives from The Corky McMillin Companies, including company president and CEO Mark McMillin.

Googins endorsers include the Chula Vista Police Officer and Firefighter Associations, former City Attorney John Kaheny, state assemblymember Mary Salas, County Supervisor Greg Cox and The Republican Party of San Diego County, though it is a non-partisan race.

About one-third of donors to Googin’s campaign are Chula Vista residents.

“I’m not promising anyone anything,” Googins said. “Just because I’ve represented developers doesn’t mean I’m going to favor any developers. When I’m with the city, the city’s my client.”...

Tentative Agreement Could Avert Chula Vista Police Cuts

2011-01-15T10:14:00.000-08:00

Obstacles to negotiations over the last four months were reported to include officers’ fears of having cuts forced on them if they agreed to open their contract with the city, and concerns about the attorney negotiating for Chula Vista

Tentative Agreement Could Avert Chula Vista Police Cuts
By Kyla Calvert
KPBS
January 14, 2011

Chula Vista leaders and representatives of the city’s Police Officers’ Association have reached a tentative agreement that could avert pending officer layoffs, according to an officers’ association announcement.

Members of the officers’ association are expected to vote on the agreement Jan. 20. If a majority of the officers support it, the agreement would then need city council approval.

“The Chula Vista Police Officers’ Association and the City of Chula Vista have really found some common ground here,” said Lt. Phil Collum, director of communications for the officers’ association. “This isn’t a win for anybody, except – hopefully – the community of Chula Vista.”

Not all specifics of the agreement have been made public. One term of the agreement, however, is that officers will join the rest of the city's employees in paying their full pension contributions.

"Within six months, all of our employees and (elected officials) are going to pay their pension investments, and not have the taxpayers pay them," said Mayor Cheryl Cox. Chula Vista will be among the first cities in California to adopt this pension policy, she added.

In December a study funded by the officers’ association suggested Chula Vista officials dip into reserves to avoid the cuts, while the city has suggested the police contribute 9 percent toward their pension plans and agree to pay freezes.

About 20 positions are on the line. Those layoffs were originally scheduled to take place Jan. 7. They were first postponed this week and are now on hold until Jan. 24.

Thirty-two officers received layoff notices in October when the city officials first announced plans to plug a $18.5 million hole in the city budget. Since then the police department has made arrangements with the Chula Vista Elementary School District, the Sweetwater Union High School District and grantmakers to preserve about 10 positions on it’s its own, Collum said.

Obstacles to negotiations over the last four months were reported to include officers’ fears of having cuts forced on them if they agreed to open their contract with the city, and concerns about the attorney negotiating for Chula Vista...

Castle Park teachers felt that those on the other side of a debate must be removed from that debate by whatever means necessary.

2011-01-10T19:43:00.000-08:00

Peg Myers has a hard time grasping the idea that someone can have a different opinion from her without being crazy.

A challenge to Chula Vista Educators president Peg Myers: let's have a public debate

2011-01-10T09:56:00.000-08:00

Dear Ms. Myers:
I am writing to challenge you to a public debate about what happened at Castle Park Elementary and how you used the destruction of the school as a springboard to power in CTA/NEA. For ten years, you've been making statements about me that you refused to make under oath. How about you make your allegations in public?
Maura Larkins

Feb. 15, 2011 board meeting will mark 10 years since Chula Vista teacher was removed on suspicion she would "come to school and shoot everybody"

2011-01-09T08:37:00.000-08:00

Photo: Clowns came to Castle Park Elementary to protest bizarre events at the school

Feb. 15, 2011 board meeting will mark 10 years since Chula Vista teacher was removed on suspicion she would "come to school and shoot everybody." The district asked the teacher to return without doing any investigation. Then the whole scenario repeated itself. The second time the teacher refused to return without an investigation.

Any day now the board should begin its investigation into Castle Park Elementary teachers and their remarkable claims. Two current board members, Pamela Smith and Larry Cunningham, have presided over the bizarre sequence of events that has brought Castle Park Elementary to near ruin over the past ten years.

The accusers, several of whom became widely known in the media as members or supporters of "The Castle Park Five," refused to answer questions at their depositions in the lawsuit of the teacher who was removed. (The teacher who was removed is the author of this blog.)

See Peg Myers deposition.
See Gina Boyd depostion.

But the district itself has never done an investigation to find out the truth. It has instead spent $100,000s of tax dollars covering up the facts. Bate-stamped documents are still missing, even though a related case is now in the California Court of Appeal.

Chula Vista charter school getting high marks for efforts

2010-12-30T18:45:00.000-08:00

Chula Vista charter school getting high marks for efforts
By Ashly McGlone
SDUT
December 30, 2010

The Chula Vista Learning Community Charter School, where students sporting uniforms learn about English diphthongs and the nuances of Spanish, could be easily mistaken for a pricey private campus.

The 12-year-old school has risen from the black sheep of the Chula Vista Elementary School District to a model education system and is ranked among the district’s top 10 in student achievement, according to Principal Jorge Ramirez.

The school has raised its Academic Performance Index nearly 200 points from 680 in 2005 to 878 in 2010, exiting the federally sanctioned Program Improvement status in 2008 and evading the revocation of its charter.

“We were working hard, but we weren’t working smart. Now I can say we are working smart and hard,” Ramirez said.

The 800-student campus is the only school in the Chula Vista Elementary School District that offers a dual-language immersion program where preschoolers through eighth-graders spend half of their day in English-only courses and the other half in Spanish-only courses...

Chula Vista elementary district plans for $6 million deficit

2010-12-29T12:18:00.000-08:00

School deal with police questioned
Community letters: on school funding, library hours and more
The San Diego Union-Tribune
January 6, 2011

...In response to “Funding deal reached for police at schools” and “Elementary district plans for $6 million hole” (Local, Dec. 29): One article states that the Chula Vista Elementary School District is projecting a $5.9 million deficit in next year’s budget. Right above it is an article stating that the Sweetwater and Chula Vista Elementary school boards are choosing to pay $915,000 to supplement the School Resource Officer program.

My question is where is Chula Vista Police Chief David Bejarano’s allegiance in all of this, since he also serves on the Chula Vista Elementary school board? Does he care more about saving his School Resource Officer program or about serving the needs of Chula Vista elementary school students?

The city is facing a deficit and so is its elementary school district. One of Bejarano’s jobs on the school board is to oversee teachers, who contribute 8 percent of their salary toward retirement. However, his police officers pay absolutely nothing toward their retirement.

Bejarano should convince his police officers to pay their fair share toward their retirement to help reduce the city’s deficit instead of using money from the school district to supplement a police program.

Harvey Petty
Chula Vista

Chula Vista elementary district plans for $6 million deficit
By Ashly McGlone
SDUT
December 28, 2010

The state’s largest elementary school district is looking at a $5.9 million deficit in next year’s nearly $193 million budget, according to preliminary estimates.

Chula Vista Elementary School District officials said the deficit could rise if the state makes additional midyear cuts.

No cuts, however, are proposed to next year’s budget, according to assistant superintendent of business services Oscar Esquivel. He said the district’s reserve — currently at $31 million — will help cover the shortfall.

State law requires the district to set aside an amount equaling 3 percent of its general fund — about $5.7 million — in reserve.

Some $1.1 million of the district’s reserve was used to satisfy the deficit in this year’s $192 million budget.

Managers are taking seven furlough days this academic year and next, classified staff are taking two to six furlough days and teachers are taking 5.5 furlough days.

Also, this year is the first year the district’s cap of 20 students per class has been removed. Average class sizes this year are 19.9 children for kindergarten through third grade, up from 18 students last year, and 28.9 children for fourth through sixth grade.

Study claims big Chula Vista reserves

2010-12-27T11:03:00.000-08:00

Study claims big Chula Vista reserves
The city says the funds are restricted, can’t be used to avoid cuts in servces
By Wendy Fry
December 26, 2010

Calling plans to slash public services disgraceful, an economist hired by Chula Vista’s police union performed a study of the city’s financial condition and reported Chula Vista has an “exceptionally high” reserve ratio and hidden financial resources.

At a public forum last week, budget analyst Peter Donohue said the city began the 2009 fiscal year with more than $33 million in general fund reserves — about 23 percent of that year’s operating budget. The study claims the city had $154 million in unrestricted net assets at that time.

His report, which also examined the city’s bond rating and internal cost-allocation plan, concluded that Chula Vista has the financial resources to mend its $18.5 million budget hole without cutting public services.

“I wish it were true, but it isn’t,” City Manager Jim Sandoval responded. He said the city’s available reserves are currently at 7.2 percent of this year’s $133 million general fund. Municipalities typically set aside 7 percent to 15 percent of their budgets for unanticipated expenditures and economic downturns.

In June 2009, the redevelopment agency owed the city about $23 million. That outstanding loan amount was included in the General Fund reserves, but it was not available for spending.

“(Donohue) is insinuating those are spendable resources and they’re not,” said city finance director Maria Kachadoorian.

She said the redevelopment agency’s outstanding loan accounts for the difference between city’s calculation of its reserves and Donohue’s estimate. A $10 million repayment from the redevelopment agency was recently used as a one-time source of income to balance Chula Vista’s current budget.

The Chula Vista Police Officers Association paid about $20,000 for the Donohue analysis. Donohue, who has a doctorate in economics from the University of Texas, began examining the city’s finances in November. He said his study does not reflect the most current fiscal reports because those haven’t been released.

“City officials’ refusal to maintain police protection is hard to understand,” his study said. “Chula Vista residents and businesses should question reduced spending on services, including critical public-safety services.”

Donohue said the city has about 150 funds with a total of $154 million in assets, but Kachadoorian said all revenues can’t be lumped into operating costs. The excluded ones include sewer revenues and money from bonds issued for redevelopment.

About 32 police officers received layoff notices in October. A recent agreement between two South County school boards and the Police Department allowed that number to drop to 23 targeted layoffs, about 15 percent of the police force.

Sandoval, the city manager, said that altogether, 101 positions must be eliminated citywide by Jan. 7. “We’ve been through four years of cuts with no impact on public safety,” he said.

Donohue contends that city administrators are overstating the city’s financial difficulties.

“Sometimes jurisdictions have a particular political agenda and the actual numbers don’t support the agenda,” Donohue said. “The sky was about to fall on you guys for a number of years now. It hasn’t yet.”

While ongoing labor negotiations between the city’s two public-safety unions haven’t been successful, the three other employee unions in Chula Vista have agreed to wage concessions. Their pacts include contributing the 8 percent employee share of their pensions, forgoing contractual raises and accepting a less-generous benefits plan for new hires.

Planned service reductions

•Libraries:

Civic Center branch to be closed Sundays and Mondays.

South branch to be closed on weekends.

Eastlake branch to be open only from 5 to 8 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays.

•Recreation centers:

All the centers to be open only two days a week. Hours will vary.

Loma Verde center to be open Mondays and Wednesdays.

Otay center to be open Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Veterans center to be open Fridays and Saturdays.

Montevalle center to be open Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Other centers’ hours will be available on their websites.

•Parks:

Park-ranger program to be eliminated.

Graffiti-abatement team for private property to be eliminated.

Tree-trimming services provided on emergency basis only.

Custodial services at Rohr Manor and Ranger Station to be eliminated.

Holiday lighting for Starlight Parade and downtown Third Avenue to be cut.

Democracy, anyone? Popaditch supporters tread on Bob Filner

2010-12-26T09:25:00.001-08:00

Some people in Chula Vista are sore losers.
Video from Chula Vista Star-News

2010 Election Wrap Up
posted by: Carlos Davalos
Grannies for Gunny Pop.

Go ahead and to take her sign from her. She dares you.

The loudest and most boisterous supporters of the night were, by far, the men and women who wanted to see Republican Nick Popaditch unseat Rep. Bob Filner in their battle for the 51st Congressional District seat.

Chanting “Pop-a ditch! Pop-a-ditch!” throughout most of the evening, the Marine gunnery sergeant’s followers relentlessly waved their campaign signs and shouted Popaditch’s name any time a Filner supporter crossed their path.

But the usual civil political rivalry that’s found at Election Central turned tense quickly as Popaditch supporters chased down the Congressman and surrounded him in the Golden Hall lobby. At one point Popaditch squared off with Filner and called him a “Damn liar.”

In the 60s Filner marched during the Civil Rights movement. He spent time in jail for his role in the Freedom Rides. Undoubtedly the New York native has been shouted at and down by people with different perspectives.

But that was more than 40 years ago. Since then it’s hard to guess when the last time it was that Filner was chased down by a mob and the candidate they were supporting. It was a surreal moment.

One observer said Popaditch had dead eyes. In reviewing the video, Gunnery Sgt. Popaditch reminded me of a great white shark. His is a massive presence. But with all that said it was the crowd that was predatory.

Chula Vista has millions at its disposal

2010-12-26T09:15:00.000-08:00

"...In related news, Chula Vista Police Chief David Bejarano announced Wednesday that the Chula Vista Elementary School District and the Sweetwater Union High School District have agreed to pay $915,000 toward the School Resource Officer's $1.9 million program through the 2011-2012 fiscal year. The funding will save eight positions."

Chula Vista has millions at its disposal
Allison K. Sampite
Dec 25 2010

During a press conference Wednesday, an independent financial analyst revealed that the city of Chula Vista has tens of millions of dollars available for any legal use they choose, including saving police officer positions.

...In related news, Chula Vista Police Chief David Bejarano announced Wednesday that the Chula Vista Elementary School District and the Sweetwater Union High School District have agreed to pay $915,000 toward the School Resource Officer's $1.9 million program through the 2011-2012 fiscal year. The funding will save eight positions.

Castle Park and Juarez-Lincoln schools are moving to Year 2 of Program Improvement

2010-12-21T14:33:00.000-08:00

The API scores don't tell us if individual children are making progress. Sometimes the scores are simply a result of the brightest kids moving out of one school and into another. Castle Park Elementary and other schools suffer from "brain drain" as a result of staff problems. The parents of the brightest kids are often the first to get their children out of a troubled school. After they were transferred out of the school, teachers like Peg Myers (currently president of Chula Vista Educators teachers union) and Robin Donlan worked hard to spread the impression that there was something wrong with the school. The problem was Peg and Robin and their power-hungry associates, and the school is still suffering from their power grab.

"...Castle Park and Juarez-Lincoln schools are moving to Year 2 of Program Improvement..."

Schools Achieve Historic Firsts: A record number of schools top the 800 benchmark on the state’s Academic Performance
By: Chula Vista Elementary School District
Nixle
September 13th, 2010

...Heritage Elementary posted the highest API score in the District at 916, followed by Olympic View at 914, Arroyo Vista Charter at 902, Thurgood Marshall at 901, and Salt Creek at 900. Closely on their heels was Veterans Elementary at 897. Leonardo da Vinci Health Sciences Charter School, the newest charter in the District, was the lowest performing out of 45 schools. Da Vinci recorded an API of 742. Clear View Elementary, formerly a charter, grew by 29 points as a noncharter, posting an API of 854. The federal government identifies Title 1 schools for Program Improvement status if they have not met “adequate yearly progress” goals schoolwide or for target populations for two consecutive years. Greg Rogers and Fred H. Rohr elementary schools are entering Year 1 of Program Improvement; Castle Park and Juarez-Lincoln schools are moving to Year 2 of Program Improvement. Mae L. Feaster and Karl H. Kellogg schools made “safe harbor,” meaning they remain in Year 1 of Program Improvement.

Of special note was Parkview school’s exit from Program Improvement. Parkview Principal Bonnie Nelson earned high praise as among the select few principals in the state to have moved two schools out of Program Improvement during their education careers. Nelson had previously led Palomar Elementary out of Program Improvement.

