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Wednesday, November 11, 2009
OUSD Staff recommends new cuts
ORANGE Unified Schools INSIDE
a news service of Orange Net News /O/N/N/
Independent insight into OUSD
As California Budget crisis continues….
OUSD Staff recommends new cuts
The Orange Unified School District continues to deal with the $32 million three year budget shortfall caused by the current California Budget Crisis. Dealing with the continued state driven budgetary crisis that will cause a projected 9 million dollar budget shortfall in the 2010-2011 school year, at the October 29th Orange Unified School District School Board Meeting, OUSD Assistant Superintendent of Administrative Services Mike Christensen presented a laundry list of possible cuts that the OUSD Administration is currently studying. Those further needed cuts included the following possibilities: the elimination of district busing support funds for high sports programs and the GATE program: class size increases in elementary and high school levels; elimination of the Elementary Instrumental Music Program and elementary summer school; and the closing of 1 of the remaining 4 small schools-Riverdale Elementary. Staff reductions also under consideration are high school assistant principal secretaries; the third high school assistant principal; elementary library media technicians and custodial staffing cuts; and increasing class size ratios.
Unlike past less severe budget crisis, current OUSD Superintendent Dr. Renae Dreier has actively sought input from administrators, teachers, employees, students, parents and community members in addressing the crisis. Her solution oriented approach has paid off in big buy-ins from the community at-large and the local teachers and used the budget crisis to forge an almost unified community front to the crisis. Taking the lead to model cuts, she has slashed her own offices workers, budget, and frills and amended her own contract for a two percent cut that she asked all district employees take. In her short time as OUSD Superintendent, Dreier single handedly has created an atmosphere of shared sacrifice after years of out-of-control spending by former OUSD Superintendent Dr. Thomas Godley who retired in controversy by taking a retirement package after boosting his own pay several times.
Needing to cut $ 4.5 million in additional cuts over the coming two budget years, items form the October 29th possible cuts list will be presented as real figures for the OUSD Board at the November 12, 2009 OUSD School Board Meeting when staff presents recommended cuts with budget figures attached as Information Item 13 A (Agenda Page 4). Final consideration and a vote on the staff recommended cuts will take place at the December 10, 2009 OUSD Board Meeting.
Canyon Transfer Impact Report at the November 12, 2009 Meeting
The OUSD Staff will present an Information Report (13 B agenda page 5) on the impact of the proposed territory transfer of the Inter-Canyon Leagues request for transfer of the canyon communities to the Saddleback Unified School District. Parents of students at the now closed Silverado Elementary School are spearheading the transfer of the canyon communities to Saddleback Unified despite the fact that all inter-district student transfers to Saddleback Unified have been approved by OUSD since the closing of Silverado Elementary School.
Another Charter School Petition
Just after the OUSD Board rejected a “spam” charter attempt at the October 29, 2009 OUSD Board Meeting, the district has received another application for a charter school and will be required to again hold a public hearing and spend valuable staff time investigating the application. Action Item 12 A (agenda page 3) is a vote to hold a public hearing on the Barack H. Obama Leadership Academy Charter School application at the December 10, 2009 Board Meeting.
INSIDE Community Donations to OUSD Schools
Canyon H.S. ASB- $4000 in pay stipends for Girls Tennis and Water Polo; Serrano PFO- $851 in floor savers; Tustin Lexus-$3,650 in supplies to Serrano Elementary; Chapman Hills PTA-$347 paint and timers; Office Max - $1,000 in school supplies to California Elementary; Orange Education Foundation- 1,200 hand Avant Hand 16 oz hand sanitizers to all OUSD classrooms. (for a complete list of the $14,600in donations see page 7-8 of the Agenda).
INSIDE the OUSD Budget
INSIDE’s EDUCATIONAL TAX DOLLARS WATCH 2009:
Total $1,041,000
2009 Attorney Fee Tally:
11/13/08 Parker & Covert (for 1/09 -6/09) $ 200,000
3/12/09 Atkinson, Andelson, Loya (Sp. Ed) $ 50,000
3/12/09 Parker & Covert (Special Ed) $ 98,000
6/18/09 Parker & Covert (09-10) $ 400,000
6/18/09 Parker & Covert (Special Ed) $ 200,000
6/18/09 Parker & Covert (property) $ 55,000
6/18/09 Atkinson, Andelson, Loya (property)$ 35,000
Total $1,038,000
2009 Consultant/ Speaker Fee Tally:
01/24/09 Leadership Associates Consultants $ 3,000
2009 TOTAL $1,041,000
Former Superintendent Godley’s Retirement Bonus running total (beginning 8/2008):
$18,150.00*
* The Godley Retirement Bonus presented here is an estimate of the amount in “bonus retirement” accrued since the Superintendent’s retirement on 6/30/08 using a 6% lifetime formula calculated here at $1210 a month since 8/08. The actual retirement plan the former OUSD Superintendent opted to take is not public information and the figures presented are only as an estimate of the taxpayer costs after the OUSD trustees voted against an amendment to exclude Godley from the retirement program. The on-going estimated figure is presented as a reminder to the community of the high cost in educational tax dollars the OUSD Board vote to allow the former Superintendent to participate in the 6% retirement incentive cost the OUSD education community in tax dollars. Godley retired from OUSD on June 30, 2008 after he worked for the school district for a little over five years.
Total for Watched Tax Dollars approved in 2008: $901,200
2008 Attorney Fee Tally:
6/19/08 Parker & Covert $ 60,000
6/05/08 Miller, Brown & Dannis $ 40,000
6/05/08 Parker & Covert $150,000
6/05/08 Parker & Covert $200,000
2/07/08 Parker & Covert $100,000
11/15/07 Parker & Covert (for 1/08 to 6/08) $200,000
$750,000
2008 Consultant/ Speaker Fee Tally:
11/13/08 Subs for SDCDE (Reading First) $24,000
11/13/08 SDCDE (Reading First) $30,000
10/30/08 Dr. Willard Daggett (ICLE) $ 4,500
10/16/08 Dr. Parker 40 pt Consultant $ 4,200
9/25/08 Visual Ink for Sadler Consultant <$ 6,600> CANCELED in 2009
9/25/08 Bob Sadler Consultant Fee $ 8,500
9/25/08 Candace Simpson-Sadler Helper $ 5,500
7/24/08 Dr. Parker 40 pt Consultant $ 10,000
4/17/08 Dr. Kenneth Stichter Speaker Fee $ 6,500
3/7/08 Dr. Kathleen Weigel Speaker Fee $ 8,000
Consultant Total $ 101, 200
2008 TOTAL $ 901,200
Total for Watched Tax Dollars approved in 2007: $704,090.00**
2007 Administrative Conference/Travel: hidden since 6/8/06**
**JUNE 8th, 2006 Trustees VOTE to Give OUSD Superintendent the power to APPROVE Travel Requests taking this item OUT of the PUBLIC AGENDA
Total for Watched Tax Dollars approved in 2006: $849,717.00*
2006 Administrative Conference/Travel: Total $ 18,317 *
* JUNE 8th, 2006 Trustees VOTE to Give OUSD Superintendent the power to
APPROVE OUSD Travel Requests taking this item OUT of the PUBLIC AGENDA
Total for Watched Tax Dollars approved in 2005: $978,300.00:
Next OUSD Board Meeting Thursday November 12, 2009 -OUSD BOARD ROOM
For AGENDA-CLICK ON NOV 12
CLOSED SESSION- 6:00 pm
OUSD Regular Session: 7:00 pm
For more information call the OUSD Superintendent’s office at 714-628-4040
For budgeting questions call Business Services at 714-628-4015
ORANGE Unified Schools INSIDE Independent insight into OUSD
is an independent news service of /O/N/N/
“Independent Local Insight”
a news service of Orange Net News /O/N/N/
Independent insight into OUSD
As California Budget crisis continues….
OUSD Staff recommends new cuts
The Orange Unified School District continues to deal with the $32 million three year budget shortfall caused by the current California Budget Crisis. Dealing with the continued state driven budgetary crisis that will cause a projected 9 million dollar budget shortfall in the 2010-2011 school year, at the October 29th Orange Unified School District School Board Meeting, OUSD Assistant Superintendent of Administrative Services Mike Christensen presented a laundry list of possible cuts that the OUSD Administration is currently studying. Those further needed cuts included the following possibilities: the elimination of district busing support funds for high sports programs and the GATE program: class size increases in elementary and high school levels; elimination of the Elementary Instrumental Music Program and elementary summer school; and the closing of 1 of the remaining 4 small schools-Riverdale Elementary. Staff reductions also under consideration are high school assistant principal secretaries; the third high school assistant principal; elementary library media technicians and custodial staffing cuts; and increasing class size ratios.
Unlike past less severe budget crisis, current OUSD Superintendent Dr. Renae Dreier has actively sought input from administrators, teachers, employees, students, parents and community members in addressing the crisis. Her solution oriented approach has paid off in big buy-ins from the community at-large and the local teachers and used the budget crisis to forge an almost unified community front to the crisis. Taking the lead to model cuts, she has slashed her own offices workers, budget, and frills and amended her own contract for a two percent cut that she asked all district employees take. In her short time as OUSD Superintendent, Dreier single handedly has created an atmosphere of shared sacrifice after years of out-of-control spending by former OUSD Superintendent Dr. Thomas Godley who retired in controversy by taking a retirement package after boosting his own pay several times.
Needing to cut $ 4.5 million in additional cuts over the coming two budget years, items form the October 29th possible cuts list will be presented as real figures for the OUSD Board at the November 12, 2009 OUSD School Board Meeting when staff presents recommended cuts with budget figures attached as Information Item 13 A (Agenda Page 4). Final consideration and a vote on the staff recommended cuts will take place at the December 10, 2009 OUSD Board Meeting.
Canyon Transfer Impact Report at the November 12, 2009 Meeting
The OUSD Staff will present an Information Report (13 B agenda page 5) on the impact of the proposed territory transfer of the Inter-Canyon Leagues request for transfer of the canyon communities to the Saddleback Unified School District. Parents of students at the now closed Silverado Elementary School are spearheading the transfer of the canyon communities to Saddleback Unified despite the fact that all inter-district student transfers to Saddleback Unified have been approved by OUSD since the closing of Silverado Elementary School.
Another Charter School Petition
Just after the OUSD Board rejected a “spam” charter attempt at the October 29, 2009 OUSD Board Meeting, the district has received another application for a charter school and will be required to again hold a public hearing and spend valuable staff time investigating the application. Action Item 12 A (agenda page 3) is a vote to hold a public hearing on the Barack H. Obama Leadership Academy Charter School application at the December 10, 2009 Board Meeting.
INSIDE Community Donations to OUSD Schools
Canyon H.S. ASB- $4000 in pay stipends for Girls Tennis and Water Polo; Serrano PFO- $851 in floor savers; Tustin Lexus-$3,650 in supplies to Serrano Elementary; Chapman Hills PTA-$347 paint and timers; Office Max - $1,000 in school supplies to California Elementary; Orange Education Foundation- 1,200 hand Avant Hand 16 oz hand sanitizers to all OUSD classrooms. (for a complete list of the $14,600in donations see page 7-8 of the Agenda).
INSIDE the OUSD Budget
INSIDE’s EDUCATIONAL TAX DOLLARS WATCH 2009:
Total $1,041,000
2009 Attorney Fee Tally:
11/13/08 Parker & Covert (for 1/09 -6/09) $ 200,000
3/12/09 Atkinson, Andelson, Loya (Sp. Ed) $ 50,000
3/12/09 Parker & Covert (Special Ed) $ 98,000
6/18/09 Parker & Covert (09-10) $ 400,000
6/18/09 Parker & Covert (Special Ed) $ 200,000
6/18/09 Parker & Covert (property) $ 55,000
6/18/09 Atkinson, Andelson, Loya (property)$ 35,000
Total $1,038,000
2009 Consultant/ Speaker Fee Tally:
01/24/09 Leadership Associates Consultants $ 3,000
2009 TOTAL $1,041,000
Former Superintendent Godley’s Retirement Bonus running total (beginning 8/2008):
$18,150.00*
* The Godley Retirement Bonus presented here is an estimate of the amount in “bonus retirement” accrued since the Superintendent’s retirement on 6/30/08 using a 6% lifetime formula calculated here at $1210 a month since 8/08. The actual retirement plan the former OUSD Superintendent opted to take is not public information and the figures presented are only as an estimate of the taxpayer costs after the OUSD trustees voted against an amendment to exclude Godley from the retirement program. The on-going estimated figure is presented as a reminder to the community of the high cost in educational tax dollars the OUSD Board vote to allow the former Superintendent to participate in the 6% retirement incentive cost the OUSD education community in tax dollars. Godley retired from OUSD on June 30, 2008 after he worked for the school district for a little over five years.
Total for Watched Tax Dollars approved in 2008: $901,200
2008 Attorney Fee Tally:
6/19/08 Parker & Covert $ 60,000
6/05/08 Miller, Brown & Dannis $ 40,000
6/05/08 Parker & Covert $150,000
6/05/08 Parker & Covert $200,000
2/07/08 Parker & Covert $100,000
11/15/07 Parker & Covert (for 1/08 to 6/08) $200,000
$750,000
2008 Consultant/ Speaker Fee Tally:
11/13/08 Subs for SDCDE (Reading First) $24,000
11/13/08 SDCDE (Reading First) $30,000
10/30/08 Dr. Willard Daggett (ICLE) $ 4,500
10/16/08 Dr. Parker 40 pt Consultant $ 4,200
9/25/08 Visual Ink for Sadler Consultant <$ 6,600> CANCELED in 2009
9/25/08 Bob Sadler Consultant Fee $ 8,500
9/25/08 Candace Simpson-Sadler Helper $ 5,500
7/24/08 Dr. Parker 40 pt Consultant $ 10,000
4/17/08 Dr. Kenneth Stichter Speaker Fee $ 6,500
3/7/08 Dr. Kathleen Weigel Speaker Fee $ 8,000
Consultant Total $ 101, 200
2008 TOTAL $ 901,200
Total for Watched Tax Dollars approved in 2007: $704,090.00**
2007 Administrative Conference/Travel: hidden since 6/8/06**
**JUNE 8th, 2006 Trustees VOTE to Give OUSD Superintendent the power to APPROVE Travel Requests taking this item OUT of the PUBLIC AGENDA
Total for Watched Tax Dollars approved in 2006: $849,717.00*
2006 Administrative Conference/Travel: Total $ 18,317 *
* JUNE 8th, 2006 Trustees VOTE to Give OUSD Superintendent the power to
APPROVE OUSD Travel Requests taking this item OUT of the PUBLIC AGENDA
Total for Watched Tax Dollars approved in 2005: $978,300.00:
Next OUSD Board Meeting Thursday November 12, 2009 -OUSD BOARD ROOM
For AGENDA-CLICK ON NOV 12
CLOSED SESSION- 6:00 pm
OUSD Regular Session: 7:00 pm
For more information call the OUSD Superintendent’s office at 714-628-4040
For budgeting questions call Business Services at 714-628-4015
ORANGE Unified Schools INSIDE Independent insight into OUSD
is an independent news service of /O/N/N/
“Independent Local Insight”
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
OUSD to deny Global Tides “Spam” Charter School
ORANGE Unified Schools INSIDE
a news service of Orange Net News /O/N/N/
Independent insight into OUSD
OUSD to deny Global Tides “Spam” Charter School
In a scathing 14 page Board of Education Resolution, the Orange Unified School Board will reject the Charter School Petition of Global Tides for the Orange County Charter School at their October 29, 2009 regular OUSD Board Meeting. Action Agenda Item 12 A (pages 3-21) on the OUSD Board of Education October 29 Agenda has a staff recommendation denying the application on three of five legally required areas and notes that at the September 9 OUSD Board Meeting at a legally required Public Hearing no speakers, including anyone from any of the organizations involved in the proposal, spoke at the hearing. The unprecedented Agenda recommendation also noted that five OUSD administrative offices spent time working on the legally required review of the application: Administrative Services; Educational Services; Human Resources; Pupil Services; and the Superintendent’s Office.
The Resolution, which reads more like an indictment of facts, cites the fact that Charter School Development Systems, one of a web of players involved in application that are named in the Resolution, has filed 91 similar petitions across the state. The “partner” of Charter Schools Development Systems is named in the Resolution as Ed Futures Inc., a for-profit California corporation. The Resolution reveals the investigations about both entities claims and cites experiences with the firms from other school districts across the state including Long Beach Unified. Following the Resolution in the Agenda are four pages of a 16 page report on the Ed Futures charter schools in Oakland Unified. In an emailed review of the Resolution for its members the local watchdog group the Greater Orange Communities Organization praised the OUSD staff report for its veracity as it blasted the “spam application” tactics used by the Ed Futures Inc. and its partners:
“…again valuable local resources are being targeted by Edu-businesses intent on spending local educational tax dollars to line their for-profit pockets without regards to the educational missions of our schools. The GoCo directors applaud the Dreier Administration’s local quick and effective response to the spam application from Charter School Development Systems’ latest example of educational funding waste and fraud. We can only hope that the Dreier Administration diligence on taxpayer asset protection is as vigorous and their research is as diligent when state funds return to the district and educational consultants again line up to feed at the educational tax fund coffers.”
-Greater Orange Communities Organization email 9/26/09
Located in Newport Beach, Charter School Development Systems filed charter school petitions for an "internet" based charter school with all of the unified school districts in 14 carefully selected California counties: Alameda, Calaveras, Kern, Madera, Orange, Placer, Plumas, Riverside, San Benito, San Diego, Siskiyou, Sonoma, Tehama and Yolo. Under state law, an approved charter school can accept students from the county in which the charter was granted, as well as from adjacent counties. The Charter School Development Systems website offers this example: “If one of the eight districts in Kern County were to charter our online, K-12 charter school, then we would have the ability to enroll students from Kern, San Luis Obispo, Kings, Tulare, Inyo, San Bernardino, Los Angeles, Ventura, and Santa Barbara counties” because all of those counties share a border with Kern County. The Charter School Development Systems petitions which were filed with 91 different school districts were signed by the same six teachers and in each case contain identical language describing the proposed charter school program. The goal of Charter School Development Systems is to establish an online K-12 charter school program that could enroll students in any part of the state. If Charter School Development Systems is successful in getting a charter from at least one school district in each of the 14 counties where it has filed petitions, they could then enroll a student anywhere in California.
To receive a statewide benefit charter from the California State Board of Education, Charter School Development Systems needs to establish a three-year track record and prove that students across California would benefit from their schools. Charter School Development Systems is the first group to ever try this tactic and nothing in state law currently prevents groups from filing so many applications at once. The tactic will cost hundreds of thousands of dollars in educational tax dollars in school district's staff time alone across the state.
For more information CLICK ON: Charter School Development Systems
and Ed Futures Inc
OUSD Budget Update on October 29, 2009
At the October 15, 2009 OUSD Board Meeting staff presented a bleak report on the district’s future budget outlooks due to the continuing fiscal crisis (see link to presentation below). The multi-year budget predictions identify $16 million reductions in the fiscal years of 2010-2011 and 2011-2012. Potential budget cuts will be presented in a staff report Budget Update as Informational Item 13 B. A preliminary budget with cuts will be voted on at the OUSD December 10th Meeting. For more information CLICK ON: OCTOBER OUSD BUDGET
INSIDE Community Donations
Target Corporation $56.27 for supplies-Fairhaven E.S.; Mc Pherson ASB $1,800 for drama stipend-Mc Pherson Magnet; Serrano PFO $872 for Carnival rubbish cans- Serrano E.S.; El Modena Cheer Boosters $3,760 for stipends- El Modena H.S.; Canyon Band Boosters $7,945 for stipends- Canyon H.S. (for a complete list of the $96,000 in donations see page 25 of the Agenda).
INSIDE the OUSD Budget
INSIDE’s EDUCATIONAL TAX DOLLARS WATCH 2009: Total $1,041,000
2009 Attorney Fee Tally:
11/13/08 Parker & Covert (for 1/09 -6/09) $ 200,000
3/12/09 Atkinson, Andelson, Loya (Sp. Ed) $ 50,000
3/12/09 Parker & Covert (Special Ed) $ 98,000
6/18/09 Parker & Covert (09-10) $ 400,000
6/18/09 Parker & Covert (Special Ed) $ 200,000
6/18/09 Parker & Covert (property) $ 55,000
6/18/09 Atkinson, Andelson, Loya (property)$ 35,000
Total $1,038,000
2009 Consultant/ Speaker Fee Tally:
01/24/09 Leadership Associates Consultants $ 3,000
2009 TOTAL $1,041,000
Former Superintendent Godley’s Retirement Bonus running total (beginning 8/2008): $16,940.00*
* The Godley Retirement Bonus presented here is an estimate of the amount in “bonus retirement” accrued since the Superintendent’s retirement on 6/30/08 using a 6% lifetime formula calculated here at $1210 a month since 8/08. The actual retirement plan the former OUSD Superintendent opted to take is not public information and the figures presented are only as an estimate of the taxpayer costs after the OUSD trustees voted against an amendment to exclude Godley from the retirement program. The on-going estimated figure is presented as a reminder to the community of the high cost in educational tax dollars the OUSD Board vote to allow the former Superintendent to participate in the 6% retirement incentive cost the OUSD education community in tax dollars. Godley retired from OUSD on June 30, 2008 after he worked for the school district for a little over five years.
Total for Watched Tax Dollars approved in 2008: $901,200
2008 Attorney Fee Tally:
6/19/08 Parker & Covert $ 60,000
6/05/08 Miller, Brown & Dannis $ 40,000
6/05/08 Parker & Covert $150,000
6/05/08 Parker & Covert $200,000
2/07/08 Parker & Covert $100,000
11/15/07 Parker & Covert (for 1/08 to 6/08) $200,000
TOTAL $750,000
2008 Consultant/ Speaker Fee Tally:
11/13/08 Subs for SDCDE (Reading First) $24,000
11/13/08 SDCDE (Reading First) $30,000
10/30/08 Dr. Willard Daggett (ICLE) $ 4,500
10/16/08 Dr. Parker 40 pt Consultant $ 4,200
9/25/08 Visual Ink for Sadler Consultant <$ 6,600> CANCELED in 2009
9/25/08 Bob Sadler Consultant Fee $ 8,500
9/25/08 Candace Simpson-Sadler Helper $ 5,500
7/24/08 Dr. Parker 40 pt Consultant $ 10,000
4/17/08 Dr. Kenneth Stichter Speaker Fee $ 6,500
3/7/08 Dr. Kathleen Weigel Speaker Fee $ 8,000
Consultant Total $ 101, 200
2008 TOTAL $ 901,200
Total for Watched Tax Dollars approved in 2007: $704,090.00**
2007 Administrative Conference/Travel: hidden since 6/8/06**
**JUNE 8th, 2006 Trustees VOTE to Give OUSD Superintendent the power to APPROVE Travel Requests taking this item OUT of the PUBLIC AGENDA
Total for Watched Tax Dollars approved in 2006: $849,717.00*
2006 Administrative Conference/Travel: Total $ 18,317 *
* JUNE 8th, 2006 Trustees VOTE to Give OUSD Superintendent the power to
APPROVE OUSD Travel Requests taking this item OUT of the PUBLIC AGENDA
Total for Watched Tax Dollars approved in 2005: $978,300.00:
Next OUSD Board Meeting Thursday October 29, 2009 -OUSD BOARD ROOM
For AGENDA-CLICK ON: OCT 29 AGENDA
CLOSED SESSION- 6:00 pm
OUSD Regular Session: 7:00 pm
For more information call the OUSD Superintendent’s office at 714-628-4040
For budgeting questions call Business Services at 714-628-4015
ORANGE Unified Schools INSIDE
Independent insight into OUSD
a news service of Orange Net News /O/N/N/
Independent insight into OUSD
OUSD to deny Global Tides “Spam” Charter School
In a scathing 14 page Board of Education Resolution, the Orange Unified School Board will reject the Charter School Petition of Global Tides for the Orange County Charter School at their October 29, 2009 regular OUSD Board Meeting. Action Agenda Item 12 A (pages 3-21) on the OUSD Board of Education October 29 Agenda has a staff recommendation denying the application on three of five legally required areas and notes that at the September 9 OUSD Board Meeting at a legally required Public Hearing no speakers, including anyone from any of the organizations involved in the proposal, spoke at the hearing. The unprecedented Agenda recommendation also noted that five OUSD administrative offices spent time working on the legally required review of the application: Administrative Services; Educational Services; Human Resources; Pupil Services; and the Superintendent’s Office.