Sweetwater moves toward stricter grad requirements

2010-12-17T20:10:00.001-08:00

Plenty of the teachers didn't meet these requirements when they were in high school. If the teachers were capable of bringing the kids up to this level, it would be a different matter, but instituting these requirements in the present situation just means more kids are going to fail. Why is the ACLU getting involved in this? I ask this as a card-carrying liberal. Sadly, I believe the answer is that the ACLU is trying to get publicity and drum up support. I am familiar with several of the leaders of the San Diego ACLU (including Kevin Keenan and David Blair-Loy), and my experience is that these individuals are not so much interested in the success of students or in holding schools accountable for following the law, but rather in advancing their own careers.

Sweetwater moves toward stricter grad requirements
San Diego Union-Tribune
By Ashly McGlone
December 17, 2010

It may get harder to graduate from the Sweetwater Union High School District.

The Board of Education this week voted to require that students meet University of California and California State University admission requirements before they can earn their high school diploma.

No timeline has been set. The requirements include 15 college-prepatory classes in seven academic areas.

Waivers will be available for special needs students and those not fluent in English who enter high school during their junior and senior year.

Trustees opted against a timeline that would have required the courses beginning with the freshman class of 2012.

The resolution passed in a 4-1 vote. Trustee Pearl Quinones, citing her 20 years as a dropout prevention counselor, voted against it.

“Not one size fits all ... What about the ones that don’t want to go to college? All they want to do is graduate.”

According to a presentation by Maria Castilleja, executive director of curriculum and instruction, one-third of last year’s graduates completed the so-called A-G courses.

Nearly 22 percent of seniors currently taking A-G courses are passing with the B average or better, the standard required for university admission.

Students must achieve a C or better in an A-G course in order to receive credit for graduation.

Unknown is how much the transition will cost the district in new textbooks, teacher reassignments and training. The district is looking to cut $23 million from next year’s $320 million budget.

Castilleja said that the board’s move underscores the district’s commitment to college readiness.

In June 2009, San Diego Unified School District became the first district in the county to require A-G standards for graduation, beginning with the 2010 freshman class, but an external audit in September revealed that some 34 percent of students still don’t have access to the courses they need to meet those requirements. Grossmont Union High School District offers A-G courses but does not require them to graduate. Some 37 percent of Grossmont’s 2010 graduates completed the A-G course sequence.

The ACLU has been pushing for districts in California to adopt UC standards. Districts in Los Angeles and San Jose, among others, have made the switch.

Teacher’s union president Alex Anguiano spoke in favor of a gradual transition, suggesting the district begin by ensuring foreign language and art classes are offered at the middle schools.

Residents Karen Janney and Stewart Payne urged caution, saying the district needed to look at data and seek input...

Compton parents pull parent trigger

2010-12-14T16:16:00.000-08:00

Chula Vista has something in common with Compton--Richard Werlin, the administrator who made a mess out of Castle Park Elementary School.

Compton parents pull parent trigger
Parents demand to bring in charter operator
12/07/10
By John Fensterwald - Educated Guess

Today, parents at a Compton Unified elementary school will become the first in the state to use a new “parent trigger” law. They will demand that an outside charter school operator be brought in to take over their low-performing school. Organizers predict that parent groups in other districts, fed up with poor achievement and unsuccessful district reforms, will follow the lead of McKinley Elementary parents.

Confident that they have more than the majority of families’ signatures needed to exercise their right, the parents plan to drop off their petitions at the Compton Unified’s central office. The petition asks the board specifically to bring in Celerity Educational Group, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit that runs four charter schools, starting next fall.

The Legislature passed the “parent trigger” law in January as part of legislation to strengthen the state’s unsuccessful Race to the Top application. The provision was pushed by Los Angeles Sen. Gloria Romero and opposed strongly by the California Teachers Assn. A half-dozen other states are considering adopting California’s law.

Under parent trigger, a majority of parents within a school can request one of four reform options similar to models that the Obama administration is requiring for failing schools: closing it down, transforming it through a longer day and other changes, restarting it with mostly new teachers and a new principal, and converting to a charter school. Most parents are expected to pursue the latter option, and the burden will be on district trustees to justify why they shouldn’t agree to that choice.

Schools that have failed to make targets under the federal No Child Left Behind law four consecutive years qualify for the parent trigger – about 1,300 of the state’s 10,000 schools. The law capped the number of parent trigger schools at 75. Getting enough signatures, amid expected opposition of teachers and districts, could prove daunting in many cases.

Last month, the Little Hoover Commission endorsed the parent trigger in a report on charter schools, saying: “This latest development expanding opportunities for parents to petition to convert existing schools into charter schools is another step in the right direction, … The Commission believes that parents should have the opportunity to petition to convert poor-performing schools into charter schools.”

Parents at the 500-student McKinley Elementary have been organizing since the summer, according to Ben Austin, a member of the State Board of Education and a leader of Parent Revolution, a non-profit organization that that lobbied for the law and has sought out parents to take advantage of it. Austin said he’s confident McKinley leaders have gathered signatures of 62 percent of parents. Under temporary regulations adopted by the State Board of Education, parents are entitled to one signature per student.

“It’s been an uphill fight,” Austin said. “The district holds all the cards. Only it knows the enrollment numbers and controls contact information for parents.” Organizers had to counter lies by opponents, Austin said, that a charter school would charge tuition and exclude special education students.

McKinley Elementary, with low-income minority children, scored in the bottom 10 percent of schools statewide, with an API score of 684, an increase of 26 points from 2009. African-American children’s scores dropped seven points to 635.

The district itself has struggled for years. Only 47 percent of students graduate, and only 3 percent of seniors – one tenth of the statewide average – have passed enough courses with high enough grades to qualify for a four-year public university.

In a scathing evaluation of the district this fall, a state District Assistance and Intervention Team concluded, “We remain deeply concerned about the commitment to student achievement across the district, and have grave reservations at this time, about the capacity of the District to make significant gains for students.” The report cited a focus on “adult issues as a priority before student needs;” a lack of civility and respect for people in meetings and during school visits; and a failure to hold adults accountable for their work and for unethical behavior.

Controversial Southwestern College Prez Raj Chopra Resigns

2010-12-01T12:19:00.000-08:00

Controversial Southwestern College Prez Resigns
November 30, 2010
Voice of San Diego
by Emily Alpert

The controversial president of Southwestern College announced his resignation today, leaving roughly a year and a half before his contract was set to expire. Raj Chopra, whose resignation is effective today, will get the equivalent of six months' salary, according to a press release issued by the college.

From the release:

"I believe some important objectives have been achieved," Chopra said. "The College, in spite of unprecedented financial problems at the state level, remains in good financial standing."

To understand what Chopra meant to the school, read this terrific piece written by Southwestern College students and voiceofsandiego.org contributors Sean Campbell and Lyndsay Winkley earlier this year. It explains why Chopra was so controversial, calling it "an almost constant battle since Chopra was hired in August 2007."

The president has acted unilaterally to enact massive budget cuts in the face of deep financial troubles, breaking course with previous administrations who involved faculty in decision-making. Now, three pro-Chopra board members are facing a recall, faculty is complaining of a culture of fear and California's college accreditation commission is threatening to shut the whole place down if the campus environment does not change.

The blunt and confrontational Chopra has a long history of turning around troubled districts and educational systems — and of igniting brutal labor clashes. And he's drawn more scrutiny here for accepting a pay increase while laying off long-time employees, cutting classes and for apparently boosting a paragraph from Southwest Airlines' CEO in his Thanksgiving letter to employees.

Hundreds of college employees have united against Chopra and are taking out their frustrations on three members of the Southwestern board. In the crosshairs are trustees Jean Roesch, Terry Valladolid and Yolanda Salcido.

Salcido lost her spot on the board in the November elections; Valladolid kept hers and a third trustee, Jorge Dominguez, lost his spot as well. The press release from Southwestern College said that Chopra stepping down would allow the new board, which comes in next month, to choose a new leader.

The Problem? English. Could the Cure Be Spanish?

2010-11-18T16:15:00.001-08:00

Actually, native English speakers are sometimes in the same boat as these English learners. They have simply not been exposed to a broad range of words and ideas in oral discussions, and they hit a wall when they are suddenly expected, at about fourth grade, to be able to decode words and understand concepts that they have never seen in print before.

Middle class kids usually have no trouble making this leap because their parents have enriched them with daily discussions and a broad range of experiences. But intellectual discussions between parents and kids is not part of the culture of many working class families, and sometimes parents are working too many hours to have time to talk to kids. Schools have to fill in the deficit before kids can progress.

It's silly to be pushing kindergarteners to start reading when what they really need is to think and understand and speak. For many kids, mastery of written English would happen sooner if it were started later. The kids discussed in the article below would have been better off if they'd received instruction in critical thinking skills in a language they understood when they were in the early years of school. The problem isn't just vocabulary and grammar, it's grasping the world of ideas.

In Castle Park Elementary School, a kindergarten teacher lost her job because her class of English learners needed instruction in basic concepts, and she gave it to them. The other two kindergarten teachers demanded that the principal get rid of her because she wasn't teaching beginning reading skills.

The Problem? English. Could the Cure Be Spanish?
November 18, 2010
by Emily Alpert

Alexis Rodriguez has gone to California schools since kindergarten. The 13-year-old jokes with other kids in English between lessons. Some of his classmates groan when asked to write in Spanish.

They don't look like the English learners you might imagine when the phrase pops up, the kids new to the country and struggling to speak English at all. Most of them have spent at least five years in the United States. And yet Rodriguez and his classmates are still grappling with English fluency.

Nearly 40 percent of English learners in San Diego Unified fail to become fluent by the time they reach middle school. Now, schools are starting to eye them, zeroing in on what holds them back.

They're called "long-term English learners," students who still fall short of fluency after five or six years in U.S. schools. Like Rodriguez and his classmates, they can gab easily in English, but run into trouble with more sophisticated reading and writing in school. They make up almost 60 percent of English learners in California middle and high schools, one study found, belying the idea that newcomers are the big problem.

Pacific Beach Middle School is testing one way to tackle their needs, a way that might seem odd at first glance. To help seventh and eighth graders who still struggle with English, it is bulking up their skills in both Spanish and English. They take an extra class that teaches them Spanish vocabulary and grammar, then ties it back to what they're learning in English.

The idea is that once tweens better understand the grammar and structure behind Spanish, they can better translate that savvy to English. Principal Julie Martel and her teachers found that many of their students who were behind in English were also weak in Spanish, even though they speak it at home. Most had never been schooled in Spanish at all.

"They're illiterate in their native language," Martel said...

Traffic accidents costly for school district

2010-11-18T11:06:00.000-08:00

Traffic accidents costly for school district
San Diego Union-Tribune
By Ashly McGlone
November 18, 2010

The Chula Vista Elementary School District has paid nearly $27,000 to settle claims involving five traffic accidents over the past two years.

According to district documents, four vehicles were sideswiped and three were rear-ended. Most of the incidents happened on Hilltop Drive, where Hilltop Elementary, Hilltop Middle and Hilltop High schools are located within one mile of each other.

An average of $3,800 was paid per claim.

District spokesman Anthony Millican said the number of accidents is minimal given the more than 190 district vehicles in operation.

“We take safety very seriously,” Millican said. “If the driver is investigated by the CHP (as in the case of all school bus accidents), the driver is put on administrative leave until it is resolved.”

Some 109 school buses operate in the state’s largest elementary school district, which educates more than 27,000 students.

Not all accidents involved school buses, though.

Bus drivers in the district are paid between $16.46 and $20.89 per hour and are required to have a high school diploma or equivalent and must hold a valid commercial driver’s license and a California School Bus Driver Certificate. They also must maintain a good driving record, among other qualifications.

Luci Fowers, 2007 CA Charter School Principal of the Year

2010-11-18T08:21:00.001-08:00

Luci Fowers taught at Castle Park Elementary and Sunnyside in Chula Vista Elementary School District.

Luci Fowers, 2007 CA Charter School Principal of the Year
See video

Luci is now at Goethe International Charter School in Los Angeles.

Ms. Fowers is currently the Chief Education Officer and has previously served as the Principal of Albert Einstein Academies. In 2007 she was elected as the Charter Principal of the year by the CCSA. Ms. Fowers has also worked as an elementary school teacher for 9 years. She earned a Masters of Arts with a Focus on: Curriculum and Instruction Development from the San Diego State University in 2000.

Who cares about kids at CVESD?

2010-11-14T11:50:00.000-08:00

Chula Vista Elementary School District cut the number of days that teachers were paid to prepare for the current school year. The union, Chula Vista Educators (part of CTA), told teachers not to do any preparation other than what they were paid for. Teachers who obeyed were stressed and disoriented for quite a while at the beginning of the year, and considerably less effective than they normally would have been. Some union leaders just don't use their heads, and neither do the teachers who follow like sheep. I think the union should have accepted that teachers would need to prepare on their own time, then, if it felt it had to take some action, it should have planned a sick-out later in the year. Instead, a great deal of harm was caused for no apparent gain. CVE proved that some teachers are willing to damage the education of children, and it also proved that the school board is willing to harm the education of children. I have long said that there are big problems in Chula Vista, but even I was disappointed at this turn of events.

Contractors donating big to incumbents at Southwestern College and Sweetwater High School District

2010-10-31T14:57:00.000-07:00

Bond Money Figures Big in South Bay Schools’ Elections
San Diego Reader
By Susan Luzzaro
Oct. 30, 2010

Southwestern College, the Sweetwater Union High School District, and the Chula Vista Elementary School District, all located in the South Bay, have several school-board seats up for grabs in a few days. The level of campaign contributions received by candidates at Southwestern and Sweetwater is considerably higher than the contributions in the elementary school district. Could it be because of bond money?

Southwestern College is currently spending $389 million of Proposition R funds approved in 2008 and $120 million that remains from Proposition AA, approved in 2006.

One of the most contested races in the Southwestern College district is between Yolanda Salcido, the president of the board, and Norma Hernandez, former president of the college. In Salcido’s most recent campaign-donation filing (covering the period of October 1–16), Seville Construction Services, the company managing Southwestern’s bond money, donated $7500. The majority of the $57,250 picked up in this period is from contractors or is contractor-related. Salcido has received a total of $102,598.

Salcido’s opponent, Hernandez, received no donations from contractors in the last filing period. Her two largest donors during the first half of October were Pacific Spanish Network, which gave $5000, and San Diego PAC, which gave $2000. She has received a total of $40,001.51.

Voters approved Proposition O in 2006, which gave Sweetwater Union High School District $644 million to use for construction and reconstruction. Incumbent Sweetwater boardmember Jim Cartmill and Karen Janney, a retired educator, are waging a fierce battle.

The Seville Group Inc., which is managing the Prop O construction, gave Cartmill $20,000 on October 2. Most of the $34,884 collected in this period came from contractors. Cartmill’s total to date is $85,970.

Cartmill’s opponent, Janney, has altogether $40,638. No contractor donations are listed in her latest filing. The majority of her donations were for $100. Her highest donation was $5,625.46, from the Sweetwater Education Association PAC...

Castle Park Elementary is second highest in district with 32 student suspensions per year

2010-10-23T12:48:00.001-07:00

The teachers at Castle Park Elementary who called themselves the "Castle Park Family" created an atmosphere of hostility toward students and other teachers. The school has been suffering ever since that group of teachers came to power in the 1990s, even though most of those teachers have left the school, because the community lost faith in the school. Only five members of the "Castle Park Family" are still on the staff, but the "Family" still has power since one of its foremost members, Peg Myers, is now president of Chula Vista Educators.

"Upon review of other Safe School Plans — including Castle Park Elementary with the second highest district suspensions at 32 — previous plans often gave little or no detail regarding school crime.

Castle Park’s solely stated 'The district office publishes regular reports on school crimes and safety data.'"