The Resolution, which reads more like an indictment of facts, cites the fact that Charter School Development Systems, one of a web of players involved in application that are named in the Resolution, has filed 91 similar petitions across the state. The “partner” of Charter Schools Development Systems is named in the Resolution as Ed Futures Inc., a for-profit California corporation. The Resolution reveals the investigations about both entities claims and cites experiences with the firms from other school districts across the state including Long Beach Unified. Following the Resolution in the Agenda are four pages of a 16 page report on the Ed Futures charter schools in Oakland Unified. In an emailed review of the Resolution for its members the local watchdog group the Greater Orange Communities Organization praised the OUSD staff report for its veracity as it blasted the “spam application” tactics used by the Ed Futures Inc. and its partners:
“…again valuable local resources are being targeted by Edu-businesses intent on spending local educational tax dollars to line their for-profit pockets without regards to the educational missions of our schools. The GoCo directors applaud the Dreier Administration’s local quick and effective response to the spam application from Charter School Development Systems’ latest example of educational funding waste and fraud. We can only hope that the Dreier Administration diligence on taxpayer asset protection is as vigorous and their research is as diligent when state funds return to the district and educational consultants again line up to feed at the educational tax fund coffers.”
-Greater Orange Communities Organization email 9/26/09
Located in Newport Beach, Charter School Development Systems filed charter school petitions for an "internet" based charter school with all of the unified school districts in 14 carefully selected California counties: Alameda, Calaveras, Kern, Madera, Orange, Placer, Plumas, Riverside, San Benito, San Diego, Siskiyou, Sonoma, Tehama and Yolo. Under state law, an approved charter school can accept students from the county in which the charter was granted, as well as from adjacent counties. The Charter School Development Systems website offers this example: “If one of the eight districts in Kern County were to charter our online, K-12 charter school, then we would have the ability to enroll students from Kern, San Luis Obispo, Kings, Tulare, Inyo, San Bernardino, Los Angeles, Ventura, and Santa Barbara counties” because all of those counties share a border with Kern County. The Charter School Development Systems petitions which were filed with 91 different school districts were signed by the same six teachers and in each case contain identical language describing the proposed charter school program. The goal of Charter School Development Systems is to establish an online K-12 charter school program that could enroll students in any part of the state. If Charter School Development Systems is successful in getting a charter from at least one school district in each of the 14 counties where it has filed petitions, they could then enroll a student anywhere in California.
To receive a statewide benefit charter from the California State Board of Education, Charter School Development Systems needs to establish a three-year track record and prove that students across California would benefit from their schools. Charter School Development Systems is the first group to ever try this tactic and nothing in state law currently prevents groups from filing so many applications at once. The tactic will cost hundreds of thousands of dollars in educational tax dollars in school district's staff time alone across the state.
For more information CLICK ON: Charter School Development Systems
and Ed Futures Inc
OUSD Budget Update on October 29, 2009
At the October 15, 2009 OUSD Board Meeting staff presented a bleak report on the district’s future budget outlooks due to the continuing fiscal crisis (see link to presentation below). The multi-year budget predictions identify $16 million reductions in the fiscal years of 2010-2011 and 2011-2012. Potential budget cuts will be presented in a staff report Budget Update as Informational Item 13 B. A preliminary budget with cuts will be voted on at the OUSD December 10th Meeting. For more information CLICK ON: OCTOBER OUSD BUDGET
INSIDE Community Donations
Target Corporation $56.27 for supplies-Fairhaven E.S.; Mc Pherson ASB $1,800 for drama stipend-Mc Pherson Magnet; Serrano PFO $872 for Carnival rubbish cans- Serrano E.S.; El Modena Cheer Boosters $3,760 for stipends- El Modena H.S.; Canyon Band Boosters $7,945 for stipends- Canyon H.S. (for a complete list of the $96,000 in donations see page 25 of the Agenda).
INSIDE the OUSD Budget
INSIDE’s EDUCATIONAL TAX DOLLARS WATCH 2009: Total $1,041,000
2009 Attorney Fee Tally:
11/13/08 Parker & Covert (for 1/09 -6/09) $ 200,000
3/12/09 Atkinson, Andelson, Loya (Sp. Ed) $ 50,000
3/12/09 Parker & Covert (Special Ed) $ 98,000
6/18/09 Parker & Covert (09-10) $ 400,000
6/18/09 Parker & Covert (Special Ed) $ 200,000
6/18/09 Parker & Covert (property) $ 55,000
6/18/09 Atkinson, Andelson, Loya (property)$ 35,000
Total $1,038,000
2009 Consultant/ Speaker Fee Tally:
01/24/09 Leadership Associates Consultants $ 3,000
2009 TOTAL $1,041,000
Former Superintendent Godley’s Retirement Bonus running total (beginning 8/2008): $16,940.00*
* The Godley Retirement Bonus presented here is an estimate of the amount in “bonus retirement” accrued since the Superintendent’s retirement on 6/30/08 using a 6% lifetime formula calculated here at $1210 a month since 8/08. The actual retirement plan the former OUSD Superintendent opted to take is not public information and the figures presented are only as an estimate of the taxpayer costs after the OUSD trustees voted against an amendment to exclude Godley from the retirement program. The on-going estimated figure is presented as a reminder to the community of the high cost in educational tax dollars the OUSD Board vote to allow the former Superintendent to participate in the 6% retirement incentive cost the OUSD education community in tax dollars. Godley retired from OUSD on June 30, 2008 after he worked for the school district for a little over five years.
Total for Watched Tax Dollars approved in 2008: $901,200
2008 Attorney Fee Tally:
6/19/08 Parker & Covert $ 60,000
6/05/08 Miller, Brown & Dannis $ 40,000
6/05/08 Parker & Covert $150,000
6/05/08 Parker & Covert $200,000
2/07/08 Parker & Covert $100,000
11/15/07 Parker & Covert (for 1/08 to 6/08) $200,000
TOTAL $750,000
2008 Consultant/ Speaker Fee Tally:
11/13/08 Subs for SDCDE (Reading First) $24,000
11/13/08 SDCDE (Reading First) $30,000
10/30/08 Dr. Willard Daggett (ICLE) $ 4,500
10/16/08 Dr. Parker 40 pt Consultant $ 4,200
9/25/08 Visual Ink for Sadler Consultant <$ 6,600> CANCELED in 2009
9/25/08 Bob Sadler Consultant Fee $ 8,500
9/25/08 Candace Simpson-Sadler Helper $ 5,500
7/24/08 Dr. Parker 40 pt Consultant $ 10,000
4/17/08 Dr. Kenneth Stichter Speaker Fee $ 6,500
3/7/08 Dr. Kathleen Weigel Speaker Fee $ 8,000
Consultant Total $ 101, 200
2008 TOTAL $ 901,200
Total for Watched Tax Dollars approved in 2007: $704,090.00**
2007 Administrative Conference/Travel: hidden since 6/8/06**
**JUNE 8th, 2006 Trustees VOTE to Give OUSD Superintendent the power to APPROVE Travel Requests taking this item OUT of the PUBLIC AGENDA
Total for Watched Tax Dollars approved in 2006: $849,717.00*
2006 Administrative Conference/Travel: Total $ 18,317 *
* JUNE 8th, 2006 Trustees VOTE to Give OUSD Superintendent the power to
APPROVE OUSD Travel Requests taking this item OUT of the PUBLIC AGENDA
Total for Watched Tax Dollars approved in 2005: $978,300.00:
Next OUSD Board Meeting Thursday October 29, 2009 -OUSD BOARD ROOM
For AGENDA-CLICK ON: OCT 29 AGENDA
CLOSED SESSION- 6:00 pm
OUSD Regular Session: 7:00 pm
For more information call the OUSD Superintendent’s office at 714-628-4040
For budgeting questions call Business Services at 714-628-4015
ORANGE Unified Schools INSIDE
Independent insight into OUSD
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
OUSD to Study Canyons Secession Bid to Saddleback Unified
ORANGE Unified Schools INSIDE
a news service of Orange Net News /O/N/N/
Independent insight into OUSD
OUSD to Study Canyons Secession Bid
to Saddleback Unified
Orange Unified will study the possibility of letting the Canyon communities that fed into the now closed Santiago Elementary School leave Orange Unified and join Saddleback Unified. The secession bid was presented as Information Item 13 B at the September 24, 2009 Orange Unified School Board Meeting. Speaking for the Inter-Canyon League, Dr. Deborah Johnson outlined reasons for the Canyon communities to secede from OUSD and join Saddleback Unified. After Johnson, several Canyon community speakers followed her presentation with more emotional appeals including threatening political and electoral retributions if OUSD Trustees tried to stop what many speakers said was an inevitable secession by the Canyons.
In response to a question about the timing of the of a possible move by OUSD Trustee Dr. Alexia Deligianni, OUSD Superintendent Renae Dreier stated that the move could not take place this school year, and because she has approved every student transfer request to Saddleback Unified from the Canyon communities, she did not see the item as urgent. Among the needed steps was contacting the Orange County Committee on School District Organization for their expertise as well as researching all the needed facts of the proposal. OUSD Trustee Kathy Moffat asked for more information in two areas. First, what is Saddleback Unified’s view on the issue and second a more complete view on the positions of the Canyon community. Moffat wanted assurances of the validity of a survey taken by the Canyons that had a small reply in the sampling. Furthermore, Moffat noted that budget cuts in Saddleback Unified do not guarantee the Canyon communities would do better in seceding.
Follow-up stories by the Orange County Register after Orange Net News broke the story last month had Saddleback Unified spokesperson stating the proposal was an OUSD matter and that the Saddleback Unified Board of Education has not considered or discussed the matter. Saddleback Unified closed two schools last year in response to the current fiscal crisis.
OUSD Board hears staff report on OUSD State Testing Scores
OUSD Administrators put their best spin on the OUSD State Testing Scores despite dire implications in the yearly score card. Dr. Marsha Brown, OUSD Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services stayed positive by emphasizing what she called “bright spots” of Science and Math scores as well as emphasizing OUSD schools that scored over the 900 and 800 test benchmarks. Characterizing OUSD’s growth as “slow steady growth” the report focused on OUSD scores being “about the same as the county” and “outperforming the state by a long shot”. Of course those characterizations while technically true, they are really mischaracterizations when looked at in context.
OUSD has spent millions of dollars on educational consultants for no real return in test scores as evident by the same “slow steady growth” that most Orange County and California school districts have also seen since testing was implemented at the end of the 1990’s. Yet the vast majority of school districts have not fallen prey to the educational consultant merry-go-round of failed programs at great taxpayer expense that OUSD squandered millions of educational tax dollars on. In addition, Orange County scores as a whole are influenced by the dismal scores of Santa Ana Unified. When that district is taken out of the statistics, the county scores are farther ahead of OUSD. Likewise, the scores of California districts as a whole are skewed by major urban districts like Los Angeles Unified and perennially low scoring districts like Oakland and Compton that statistically bring the total state scores down.
The OUSD presentation also included the information on how OUSD became a first year Program Improvement District. Using a multi-colored chart showing the increasingly impossible Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) benchmarks required under the federal No Child Left Behind Act, the OUSD staff explained how OUSD missed growth in enough AYP sub-groups to become a first year Program Improvement District. This presentation shows OUSD’s future under No Child Left Behind is bleak. The chart showed that the OUSD Hispanic/Latino subgroup failed to meet the AYP benchmarks that translate to an ever dismal testing future for OUSD. With 23,200 total OUSD students taking the state tests in 2009, 10,600 of the OUSD students (46%) are identified in the subgroup of Hispanic/Latino, making them by far the largest single student population in OUSD followed by (Whites at 37% and Asians at 11%). This fact, combined with the unrealistic expectation under the current version of No Child Left Behind that EVERY student (100%) are to score at least “Proficient” by the year 2014 means years of bad testing news ahead of OUSD.
Dr. Brown’s gaffs on the state tests also were of concern to longtime Board watchers. Among her gaffs Brown identified the California CST 8th Grade History Test given as a U.S. History test (the test covers history standards of three grades-6th, 7th and 8th- with only a portion devoted to U.S. History). At another point in the report, Trustee Moffat asked Brown to identify the value of the breakdown of the five scoring levels (Advanced, Proficient, Basic, Below Basic and Far Below Basic). Unable to come up with the simple scoring (i.e. in elementary tests 350 out of the 600 possible equals the “proficient” level ) Brown was forced to pull a Sarah Palin (as in the infamous Katie Couric interview) and said she’d be glad to get back to Moffat with the answer.
Dr. Brown was also quick to point out that eleven Orange County school districts are now classified as Program Improvement as she compared OUSD with Buena Park (elementary) and Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified. The full list of both Program Improvement and Non-Program Improvement districts in Orange County was not in the staff report, but here they are. The 12 Orange County Program Improvement Districts are: Anaheim City; Anaheim Union; Buena Park Elementary; Fullerton Elementary; Fullerton Joint Union; Garden Grove Unified; Huntington Beach Union; Orange Unified; Ocean View Elementary; La Habra City; Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified; and Santa Ana Unified. The 14 Orange County districts that are not Program Improvement are: Brea-Olinda Unified; Capistrano Unified; Centralia Elementary; Cypress Elementary; Fountain Valley Elementary; Irvine Unified; Magnolia Elementary; Saddleback Unified; Savanna Elementary; Tustin Unified; Los Alamitos Unified; Laguna Beach Unified; Newport-Mesa Unified and Westminster Elementary.
Also while OUSD increased their Program Improvement designated schools, some of their existing Program Improvement schools were given a “pass” under a special statistical “rule” adeptly named “safe harbor” by educrat statisticians. An example of this statistical abnormally can be found in OUSD Portola Middle School. Under “safe harbor” statistical wild card, Portola was given a pass on its failing scores because it met the “safe harbor” wild card criteria. Under the “safe harbor” statistical rule exception, a school will qualify when a subgroup shows “a decrease of students below proficient by 10 percent over the prior year” despite failing in the regular statistical requirements. Thus proving that statistics still mean what politicians want them to and that No Child Left Behind is a statistical joke that has some very unfunny consequences for communities across America, including the Greater Orange Communities.
Inside the September 24th , 2009 Meeting
Where’s Waldo?
Trustee John Ortega reported that he had been absent from recent OUSD Board meetings because he had been selected for peace offer training at the FBI National Academy in Virginia. Ortega is a Deputy Orange County Sherriff.
For more information on the FBI Academy CLICK ON: FBI
Minute student responses hit the spot
For years getting all the SCABEE representatives (the student representatives to the OUSD Board) more involved at meetings has been an ongoing challenge. At the September 24th meeting a simple change has accomplished that long sought after goal. At that meeting, instead of one high school presenting a year’s overview of the school, the SACBEE representative give quick updates on each high school’s activities. That was a big improvement over the once a term all encompassing one high school highlighted format that will allow the student representatives not only to actively participate in the meeting, but also highlight up to date relative highlights and information to the Board and community. Unfortunately, it appears that change was not an orchestrated ongoing change because the old all encompassing one SACBEE representative Power Point on one high school returns at the October 15th OUSD Board Meeting. Maybe it’s time for a “hybrid” model.
OUSD Teachers take pay cut, staff employees at impasse
The OUSD Board approved a change in the contract between OUSD and the teacher’s association – the Orange Unified Education Association resulting in a 2% pay cut. The new agreement includes eliminating four scheduled teacher training days saving the district around 2% of the teacher’s payroll costs. Trustee Melissa Smith called the cut to teacher’s pay “no small matter” as she emphasized that the current state financial situation is to blame. Negotiations between the Classified staff union, the CSEA, and OUSD have not been settled and are currently in impasse and are meeting with a state appointed mediator. The many outstanding issues included pay and healthcare cost increases and how long an agreement will cover. While the negotiations are on-going, Classified employees are paying the full cost of health benefit increases. In addition to those cuts, OUSD is also asking Classified employees to take a 2% pay cut for three years.
Moffat utters “R” Word…again
The bastardization of the English language by Educrats reared its ugly head at the September 24th OUSD Meeting as Trustee Kathy Moffat spoke the “R” word that the discredited Education Consultant, known as “He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named” (you know Willard Daggett) made infamous. That’s right Moffat said “rigor”. Speaking the “R” word in an educational sense is so more than just clearly 1990’s… it is an out-of-touch gaff that shows the ignorance of the speaker and their dependence on buzzwords (perhaps Buzzword Anonymous is needed for such serial offenders). Apparently as Trustee Kathy Moffat utters the “R” word, she takes the Dark Lord’s (Voldemort) words to heart, words that could have easily been said by the Educational Dark Lord Willard Daggett- “there have always been those willing to let me into their hearts and minds”. Of course Daggett would add “wallets”.
For more information CLICK ON: RIGOR and DAGGETT-The Dark Lord
INSIDE the October 15, 2009 OUSD Board Meeting
Information Item 13A – The OUSD Legislative Coalition will give an update on legislation and actives of the committee.
Information Item 13B Budget Update- the latest doom and gloom on how bad it will be with the figures on the impact of the July state budget on the districts budget. Well, there are those small schools…
INSIDE the OUSD Budget
INSIDE’s EDUCATIONAL TAX DOLLARS WATCH 2009:
Total $1,041,000
2009 Attorney Fee Tally:
11/13/08 Parker & Covert (for 1/09 -6/09) $ 200,000
3/12/09 Atkinson, Andelson, Loya (Sp. Ed) $ 50,000
3/12/09 Parker & Covert (Special Ed) $ 98,000
6/18/09 Parker & Covert (09-10) $ 400,000
6/18/09 Parker & Covert (Special Ed) $ 200,000
6/18/09 Parker & Covert (property) $ 55,000
6/18/09 Atkinson, Andelson, Loya (property)$ 35,000
Total $1,038,000
2009 Consultant/ Speaker Fee Tally:
01/24/09 Leadership Associates Consultants $ 3,000
2009 TOTAL $1,041,000
Former Superintendent Godley’s Retirement Bonus running total (beginning 8/2008):
$16,940.00*
* The Godley Retirement Bonus presented here is an estimate of the amount in “bonus retirement” accrued since the Superintendent’s retirement on 6/30/08 using a 6% lifetime formula calculated here at $1210 a month since 8/08. The actual retirement plan the former OUSD Superintendent opted to take is not public information and the figures presented are only as an estimate of the taxpayer costs after the OUSD trustees voted against an amendment to exclude Godley from the retirement program. The on-going estimated figure is presented as a reminder to the community of the high cost in educational tax dollars the OUSD Board vote to allow the former Superintendent to participate in the 6% retirement incentive cost the OUSD education community in tax dollars. Godley retired from OUSD on June 30, 2008 after he worked for the school district for a little over five years.
Total for Watched Tax Dollars approved in 2008: $901,200
2008 Attorney Fee Tally:
6/19/08 Parker & Covert $ 60,000
6/05/08 Miller, Brown & Dannis $ 40,000
6/05/08 Parker & Covert $150,000
6/05/08 Parker & Covert $200,000
2/07/08 Parker & Covert $100,000
11/15/07 Parker & Covert (for 1/08 to 6/08) $200,000
$750,000
2008 Consultant/ Speaker Fee Tally:
11/13/08 Subs for SDCDE (Reading First) $24,000
11/13/08 SDCDE (Reading First) $30,000
10/30/08 Dr. Willard Daggett (ICLE) $ 4,500
10/16/08 Dr. Parker 40 pt Consultant $ 4,200
9/25/08 Visual Ink for Sadler Consultant <$ 6,600> CANCELED in 2009
9/25/08 Bob Sadler Consultant Fee $ 8,500
9/25/08 Candace Simpson-Sadler Helper $ 5,500
7/24/08 Dr. Parker 40 pt Consultant $ 10,000
4/17/08 Dr. Kenneth Stichter Speaker Fee $ 6,500
3/7/08 Dr. Kathleen Weigel Speaker Fee $ 8,000
Consultant Total $ 101, 200
2008 TOTAL $ 901,200
Total for Watched Tax Dollars approved in 2007: $704,090.00**
2007 Administrative Conference/Travel: hidden since 6/8/06**
**JUNE 8th, 2006 Trustees VOTE to Give OUSD Superintendent the power to APPROVE Travel Requests taking this item OUT of the PUBLIC AGENDA
Total for Watched Tax Dollars approved in 2006: $849,717.00*
2006 Administrative Conference/Travel: Total $ 18,317 *
* JUNE 8th, 2006 Trustees VOTE to Give OUSD Superintendent the power to
APPROVE OUSD Travel Requests taking this item OUT of the PUBLIC AGENDA
Total for Watched Tax Dollars approved in 2005: $978,300.00:
Next OUSD Board Meeting Thursday October 15, 2009 -OUSD BOARD ROOM
For AGENDA-CLICK ON: AGENDA
CLOSED SESSION- 6:00 pm
OUSD Regular Session: 7:00 pm
For more information call the OUSD Superintendent’s office at 714-628-4040
For budgeting questions call Business Services at 714-628-4015
ORANGE Unified Schools INSIDE
Independent insight into OUSD
is an independent news service of /O/N/N/
a news service of Orange Net News /O/N/N/
Independent insight into OUSD
OUSD to Study Canyons Secession Bid
to Saddleback Unified
Orange Unified will study the possibility of letting the Canyon communities that fed into the now closed Santiago Elementary School leave Orange Unified and join Saddleback Unified. The secession bid was presented as Information Item 13 B at the September 24, 2009 Orange Unified School Board Meeting. Speaking for the Inter-Canyon League, Dr. Deborah Johnson outlined reasons for the Canyon communities to secede from OUSD and join Saddleback Unified. After Johnson, several Canyon community speakers followed her presentation with more emotional appeals including threatening political and electoral retributions if OUSD Trustees tried to stop what many speakers said was an inevitable secession by the Canyons.