District revamps safe school plans
By Ashly McGlone
San Diego Union-Tribune
October 22, 2010

CHULA VISTA — The state’s largest elementary school district is revamping the way it compiles its Safe School Plans.

Staff at Chula Vista Elementary School District announced a “call to action” at Tuesday night’s board meeting, laying out new efforts to ensure plans are compiled at school sites properly.

The annual plans — outlined in the California Education Code — require assessments of school safety based on the review of crime data, something that was not happening at some campuses.

Kellogg Elementary school site council member William Perno raised concerns over the plans at the district’s September board meeting, prompting the district to look into the matter.

Among other concerns, Perno cited incongruity with the plan and district-reported data on the California Department of Education website.

For the last two years, the plans at his school included the following statement on crime: “Crime at Kellogg Elementary School is minor and infrequent. Police reports of assault vandalism, theft or other crimes are rare. Graffiti is a minor problem.”

On the state website, 16 suspensions are noted at Kellogg Elementary in the 2008-09 school year, 12 of which are violence and drug related.

Upon review of other Safe School Plans — including Castle Park Elementary with the second highest district suspensions at 32 — previous plans often gave little or no detail regarding school crime.

Castle Park’s solely stated “The district office publishes regular reports on school crimes and safety data.”

Still, board member and Chula Vista Police Chief David Bejarano said on Tuesday that the city, and in turn its schools, are among the safest in the county.

“The City of Chula Vista, and obviously that includes the 44 schools we have in the district, remains one of the safest cities in the county... There’s only two cities — the cities of Coronado and Carlsbad — that have lower violent crime rates than we do; keep in mind we are the second largest city. And then overall, again, we are one of the safest cities in the county.” Bejarano said. He also cited the district’s partnership with the police department providing school resource officers as a district asset, as did other board members.

Nancy Kerwin, executive director of student, family and community services, district Spokesman Anthony Millican and Sgt. Carlos Valdivia presented the report, in which Valdivia gave the district an “A” rating, but improvements were nonetheless identified.

“In reviewing our Safe School Plans, we identified a number of weaknesses,” Kerwin said, citing inconsistency among the school plans, minimal review of crime data and staff unfamiliarity with Education Code requirements.

“Hence, we contacted Stephanie Papas with the California Department of Education’s safe school office and frankly declared that we believe our past plans are insufficient to meet our extremely high standards as a system,” she said. District, state and police crime data will be now be provided to schools.

District Spokesman Anthony Millican said the district will be using a nearly $300,000 federal grant recently awarded to fund the creation of a standardized Safe School Plan template, as well as staff training...

Why do architects in Carlsbad give money to CVESD incumbents?

2010-10-19T10:29:00.000-07:00

My guess is that Carlsbad architects give money to CVESD incumbents either to reward them for giving work to the architects, or to encourage them to give work to the architects.

"The largest contribution to date — $1,500 to the incumbents — came from David Ruhnau of Carlsbad-based Ruhnau Ruhnau Clarke Architect. The firm was the lead architect on construction at Wolf Canyon Elementary, as well as other schools throughout the South County."

The money from local labor unions is different. Local workers have kids in local schools, and unions in general tend to support money for education, so the union local clearly has an understandable interest in supporting the best candidate for the school board. On the other hand, the unions obviously hope that their candidate will support hiring union workers for school jobs.

Money coming in for Chula Vista school board race
By Ashly McGlone
San Diego Union-Tribune
October 18, 2010

CHULA VISTA — Challenger Nick Segura, with nearly $5,000 in contributions, has raised more money than any single candidate seeking a seat on the Chula Vista school board, according to the latest financial disclosure forms.

Incumbents Larry Cunningham, Douglas Luffborough and Pamela Smith — who are running as a team — have collected a total of $7,000.

There are 11 candidates on the ballot.

Segura is the assistant business manager for the local division of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, and most of his contributions came from the electrical industry. His employer donated $900 and the San Diego Electrical Contractors Association donated $500.

The largest contribution to date — $1,500 to the incumbents — came from David Ruhnau of Carlsbad-based Ruhnau Ruhnau Clarke Architect. The firm was the lead architect on construction at Wolf Canyon Elementary, as well as other schools throughout the South County....

Retired educator Francisco Sevilla has raised more than $1,500, much of it from retired teachers...

How dumb are some employers? Really, really dumb.

2010-09-25T09:03:00.000-07:00

How dumb was the Silicon Valley hiring conspiracy? Let us count the ways
By Chris O'Brien
Mercury News
09/24/2010

When I think of Google, Apple, Intel, Intuit, Adobe and Pixar, the words that come to mind are usually innovative and progressive.

In the wake of their shocking settlement with the federal government Friday over charges they colluded to not hire each other's employees, another word comes to mind:

Dumb.

It's not just that their actions are shameful.

It's not just that these actions violate everything Silicon Valley represents.

These agreements reveal a profound insecurity about their ability to compete on free and fair terms with one another.

But more than that, these actions are unspeakably DUMB.

How dumb was this ill-conceived and poorly executed conspiracy? Let us count the ways.

1. There is no way that potential savings from these ridiculous schemes could have warranted the risks. Just how much money are we talking about saving by not losing a few important employees? Thousands? Chump change. Dumb.

2. Whatever the costs, we're talking about multinational corporations with billions of dollars in the bank. Really, they couldn't dip into those rainy day funds to counter a few offers? It's not just miserly. It's dumb.

3. We knew Apple was a bully. Turns out, it is an even bigger bully than we realized. According to the complaint: "Apple requested an agreement from Adobe to refrain from cold-calling each other's employees. Faced with the likelihood that refusing would result in retaliation
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and significant competition for its employees, Adobe agreed." Pissing off a key ally? Dumb.

4. Now, everyone working at one of these companies has got to be thinking the same thing: "Did I get screwed?" That's not exactly the kind of gung-ho, morale-building conversations you want going on. Dumb.

5. Those who do think they got the shaft may sue. And because this is an antitrust finding, the settlement will allow anyone who wins in federal court to "recover three times the damages the person has suffered." Say goodbye to whatever measly amounts the companies saved through these agreements. Dumb.

6. People maintained lists. They kept records. According to the complaint: "Pixar instructed human resources personnel to adhere to the agreement and maintain a paper trail in the event Apple accused Pixar of violating the agreement." Dumb.

7. Under this settlement, the Justice Department gets to check up on the companies just about whenever it pleases. Thought the federal government was interfering too much before? Well, congratulations. It will get worse. Dumb.

8. Did they really not think this would come to light? Dumb. Dumb. Dumb.

School board gathers before convening, then goes on to cast mostly-unanimous votes

2010-09-08T12:43:00.000-07:00

It's quite a surprise to learn that CVESD board members were chomping down on chicken and steak kabobs from Daphne's Greek Cafe at taxpayer expense at the same time that they were humiliating children in school cafeterias with the notorious "cheese sandwich, a modern day version of the scarlet letter (see Los Angeles Times story at bottom of this post).

It took a great deal of effort by parents and community members to end to the policy of humiliating children who didn't have lunch money by presenting them with the much-dreaded "cheese sandwich." (Cheese sandwiches are terrific, it's just that kids came to associate them with punishment.)

I think it's long past time for board members to bring their own lunch money.

Chula Vista sessions raise open-meetings issues
School board gathers before convening, then goes on to cast mostly-unanimous votes
San Diego Union-Tribune
September 2, 2010
By Ashly McGlone

Chula Vista Elementary school board members have been gathering in the superintendent’s office before their public meetings, asking questions about agenda items and eating restaurant take-out food paid for by taxpayers.

State law generally requires elected officials to post public notices so citizens can attend when public business is discussed with three or more board members. But district officials say the pre-meeting sessions are not subject to those requirements.

The practice raises the possibility that a consensus could be reached in private, depriving the public of the right to know what went into board decisions.

The Watchdog reviewed minutes of all board meetings from December 2008 to the present. Of 130 motions, 129 passed unanimously. The one split vote, in February, concerned the order of agenda items.

Records obtained by The Watchdog under the California Public Records Act reveal $2,035 in meals have been billed to the district’s general fund since December 2008.

According to board vice president Larry Cunningham, food is “always there. If we have a board meeting, it’s there.” He said the meals have been standard practice since he joined the school board more than 16 years ago and no one has ever raised a concern.

The informal gatherings give board members a chance to grab a bite to eat and get their questions answered by staff members, Cunningham said.

“If you have a question to ask staff, you have a chance to go ask staff about that. It is nothing. We don’t meet with closed doors. The doors are always open,” Cunningham said. “We find it is easier to do that than ask a lot of questions at board meetings. We feel the board meetings are there for input for the public.”

Max Batangan, assistant to the school board and the superintendent, distributes meeting agendas and notifies members of any changes, according to the superintendent and board members.

Superintendent Lowell Billings, who is set to retire in December after nine years as superintendent, said, “It is a staging for the main board meeting which is held in open session. Meaning, you gotta have a place to show up, and I hold it in my office, so I am the gatekeeper.”

Generally, board members said the meeting allows them to ask one-on-one questions of staff members for clarification.

“I read the packet myself. The protocol is to take any questions to the superintendent or other district staff for more verification or information,” board member Douglas Luffborough said.

The idea of one-on-one questions may be a key distinction, experts said, as any group discussion of issues in the pre-meeting would be forbidden under the state’s open-meetings law, known as the Ralph M. Brown Act.

Dan Hentschke, a former Oceanside, San Marcos and Solana Beach city attorney and current general counsel for the San Diego County Water Authority, conducts trainings for elected officials on open-meetings law. Briefings on changes to the night’s agenda could be an issue, he said.

“Updating collectively, that’s a problem,” Hentschke said. “If they are hearing collectively information, that should be held in an open meeting.”

“These kinds of meetings are ones that we use as an example of ones that can be very problematic,” Hentschke said. “The law is very clear that gatherings of a majority of a legislative body have to be open-noticed and public if there is any discussion among the board members of public business. Gatherings of this nature can be held in compliance, but it is very difficult because they cannot talk about matters of agency business.”

Attorney Michael Jenkins, chair of Brown Act Committee for the League of California Cities, also said that a notification of agenda changes would be considered school business.

“Under the Brown Act they are not allowed to hear, discuss or deliberate on any matter of district business. That’s a problem because that’s business that pertains to the school district. It’s just not a good idea to have them all together,” he said. “I can’t say if their particular practice is a violation. I will say it could be under certain circumstances that they need to avoid.”

Theresa Acerro, president of the Southwest Chula Vista Civic Association and a retired teacher, said, “I would be really concerned about that. I think those questions should be asked in a public meeting because it is likely that members of the public would have those same questions.”

Former district board member and retired economics professor Peter Watry, 79, also expressed concern over the board dinners. Watry — who said the meals were not present when he served on the board from 1976 to 1980 — currently serves as vice president and acting president of the nonprofit Crossroads II, aimed primarily at monitoring land use decisions by the Chula Vista City Council...

Cheese sandwich stigma is biting
Calif. district cracks down on lunch debts
June 23, 2007
By Richard Marosi
Chicago Tribune reprint of Los Angeles Times story

CHULA VISTA, Calif. — When too many parents fell behind on paying for school lunches, the Chula Vista Elementary School District decided to get tough -- on the children.

They told students with deadbeat parents that they had only one lunch choice: a cheese sandwich.

The sandwich, served on whole wheat bread, came with a clear message: Tell your parents to pay up, or no more pizza and burgers for you.

Cheese sandwiches and other "alternate meals" have been added to menus in school districts across the country as they try to deal with lunch debts.

The strategy worked in Chula Vista: Lunch debts in the district fell from about $300,000 in 2004 to $67,000 in 2006. Some angry parents say success came at too high a cost, however.

The cheese sandwich, parents say, has become a badge of shame for children, who get teased about it by their classmates. One student cried when her macaroni and cheese was replaced with a sandwich. A little girl hid in a restroom to avoid getting one. Many of the sandwiches end up untouched or tossed in the garbage.

"I think it's an infamous cheese sandwich," said Frank Luna, whose son, Christopher, just finished 6th grade.

A year ago, Luna said, a cafeteria worker took away Christopher's pizza and forced him in front of his friends to pick up a sandwich instead. A similar incident occurred when Christopher was in 3rd grade.

"The kid was humiliated," said his father, who added that he did not realize he owed less than $10.

In Chula Vista, the largest elementary school district in California, administrators said they had to control the ballooning debt before it forced them to make cuts in such areas as classroom equipment and books.

"When we did nothing, there was no incentive to pay," said Dennis Doyle, assistant superintendent of the district, which serves about 18,000 meals daily, including about 400 alternate meals...

Francisco “Pancho” Sevilla running for school board

2010-09-04T10:17:00.000-07:00

Meet Francisco “Pancho” Sevilla who is running for school board

Candidate for:

Chula Vista Elementary School District

Governing Board Seat # 3

Campaign KICK-OFF!

Sunday, September 5th, 2010

Time: 1 p.m. - 3 p.m.

Ousted worker Sherrod rejects return to Agriculture agency

2010-08-24T17:55:00.000-07:00

Tuesday 8/24/10
Ousted worker Sherrod rejects return to Ag agency
By MARY CLARE JALONICK
AP

Shirley Sherrod, ousted from the Agriculture Department during a racial firestorm that embarrassed the Obama administration, rejected an offer to return to the USDA on Tuesday. But at a cordial news conference with the man who asked her to leave — Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack — she said she may do consulting work for him on racial issues.

She was asked to leave her job as Georgia's director of rural development in July after comments she made in March were misconstrued as racist. She has since received numerous apologies from the administration, including from President Barack Obama himself, and Vilsack asked her to return. But she said at the news conference with a clearly disappointed Vilsack that she did not think she could say yes to a job "at this point, with all that has happened."...

"I look forward to some type of relationship with the department in the future," said Sherrod, who is black. "We do need to work on the issues of discrimination and race in this country."

Vilsack had asked her to become the deputy director of the Office of Advocacy and Outreach, a new position designed to bolster the department's shaky record on civil rights. He had also given her a chance to return to her former job. Both of them said Tuesday Sherrod may return to the department as a consultant once an ongoing review of the department's efforts on race issues is completed.

...He said a consulting job may work better for Sherrod, who was concerned about assuming administrative duties like budgeting. She said she was reluctant to be responsible for the weighty duties of the position she was offered...

Sherrod was forced to resign after conservative blogger Andrew Breitbart posted an edited version of a March speech in which said she was initially reluctant to help a white farmer save his farm more than two decades ago, long before she worked for USDA. Vilsack and others, including the NAACP, condemned the remarks before grasping the full context of her speech, which was meant as a lesson in racial healing.

...The USDA has a long history of discrimination of black farmers who sought out loans and other aid, and the government this year settled a second round of damages stemming from a class-action lawsuit originally settled in 1999.

The department also released a list of recommendations stemming from an internal investigation into the Sherrod controversy on Tuesday. Vilsack blogged on the USDA website that "we need to improve protocols for internal communications at the department, and create a set of safeguards to avoid the sort of hasty action which led to the mishandling of the matter with Mrs. Sherrod."
—
Associated Press writer Ben Evans contributed to this report.

San Diego's social welfare programs and denial rates

2010-08-21T08:19:00.000-07:00

You can read more about San Diego's social welfare programs and denial rates in VOSD's special report "Out of Reach". How about it, Supervisor Greg Cox?

San Diegans Still Need Help
Voice of San Diego
Letter by Joan Dahlin, La Jolla

San Diego County government appears to operate "under the radar." How else can we explain why wanton disregard for the suffering of poor families creates barely a ripple?

San Diego County has the distinction of being the very worst county in the nation in terms of percentage of low-income households approved for food stamps. This is not due to lack of need.