In response to a question about the timing of the of a possible move by OUSD Trustee Dr. Alexia Deligianni, OUSD Superintendent Renae Dreier stated that the move could not take place this school year, and because she has approved every student transfer request to Saddleback Unified from the Canyon communities, she did not see the item as urgent. Among the needed steps was contacting the Orange County Committee on School District Organization for their expertise as well as researching all the needed facts of the proposal. OUSD Trustee Kathy Moffat asked for more information in two areas. First, what is Saddleback Unified’s view on the issue and second a more complete view on the positions of the Canyon community. Moffat wanted assurances of the validity of a survey taken by the Canyons that had a small reply in the sampling. Furthermore, Moffat noted that budget cuts in Saddleback Unified do not guarantee the Canyon communities would do better in seceding.
Follow-up stories by the Orange County Register after Orange Net News broke the story last month had Saddleback Unified spokesperson stating the proposal was an OUSD matter and that the Saddleback Unified Board of Education has not considered or discussed the matter. Saddleback Unified closed two schools last year in response to the current fiscal crisis.
OUSD Board hears staff report on OUSD State Testing Scores
OUSD Administrators put their best spin on the OUSD State Testing Scores despite dire implications in the yearly score card. Dr. Marsha Brown, OUSD Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services stayed positive by emphasizing what she called “bright spots” of Science and Math scores as well as emphasizing OUSD schools that scored over the 900 and 800 test benchmarks. Characterizing OUSD’s growth as “slow steady growth” the report focused on OUSD scores being “about the same as the county” and “outperforming the state by a long shot”. Of course those characterizations while technically true, they are really mischaracterizations when looked at in context.
OUSD has spent millions of dollars on educational consultants for no real return in test scores as evident by the same “slow steady growth” that most Orange County and California school districts have also seen since testing was implemented at the end of the 1990’s. Yet the vast majority of school districts have not fallen prey to the educational consultant merry-go-round of failed programs at great taxpayer expense that OUSD squandered millions of educational tax dollars on. In addition, Orange County scores as a whole are influenced by the dismal scores of Santa Ana Unified. When that district is taken out of the statistics, the county scores are farther ahead of OUSD. Likewise, the scores of California districts as a whole are skewed by major urban districts like Los Angeles Unified and perennially low scoring districts like Oakland and Compton that statistically bring the total state scores down.
The OUSD presentation also included the information on how OUSD became a first year Program Improvement District. Using a multi-colored chart showing the increasingly impossible Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) benchmarks required under the federal No Child Left Behind Act, the OUSD staff explained how OUSD missed growth in enough AYP sub-groups to become a first year Program Improvement District. This presentation shows OUSD’s future under No Child Left Behind is bleak. The chart showed that the OUSD Hispanic/Latino subgroup failed to meet the AYP benchmarks that translate to an ever dismal testing future for OUSD. With 23,200 total OUSD students taking the state tests in 2009, 10,600 of the OUSD students (46%) are identified in the subgroup of Hispanic/Latino, making them by far the largest single student population in OUSD followed by (Whites at 37% and Asians at 11%). This fact, combined with the unrealistic expectation under the current version of No Child Left Behind that EVERY student (100%) are to score at least “Proficient” by the year 2014 means years of bad testing news ahead of OUSD.
Dr. Brown’s gaffs on the state tests also were of concern to longtime Board watchers. Among her gaffs Brown identified the California CST 8th Grade History Test given as a U.S. History test (the test covers history standards of three grades-6th, 7th and 8th- with only a portion devoted to U.S. History). At another point in the report, Trustee Moffat asked Brown to identify the value of the breakdown of the five scoring levels (Advanced, Proficient, Basic, Below Basic and Far Below Basic). Unable to come up with the simple scoring (i.e. in elementary tests 350 out of the 600 possible equals the “proficient” level ) Brown was forced to pull a Sarah Palin (as in the infamous Katie Couric interview) and said she’d be glad to get back to Moffat with the answer.
Dr. Brown was also quick to point out that eleven Orange County school districts are now classified as Program Improvement as she compared OUSD with Buena Park (elementary) and Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified. The full list of both Program Improvement and Non-Program Improvement districts in Orange County was not in the staff report, but here they are. The 12 Orange County Program Improvement Districts are: Anaheim City; Anaheim Union; Buena Park Elementary; Fullerton Elementary; Fullerton Joint Union; Garden Grove Unified; Huntington Beach Union; Orange Unified; Ocean View Elementary; La Habra City; Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified; and Santa Ana Unified. The 14 Orange County districts that are not Program Improvement are: Brea-Olinda Unified; Capistrano Unified; Centralia Elementary; Cypress Elementary; Fountain Valley Elementary; Irvine Unified; Magnolia Elementary; Saddleback Unified; Savanna Elementary; Tustin Unified; Los Alamitos Unified; Laguna Beach Unified; Newport-Mesa Unified and Westminster Elementary.
Also while OUSD increased their Program Improvement designated schools, some of their existing Program Improvement schools were given a “pass” under a special statistical “rule” adeptly named “safe harbor” by educrat statisticians. An example of this statistical abnormally can be found in OUSD Portola Middle School. Under “safe harbor” statistical wild card, Portola was given a pass on its failing scores because it met the “safe harbor” wild card criteria. Under the “safe harbor” statistical rule exception, a school will qualify when a subgroup shows “a decrease of students below proficient by 10 percent over the prior year” despite failing in the regular statistical requirements. Thus proving that statistics still mean what politicians want them to and that No Child Left Behind is a statistical joke that has some very unfunny consequences for communities across America, including the Greater Orange Communities.
Inside the September 24th , 2009 Meeting
Where’s Waldo?
Trustee John Ortega reported that he had been absent from recent OUSD Board meetings because he had been selected for peace offer training at the FBI National Academy in Virginia. Ortega is a Deputy Orange County Sherriff.
For more information on the FBI Academy CLICK ON: FBI
Minute student responses hit the spot
For years getting all the SCABEE representatives (the student representatives to the OUSD Board) more involved at meetings has been an ongoing challenge. At the September 24th meeting a simple change has accomplished that long sought after goal. At that meeting, instead of one high school presenting a year’s overview of the school, the SACBEE representative give quick updates on each high school’s activities. That was a big improvement over the once a term all encompassing one high school highlighted format that will allow the student representatives not only to actively participate in the meeting, but also highlight up to date relative highlights and information to the Board and community. Unfortunately, it appears that change was not an orchestrated ongoing change because the old all encompassing one SACBEE representative Power Point on one high school returns at the October 15th OUSD Board Meeting. Maybe it’s time for a “hybrid” model.
OUSD Teachers take pay cut, staff employees at impasse
The OUSD Board approved a change in the contract between OUSD and the teacher’s association – the Orange Unified Education Association resulting in a 2% pay cut. The new agreement includes eliminating four scheduled teacher training days saving the district around 2% of the teacher’s payroll costs. Trustee Melissa Smith called the cut to teacher’s pay “no small matter” as she emphasized that the current state financial situation is to blame. Negotiations between the Classified staff union, the CSEA, and OUSD have not been settled and are currently in impasse and are meeting with a state appointed mediator. The many outstanding issues included pay and healthcare cost increases and how long an agreement will cover. While the negotiations are on-going, Classified employees are paying the full cost of health benefit increases. In addition to those cuts, OUSD is also asking Classified employees to take a 2% pay cut for three years.
Moffat utters “R” Word…again
The bastardization of the English language by Educrats reared its ugly head at the September 24th OUSD Meeting as Trustee Kathy Moffat spoke the “R” word that the discredited Education Consultant, known as “He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named” (you know Willard Daggett) made infamous. That’s right Moffat said “rigor”. Speaking the “R” word in an educational sense is so more than just clearly 1990’s… it is an out-of-touch gaff that shows the ignorance of the speaker and their dependence on buzzwords (perhaps Buzzword Anonymous is needed for such serial offenders). Apparently as Trustee Kathy Moffat utters the “R” word, she takes the Dark Lord’s (Voldemort) words to heart, words that could have easily been said by the Educational Dark Lord Willard Daggett- “there have always been those willing to let me into their hearts and minds”. Of course Daggett would add “wallets”.
For more information CLICK ON: RIGOR and DAGGETT-The Dark Lord
INSIDE the October 15, 2009 OUSD Board Meeting
Information Item 13A – The OUSD Legislative Coalition will give an update on legislation and actives of the committee.
Information Item 13B Budget Update- the latest doom and gloom on how bad it will be with the figures on the impact of the July state budget on the districts budget. Well, there are those small schools…
INSIDE the OUSD Budget
INSIDE’s EDUCATIONAL TAX DOLLARS WATCH 2009:
Total $1,041,000
2009 Attorney Fee Tally:
11/13/08 Parker & Covert (for 1/09 -6/09) $ 200,000
3/12/09 Atkinson, Andelson, Loya (Sp. Ed) $ 50,000
3/12/09 Parker & Covert (Special Ed) $ 98,000
6/18/09 Parker & Covert (09-10) $ 400,000
6/18/09 Parker & Covert (Special Ed) $ 200,000
6/18/09 Parker & Covert (property) $ 55,000
6/18/09 Atkinson, Andelson, Loya (property)$ 35,000
Total $1,038,000
2009 Consultant/ Speaker Fee Tally:
01/24/09 Leadership Associates Consultants $ 3,000
2009 TOTAL $1,041,000
Former Superintendent Godley’s Retirement Bonus running total (beginning 8/2008):
$16,940.00*
* The Godley Retirement Bonus presented here is an estimate of the amount in “bonus retirement” accrued since the Superintendent’s retirement on 6/30/08 using a 6% lifetime formula calculated here at $1210 a month since 8/08. The actual retirement plan the former OUSD Superintendent opted to take is not public information and the figures presented are only as an estimate of the taxpayer costs after the OUSD trustees voted against an amendment to exclude Godley from the retirement program. The on-going estimated figure is presented as a reminder to the community of the high cost in educational tax dollars the OUSD Board vote to allow the former Superintendent to participate in the 6% retirement incentive cost the OUSD education community in tax dollars. Godley retired from OUSD on June 30, 2008 after he worked for the school district for a little over five years.
Total for Watched Tax Dollars approved in 2008: $901,200
2008 Attorney Fee Tally:
6/19/08 Parker & Covert $ 60,000
6/05/08 Miller, Brown & Dannis $ 40,000
6/05/08 Parker & Covert $150,000
6/05/08 Parker & Covert $200,000
2/07/08 Parker & Covert $100,000
11/15/07 Parker & Covert (for 1/08 to 6/08) $200,000
$750,000
2008 Consultant/ Speaker Fee Tally:
11/13/08 Subs for SDCDE (Reading First) $24,000
11/13/08 SDCDE (Reading First) $30,000
10/30/08 Dr. Willard Daggett (ICLE) $ 4,500
10/16/08 Dr. Parker 40 pt Consultant $ 4,200
9/25/08 Visual Ink for Sadler Consultant <$ 6,600> CANCELED in 2009
9/25/08 Bob Sadler Consultant Fee $ 8,500
9/25/08 Candace Simpson-Sadler Helper $ 5,500
7/24/08 Dr. Parker 40 pt Consultant $ 10,000
4/17/08 Dr. Kenneth Stichter Speaker Fee $ 6,500
3/7/08 Dr. Kathleen Weigel Speaker Fee $ 8,000
Consultant Total $ 101, 200
2008 TOTAL $ 901,200
Total for Watched Tax Dollars approved in 2007: $704,090.00**
2007 Administrative Conference/Travel: hidden since 6/8/06**
**JUNE 8th, 2006 Trustees VOTE to Give OUSD Superintendent the power to APPROVE Travel Requests taking this item OUT of the PUBLIC AGENDA
Total for Watched Tax Dollars approved in 2006: $849,717.00*
2006 Administrative Conference/Travel: Total $ 18,317 *
* JUNE 8th, 2006 Trustees VOTE to Give OUSD Superintendent the power to
APPROVE OUSD Travel Requests taking this item OUT of the PUBLIC AGENDA
Total for Watched Tax Dollars approved in 2005: $978,300.00:
Next OUSD Board Meeting Thursday October 15, 2009 -OUSD BOARD ROOM
For AGENDA-CLICK ON: AGENDA
CLOSED SESSION- 6:00 pm
OUSD Regular Session: 7:00 pm
For more information call the OUSD Superintendent’s office at 714-628-4040
For budgeting questions call Business Services at 714-628-4015
ORANGE Unified Schools INSIDE
Independent insight into OUSD
is an independent news service of /O/N/N/
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Metro TALK: It’s….OKTOBERFEST Time
Metro TALK
A community service of Orange Net News /O/N/N/
It’s….OKTOBERFEST Time
The Anaheim Hills Rotary Club presents OKTOBERFEST III 2009 Saturday October 3rd from 12 Noon to 5:00 pm at the Oak Canyon Nature Center. This year’s annual October Party in the Hills features live bands (of course Oompah!) lots of food including German favorites like-bratwurst, sauerkraut and soft pretzels. Beer, wine and a talent show full of local residents will be just part of the fun activities for the entire family are scheduled throughout the day. Plus every want-a-be German’s favorite- THE CHICKEN DANCE! All this and admission is FREE!
Oktoberfest III 2009
Oak Canyon Nature Center
6700 Walnut Canyon
Anaheim Hills
MAP AT:OKTOBERFEST
IRVINE RAILROAD PUMPKIN PATCH OPENS FOR FALL
The always fun Irvine Park Railroad has opened it’s Pumpkin Patch until November 1st seven days a week (weather permitting) from 10 am- 5 pm weekdays 10-6 pm on weekends). The Pumpkin Patch is located behind the Irvine Park Railroad Station and entrance is free with the normal park entry fee and prices of pumpkins vary with size. The Pumpkin Patch has a farm house feel and is decorated with Halloween décor perfect for holiday pictures
Other family fun ticket attractions included the 12 min. Irvine Railroad ride, a tractor hayride, a Pumpkin Patch Photo Booth ($7.00 for 1st photo $5 additional ones-cash only), a John Deer Tractor Races (age 4-7), a Halloween Bounce Jumper and Halloween carnival booths. But that’s not all- free attractions include a spooky Haunted House, a Hay Maze, and always memorable Picture Stands (you know you stick your head in a hole and your whole face is on another body and Dad takes your goofy picture). Plus, for those with email addresses a guess the Pumpkin Weight Contest-yes the winner gets the Giant Pumpkin as the prize (notified by email). Food for purchase or covered picnic areas for picnics are also available. All this is in addition to the regular Irvine Park attractions like the paddle boats, the pony rides (closed Mondays) and the Orange County Zoo.
Discount Tickets are Available here: IRVINE COUPONS
Metro TALK is a community service of
ORANGE NET NEWS /O/N/N/
Produced by the
Orange Communication System /OCS/
A community service of Orange Net News /O/N/N/
It’s….OKTOBERFEST Time
The Anaheim Hills Rotary Club presents OKTOBERFEST III 2009 Saturday October 3rd from 12 Noon to 5:00 pm at the Oak Canyon Nature Center. This year’s annual October Party in the Hills features live bands (of course Oompah!) lots of food including German favorites like-bratwurst, sauerkraut and soft pretzels. Beer, wine and a talent show full of local residents will be just part of the fun activities for the entire family are scheduled throughout the day. Plus every want-a-be German’s favorite- THE CHICKEN DANCE! All this and admission is FREE!
Oktoberfest III 2009
Oak Canyon Nature Center
6700 Walnut Canyon
Anaheim Hills
MAP AT:OKTOBERFEST
IRVINE RAILROAD PUMPKIN PATCH OPENS FOR FALLThe always fun Irvine Park Railroad has opened it’s Pumpkin Patch until November 1st seven days a week (weather permitting) from 10 am- 5 pm weekdays 10-6 pm on weekends). The Pumpkin Patch is located behind the Irvine Park Railroad Station and entrance is free with the normal park entry fee and prices of pumpkins vary with size. The Pumpkin Patch has a farm house feel and is decorated with Halloween décor perfect for holiday pictures
Other family fun ticket attractions included the 12 min. Irvine Railroad ride, a tractor hayride, a Pumpkin Patch Photo Booth ($7.00 for 1st photo $5 additional ones-cash only), a John Deer Tractor Races (age 4-7), a Halloween Bounce Jumper and Halloween carnival booths. But that’s not all- free attractions include a spooky Haunted House, a Hay Maze, and always memorable Picture Stands (you know you stick your head in a hole and your whole face is on another body and Dad takes your goofy picture). Plus, for those with email addresses a guess the Pumpkin Weight Contest-yes the winner gets the Giant Pumpkin as the prize (notified by email). Food for purchase or covered picnic areas for picnics are also available. All this is in addition to the regular Irvine Park attractions like the paddle boats, the pony rides (closed Mondays) and the Orange County Zoo.
Discount Tickets are Available here: IRVINE COUPONS
Metro TALK is a community service of
ORANGE NET NEWS /O/N/N/
Produced by the
Orange Communication System /OCS/
Monday, September 21, 2009
State tests results make OUSD a Program Improvement district
ORANGE Unified Schools INSIDE
a news service of Orange Net News /O/N/N/
Independent insight into OUSD
New AYP scores mean
State designates Orange Unified a Program Improvement District
The Greater Orange Communities 55 Freeway Divide became more apparent in the latest release of the state Accountability Progress Reporting (APR) figures last week (September 15, 2009). The reports show that while Orange Unified’s state Academic Performance Index (API) scores grew 11 points (California as a whole saw a 14 point statewide increase in scores) the bad news far outweighs the good news for OUSD and other districts with similar socio-economic factors that exist in the sprawling district west of the 55 Freeway Divide that everyone familiar with Greater Orange knows, but rarely mentions. However, reading the September 21, 2009 Press Release from OUSD Administrative Director of Communications Larry Hausner and you would imagine everything in OUSD-land is as squeaky clean as the Magic Kingdom. While the success in OUSD should be acknowledged, to ignore or gloss over the problems does not meet OUSD Superintendent Dr. Renae Dreier's “knowledge is power” mantra.
The state tests show that OUSD failed to meet 8 of the 40 federal criteria for the Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) mandates under No Child Left Behind student subgroups and is now officially designated as a first year Program Improvement district for the first time since California started assigning designation to underperforming districts. In addition three new schools also joined the district’s nine other Program Improvement designated schools ranks- Orange High School, Cambridge E.S. and Jordan E.S.- bringing the district total of Program Improvement schools to an all time high of 12. Schools failing to meet the AYP requirements two years in a row are designated as Program Improvement. The new designations mean more work for overworked staff at both the district and school levels and possible eventual state takeovers. None of this news was in the Hausner’s Press Release.
The released state reports show that 24, or 63% of OUSD’s schools met or exceeded their “growth targets” or the number of targeted points for “growth” in student scores on standardized tests given at the end of the 2008-2009 school year. Nearly a quarter (24%) of OUSD schools scores stayed the same or had declines in the targeted growth. The scores are greatly influenced by Language Arts and Math standardized testing scores.
OUSD Graduation rates fall 3.1%
Another item missing from the Hausner Press Release was that graduation rates also fell in OUSD last year from the 2008 graduation rate by 3.1% (from 93.5% in 2008 to 90.4% in 2009). El Modena H.S. showed the largest decline in graduation rates posting a 6.5% decline (from 98.3% to 91.8%). Orange H.S. posted a 2.2% drop; Villa Park H.S. a 1.4% drop and Canyon H.S. a .03% drop.
Villa Park H.S. falls below magic 800 with 26 point API score drop
Nine OUSD schools posted declining API scores from a -2 point drop at Palmyra E.S. to a -29 point drop at Lampson E.S. At the secondary level, Santiago Charter and Yorba M.S. had scores drop, while Cerro Villa M.S., El Rancho M.S. and Portola M.S. saw scores increase. Portola M.S.( in its fifth year as a Program Improvement school) apparently reaped huge benefits from funding for small class sizes. The school posted a 38 point increase, the highest of any OUSD secondary school.
At the district’s high schools, only Villa Park H.S. posted declining API scores with a -26 point drop. That drop brings Villa Park H.S. below the magic 800 score that the state expects all schools to rise above. Villa Park H.S. API score is now at 776. This is the second time Villa Park has risen above the sought after 800 mark and then fallen back below. In addition, Villa Park H.S. was one of 11 OUSD schools to fail to meet the federal AYP criteria. If Villa Park fails a second year to meet the AYP criteria, it will become the second OUSD high school to become a Program Improvement school. Any Program Improvement school in Villa Park, let alone the tight-knit community’s name-sake high school would be a bitter pill for the politically active community to deal with.
On the other hand, 19 OUSD schools surpassed the magic 800 state number. The Hausner Press Release lead off reporting that 6 schools climbing over the 900 score, three for the first time. The six schools ( all east of the 55 Divide) are Anaheim Hills E.S. (first time-902); Chapman Hills E.S. (930); Nohl Canyon E.S. (930); Panorama E.S. (927); Serrano E.S. (first time-914); Villa Park E.S. (first time 908). Also in the Hausner Press Release was a list of the highest API increases led by Canyon Hills at 83 points. The Hausner Press Release also failed to mention that Canyon Hills 90 students are students who have moderate to severe disabilities and do not take the state standardized tests. Those students take the California Alternative Performance Assessment (CAPA) Test. The test is administered by on site teachers who interpret the student answers and write them down in the test.
To see a sample of a CAPA test question and how a teacher is suppose to score
CLICK ON: CAPA TEST
Handy E.S. increases 25 points- 13 points below 2008 level
In 2008, Handy E.S. increased testing scores by 38 points. On July 24th 2008, despite a California fiscal emergency, the Orange Unified School Board Trustees approved spending $10,000 of educational tax dollars to hire consultant Dr. Dennis Parker from the Orange County Department of Education to conduct workshops at Handy E.S. in a program called the Strategic Schooling Initiative. The Orange County Department of Education website promised that the Strategic Schooling Initiative will increase a schools API score by 30-40 points. The web-link to that claim was publicized by Orange Net News and has since been removed.
That said, the year before hiring the $10,000 consultant Handy had a 38 point increase. So logically based on the OCDE website claims, this year the school’s scores should be increasing by an unprecedented 78 points with the Dr. Dennis Parker’s $10,000 “Magic Pill” consultant program (the 38 points the school did without the program last year, plus 30 points promised by the consultant program). Of course when the district can least afford to spend money on another snake-oil consultant, they did. You know the rest of the story, not only did Handy not significantly raise scores above what they did before the consultant- they actually failed to match their pervious year’s scores by 13 points. And yes for the sake of argument-even failed to reach a 30 point improvement by 5 points. Another Consultant Fable bites the dust with what edu-cats like to point to: “data”.