The Department of Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA) prefers to spend its money on tracking down fraud (fingerprinting and home investigations) in spite of ample evidence that there is very little fraud in this program, and the only impact of these activities is that families choose to go hungry rather than struggle through a tangled, humiliating process.

On top of this dismal record, HHSA recently failed to apply for millions of dollars in federal stimulus money designed to create jobs which could include staff to assist in reducing barriers to food stamp access. The excuse was that 20 percent matching funds were required (much of which could have been met through in-kind services) and that the guidelines were "unclear."

Somehow, 47 of the other 58 California counties were able to figure it out and avail themselves of these precious funds.

Will $100,000s of tax dollars help CVESD improve its reponse to reports of possible disaster? There is reason for doubt

2010-08-20T11:03:00.000-07:00

U.S. Department of Education Awards $28.8 Million to School Districts To Improve Readiness and Emergency Response Plans
August 19, 2010

School districts across the country will be able to improve and strengthen their emergency management plans as a result of $28.8 million in grants awarded today by the U.S. Department of Education. The Readiness and Emergency Management for Schools (REMS) discretionary grant program will enable 98 school districts in 28 states to improve plans that address all four phases of emergency management: Prevention-Mitigation, Preparedness, Response, and Recovery.

“No student should feel unsafe in school,” U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan said. “The fact is that no school can be a great school until it is a safe school first, and these grants will support that effort.”

In addition to addressing the four phases of emergency management, plans must commit school districts to coordinate with officials in law enforcement, local government, public safety, public health and mental health; train school officials in emergency management; and provide a method for communicating emergency and reunification procedures to parents and guardians. Projects should support the implementation of the National Incident Management System (NIMS) and include plans designed to prepare districts for infectious disease outbreaks and take into consideration districts’ special needs populations.

Funds may be used to coordinate with local emergency responders, including fire, police, and health and public health agencies; conduct drills and exercises; purchase emergency supplies and equipment; and to train staff and students on emergency response procedures.

The grants are housed within the Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools, which supports efforts to create safe schools, respond to crises, prevent drug and alcohol abuse, ensure the health and well being of students, and teach students good citizenship and character. The office also coordinates the Department’s efforts in these areas with other federal agencies, including the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

A complete list of the 98 grant awards follows:

ALABAMA

Russellville City Schools
Russellville, AL
$128,854

ARIZONA

Paradise Valley Unified School District No. 69
Phoenix, AZ
$645,106

CALIFORNIA

Antioch Unified School District
Antioch, CA
$295,774

Chico Unified School District
Chico, CA
$443,906

Chula Vista Elementary School District
Chula Vista, CA
$297,849

Coachella Valley Unified School District
Thermal, CA
$280,703

Desert Sands Unified School District
La Quinta, CA
$254,968

Fresno Unified School District
Fresno, CA
$556,660

Hacienda La Puente Unified School District
City of Industry, CA
$212,285

Imperial County Office of Education
El Centro, CA $313,122

Kern County Superintendent of Schools
Bakersfield, CA
$564,251

Los Angeles Unified School District
Los Angeles, CA $710,053

McKinleyville Union School District
McKinleyville, CA
$149,269

Merced Union High School District
Atwater, CA
$165,331
Oceanside Unified School District
Oceanside, CA
$270,566

Orange Unified School District
Orange, CA
$600,824

Petaluma School District
Petaluma, CA
$584,923

Sacramento City Unified School District
Sacramento, CA
$576,659

Santa Ana Unified School District
Santa Ana, CA
$612,423

South Bay Union Elementary School District
Eureka, CA
$121,112

Tustin Unified School District
Tustin, CA $358,476

West Contra Costa Unified School District
Richmond, CA
$578,262

Study: Chula Vista has fewest firefighters for its population; San Diego also rates poorly

2010-08-20T10:13:00.000-07:00

Fact Check: Fewer Firefighters Than Other Cities
Voice of San Diego
Keegan Kyle
Aug 19, 2010

"San Diego already has the lowest firefighter to population ratio of any major metropolitan city in California," Frank De Clercq, president of the San Diego firefighters union, said Aug. 5 at a press conference supporting a half-cent sales tax increase.

Determination: True

Analysis: For years, some firefighters, researchers and residents have called for San Diego to build its firefighting arsenal. Now, the city's mayor is forecasting even fewer firefighters.

If the city faces a more than $70 million budget shortfall next year, Mayor Jerry Sanders has promised to cut the number of firefighters and police officers. That focus on public safety is part of the campaign to increase the city's sales tax by a half cent.

At a press conference alongside Sanders and other sales tax supporters, De Clercq tried to put those potential cuts in a comparative light. Even before the cuts, he said, San Diego has fewer firefighters per resident than the state's largest cities...

The history of grass at Castle Park Elementary

2010-08-16T15:12:00.000-07:00

I used to feel a nostalgic twinge when I stepped over the wide strip of beige dirt at the south entrance at Castle Park Elementary in 1997; it looked exactly as it had in 1957 when I was a second-grade student at the school. That old, familiar strip of dirt disappeared this summer.

The history of grass at Castle Park Elementary

This landscaping work might seem like something akin to a rip in the fabric of the universe when you consider what it took to get grass planted on the soccer field at the school. I got so tired of having my students fall and slide on the hardened dirt of the soccer field over the years that I complained, but it did no good. Then I hit on an idea. I got a friend to write a letter to the Chula Vista Star-News about the problem. The paper didn't print the letter, but I believe that they forwarded it to CVESD. Within two weeks there were crews at the school installing deep green sod. It was beautiful.

On June 2, 2008 I asked, "Since half a million dollars spent on lawyers didn't fix Castle Park Elementary; how about trying honesty and respect?"

Board members Pam Smith and Larry Cunningham are sticking to their guns, standing firm against truth and reconciliation at Castle Park Elementary, but they do apparently have a new plan: landscaping!

This summer things changed at Castle Park. The CVESD website boasts:

"Landscaping improvements already a hit with students, community

Castle Park Elementary welcomed students back to school with a new look. A campus beautification project along Naples Street, off Hilltop Drive, provided a welcome facelift. Landscape improvements included trees, shrubs, planters and more greenspace.

Even as work crews were busily laying mulch, watering and applying finishing touches, a passing youth on a skateboard yelled out, "The school looks great now!"

District Facilities crews added landscaping such as drought-tolerant sod and carrot wood trees, and irrigation to the campus. Mulch was added to all planter areas to reduce watering and weed growth. Water-saving sprinkler nozzles were used throughout the project. The irrigation system is connected to the site master control valve, which links to the District's weather stations, that in turn to help regulate water usage and alert personnel to any leaks.

Existing banks at the site were further enhanced with multi-trunk pepper trees and numerous shrubs.

[Maura Larkins comment: Trees are awfully nice on a hot day when a child is seeking relief from the hot noon sun.]

It's official: Francisco Escobedo is new CVESD superintendent

2010-08-12T07:09:00.000-07:00

I'm happy to see that the process of choosing a superintendent has become transparent and wide-ranging at CVESD.

It was less so in 2002, when Lowell Billings was selected without any search at all.

Lowell Billings is a board member at The Accelerated School ("TAS") in Los Angeles, where he hired his long-time boss, Patrick Judd, a CVESD board member who was voted out in 2008. At the time he was hired at TAS, Judd had accumulated an interesting employment history. In early 2008 Judd went on a mysterious leave from his job as superintendent of Mountain Empire Unified School District. A Mountain Empire board member told the press that Judd was on sick leave, but Judd said he was not on sick leave. Judd has never publicly revealed the reason for his sudden exit from his job. A few months later, Judd retired without ever going back to work. Interestingly, TAS is now conducting a secretive search for a permanent replacement for Judd. According to the board minutes, an anonymous "recommended CEO candidate" was interviewed by the TAS board on July 28, 2010.

Chula Vista elementary district gets new leader
By Ashly McGlone
SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
August 11, 2010

CHULA VISTA — A new superintendent has been named at the Chula Vista Elementary School District. Francisco Escobedo, 49, will officially take the reigns of the largest elementary school district in the state in January.

According to the district website, the incoming superintendent will begin job shadowing in September.

Trustees approved the hire in a 4-0 vote on Wednesday. Board President Russell Coronado recused himself, citing “the public and professional relationship that I currently have with the finalist for superintendent.”

Escobedo is currently Coronado’s boss at the neighboring South Bay Union School District.

“Thank you for this honor to serve this great district,” Escobedo told the board. “You will not be disappointed in selecting me, so thank you for your confidence.”

Since the board named Escobedo as a sole finalist on July 27, some have questioned the selection because two of the five members on a search committee work for Escobedo.

Vice president of the school board Larry Cunningham addressed the recent coverage by The Watchdog, saying Coronado in “no way tried to influence anybody” in Escobedo’s selection.

Escobedo began teaching in 1988 in the South Bay Union School District, later moving on to National School District and Chula Vista Elementary School District. In 2008, he earned a doctorate in educational leadership through a partnership between University of California, San Diego and San Diego State University.

Escobedo will replace Lowell Billings, who will retire in December. No salary or start date has been set for the incoming superintendent. Billings’ annual salary is $247,000.

Tax breaks in the cross hairs

2010-08-11T10:30:00.000-07:00

Battle is joined over business tax breaks
By Michael Gardner
San Diego Union-Tribune SACRAMENTO BUREAU
August 10, 2010

A battle is brewing over proposals to delay or repeal three corporate tax incentives:

Single sales factor: Allows selected multistate corporations, such as those in the biotech and high-tech sectors, to choose to have their corporate income taxes based solely on sales within the state starting in 2011. This policy is used in various forms in a number of other states.

Current law bases corporate income taxes on a percentage of sales, payroll and property.

Value: $1.1 billion.

Net operating loss: Two parts of this tax code section are included. The first allows businesses that make a profit one year to reduce their tax liability by writing off losses that go back up to two years. For example, a business could deduct a 2011 loss against a 2009 profit by amending its return.

The second extends the number of years companies have to carry losses forward, to 20 from 10 years. This allows companies with little immediate profit potential to pursue long-term projects knowing early, heavy losses can be recouped when balanced out against eventual profits from breakthroughs years down the road.

Value: $100 million.

Tax credit sharing: Allows a business entity to transfer tax credits to one of its related companies all within the same group. For example, a California-based company can earn a research and development tax credit for a new high-tech product. If that company earns more tax credits than it owes the state, it can spread some of those credits to other companies within its group, such as the business arm that makes the sale.

Value: $100 million.

Value source: Legislative Analyst’s Office.

Proposition 24 on the November ballot would repeal a series of tax benefits for California corporations that were set to begin taking effect next year.

Pro: Lost tax revenue will magnify cuts to education and social services, which threaten the jobs of teachers and providers of child care and health care for the poor. Large business is the primary beneficiary.

Con: High tax rates are a major contributor to California’s job losses and threaten to slow recovery. Without the incentives, more companies will shrink or move to states that offer better tax incentives.

SACRAMENTO — Battles over tax breaks for businesses will be waged on two fronts this year, in the Capitol and at the ballot box.

A campaign is under way to repeal or suspend an estimated $1.3 billion annually in promised tax credits for businesses approved as part of past budget compromises. That money has become an attractive target given another year of gaping deficits, this one $19 billion.

Powerful opposing interests, from the California Chamber of Commerce to the California Teachers Association, are immersed in the legislative budget negotiations over the tax breaks with eyes cast toward the November election.

That’s when voters will decide Proposition 24, an initiative sponsored by the teachers association that would permanently repeal the pro-business tax policies.

The San Diego County life-science and high-tech industries have been eagerly anticipating the tax benefits, which are scheduled to begin taking effect over the next two years. They argue the incentives are needed to create jobs and support emerging technologies in California.

But teachers, social services advocates and their allies say the more immediate need is to use that money to soften budget cuts to schools, health care and other services.

The experience of Genentech , a large biotech company with a plant in Oceanside, underscores the need for the tax credits, according to supporters. Four years ago, frustrated with California’s tax laws, Genentech expanded in Oregon, bringing a $400 million facility and 300 jobs to Hillsboro despite having available land in California. One influencing factor: Oregon offered some of the same tax breaks California didn’t have at the time and may now repeal.

“California’s tax structure didn’t support in-state growth,” said Caroline Pecquet, a Genentech spokeswoman. The company opposes Proposition 24, saying “the tax reforms that would be revoked are “important economic incentives that support job growth and encourage innovative companies like Genentech to make investments and expand operations.”

Jim Groth, an elementary school teacher in Chula Vista, said those policies favor larger companies with no guarantee of a return to the state.

“They get the tax breaks but they don’t have to create or protect any jobs,” said Groth, who is also a representative of the California Teachers Association. “They can continue to outsource outside of California or outside the U.S.”

He said that deep budget cuts are costing “real jobs” now, particularly in schools, local governments and among those who provide health care and child care services for the poor...

CVESD's Francisco Escobedo and Russell Coronado were fellow employees, but Lowell Billings and Patrick Judd personally hired each other

2010-08-03T09:48:00.001-07:00

New CVESD superintendent Francisco Escobedo

See all Francisco Escobedo posts at San Diego Education Report blog.

Once again, the SDUT fails to give the full story about Chula Vista Elementary School District. Until he was voted out of office in 2008 (and replaced by Russell Coronado), CVESD board member Patrick Judd was an employee of CVESD Superintendent Lowell Billings in another school district, The Accelerated School (TAS) in Los Angeles. At TAS, Lowell Billings was on the board that chose Patrick Judd as executive director of the school.

But here's the big difference between the two situations: Escobedo didn't personally hire Coronado. Lowell Billings, on the other hand, was personally involved in the hiring of Patrick Judd, and Judd was personally involved in hiring Lowell Billings.

The board minutes for CVESD do not indicate that Patrick Judd recused himself from voting for Lowell Billings' employment, nor does it appear that Billings recused himself from voting for Judd's employment.

See blog posts about The Accelerated School (TAS) in Los Angeles.

Shame on the San Diego Union Tribune for cherry-picking the facts it gives to readers. This story reminds me of the "Castle Park Five" story, in which the SDUT was outraged that five teachers were transferred, but never told readers that several of those teachers were deeply involved in illegal actions. The district had paid $100,000s to defend them. The teachers weren't grateful for the district's assistance in covering up their wrongdoing, however. When they were transferred, they filed a complaint against the district!

Chula Vista superintendent candidate had inside track
The president of the school board works for him at another district
San Diego Union Tribune
By ASHLY McGLONE
August 2, 2010

One candidate for superintendent of Chula Vista’s elementary school district had an inside track — one of his employees is the president of the school board.

Francisco Escobedo last week was named the sole finalist for the job, which paid its last occupant $247,000...

It wasn’t mentioned in the news release, but The Watchdog has learned that Escobedo is Coronado’s boss at the South Bay Union School District. Escobedo is assistant superintendent of educational leadership there, a post he has held since 2007. Coronado is the director of student services.

Coronado was one of two board members on a selection committee, which also included a parent, a principal, a labor representative and a taxpayer. That committee passed along three finalists to the board, which narrowed the field to one by a unanimous vote that included Coronado.

Coronado on Monday said his relationship with Escobedo at the South Bay district was not a conflict-of-interest and had no bearing on the recruitment at the Chula Vista Elementary district...

Still, Coronado said, he has decided to recuse himself from the final vote to hire a superintendent, possibly on Aug. 17, “so that there wouldn’t be any misinterpretation.”

Escobedo said he sees no conflict with applying for a job controlled in part by a subordinate.

“I wouldn’t say that is the case,” Escobedo said. “[Coronado] has two roles to play: one as the school board president when he works for Chula Vista. He does an exceptional job at differentiating what his roles are in those two positions.”

Larry Cunningham, the other board member who served on the selection committee, said the relationship between Coronado and Escobedo was “not a discussion item” but that he was aware that they worked together. Asked whether he knew that Escobedo was Coronado’s boss, he said, “I don’t know what the structure is.”