To view the Hausner Press Release CLICK ON: Hausner Press Release
Inside the September 10, 2009 OUSD Board Agenda
The OUSD Trustees voted to adopt the 2008/09 Unaudited Actuals and of Revised Budget 2009/10. Staff reported that Sacramento lawmakers had lowered the required reserves from 3% of the budget to 1.7% freeing up extra money for school districts. However, the fix (as with most fixes from Sacramento) is temporary and district staff warned that more cuts may be needed in the December revisiting of the budget and they are compiling options for further proposed cuts.
Also at the September 10 meeting, Trustee Mark Wayland continued his digging for answers in the Consent Item. Not content to just be a rubber stamp. Wayland refuses to vote on items he needs more clarification on- believe it or not…an elected official who continues to carry out campaign promises!
Former OUSD Superintendent Dr. Godley front page news
In a front page article on Sunday September 20, 2009 Biggest Pensions Tax State Fund, the Orange County Register‘s OC Watchdog writes about the 3,000 plus retired educators who make over $100,000 a year in retirement from the State Teacher’s Retirement Fund (STRS). Former OUSD Superintendent Dr. Godley’s retirement pay is $210,211 a year according to records cited by the article. The article does not mention the Retirement Bonus Godley received from OUSD after only 5 years as Superintendent. Even a motion by long-time Godley supporter Trustee Kathy Moffat who made a motion to amend the retirement buy-out plan to remove Godley from the Retirement Bonus would not convince the other OUSD Trustees.
Mofatt’s amendment failed by a 4-3 vote as Trustees Wes Poutsma, Kim Nichols, Melissa Smith and John Ortega on record voting against the Moffat Amendment to exclude the superintendent from the buyout with Moffat, Rick Ledesma and Steve Rocco voting to exclude Godley.
The OC Register article begins its section on Godley with:
“Another member of the "100,000-plus" club, former Orange Unified School District Superintendent Thomas Godley collects $210,211 a year. He was the budget chief for Newport-Mesa Unified when a finance worker siphoned $3.7 million to buy such things as full-length fur coats in 1992”.
To read the full OC Register article CLICK ON:GODLEY
To read about Kathy Moffat’s attempt to exclude Godley
CLICK ON:GODLEY AMENDMENT
INSIDE the September 24th OUSD Board Agenda
Canyons want to secede – Charter School wants approval
Having failed in its bid to get OUSD to keep Silverado E.S. open, the newest plan is to leave OUSD and join Saddleback Valley Unified School District. The Inter-Canyon League will be presenting Information Item 13 B (Agenda page 36). If the Board lets the Canyons go will Anaheim Hills be far behind?
An unknown entity called Global Tides Inc. has petitioned OUSD to open a charter school. Agenda Item 13 C (Agenda page 37) the Board will hear about a report from the staff on the fiscal impact of the proposal and decide to hold a public hearing on the charter proposal on October 29, 2009.
For more information on the Inter-Canyon League
CLICK ON: Inter-Canyon League
INSIDE the OUSD Budget
INSIDE’s EDUCATIONAL TAX DOLLARS WATCH 2009:
Total $1,041,000
2009 Attorney Fee Tally:
11/13/08 Parker & Covert (for 1/09 -6/09) $ 200,000
3/12/09 Atkinson, Andelson, Loya (Sp. Ed) $ 50,000
3/12/09 Parker & Covert (Special Ed) $ 98,000
6/18/09 Parker & Covert (09-10) $ 400,000
6/18/09 Parker & Covert (Special Ed) $ 200,000
6/18/09 Parker & Covert (property) $ 55,000
6/18/09 Atkinson, Andelson, Loya (property)$ 35,000
Total $1,038,000
2009 Consultant/ Speaker Fee Tally:
01/24/09 Leadership Associates Consultants $ 3,000
2009 TOTAL $1,041,000
Former Superintendent Godley’s Retirement Bonus running total (beginning 8/2008):
$15,730.00*
* The Godley Retirement Bonus presented here is an estimate of the amount in “bonus retirement” accrued since the Superintendent’s retirement on 6/30/08 using a 6% lifetime formula calculated here at $1210 a month since 8/08. The actual retirement plan the former OUSD Superintendent opted to take is not public information and the figures presented are only as an estimate of the taxpayer costs after the OUSD trustees voted against an amendment to exclude Godley from the retirement program. The on-going estimated figure is presented as a reminder to the community of the high cost in educational tax dollars the OUSD Board vote to allow the former Superintendent to participate in the 6% retirement incentive cost the OUSD education community in tax dollars. Godley retired from OUSD on June 30, 2008 after he worked for the school district for a little over five years.
Total for Watched Tax Dollars approved in 2008: $901,200
2008 Attorney Fee Tally:
6/19/08 Parker & Covert $ 60,000
6/05/08 Miller, Brown & Dannis $ 40,000
6/05/08 Parker & Covert $150,000
6/05/08 Parker & Covert $200,000
2/07/08 Parker & Covert $100,000
11/15/07 Parker & Covert (for 1/08 to 6/08) $200,000
$750,000
2008 Consultant/ Speaker Fee Tally:
11/13/08 Subs for SDCDE (Reading First) $24,000
11/13/08 SDCDE (Reading First) $30,000
10/30/08 Dr. Willard Daggett (ICLE) $ 4,500
10/16/08 Dr. Parker 40 pt Consultant $ 4,200
9/25/08 Visual Ink for Sadler Consultant <$ 6,600> CANCELED in 2009
9/25/08 Bob Sadler Consultant Fee $ 8,500
9/25/08 Candace Simpson-Sadler Helper $ 5,500
7/24/08 Dr. Parker 40 pt Consultant $ 10,000
4/17/08 Dr. Kenneth Stichter Speaker Fee $ 6,500
3/7/08 Dr. Kathleen Weigel Speaker Fee $ 8,000
Consultant Total $ 101, 200
2008 TOTAL $ 901,200
Total for Watched Tax Dollars approved in 2007: $704,090.00**
2007 Administrative Conference/Travel: hidden since 6/8/06**
**JUNE 8th, 2006 Trustees VOTE to Give OUSD Superintendent the power to APPROVE Travel Requests taking this item OUT of the PUBLIC AGENDA
Total for Watched Tax Dollars approved in 2006: $849,717.00*
2006 Administrative Conference/Travel: Total $ 18,317 *
* JUNE 8th, 2006 Trustees VOTE to Give OUSD Superintendent the power to
APPROVE OUSD Travel Requests taking this item OUT of the PUBLIC AGENDA
Total for Watched Tax Dollars approved in 2005: $978,300.00:
Next OUSD Board Meeting Thursday September 24, 2009 -OUSD BOARD ROOM
For AGENDA-CLICK ON: SEPT 24 AGENDA
CLOSED SESSION- 6:00 pm
OUSD Regular Session: 7:00 pm
For more information call the OUSD Superintendent’s office at 714-628-4040
For budgeting questions call Business Services at 714-628-4015
ORANGE Unified Schools INSIDE
Independent insight into OUSD
is an independent news service of /O/N/N/
a news service of Orange Net News /O/N/N/
Independent insight into OUSD
New AYP scores mean
State designates Orange Unified a Program Improvement District
The Greater Orange Communities 55 Freeway Divide became more apparent in the latest release of the state Accountability Progress Reporting (APR) figures last week (September 15, 2009). The reports show that while Orange Unified’s state Academic Performance Index (API) scores grew 11 points (California as a whole saw a 14 point statewide increase in scores) the bad news far outweighs the good news for OUSD and other districts with similar socio-economic factors that exist in the sprawling district west of the 55 Freeway Divide that everyone familiar with Greater Orange knows, but rarely mentions. However, reading the September 21, 2009 Press Release from OUSD Administrative Director of Communications Larry Hausner and you would imagine everything in OUSD-land is as squeaky clean as the Magic Kingdom. While the success in OUSD should be acknowledged, to ignore or gloss over the problems does not meet OUSD Superintendent Dr. Renae Dreier's “knowledge is power” mantra.
The state tests show that OUSD failed to meet 8 of the 40 federal criteria for the Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) mandates under No Child Left Behind student subgroups and is now officially designated as a first year Program Improvement district for the first time since California started assigning designation to underperforming districts. In addition three new schools also joined the district’s nine other Program Improvement designated schools ranks- Orange High School, Cambridge E.S. and Jordan E.S.- bringing the district total of Program Improvement schools to an all time high of 12. Schools failing to meet the AYP requirements two years in a row are designated as Program Improvement. The new designations mean more work for overworked staff at both the district and school levels and possible eventual state takeovers. None of this news was in the Hausner’s Press Release.
The released state reports show that 24, or 63% of OUSD’s schools met or exceeded their “growth targets” or the number of targeted points for “growth” in student scores on standardized tests given at the end of the 2008-2009 school year. Nearly a quarter (24%) of OUSD schools scores stayed the same or had declines in the targeted growth. The scores are greatly influenced by Language Arts and Math standardized testing scores.
OUSD Graduation rates fall 3.1%
Another item missing from the Hausner Press Release was that graduation rates also fell in OUSD last year from the 2008 graduation rate by 3.1% (from 93.5% in 2008 to 90.4% in 2009). El Modena H.S. showed the largest decline in graduation rates posting a 6.5% decline (from 98.3% to 91.8%). Orange H.S. posted a 2.2% drop; Villa Park H.S. a 1.4% drop and Canyon H.S. a .03% drop.
Villa Park H.S. falls below magic 800 with 26 point API score drop
Nine OUSD schools posted declining API scores from a -2 point drop at Palmyra E.S. to a -29 point drop at Lampson E.S. At the secondary level, Santiago Charter and Yorba M.S. had scores drop, while Cerro Villa M.S., El Rancho M.S. and Portola M.S. saw scores increase. Portola M.S.( in its fifth year as a Program Improvement school) apparently reaped huge benefits from funding for small class sizes. The school posted a 38 point increase, the highest of any OUSD secondary school.
At the district’s high schools, only Villa Park H.S. posted declining API scores with a -26 point drop. That drop brings Villa Park H.S. below the magic 800 score that the state expects all schools to rise above. Villa Park H.S. API score is now at 776. This is the second time Villa Park has risen above the sought after 800 mark and then fallen back below. In addition, Villa Park H.S. was one of 11 OUSD schools to fail to meet the federal AYP criteria. If Villa Park fails a second year to meet the AYP criteria, it will become the second OUSD high school to become a Program Improvement school. Any Program Improvement school in Villa Park, let alone the tight-knit community’s name-sake high school would be a bitter pill for the politically active community to deal with.
On the other hand, 19 OUSD schools surpassed the magic 800 state number. The Hausner Press Release lead off reporting that 6 schools climbing over the 900 score, three for the first time. The six schools ( all east of the 55 Divide) are Anaheim Hills E.S. (first time-902); Chapman Hills E.S. (930); Nohl Canyon E.S. (930); Panorama E.S. (927); Serrano E.S. (first time-914); Villa Park E.S. (first time 908). Also in the Hausner Press Release was a list of the highest API increases led by Canyon Hills at 83 points. The Hausner Press Release also failed to mention that Canyon Hills 90 students are students who have moderate to severe disabilities and do not take the state standardized tests. Those students take the California Alternative Performance Assessment (CAPA) Test. The test is administered by on site teachers who interpret the student answers and write them down in the test.