[Maura Larkins' comment: Come on, Larry. Don't be so afraid to admit the truth. If Escobedo is the superintendent, then he's the boss of every employee in the district. I wish you would start giving straight answers to questions. This evasiveness is getting to be a very bad habit.]

Jim Groth, former president of the teacher’s union for the district, said he was unaware of the connection.

“As far as my reaction to it, it’s not uncommon, but it would be proper for a board member not to vote on the process,” said Groth, now a member of the California Teachers Association board. “Everybody in leadership kind of knows everybody else in leadership. To directly supervise them though, in the state of California, I am sure it happens, but as an elected official, you need to be very careful.”

[Maura Larkins comment: But you didn't want Lowell Billings to be careful, did you, Jim? At least not regarding issues that you and he were hiding from teachers and voters, right?]

The successful candidate will replace Lowell Billings, who will retire midway through his ninth year as district superintendent in December. His salary is $247,000, although a replacement with less experience might be paid less.

At South Bay Union, Escobedo’s salary stands at $144,000, and Coronado’s is $124,000.

Escobedo, who has a doctorate in education and has worked in education for 22 years, should not be excluded from the Chula Vista job because a board member happens to work for him, Billings said.

“Do you exclude someone that you really really like because you have a history with them? He is a really good educator,” Billings said. “You have to look at the track record of the candidate that has been selected, and it is immaculate.”

Billings said there was no problem with the news release quoting Coronado praising Escobedo, without disclosing their outside relationship.

“I think you have to put it in the context of how pleased the other board members are,” Billings said. “One board member is not the board. He is not giving his sole opinion. He is voicing the consolidated opinion of the board. He doesn’t speak for himself.”...

CVESD Announces Dr. Escobedo as Finalist for Superintendent

2010-07-28T12:00:00.000-07:00

See all Francisco Escobedo posts at San Diego Education Report blog.

Board of Education Announces Dr. Escobedo as Finalist for Superintendent
Entered By: Chula Vista Elementary School District
July 27th, 2010

Francisco Escobedo, Ed.D., has been selected as the sole finalist for superintendent of the Chula Vista Elementary School District. The Board of Education announced that Escobedo emerged as its leading
candidate after interviews of two others for the position. Pending the outcome of due diligence, including site visits, Escobedo could be recommended for hiring at the Board’s regularly scheduled meeting of August 17, 2010, or at a Special Board Meeting.

“Dr. Escobedo has the qualifications, experience, and character we were looking for to continue the academic growth expected in the Chula Vista Elementary School District,” said Board President Russell Y. Coronado. “We look forward to the next step, and look forward to the outcome of the Board’s site visits.”

Escobedo would succeed Superintendent Lowell J. Billings, Ed.D., who has announced his retirement...

About Dr. Escobedo

Currently Assistant Superintendent, Educational Leadership, in the South Bay Union School District, Imperial Beach, Calif. He supervised principals of 13 elementary schools, serving more than 8,000 students. He has served in education the better part of 22 years. His experiences include serving as a principal research analyst for the American Institute of Research, as well as serving as California Regional Vice-President of Achievement/Operations for Edison Schools. He has served as a principal in CVESD at then-Mae L. Feaster-Edison Charter (now Mae L. Feaster Charter) and in the National School District at John A. Otis School...

Schools in CVESD to start classes on Wednesday, July 21

2010-07-15T17:35:00.001-07:00

Schools in CVESD to start classes on Wednesday, July 21 (a minimum day).

School starts on Wednesday, July 21, which is a minimum day, at schools in the Chula Vista Elementary School District. Check with your child's charter school for charter school starting dates. Note that verification of residency is an annual requirement. If you are new to the area, or have not completed these requirements, please ensure to act now to avoid last-minute crowds on the first day of school. To register your student, you need to present:
1. Birth Verification
2. Immunization records
3. Documents to verify home address (residency)

UPDATE: Chula Vista teacher sued in $7.7 million fraud

2010-07-06T18:53:00.000-07:00

UPDATE: The husband of "Castle Park Five" teacher Robin Donlan has completed his federal prison sentence for stock options fraud, and returned to San Diego in late 2009. I am thinking he may be the person who sent me the email on this page.

I got a kick out of watching Robin Donlan's interview in a video from last year's Comic-Con (or was it 2008?). She spoke of fielding complaints from customers who, in Donlan's words, thought they were "special little snowflakes." Ah, yes. Sarcasm in the right hands is a marvelous thing. But "snowflakes"? Who talks like that? It sounds like something that a cyncial elementary school teacher might say about a child who was seeking attention. My advice to Robin: try to cultivate a greater sense of respect for others.

See all Robin Donlan posts.
See Vencent Donlan posts.

Del Cerro couple sued in $7.7 million fraud
Wireless Facilities, SEC file civil lawsuits in case
By Kathryn Balint and Keith Darc�
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITERS
May 4, 2007

In a new twist on the burgeoning stock options scandal, the former stock options manager for San Diego-based Wireless Facilities and his wife have been accused of fraudulently issuing company stock options and selling them at a profit of more than $7.7 million.

Vencent A. Donlan, and his wife, Robin D. Colls Donlan, both 44-year-old teachers in local schools, were accused in civil lawsuits announced yesterday by Wireless Facilities and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Wireless Facilities is among more than 200 U.S. companies that have launched probes or are under federal investigation for backdating stock options without disclosing the practice to shareholders. It said the Donlans' “elaborate scheme” came to light during its internal review and it notified securities regulators.

The accusation that an options administrator defrauded a company of stock is unusual and suggests another avenue of wrongdoing that has, as yet, gone undetected.

“I'm pretty sure there has never been a case like this,” said Kelly Bowers, a senior assistant regional director of enforcement for the SEC.

“This is an example of a different scheme that (other) companies should take notice of,” he said. “They should make sure they have proper policies and procedures to make sure this is not happening under their watch.”

The SEC obtained a court order freezing the Donlans' assets to guard against what it said was the “imminent danger” that they would transfer or hide proceeds from the “fraudulent scheme.”

The Wireless Facilities case accusing the Donlans of “breach of duty and loyalty” was filed Wednesday in San Diego Superior Court, while the SEC case accusing them of violating federal securities laws was filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in downtown San Diego.

The Internal Revenue Service, the FBI, the U.S. Attorney General's Office and the San Diego District Attorney's Office all would neither confirm nor deny any criminal investigation.

The street in front of the couple's gated, two-story house on Norman Lane in Del Cerro was busy with activity late yesterday. Two men in an idling gold Ford Crown Victoria refused to identify themselves but one held a black binder embossed with a federal seal and the words “Corporate Fraud Division.” A process server waiting to deliver Wireless Facilities' lawsuit said they had earlier identified themselves as federal agents.

Vencent Donlan, a physics teacher at the San Diego High Education Complex School of Business, and Robin Donlan, a fourth-grade teacher at Hilltop Drive Elementary School in Chula Vista, didn't return phone messages yesterday and could not be reached at home to comment.

The SEC lawsuit describes a process in which Vencent Donlan, a former Charles Schwab broker, had primary responsibility for entering Wireless Facilities' stock options data into company software.

According to the lawsuit, he fraudulently issued and transferred 728,229 shares of stock and options to himself and his wife between November 2002 and November 2003.

Donlan, who was being paid $65,000 a year when he left Wireless Facilities, hid the unauthorized transactions by creating accounts with abbreviated names of real employees' names linked to his wife's Social Security number.

The couple made at least $7.7 million through the sale of shares and exercise of options that were illegally transferred, according to the lawsuit.

The SEC said it seeks the return of the “ill-gotten gains” as well as civil penalties against Vencent Donlan.

According to court and real-estate documents, the Donlans bought the five-bedroom home in Del Cerro in 2004 for $942,000 in cash. Earlier this year, the couple paid $655,000 in cash for a three-bedroom home in Julian.

Since owning the Del Cerro house, the couple have added a pitched roof, a wide second-story deck, a security gate and wall, extensive landscaping and other additions.

“The amount of activity, financially, is incredible,” said Sal Dauria, who lives two houses down.

“I was told they were teachers,” he said yesterday. “There is a disconnect with what normal people make in income and the number of people” the Donlans have hired to work on the house.

It was not unusual to see as many as 10 laborers arriving in the morning, Dauria said.

Vencent Donlan, reportedly a former Navy pilot, and Robin Donlan, a volunteer vice president of events for Comic-Con International, are both science fiction fans. They were married in March 2002 in a “Star Trek”-themed Las Vegas ceremony that was featured in an article in Las Vegas Weekly.

Comic-Con spokesman David Glanzer said yesterday that Robin Donlan has been involved with the group for many years. He said he didn't know anything about the fraud allegations against the couple...

Search committee for the new CVESD superintendent

2010-06-22T14:47:00.000-07:00

Here's the search committee for the new CVESD superintendent:

Superintendent Search Committee

Russell Y. Coronado (Board)
Larry Cunningham (Board)
Matt Tessier (Principal)
Peg Myers (CVE)
Ernie Gutierrez (CVCEO)
Lourdes Valdez (Community Leader)
Glendora Tremper (Parent Leader)

An offer to Robin Donlan and Peg Myers

2010-05-30T12:30:00.000-07:00

Dear Robin and Peg,
I think we should have a truth and reconciliation meeting. I believe that the truth about what happened at Castle Park Elementary will continue to extend its reach (skeletons have a habit of falling out of closets), so why not let the district and the teachers union quit spending money covering it up, and just deal with it openly and honestly? Everyone would be happier, I believe.
Maura Larkins

Cheryl Cox's supporters will do just about anything to win, it seems; Steve Castaneda cleared of charges

2010-05-26T12:08:00.001-07:00

Castaneda cleared of charges
Campaign finance complaints against Chula Vista councilman tossed
By Tanya Sierra
San Diego UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
May 25, 2010

CHULA VISTA — An independent investigation into claims that Chula Vista City Councilman Steve Castaneda violated campaign financing laws dating back six years has found the complaints lacked merit and were politically motivated.

Julia Sylvia, the Los Angeles attorney looking into the matter, deemed the charges against Castaneda “unsubstantiated innuendo, arguments and allegations.”

Angel T. Castillo, a Chula Vista resident who once served on a homeowners association board with Castaneda, filed complaints in November and December alleging multiple campaign violations in 2004, 2006 and 2008. He claimed Castaneda should be prosecuted and forced to pay $472,679 in fines.

Castillo, who could not be reached for comment Tuesday, alleged that Castaneda misreported campaign expenses in 2004; violated personal financing limits in 2005; and did not declare postelection expenses in 2006. The allegations also state that contributions from a former business partner exceeded what is allowed under campaign laws.

Castaneda, who is running for mayor in the June primary, said in a City Hall news conference that he knew he would be cleared. He charged Castillo with regurgitating issues that had been settled.

Silva agreed.

“A majority of the allegations in the complaint have been thoroughly investigated by other public agencies; namely the Fair Political Practices Commission,” she wrote. “The FPPC has concluded that there is no conflict of interest and there is not violation of the Political Reform Act by the candidate.”...

Good news for 160 Chula Vista teachers: they're not going to be fired after all !

2010-05-19T10:27:00.000-07:00

KPBS reporter Ana Tintocalis

I'm guessing that in the story below Ana Tintocalis meant to say that Jim Groth is on leave from his job as a teacher in CVESD. In fact, Mr. Groth works full time for the teachers union. But perhaps he didn't make this clear to Ms. Tintocalis.

Chula Vista Teachers Keep Jobs But Others Not So Lucky
By Ana Tintocalis
KPBS
May 19, 2010

Chula Vista Elementary School District officials told about 160 of its teachers they were out of a job at the end of the school year. But school officials rescinded all those pink slips on Monday.

School officials say the district's budget improved based on the Governor's May Revise released last week.

Jim Groth is with the California Teachers Association. He's also a teacher in Chula Vista.

"Obviously it's good news for the students of Chula Vista because they will be having their teachers return to the classroom. And that's what we're all about." Groth said.

But other teachers in San Diego County will get official pink slips this month. They were first notified that they could lose their jobs in March.

The California Teachers Association says Oceanside Unified is laying off 60 teachers. The Sweetwater Union High School District in the South Bay will layoff about 30 teachers. And San Ysidro will layoff more than 20 teachers.

Hundreds of temporary teachers around the county will not get their contracts renewed. The CTA reports 112 temporary teachers in the San Diego Unified District will not return.

Who destroyed Castle Park Elementary? The district and the teachers union:

2010-05-13T12:42:00.001-07:00

I was shocked and disappointed to learn that the school I attended as a child and worked at as an adult has gone down hill so rapidly since I left it in 2001.

Castle Park Elementary has the lowest API score in Chula Vista Elementary School District. This wasn't always the case.

When I was there, scores were well above the bottom despite the low socio-economic level of the neighborhood. Then current Chula Vista Educators president Peg Myers began clawing her way up the ladder to power with the help of a group of teachers that had been sowing discord before Peg arrived. Peg got lots of help from Jim Groth, who is now a statewide CTA director, and Beverly Tucker, the head legal counsel of California Teachers Association.

Castle Park Elementary Chula Vista Elementary 754

A small group of teachers chewed up and spit out a long string of principals and good teachers. The goal was power for their group, not education for children. The district supported Robin Donlan, Karen Snyder, Peg Snyder and their associates until it realized in 2004 that the teachers were out of control. Then the district ended up hiring lawyers to defend itself against the teachers that it had spent $100,000s of tax dollars defending. Shame on Larry Cunningham and Pamela Smith for knowingly defending teachers who had committed crimes.

I notice that the enrollment at Castle Park Elementary has gone down to 312. It appears that everyone who is able to do so finds another school to go to.

The school had 11 principals in 11 years before the current principal was asked to try to make some sense out of the wreckage. I suggest a Truth and Reconciliation Committee for the school--and the district. Problems need to be fixed, not hidden, as Lowell Billings has done.

Were teachers "blindly-led"?

Here's a quote from an AOL News article about the Tonya Craft case:
"It's divided the community between those who are intelligent and can think for themselves and those who are blindly led," local resident Harmony Lefler told AOL News. "It's horrible to say that, but it is the truth."

THE PROBLEM IS CALLED "BRIGHT-FLIGHT," AND THE ANGRY TEACHERS AT CASTLE PARK ELEMENTARY ACCELERATED IT

'Bright flight' fight
Castle Park Middle School students get help from teachers to stay there
By Chris Moran
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
March 3, 2007

Smart kids grow up in Chula Vista's Castle Park area, attend the neighborhood elementary schools and then leave for other parts of town for seventh grade.

This academic diaspora is so persistent and troubling that Sweetwater Union High School District educators have given it a name: “bright flight.”

A federal law intended to help low-scoring schools such as Castle Park Middle School appears to have accelerated the brain drain. The No Child Left Behind Act gives parents the option to send their children to higher-scoring schools when their neighborhood school doesn't make the grade.

This school year, the families of 168 students used No Child Left Behind to leave Castle Park Middle School. That coincides with a plunge in the number of students in the school's advanced academic program. There are about one-third fewer seventh-graders in the school's fledgling International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme than there were last year...

Chula Vista cuts nearly 160 elementary teachers

2010-05-12T12:03:00.000-07:00

The teachers being laid off at CVESD are not the least-capable teachers. Why not? Because neither the union nor the administration wants to evaluate teachers effectively, which would be the first step in such an endeavor. Shame on the board and Peg Myers, president of Chula Vista Educators for refusing to allow accurate evaluations of teachers' ability and performance.

Chula Vista cuts nearly 160 elementary teachers
FOX 5 San Diego
May 12, 2010

The Chula Vista Elementary School District decided Tuesday night to send pink slips to nearly 160 teachers and will cut pay for the remaining teachers by 3 percent to deal with a $15.2 million budget deficit.

In March, the district issued 422 preliminary pink slips to faculty members across the district. Later, that number was reduced to 218. Tuesday's decision reduced the number of job cuts again. District officials said they must cut positions to balance the budget.

"We're faced with 160 now, that's a 160 too many," said Anthony Millican, a spokesperson for Chula Vista Elementary School District. "However we're put in this position because of the state's budget process."

The people expected to be let go in June are Kindergarten through 6th grade teachers, along with 10 school psychologists and 10 assistant principals.

Peg Myers, the Chula Vista Educators President, asked the board Tuesday night to reconsider saving the remaining 218 pink slipped positions.

"By May 15, they have to have the final layoff notices handed out to the teachers," said Myers.

These jobs may be saved if the district receives more than $7 million in federal stimulus funds...

Top Chula Vista cop, partner in dispute; Police chief co-owns security company

2010-05-07T13:48:00.000-07:00

Somebody's being unreasonable here, and it's hard to know who it is. Perhaps Art Moreno figured a huge windfall had ended up in his lap when Bejarano was chosen as Chula Vista's top cop. The new job means Bejarano must give up the company. Bejarano says either his partner pays for his half or the company should be dissolved.

Top Chula Vista cop, partner in dispute
Police chief co-owns security company
By Tanya Sierra
San Diego UNION-TRIBUNE
May 7, 2010

In addition to being Chula Vista’s police chief, where he earns an annual salary of $187,000, David Bejarano is involved in a number of other activities. Among them:

• Chula Vista Elementary School District trustee

• Co-owner of Presidential Security Services

• Vibra Bank board member

• South Bay Community Services board member

• Consultant for personal injury law firm Tatro & Zamoyski

CHULA VISTA — A business partner has accused Chula Vista Police Chief David Bejarano of writing fraudulent checks on the private security firm’s account, an allegation that the city forwarded to the District Attorney’s Office.

City policy prohibits police officers from owning or working for private security firms in Chula Vista, and Bejarano’s efforts to dissociate himself from Chula Vista-based Presidential Security are at the root of the business partners’ dispute.

Bejarano co-owns Presidential Security Services with former Donovan State Prison guard Art Moreno. Bejarano stepped down as president of the company in August when he became police chief. About that time, he also curtailed his duties at the firm and wanted his name removed from advertising, marketing and other public material...

Bejarano’s lawyer, Joseph Casas, said the chief is the victim of a smear campaign. He added that his client’s name was removed from bank records without proper authority...

The corporation’s board of directors is composed of Moreno and his wife, Colleen, and Bejarano and his wife, Esperanza.

Bejarano, a former San Diego police chief, has filed suit in San Diego Superior Court to disband the company. In the suit, Bejarano alleges that Moreno and his wife “repeatedly breached their fiduciary duties and wrongfully acted in their own self-interest.”...

Presidential continues to pay David Bejarano a salary. Last year, he earned $73,820 with the firm and charged about $15,000 on a company credit card, Moreno said.

City Attorney Bart Miesfeld said as long as Bejarano is trying to cut his ties with the company, and as long as his responsibilities there do not interfere with his duties as police chief, he is not violating city policy that prohibits a police officer from working for or having a financial interest in a private police agency in the city.

Simon Mayeski, a member of California Common Cause’s San Diego chapter, questioned that assessment.

“I wonder why the city attorney is trying to write around this regulation, which sounds like a reasonable and necessary restriction,” Mayeski said. “It opens up way too many questions and puts the chief in a less-than-perfect position going about his business.”

Common Cause is a nonprofit that says it strives for an “open, honest and accountable government.”

Presidential Security has a number of contracts to provide security guards for Chula Vista businesses, including two shelters run by South Bay Community Services, where Bejarano serves as a board member.

City Councilmen Rudy Ramirez and Steve Castaneda said Thursday that Bejarano should have left Presidential Security by now.

“There should have been a specific timeline in which he had to divest himself from that business,” Castaneda said.

Mayor Cheryl Cox said she backs Sandoval and Miesfeld.

“I’m confident that the city manager and city attorney have done their due diligence,” she said.

[Due diligence? Does Cheryl Cox have any idea what that means? When she was a CVESD trustee, she helped make sure that no investigation was ever done regarding a 2001 report by two teachers that they believed there might be a mass shooting at Castle Park Elementary. At the same time, the district specifically claimed it had done its due diligence.]

Meanwhile, the future of Presidential Security and its 40 employees remains unclear.

After Bejarano was hired as police chief, he suggested to Moreno that they divide the company, according to an September e-mail exchange provided by Moreno.

“It can be done quickly, with minimal costs and you and your family can operate your share any way you want and my wife will operate our share,” Bejarano wrote to Moreno in a Sept. 28 e-mail.

Moreno said Bejarano should sell his interest in the company.

“Our last offer to him was $50,000, and we never heard back from him,” Moreno said.

Casas, Bejarano’s attorney, said Moreno has not made a serious offer.

“Mr. Moreno can put an offer on the table to us, which he has yet to do in any meaningful way,” Casas said.

A court date on Bejarano’s suit to disband the company has not been set.

CVESD Superintendent Lowell Billings to retire

2010-04-27T09:53:00.001-07:00

Photo (left to right): Russell Coronado (new), Superintendent Lowell Billings, Larry Cunningham, Pamela Smith, David Bejarano (new), Doug Luffborough (new)

Chula Vista Elementary School District superintendent Lowell Billings will retire in December of this year. Here is his letter announcing his retirement.

It remains to be seen whether there will be any real changes at the district, or if this is merely a matter of personal preferences. Billings and the long time board members developed a lot of personal loyalty to each other during years when the district was involved in some expensive wrongdoing. But will the new board look for new lawyers and start obeying the law and the contract? That is what reformers hope for, of course, but political office changes people. Officials often start with the best of intentions, but end up protecting their incumbency instead of their principles.

Billings notes that Peter Baron Stark will help in the search for a replacement.

Peter Barron Stark knows CVESD pretty well. He actually was called in to help when teachers at Castle Park Elementary started going out of control in the mid 1990's (before I myself became a teacher at the school).

Mr. Stark failed to bring about any meaningful understanding or system for communication at the school. Within a few years, the district was paying $100,000s in legal bills to defend teachers who decided to destroy the school rather than give up the power their clique had achieved. The clique pretty much wagged the dog. Assistant superintendents Richard Werlin and Lowell Billings agreed to the demands of these teachers even when they demanded that the district violate the contract and the law. Then Billings tried to establish control over the school in 2004, but it was too late. The Castle Park Five got the local media to portray Billings as a power-hungry egomaniac.

Billings will be remembered for his mishandling of the Ana Stover case and the Danielle Cozaihr case, as well as my case, the Maura Larkins case. See web page.

My sympathies to Pamela Smith and Larry Cunningham, board members who worked so closely with Mr. Billings.

Recall against Southwestern College board members started

2010-03-24T08:31:00.000-07:00

Recall against Southwestern College board members started
09 February 2010
Hundreds of Southwestern College employees are uniting against school superintendent Raj Chopra and three board members after years of financial battles between the faculty and superintendent have left the school at risk of losing its accreditation, according to the voiceofsandiego.org. A recall campaign has been started against the three pro-Chopra board members. Recall supporters have until May 3 to collect 20,000 signatures in the community college district for each board member.

Chula Vista candidates talk about jobs, bay front development and Roger Hedgecock

2010-03-24T08:15:00.000-07:00

Roger Hedgecock is as much a political activist as he is a media figure. He is not a journalist. He's San Diego's Glenn Beck. He's not the right person to host a candidate debate. Linda Rosas should know that. She damages the Chula Vista Star-News and her own credentials as a serious news publisher with antics like dropping support of a candidate forum just because Hedgecock won't be there.

Chula Vista candidates talk about jobs, bay front development and Roger Hedgecock
BY Rose Creasman
24 March 2010

Though it was ousted moderator Roger Hedgecock who made the biggest news after Chula Vista’s candidate forum last night, the guest panelists who actually appeared made waves of their own.

With Hedgecock’s last-minute withdrawal—the former San Diego mayor said he didn’t want his presence to detract from a public forum—came the dropping out of sponsor Star-News and several panelists, including incumbent Mayor Cheryl Cox. But that didn’t stop other determined candidates from capitalizing on the event’s sudden downsizing.

“If a group of Chula Vistans wants to sit down and talk about their community, I’m going to be there,” said mayoral hopeful and councilman Steve Castaneda, one of three candidates for the office and the only one to show up at the school Monday night. “It never mattered to me whether anyone else was going to be there.”
Without his two opponents present, Castaneda took the stage for an informal, relaxed explanation of his goals in office. The councilman talked about drug violence near the border and accountability, emphasizing Scripps Hospital’s outstanding bill from the city.

“That money is owed to the taxpayers, not the mayor or council members,” he said. “We need to hold people’s feet to the fire when they come to Chula Vista and want taxpayer assistance. Scripps is no different.”

Castaneda's opponents, incumbent Mayor Cox and Southwestern College trustee Jorge Dominguez, did not attend.

City Council candidate Patricia Aguilar dedicated her two-minute opening statement to commending the audience for taking action against Hedgecock, saying that plans for the nationally-syndicated radio talk show host to moderate the forum should never have been made. Hedgecock was brought on board by the Southwest Civic Association, but was ousted hours before the forum after the MAAC Project objected.

“This represents the very best of civic engagement and community activism,” said Aguilar, who is president of the community group Crossroads II. “It gives me a warm feeling because I’ve been part of that.”

Southwest Civic Association president Theresa Acerro told the Union-Tribune in an email that Hedgecock was only invited to ensure Mayor Cox would attend.

Three of four candidates running for outgoing councilman John McCann’s seat debated solutions to Chula Vista’s saga of unfulfilled promises, including the oft-envisioned plans to capitalize on the city’s undeveloped bay front and establish a four-year university. The questions, presented by fill-in moderator and president Ken Wright of the Northwest Civic Association, covered the creation of much-needed jobs and development, lobbying of politicians and medical marijuana dispensaries.

Aguilar kept herself decidedly distinct from opponents Humberto Peraza and Larry Breitfelder throughout the forum, emphasizing her involvement at the community level...

CVESD's Jim Groth talks to Channel 6 News

2010-03-19T22:06:00.000-07:00

Jim Groth didn't alway look and sound like a robot. He had a normal level of affect at one time. But apparently there's a price you pay for power.

For quite a few years now he's been spouting whatever California Teachers Association (CTA) tells him to say, even if it's illegal or dishonest.

JIM GROTH TO CVESD: DON'T BOTHER FOLLOWING THE CONTRACT

He actually went to the CVESD district office in 2002 to attend a grievance meeting, just to announce that CVE was NOT supporting the grievance. What was the grievance about? (It looks like friends of CTA may have hacked my website again. I notice there's a black box over the grievance on my web page.) It was simply a demand that the district respond to an earlier grievance. Why didn't CTA want the district to even respond to a teacher's grievance? Because the CTA was helping the district cover up crimes against that teacher. After the meeting, Jim said to me that Rick Werlin just kept digging himself in deeper and deeper. I pointed out that Jim was right down there in the hole with Werlin, shoveling as fast as he could.

Link to video: CVESD's Jim Groth talks to Channel 6 News
March 4 Helix TA, Jim Groth, John Geary
Stand Up for Schools
# Added by Bill Guy on March 4, 2010 at 12:47pm

Here's a march I might join. California Federation of Teacher is a far more democratic group that CTA:

Marching for California's Future

March 5, 2010 at 10am to April 21, 2010 at 12pm –

Beginning at CSU Bakersfield and continuing north through Central Valley The California Federation of Teachers will be joined by the Community College Association, CTA and a diverse coalition of labor, business, education and faith groups on a 48-day "March for California… Organized by California Federation of Teachers and other labor groups

California suspended credential of Lowell Fred Kamper, who was a favorite of Mountain Empire teachers and who was defended by Patrick Judd

2010-03-07T14:07:00.000-08:00

It's amazing how often CTA and Patrick Judd are on the same side when it comes to protecting bad actors, even though CTA and Judd seem to despise each other the rest of the time. Corruption makes strange bedfellows.

Action
File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - Quick View
KAMPER, Lowell F, Jr. Campo, CA. All certification documents under the jurisdiction of the California Commission on Teacher. Credentialing are suspended for ...

Chula Vista Educators board of directors becomes an ever smaller club; Jennefer Porch is now Secretary

2010-03-07T10:40:00.000-08:00

Jennefer Porch, a teacher at Juarez Lincoln Elementary, was already on the board of directors of Chula Vista Educators when Barbara Dunwoodie mysteriously (perhaps on principle?) resigned her position as Secretary of the corrupt organization. Instead of allowing new blood into the secretive group, Jennefer Porch added the position of Secretary of CVE to her portfolio. Porch joined the board as representative to the State Council in 2008.

Jim Groth, who sits on the statewide CTA board of directors, and Peg Myers, his loyal sidekick, seem to be consolidating their power.

The position of director for CVE Area C seems to remain open ten months after the CVE elections. What's the matter, Jim and Peg? Why is democracy not working at Chula Vista Educators anymore? There was a time when CVE elections resulted in a full slate of officials.

Calexico union members join in rally denouncing state budget cuts to education

2010-03-07T10:32:00.000-08:00

Calexico union members join in rally denouncing state budget cuts to education
By SILVIO J. PANTA, Staff Writer
Imperial Valley Press Online
March 5, 2010

CALEXICO — Members of the Calexico Teachers Association joined scores of educators statewide Thursday to denounce state budget cuts to education.

Wearing yellow “unity” shirts and listening to impassioned speeches about the need to protect education, the CTA members, along with Calexico Unified School District board members Ruben De La Rosa and Gloria Romo, staged their rally behind the Enrique Camarena Memorial Library.

[Maura Larkins comment: Unity is a good thing, but only when it's organized around a good cause. Unity isn't a virtue in itself; after all, one of the best ways to achieve unity is through a dictatorship in which followers are kept ignorant of many essential facts, and intimidated into agreement. (Hmmm. That sounds like the way Jim Groth and Peg Myers run Chula Vista Educators.) Unfortunately, CTA also invokes the need for unity when the cause is to cover up the illegal actions of a group of teachers acting only for their own personal advancement, such as at Castle Park Elemtary in Chula Vista. CTA director Jim Groth has been involved in covering up the teacher actions that led to a $20,000 PTA embezzlement, $100,000s of tax dollars spent on defending teachers, and then a big scandal when the Castle Park Five were transferred out of the school.]

Carmen Durazo, CTA president, said that California is “at a crossroads” for education and said the statewide call asks people to step up and demand that the cuts to education stop.

“It is cutting into the future of our state,” Durazo said.

Last year, 16,000 teachers were laid off statewide, Durazo said. “This year we anticipate another round of layoffs,” Durazo said.

In the past two years, $17 billion was cut from schools and colleges, eliminating art, music and physical education programs in their entirety, according to literature by the California Teachers Association.

Also, 74 percent of school principals surveyed in a University of California, Los Angeles study said they have seen class sizes increase, said Jim Groth, board president of the California Teachers Association.

“California has to reinvest in education,” Groth said.

[Maura Larkins comment: Jim Groth and I are in 100% agreement on this.]

School Districts Push For Teacher Pay Cuts During Contract Talks

2010-02-17T20:57:00.000-08:00

Are teacher unions the same as other unions? No. Public entity unions need to achieve a balance between the wishes of teachers and the wishes of their employers, the public. Most labor unions don't have such a conflict; they are negotiating with private corporations.

School Districts Push For Teacher Pay Cuts During Contract Talks
By Ana Tintocalis
February 17, 2010

SAN DIEGO — The San Diego and Vista unified school districts are trying to negotiate new labor contracts with their teachers unions while they push for teacher pay cuts.