To see a sample of a CAPA test question and how a teacher is suppose to score
CLICK ON: CAPA TEST
Handy E.S. increases 25 points- 13 points below 2008 level
In 2008, Handy E.S. increased testing scores by 38 points. On July 24th 2008, despite a California fiscal emergency, the Orange Unified School Board Trustees approved spending $10,000 of educational tax dollars to hire consultant Dr. Dennis Parker from the Orange County Department of Education to conduct workshops at Handy E.S. in a program called the Strategic Schooling Initiative. The Orange County Department of Education website promised that the Strategic Schooling Initiative will increase a schools API score by 30-40 points. The web-link to that claim was publicized by Orange Net News and has since been removed.
That said, the year before hiring the $10,000 consultant Handy had a 38 point increase. So logically based on the OCDE website claims, this year the school’s scores should be increasing by an unprecedented 78 points with the Dr. Dennis Parker’s $10,000 “Magic Pill” consultant program (the 38 points the school did without the program last year, plus 30 points promised by the consultant program). Of course when the district can least afford to spend money on another snake-oil consultant, they did. You know the rest of the story, not only did Handy not significantly raise scores above what they did before the consultant- they actually failed to match their pervious year’s scores by 13 points. And yes for the sake of argument-even failed to reach a 30 point improvement by 5 points. Another Consultant Fable bites the dust with what edu-cats like to point to: “data”.
To view the Hausner Press Release CLICK ON: Hausner Press Release
Inside the September 10, 2009 OUSD Board Agenda
The OUSD Trustees voted to adopt the 2008/09 Unaudited Actuals and of Revised Budget 2009/10. Staff reported that Sacramento lawmakers had lowered the required reserves from 3% of the budget to 1.7% freeing up extra money for school districts. However, the fix (as with most fixes from Sacramento) is temporary and district staff warned that more cuts may be needed in the December revisiting of the budget and they are compiling options for further proposed cuts.
Also at the September 10 meeting, Trustee Mark Wayland continued his digging for answers in the Consent Item. Not content to just be a rubber stamp. Wayland refuses to vote on items he needs more clarification on- believe it or not…an elected official who continues to carry out campaign promises!
Former OUSD Superintendent Dr. Godley front page news
In a front page article on Sunday September 20, 2009 Biggest Pensions Tax State Fund, the Orange County Register‘s OC Watchdog writes about the 3,000 plus retired educators who make over $100,000 a year in retirement from the State Teacher’s Retirement Fund (STRS). Former OUSD Superintendent Dr. Godley’s retirement pay is $210,211 a year according to records cited by the article. The article does not mention the Retirement Bonus Godley received from OUSD after only 5 years as Superintendent. Even a motion by long-time Godley supporter Trustee Kathy Moffat who made a motion to amend the retirement buy-out plan to remove Godley from the Retirement Bonus would not convince the other OUSD Trustees.
Mofatt’s amendment failed by a 4-3 vote as Trustees Wes Poutsma, Kim Nichols, Melissa Smith and John Ortega on record voting against the Moffat Amendment to exclude the superintendent from the buyout with Moffat, Rick Ledesma and Steve Rocco voting to exclude Godley.
The OC Register article begins its section on Godley with:
“Another member of the "100,000-plus" club, former Orange Unified School District Superintendent Thomas Godley collects $210,211 a year. He was the budget chief for Newport-Mesa Unified when a finance worker siphoned $3.7 million to buy such things as full-length fur coats in 1992”.
To read the full OC Register article CLICK ON:GODLEY
To read about Kathy Moffat’s attempt to exclude Godley
CLICK ON:GODLEY AMENDMENT
INSIDE the September 24th OUSD Board Agenda
Canyons want to secede – Charter School wants approval
Having failed in its bid to get OUSD to keep Silverado E.S. open, the newest plan is to leave OUSD and join Saddleback Valley Unified School District. The Inter-Canyon League will be presenting Information Item 13 B (Agenda page 36). If the Board lets the Canyons go will Anaheim Hills be far behind?
An unknown entity called Global Tides Inc. has petitioned OUSD to open a charter school. Agenda Item 13 C (Agenda page 37) the Board will hear about a report from the staff on the fiscal impact of the proposal and decide to hold a public hearing on the charter proposal on October 29, 2009.
For more information on the Inter-Canyon League
CLICK ON: Inter-Canyon League
INSIDE the OUSD Budget
INSIDE’s EDUCATIONAL TAX DOLLARS WATCH 2009:
Total $1,041,000
2009 Attorney Fee Tally:
11/13/08 Parker & Covert (for 1/09 -6/09) $ 200,000
3/12/09 Atkinson, Andelson, Loya (Sp. Ed) $ 50,000
3/12/09 Parker & Covert (Special Ed) $ 98,000
6/18/09 Parker & Covert (09-10) $ 400,000
6/18/09 Parker & Covert (Special Ed) $ 200,000
6/18/09 Parker & Covert (property) $ 55,000
6/18/09 Atkinson, Andelson, Loya (property)$ 35,000
Total $1,038,000
2009 Consultant/ Speaker Fee Tally:
01/24/09 Leadership Associates Consultants $ 3,000
2009 TOTAL $1,041,000
Former Superintendent Godley’s Retirement Bonus running total (beginning 8/2008):
$15,730.00*
* The Godley Retirement Bonus presented here is an estimate of the amount in “bonus retirement” accrued since the Superintendent’s retirement on 6/30/08 using a 6% lifetime formula calculated here at $1210 a month since 8/08. The actual retirement plan the former OUSD Superintendent opted to take is not public information and the figures presented are only as an estimate of the taxpayer costs after the OUSD trustees voted against an amendment to exclude Godley from the retirement program. The on-going estimated figure is presented as a reminder to the community of the high cost in educational tax dollars the OUSD Board vote to allow the former Superintendent to participate in the 6% retirement incentive cost the OUSD education community in tax dollars. Godley retired from OUSD on June 30, 2008 after he worked for the school district for a little over five years.
Total for Watched Tax Dollars approved in 2008: $901,200
2008 Attorney Fee Tally:
6/19/08 Parker & Covert $ 60,000
6/05/08 Miller, Brown & Dannis $ 40,000
6/05/08 Parker & Covert $150,000
6/05/08 Parker & Covert $200,000
2/07/08 Parker & Covert $100,000
11/15/07 Parker & Covert (for 1/08 to 6/08) $200,000
$750,000
2008 Consultant/ Speaker Fee Tally:
11/13/08 Subs for SDCDE (Reading First) $24,000
11/13/08 SDCDE (Reading First) $30,000
10/30/08 Dr. Willard Daggett (ICLE) $ 4,500
10/16/08 Dr. Parker 40 pt Consultant $ 4,200
9/25/08 Visual Ink for Sadler Consultant <$ 6,600> CANCELED in 2009
9/25/08 Bob Sadler Consultant Fee $ 8,500
9/25/08 Candace Simpson-Sadler Helper $ 5,500
7/24/08 Dr. Parker 40 pt Consultant $ 10,000
4/17/08 Dr. Kenneth Stichter Speaker Fee $ 6,500
3/7/08 Dr. Kathleen Weigel Speaker Fee $ 8,000
Consultant Total $ 101, 200
2008 TOTAL $ 901,200
Total for Watched Tax Dollars approved in 2007: $704,090.00**
2007 Administrative Conference/Travel: hidden since 6/8/06**
**JUNE 8th, 2006 Trustees VOTE to Give OUSD Superintendent the power to APPROVE Travel Requests taking this item OUT of the PUBLIC AGENDA
Total for Watched Tax Dollars approved in 2006: $849,717.00*
2006 Administrative Conference/Travel: Total $ 18,317 *
* JUNE 8th, 2006 Trustees VOTE to Give OUSD Superintendent the power to
APPROVE OUSD Travel Requests taking this item OUT of the PUBLIC AGENDA
Total for Watched Tax Dollars approved in 2005: $978,300.00:
Next OUSD Board Meeting Thursday September 24, 2009 -OUSD BOARD ROOM
For AGENDA-CLICK ON: SEPT 24 AGENDA
CLOSED SESSION- 6:00 pm
OUSD Regular Session: 7:00 pm
For more information call the OUSD Superintendent’s office at 714-628-4040
For budgeting questions call Business Services at 714-628-4015
ORANGE Unified Schools INSIDE
Independent insight into OUSD
is an independent news service of /O/N/N/
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
News from the Real OC- A Blog Star is Born!
Metro TALK a community service of the
Greater Orange Communities Organization
News from the Real OC-
A Blog Star is Born!
Orange resident, mural artist, and mom-about-town Kim Harman’s blog is our newest favorite local blog. Far removed from the constant deluge of daily reality from Washington or Sacramento, and far removed from the reality world of the many spoiled “Housewives” given their own cable shows, Harman’s blog is remarkably down-to-earth and fun. Called “Notes from the Real OC”, the blogs information mast declares:
“Though you might not know it from TV, OC is more than beaches, blonds and Botox. The Real OC is made of people of all incomes, ethnicities, interests, and political persuasions. The Real OC is a great place to live. Lots of remarkable things happen here and some of them happen to me. That's what this blog is about. Life in the Real OC, from the perspective of a not-quite-young-definitely-not-old mom/wife/friend/writer. Check it out--Notes from the Real OC.”
From running marathons, to parenting and school, houseplants and growing old (gracefully!!!) the Harman’s blog is what it promises “Lots of remarkable things happen here and some of them happen to me”. Move over Julia and Julie, Greater Orange has its own blog star!
Check it out with the link below and the link on the Greater Orange News Service main page. For Harman's Blog-Notes from the Real OC-CLICK ON:
Notes from the Real OC
All Canyons Clean-up September 19, 2009
The All Canyon Clean-up of Silverado, Modjeska, and Williams Canyon will take place in conjunction with the 13th Annual Inter-coastal Watershed Clean-up Day will take place this Saturday September 19, 2009 from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm. Large bins and a chipper will be available for canyon residents at Santiago Canyon Road and Modjeska Canyon Road. Residents are urged to use the day to remove brush to create a defensible fire safe perimeter around homes. No haz-mat or electronic waste will be accepted.
Volunteers are needed to help with the clean-up of the canyons. For more information call Phil at 949-463-4592.
Orange Park Acres Western Fall BBQ and Dance
Orange Park Acres Western Fall BBQ and Dance will be held Saturday September 19, 2009 at the Davidson’s OPA residence, 6122 Santiago Canyon Drive. Live music and dancing, live and silent actions, raffles and of course-Barbeque! The fun starts at 5:30. The $30 per person tickets are available at the Hitch ‘n Post Feed and Tack 4921 E Chapman in Orange. Have a raffle or auction prize? Contact Sandy Forkert at 714-997-9135.
OUSD Technology and budget woes stress-out district
While Orange Unified Superintendent Dr. Renae Dreier made a splash with her first day of school podcast, she maybe remembered more for her cuts to the OUSD Technology Department this year after citing that those jobs cut were basically people who turn computers off and on. Strapped with a nasty virus, the OUSD website had been a mess for the first month of school as frustrated students and teachers find the technology useless for most of the day. The overworked and significantly smaller OUSD Technology Department is outgunned and working on a shoestring. All this while a number of schools have idle technology needed for classes. Reading programs, math programs and computer classes are unable to function. At least one school has no functioning computer lab, while students sit in “computer classes” with nothing to do for a month.
Meanwhile, OUSD principals across the district have told staff that supplies will be running out soon. Scantrons, copying paper, testing pencils and so forth are expected at many school sites to be gone before the Winter Break. While some parent groups in the well-off schools have been tapped for help, students in less affluent areas (i.e. Program Improvement Schools) are more vulnerable. Without access to supplies and school based technology, next-year’s state testing scores at these high profile schools may take a big hit. Dr. Dreier's podcast on next year’s scores should be interesting-if anyone can turn on a computer to view it!
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Friday, September 11, 2009
We Remember