Crowds of teachers have disrupted San Diego and Vista school board meetings recently because of stalled contract negotiations and proposed budget cuts.

Teachers in both districts are angry officials want to cut their salary as their unions struggle to hammer out new labor contracts.

Vista Unified wants teachers to take a 2 percent pay cut and five furlough days. San Diego Unified is calling for an 8 percent pay cut.

The proposed cuts are making contract negotiations even more hostile. In fact, a state mediator is now leading talks in Vista.

Jim Groth is with the California Teachers Association. He says an increasing number of school districts are offering aggressive contract proposals so they can balance their budgets.

“Yes, we (teachers unions) are very aware of the economy and what is going on out there. But we want the districts to look at all options before they are going to make those cuts to the classroom.”

The Chula Vista Elementary School District is also considering pay cuts. All public school districts have to finalize their budgets by summer.

Demoted Sweetwater Schools Official Karen Janney Could Run

2010-02-03T22:17:00.000-08:00

See all Sweetwater Union High School District (SUHSD) posts.

Demoted Sweetwater Schools Official Could Run
February 3, 2010
Voice of San Diego

A popular school official who was jilted by Sweetwater Union High School District may vie for a spot on its board -- a move that could put her in charge of the superintendent who demoted her.

Karen Janney, formerly an assistant superintendent in Sweetwater, was demoted to a lower position which she declined, costing her job at Sweetwater last year. Her exit brought an outpouring of anger from longtime employees who praised her as a smart and caring leader and criticized Superintendent Jesus Gandara for the move.

Now she is exploring a run for the school board this fall. Janney filed an official statement of her intent to run at the end of January. She was reluctant to talk about her potential run.

"It's just so early," Janney said. "But I'm very strongly considering it. I feel like I could make a difference."

Sweetwater trustees are elected at large and can choose which seat to run for; Janney said she has not decided which school board member she wants to run against. Board members Jim Cartmill, Arlie Ricasa and Greg Sandoval are up for re-election this fall.

-- EMILY ALPERT

New Years Resolution for Mayor Cheryl Cox

2010-01-10T18:42:00.000-08:00

Bonnie Dumanis just got through insisting that the tax dollars wasted on her preposterous prosecution of Steve Castaneda were NOT spent to help her pal Cheryl Cox.

It looks like Cheryl and her friends have decided to use the resources of the City of Chula Vista to try to start a new prosecution. Angel Castillo and Jenna Anderson seem to be the pawns of some mystery person.

TEZOZOMOC SPEAKS
Jan 8, 2010
La Prensa
Es tiempo por New Year’s Resolutions:

For Mayor Cheryl Cox: the resolve to run for re-election based on her accomplishments and not on some out of town attorney digging up dirty on her main opponent… by the way, what is the running total on that bill. The LA attorney has been reviewing those Castañeda files for some time now… what is it, $200 dollars an hour??? Nothing brings a smile to an attorney, or a consultant, like an open check book.

Investigation of Castaneda moves forward
By Tanya Sierra, UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
January 8, 2010

CHULA VISTA — An outside attorney hired to look into allegations that Chula Vista Councilman and mayoral candidate Steve Castaneda violated campaign laws in 2004, 2006 and 2008 said yesterday she has verified proper procedures were followed to file the complaint and will now analyze the merits of the case.

Julia Sylva, who has been investigating the Castaneda complaint since November, said she verified that the man who filed the complaint is a Chula Vista resident.

The Chula Vista municipal code requires that a campaign contribution complaint be filed in writing and by a resident of the city. Now that the Los Angeles attorney has verified those details, she will delve into the allegations.

“It’s pretty complex,” she said yesterday without citing specifics. “I’m going to need at least a month.”

On Nov. 18, Angel T. Castillo, who once lived in the same Chula Vista condominium complex as Castaneda, filed a thick complaint against him.

Castillo has not returned multiple calls seeking an interview about his complaint, and the city has not released a copy.

Castaneda said he has not spoken with Castillo since 2003 and does not know why six years later he would file a complaint. “I don’t think I’ve even ever run into him since I moved out of that place,” Castaneda said.

He said he and Castillo were at odds over landscaping of the condominium complex they both lived in.

According to the city, there is no record of Castillo ever having made a public records request for Castaneda’s campaign statements or for any other public documents on file with the city.

One name that popped up seven times this year seeking information on Castaneda is Jenn Anderson of Chula Vista.

The only Anderson in Chula Vista of similar name in the same ZIP code is 23-year-old Jenna Anderson. When reached by phone yesterday, she denied that she was the one who made records requests.

“I’m just a college student,” she said.

Peg Myers makes interesting claims; CTA continues to oppose use of scores to evaluate teachers

2010-01-08T16:13:00.000-08:00

What is Peg Myers talking about? She relied on a tiny group of parents to justify the power of a tiny group of teachers to control principal after principal at Castle Park Elementary. CVESD Superintendent Lowell Billings reported at a board meeting that when he transferred Peg Myers, Robin Donlan, Nikki Perez and other members of the "Castle Park Family" out of the school, scores went up greatly.

Local Schools Weigh In On Reform Bill
January 6, 2010
Channel 10 News

SAN DIEGO -- The San Diego school system could be getting a major overhaul as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is expected to sign a bill that would give parents more power to control what happens in their child's school.

While the state Senate approved a bill that could qualify the state for $700 million in federal stimulus money, some educators and experts feel the changes may not be worth the money.

At a glance, Lincoln High School does not measure up to other schools in San Diego County. The school's overall academic performance rating is at 587.

"It's not until you crack the 750, 800 mark can you be considered one of the elites in the city," said Lincoln High School Principal Mel Collins.,

Lincoln High could be one of the schools targeted by a new bill aimed at reworking state schools. The bill would give parents the power to petition to make sweeping changes, including having a principal removed or closing a school if its performance is not up to certain standards.

Sweetwater Union High School District Superintendent Jesus Gandara told 10News, "If you give one group all that power to say, 'we want this principal out,' without teachers having a say, without management having a say, there's a problem there."

"It should be a collective decision made by a number of different entities," said Collins.

Peg Myers of the California Teachers Association said, "We actually have great results in our schools, and that's because we do work with the parents."

The California Teachers Association opposes the state's plan, which would also make it easier for parents to transfer their children to another school...

Ex-Chula Vista Elementary Aide To Be Sentenced For Molestation

2010-01-04T10:58:00.000-08:00

Ex-Chula Vista Elementary Aide To Be Sentenced For Molestation
Channel 10 News
Jan. 4, 2010

A former instructional aide with the Chula Vista Elementary School District who pleaded guilty to molesting a teenage girl was scheduled to be sentenced Monday.

Vincent Matthew Lopez, 47, is expected to be sentenced to a year in jail. The defendant was arrested in February after a 15-year-old relative called police to report that Lopez had sexually assaulted her.

Lopez was subsequently also charged with molesting another girl of similar age, said Deputy District Attorney Vanessa Duvall. Last month, he pleaded guilty to one count of committing a lewd act on a child.

Lopez, a part-time employee for the school district, was placed on administrative leave following his arrest. There were no indications that any of the assaults occurred at Halecrest and Tiffany elementary schools, where Lopez worked, authorities said.

In addition to 365 days in jail, Lopez will be ordered to have no contact with either victim for five years, Duvall said.

Jim Groth and Peg Myers avoid Castle Park Elementary when they welcome CTA vice president Dean Vogel to Chula Vista

2009-12-16T16:56:00.000-08:00

Dean Vogel

Former Chula Vista Educators president Jim Groth (now on CTA board of directors), and current CVE president Peggy Myers avoided Castle Park Elementary, where they had been involved in illegal actions that cost CTA a lot of money to cover up, when they took CTA vice president Dean Vogel on a guided tour of CVESD schools.

I met Dean Vogel a few years ago at Asilomar. He seems like a nice guy, but then Jim Groth also is a nice guy. In CTA, unfortunately, nice guys have to do what head counsel Beverly Tucker wants them to do, and that sometimes involves some pretty nasty stuff.

Who's in charge at CTA? Not the elected officials. I had to laugh a few years ago when Barbara Kerr, president of CTA, was named as the third most powerful person in California. Barbara ran herself ragged doing what she was told. She even changed her political party registration. It should have been Beverly Tucker who got the title. By contrast, the California Federation of Teachers actually has democratic elections for top officials.

At the October 20, 2009 board meeting Superintendent Lowell Billings thanked Peg Myers for conducting the limited-purpose tour.

25 Chicago middle school students jailed after food fight; lounge food fight by Chula Vista teachers

2009-11-11T17:15:00.000-08:00

A comparison of two food fights, a recent brawl by students in Chicago and a 1999 outburst by teachers belonging to the "Castle Park family":

It took two janitors over a week to clean walls and shampoo rugs and upholstered furniture in the teachers lounge at Castle Park Elementary School after a small group teachers went wild after the students left on the last day of school in 1999. (The teachers never reimbursed the taxpayers.) The teachers brought the leftovers from class parties to the lounge, including lots of fruit punch and whipped cream.

These teachers ruled the roost at the school, getting rid of principal after principal that didn't do what the "family" wanted. One principal acceded to so many demands for spending that he plunged the school deep into debt and was fired. Another allowed teachers to engage in so many jailable actions that the district ended up in court for years defending those teachers. Principal Ollie Matos was hired to get the teachers under control, but the teachers union, Chula Vista Educators, prevented him from doing so.

25 Chicago Students Arrested for a Middle-School Food Fight
New York Times
By SUSAN SAULNY
Published: November 10, 2009

CHICAGO — The food fight here started the way such bouts do in school lunchrooms most anywhere: an apple was tossed, a cookie turned into a torpedo, and an orange plunked someone in the head. Within minutes, dozens of middle-school students had joined in the ruckus, and spattered adults were ducking for cover.

By the end of the day, 25 of the students, ages 11 to 15, had been rounded up, arrested, taken from school and put in jail. A spokesman for the Chicago police said the charges were reckless conduct, a misdemeanor.

That was last Thursday afternoon. Now parents are questioning what seem to them like the criminalization of age-old adolescent pranks, and the lasting legal and psychological impact of the arrests.

“My children have to appear in court,” Erica Russell, the mother of two eighth-grade girls who spent eight hours in jail, said Tuesday. “They were handcuffed, slammed in a wagon, had their mug shots taken and treated like real criminals.”...

Chula Vista Elementary School District Aid Asks To Withdraw Guilty Plea In Molestation Case

2009-10-28T18:04:00.000-07:00

It's lucky this girl called the police. At Castle Park Elementary in 2001, two teachers reported a possible school shooting, and the district never investigated.

School Aid Asks To Change Plea In Molestation Case
Vincent Matthew Lopez Was Arrested In February
10 News
October 28, 2009

CHULA VISTA, Calif. -- A judge Wednesday appointed a new attorney for an ex- Chula Vista Elementary School District instructional aide who indicated he wants to withdraw his guilty plea to a charge of molesting a teenage girl.

South Bay Judge Timothy Walsh granted the motion by Vincent Matthew Lopez to replace his lawyer and scheduled a status conference for Tuesday.

A different judge was supposed to sentence Lopez to a year in jail.

The defendant was arrested last February, after a 15-year-old relative called police to report that Lopez had sexually assaulted her. Lopez was subsequently also charged with molesting another girl of similar age.

Last month, Lopez pleaded guilty to one count of committing a lewd act on a child.

The defendant, a part-time employee for the school district, was placed on administrative leave following his arrest. There were no indications that any of the assaults occurred at Halecrest and Tiffany elementary schools, where Lopez worked, authorities said.

If the defendant's motion to withdraw his guilty plea is denied, he will be sentenced to 365 days in custody and ordered to have no contact with both victims for five years, according to prosecutors.

Sandra Villegas Zuniga has replaced Tom Cruz as CVESD human resources director

2009-10-07T16:37:00.000-07:00

Matt Osborne analyzes the San Diego ACORN videos

2009-09-27T23:36:00.000-07:00

The following article includes videos of Juan Carlos Vera, Hannah Giles and James O'Keefe

ACORN San Diego: Mucha Dificultad Sobre Nada
by Matt Osborne
September 24, 2009

Today, I finally got around to watching the San Diego videos, and once again there's a Faux Edit™ going on. Apparently, that's a habit with filmmaker James O'Keefe, the "pimp" in these videos. The first minute is going to make you squirm, but then the video will start at the beginning and you'll get a completely different sense of context...

What ACORN worker Juan Carlos Vera really said: full transcript

2009-09-24T12:43:00.000-07:00

See all ACORN posts in this blog.
See all ACORN posts in San Diego Education Report blog.

In the dozen pages at the beginning of the transcript of the Giles-O'Keefe-Vera conversation at the National City ACORN office, the fake pimp-prostitute pair did all the talking about prostitution, and ACORN employee Juan Carlos Vera responded with "yeah" and "okay", as if he were taking it all in. But Juan Carlos' English isn't so great, and when he finally seemed to understand what was going on, he said he would consult with lawyers and contact the visitors by email. He even mentioned that he worked with prosecutors.

Throughout most of the conversation, Juan Carlos spoke at cross-purposes to the visitors, giving information about ACORN seminars.

On page 12 O'Keefe prompts Juan Carlos with suggestions about tax fraud. Juan Carlos continues to say "yeah", but his understanding of the questions is in doubt because he clarifies the issue by saying, "Because you need a house."

O'Keefe tries again to get Juan Carlos to agree that O'Keefe's tax fraud ideas are good, and Hannah also tries to get Juan Carlos to repeat what James has said. Juan Carlos responds, "I think it's good, too, because we have two lawyers working for our program--and if you're interested come to our seminar" (pages 12-13) Clearly, Juan Carlos is not on the same page as James O'Keefe and Hannah Giles.

On page 13 Juan Carlos goes on, "If you have your own business you need to prove your income."

On page 13 O'Keefe to Hannah, "...and the tax form is something so I'm explaining to him [Juan Carlos] is something you can classify not as prostitution but as performing arts. That way we can clear that first hurdle. We can declare all income."

Juan Carlos, as is his habit, responds with "yeah." But did he understand? Did he agree? Or was the "yeah" actually a reflex response to acknowledge that O'Keefe had said something and Juan Carlos was trying to keep up with the conversation? Fortunately, Juan Carlos explains his position clearly in the next exchange.

O'Keefe: Do you think that's something we can do?

Juan Carlos: The problem first time buyers is good because you never have a house before.

Clearly, we now know what Juan Carlos is trying to tell O'Keefe. He's trying to tell him how to buy a house.

Page 14

O'Keefe: Can this be a legitimate business? This prostitution?

Juan Carlos: You need to check...You need to check. You need to check. Because the program for first time buyers is for the people that never have a house.

O'Keefe says there will be 12 underage girls. [I doubt that a limited speaker is going to understand the word "underage." It's not usually found in your beginning English instruction. The word was probably Greek to Juan Carlos. Also, I don't remember seeing the word "prostitution" in beginning English instruction.]

Juan Carlos says: they gonna be probably 4 or 5 persons. [Juan Carlos is clearly not in sync with the idea of twelve girls.]

Hannah asks, "Could they be like my sisters or something like that?" [Of course your sisters can live with you, Hannah!]

O'Keefe: Could we get a child tax credit for them? Claim them as dependents?

Juan Carlos: Yeah. [My guess is that Juan Carlos thought they were talking about actual siblings.]

For the next few pages Hannah and O'Keefe do all the talking again, and Juan Carlos responds with his usual rote response of "okay."

Page 19

Juan Carlos understands that El Salvadoran girls are coming: "What day are they coming?" He is told they'll come on Saturday.

But Juan Carlos has a feeling that these people have wandered into the wrong office.

Juan Carlos: So you never heard for this organization? ACORN?...Okay, let's do this. Let me see, let me see anything about it. See and let me contact to you. Because this program is, this Saturday happen?

But O'Keefe doesn't want to be contacted later, he wants to talk about it now. Juan Carlos tries to get an email address, but doesn't succeed until page 23.

On page 21 the talk turns to where each of them comes from. O'Keefe is from back east, which, Juan Carlos notes, is too cold. Juan Carlos is from Mexico City, and he is a lawyer in Mexico.

On page 24 Juan Carlos says, "...I want to call you tomorrow." [I think that's what I'd say, too, in an effort to get rid of these bizarre people.]

Pages 25-26

Juan Carlos wants to explain that lawyers will be involved: "...dis is you say private...I ah because we work before with the lawyers."...

O'Keefe: You're working with the prosecutors?

Juan Carlos: Yeah.

O'Keefe: Well then that's not good.

Juan Carlos:...I think we want to send an email to you.

Hannah: Honestly I don't feel very comfortable right now. I just gave you a bunch of information and I don't know if we trust you like...

Juan Carlos: No, we help people. [Juan Carlos is trying to get information about Hannah and O'Keefe, not scare them away.]

Page 27

Juan Carlos tries to get a location for where the girls will be on Saturday. He recommends that the girls go to Tijuana where Juan Carlos has a lot of contacts. [My guess is that he wants to help the girls, to prevent them from falling under the control of unscrupulous people like Hannah and O'Keefe.]

Page 28

[Now we find out how much Juan Carlos understood of the earlier conversation.]

O'Keefe: There's twelve girls but they're like there's like thirteen to fifteen years old.

Juan Carlos: Oh, yeah?...I want to contact you now only for email.

Hannah and O'Keefe keep talking, but Juan Carlos no longer responds with his reflexive "yeah". Instead he repeats, "I going to contact you by email."

O'Keefe apples pressure: Just give me your cell phone number.

Juan Carlos complies, but says, "Well it's better I can send you an email."

Minister Doug Giles is a proud dad to pretend-prostitute Hannah Giles

2009-09-23T12:16:00.000-07:00

Doug earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Texas Tech University and studied for his Master of Arts in Christianity and Culture from Knox Theological Seminary.

See all ACORN posts.

See all ACORN posts in San Diego Education Report blog.

Jim Groth and Peg Myers antics continue at Chula Vista Educators; bizarre election results announced more than 3 months late

2009-09-22T21:04:00.000-07:00

Now I understand why Peg Myers and Jim Groth didn't want to release the Chula Vista Educators election results in June. What kind of election is it when you end up with two empty positions before you even announce the results?

See all posts about Peg Myers.

President 09-11
State Council 09-12
Peggie Myers
Full-Release

Vice President 09-11
Tim Kriss
Salt Creek Elementary

Treasurer 09-11
Kathleen Fernandez
Rosebank

Secretary 09-11
OPEN POSITION

[Barbara Dunwoodie ran unopposed for this position. What's up with the open position? Dunwoodie is still teaching at Hilltop Elementary with Robin Donlan.]

Area Director A 08-10
Maureen McNair
Veterans

Area Director B 08-10
Norma Pacheco Davis
Los Altos

Area Director C 08-10
OPEN POSITION

[The above position was held by Tim Kriss, who is now vice-president. When I heard a rumor that a close friend and Salt Creek Elementary colleague of Tim Kriss was going to replace him, I wrote to Peg Myers asking if this were true. Instead of answering me, Peg apparently got her pals up in Burlingame to demand that Google censor my blog. Why is this such a touchy subject?]

Area Director D 08-10
Jayme Rodgers
Liberty

Area Director E 08-10
Jenna Ritchey
Juarez-Lincoln

Bargaining Chair
Susan Skala
Vista Square
State Council 08-11

Jennefer Porch
Juarez-Lincoln
State Council 07-10

Jim Groth
CTA Board

ACORN says that Hannah Giles and pal O'Keefe committed a felony; videotaping pair seems confident of large defense fund from conservatives

2009-09-22T14:03:00.000-07:00

A lawsuit filed by ACORN?

“Bring it on,” secret videotaper James O’Keefe said on Fox News. It sounds like he's already got a large war chest to help him get away with a crime.

See detailed analysis of transcript of Juan Carlos Vera/Giles/O'Keefe.

ACORN mulls suit against Fox News
By MICHAEL FALCONE
Politico
9/14/09

Facing intensifying scrutiny after the release of several disturbing hidden camera videos, the community organizing group, ACORN, is threatening to sue Fox News, the website Breitbart.com and the two conservative activists who produced the exposes.

ACORN is alleging that the filmmakers committed a felony by shooting the footage of ACORN employees in the act of providing advice on how to falsify tax forms and set-up a child prostitution business—to a man and a woman posing as a pimp and a prostitute.

A lawyer for ACORN said Monday that statutes in Maryland and the District of Columbia made the undercover filming illegal and that the same laws should prohibit the rebroadcast of the tapes by the Web site BigGovernment.com, where they were first posted last week, and on Fox News, which aired clips of the videos.

BigGovernment.com, which launched last Wednesday, is a project of Andrew Breitbart, the founder of Breitbart.com. The videos show James O’Keefe, a conservative activist, and Hannah Giles, who is listed as a contributor on the right-leaning website, TownHall.com, visiting ACORN offices in Baltimore and Brooklyn and an ACORN Housing Corporation branch in Washington, D.C.

“It is clear that the videos are doctored, edited, and in no way the result of the fabricated story being portrayed by conservative activist ‘filmmaker’ O’Keefe and his partner in crime,’ ACORN chief organizer Bertha Lewis said in a statement over the weekend. “And, in fact, a crime it was—our lawyers believe a felony—and we will be taking legal action against Fox and their co-conspirators.”

After the videos surfaced two ACORN employees in Baltimore and two others at the Washington office of the off-shoot housing corporation, a separate organization, were fired.

“I cannot and I will not defend the actions of the workers depicted in the video,” Lewis said in her statement. She added that the “scam,” was also attempted but failed at other ACORN offices in San Diego, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, and Philadelphia.

Breitbart said Monday that the release of a new video from Brooklyn disproved ACORN’s claims that the activists made failed attempts in other cities.

“ACORN was wrong in their initial defense that it succeeded in only one place because obviously it worked in a second and third place,” he said. “Their defense is as hapless as the behavior witnessed on those videos. This is clearly an organization in internal turmoil over James and Hannah’s exposure. The longer that the mainstream media ignores this massive story, the more that ACORN has to accumulate data in order to form a line of attack to annihilate the messenger.”

Arthur Schwartz, a lawyer for ACORN, said he planned to file a lawsuit in federal court in Baltimore on Thursday against O’Keefe and Giles that would “probably” also include Breitbart.com and Fox News...

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0909/27139.html#ixzz0Rs6AuekK

This couple didn't set up Newt Gingrich, but were criminally charged for secret recording

2009-09-21T13:44:00.000-07:00

See all ACORN posts.

Florida Couple Are Charged In Taping of Gingrich Call
New York Times
By JERRY GRAY
April 24, 1997

The Justice Department today filed charges against a Florida couple who said they had intercepted and recorded a conference call last December among Speaker Newt Gingrich and other Republican leaders.

The Federal authorities in Jacksonville, Fla., announced this afternoon that the couple, John and Alice Martin, had been charged with an infraction, violating the Communications Privacy Act by using a radio scanner to intercept the radio portion of the conversation. It is the mildest criminal charge the couple could face in the case and carries a maximum penalty of a $5,000 fine.

The Government said the Martins had agreed to plead guilty to the charges, and said the couple would cooperate with a continuing investigation into how a recording of the conversation wound up in the hands of a New York Times reporter.

The conversation the Martins taped took place on the same day Mr. Gingrich admitted he had violated House ethics rules by failing to get adequate legal advice on the use of tax-exempt money and then giving the House ethics committee inaccurate information in its investigation. During the call, the Speaker and several colleagues discussed how best to handle the political fallout of the ethics charges.

http://www.nytimes.com/1997/04/24/us/florida-couple-are-charged-in-taping-of-gingrich-call.html

Hello to turnaround guru Harborside principal Matthew Tessier...Goodbye to Union Tribune reporter Chris Moran

2009-09-20T21:26:00.000-07:00

Tessier has done exactly what I have long suggested: carefully evaluated teachers. This is a terrific reform, but it could be abused. I suggest that evaluations be supplemented with observations by out-of-district professionals.

Principal gets credit for turning schools around
Chula Vista's Tessier got one out of U.S. sanctions
By Chris Moran
San Diego Union-Tribune Staff Writer
September 19, 2009

Chula Vista's Harborside Elementary was in pieces when he arrived as its principal two years ago. The school next to a mobile-home park in an impoverished neighborhood had failed to reach federal benchmarks for so long that the menu of remedies included shutting it down.

But Tessier, 35, is a turnaround specialist.

Before he arrived at Harborside, Tessier had done what only a few dozen principals in the county had ever done: He led a school — Loma Verde Elementary — safely out of federal sanctions with two consecutive years of dramatically improved test scores...

Profile Matthew Tessier

Age: 35

Education: Bachelor's in communicative disorders and a master's in educational leadership from San Diego State University

Experience: Teacher, five years; assistant principal, two years; principal, four years

Family: Wife, Alma; daughters — Gabriela, 8, Alixandra, 5, and Tristan, 2

GOODBYE TO CHRIS MORAN, EDUCATION REPORTER AT SAN DIEGO UNION TRIBUNE

What is it about Houston?
Voice of San Diego
by Emily Alpert

...Chris Moran, longtime education reporter at the Union-Tribune, is leaving the paper after 12 years to go to Houston. He's not following Superintendent Terry Grier -- he's following his wife, who got a new job.

Moran did some remarkable reporting in his time with the newspaper, where he was most recently assigned to cover schools and colleges in the South Bay. He has an amazing human touch with complex stories -- and I hear he is also a superstar mentor.

Good luck Chris.

Juan Carlos Vera Says Statements In Video Were 'Taken Out Of Context'

2009-09-18T19:41:00.000-07:00

See details of actual transcript of Giles-O'Keefe-Vera conversation.

Hannah Giles, 20, (left) apparently does a very convincing imitation of a prostitute. And the most fun part of Hannah's illegally-videotaped deception was that she managed to drag several ACORN workers into her fantasy. She elicited the sympathy of Juan Carlos Vera by telling him she "needed to escape her controlling pimp, who wouldn't let her start a new life."

See all ACORN posts in this blog.
See all ACORN posts in San Diego Education Report blog.

One commenter notes:

Playing devil's advocate, I could see the man wanting to collect as much information as possible if he had the intention of turning James and Hannah in to law enforcement. He did get James' cell phone number, collected details about times and places, and could have easily set them up. So it should be a simple matter to determine if the man reported the trafficking James and Hannah were attempting to engage in to the responsible authorities (he does, after all, make a claim about working with the district attorneys)...

Maura Larkins' response:

It turned out that Mr. Vera did report the incident to the police.

Furthermore, I just watched the videos, and it looks to me that Mr. Vera is trying to get information about the location where the "underage Salvadoran girls" will be so that the police could get involved. If you look at Mr. Vera's body language as he talks to the couple, you can see that he is feeling very uncomfortable with them, and seems to be reluctant to talk to them. However, as they are leaving and they ask if he will tell the police about them, he tries to be more friendly, to get them to come back or at least stay in touch. He urges them to trust him. Afterward, he went to the police and reported the incident. He also clearly states that he is not interested in being Hannah's client. It seems clear that he is interested in helping her and the Salvadoran girls, not helping the pimp. He seems to be trying to get the pimp arrested.

ACORN Worker Fired After Appearance In Undercover Video
Juan Carlos Vera Says Statements In Video Were 'Taken Out Of Context'
September 17, 2009
10news.com

SAN DIEGO -- A San Diego ACORN employee who appeared to give human-smuggling advice to a pimp and prostitute in an undercover video made by conservative filmmakers has been fired, 10News' Juliette Vara reported.

ACORN's David Lagstein issued the following statement regarding Vera:

After release of the second San Diego video by the unscrupulous partisan videographers, we have reevaluated our assessment of the incident that occurred last month. No paperwork was filed, but the video reflects unacceptable conduct that contradicts the earlier statements of ACORN Organizer Juan Carlos Vera. He has been terminated. San Diego ACORN and ACORN offices around the country are continuing to halt our service programs pending the results of the evaluation of the independent Advisory Council and we are continuing to fight on our campaigns: stopping foreclosures, affordable, accessible health care, and a strong education for all children.

In a press conference Thursday at ACORN's National City headquarters, Vera said statements he made in the video were taken out of context.

The now-former ACORN worker said he was merely trying to help the pair because he thought they were in danger.

"I never done anything wrong in my life," Vera said. "They destroyed my family."

In the footage filmed in July, filmmaker James O'Keefe and his partner, Hannah Giles, posed as a pimp and prostitute, and asked Vera for housing help.

O'Keefe is heard in the video saying, "I want to buy a house and this is my girlfriend, and she's a prostitute."

Vera said he was told the woman needed to escape her controlling pimp, who wouldn't let her start a new life.

Immediately, Vera said he offered to call the police but the filmmaker quickly stopped him.

"Don't call the police because I'm gonna be a lawyer," O'Keefe said in the video...

James O'Keefe

James O'Keefe [James E. O’Keefe III, 25] is an activist filmmaker. He credits include the "Bailout Prize Patrol" produced for Right.Org in 2009. He also directed, scripted, produced and acted in a series of undercover videos showcasing racism and statutory rape at Planned Parenthood in 2007 and 2008.

Before that he served as Publications Coordinator at the Leadership Institute, where he helped initiate 22 independent newspapers and magazines on college campuses nationwide. He also gave lectures on campus strategy and fundraising, preaching the gospel of Saul Alinsky...

His work has been featured on CNN and Fox News...

[Maura Larkins comment: Apparently anti-ACORN forces are outraged that Mexican nationals were buying homes in the U.S. It's okay if Chinese, Russian and Saudi Arabian citizens buy homes and property here, but not Mexicans?]

New principal Lee Romero at Montgomery High School in Otay is under pressure to raise scores

2009-09-02T16:35:00.000-07:00

The Battle for Montgomery High
By EMILY ALPERT
Aug. 30, 2009
Montgomery High School does not feel like a school in trouble. It is a seemingly ordinary school south of the Otay Valley Park, ringed by modest homes and big box stores...

And yet Montgomery has become a battleground for Sweetwater Union High School District. It had the lowest test scores among all the South County high schools last year, even lower than neighboring schools with far higher poverty levels than Montgomery, where roughly one-third of students are impoverished and one-third are learning English...

The pressure is on to turn Montgomery around. It has been under the microscope for the last three years to ramp up its state scores this year or face added penalties. Montgomery was one of six Sweetwater schools to accept state money in exchange for extra accountability for its test scores. It is the only school that faltered, its scores essentially flattening over the past four years.

That could have big consequences. If the scores do not rise, the state board of education could decide to take over the school, sending someone to work alongside or replace the principal. Teachers invoke the idea that Montgomery could transfer them away...

[Maura Larkins' comment: Why do do many teachers abhor the idea of a transfer? Because teaching staffs are often similar to high school cliques. There is the fear of not fitting in.]

So Sweetwater made some big changes. It yanked the principal and brought in a new one, Lee Romero, to turn the school around this year. He is pushing teachers to make common tests and to stay at the same pace. And it scrapped the old schedule of four quarters with four classes each and replaced it with a more traditional schedule, arguing that the old calendar sometimes hurt struggling students who only took English or math for half of the school year or ended up spending less time at school entirely.

That, in turn, angered the teachers union, which contends that the schedule needed to be negotiated. Romero said that Montgomery had no time to wait. The tests and penalties hang over his mind...