Greater Orange News Service

Mc Pherson Magnet and Running Springs Earn
Distinguished School Honor
Two Orange Unified School District schools, Mc Pherson Magnet and Running Springs Elementary, were among the 46 Orange County and 377 elementary schools across California honored as California Distinguished Schools last week. The honored schools must meet ridged criteria to just apply for the rigorous Distinguished Schools process that includes meeting state and federal standardized testing goals. The two Distinguished Schools and 2006 Title I Academic Achievement Award winner West Orange Elementary will be honored at the May 4th,2006 Orange Unified School Board Meeting.

For a complete list of this year’s California Distinguished Schools: CLICK ON http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/sr/cs/ap/distingyear.asp?year=2006
For information on eligibility requirements for the California Distinguished Schools CLICK ON: http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/sr/cs/eligibility06.asp .

Villa Park Elementary School Restoration Corporation
Lease Amended
In an increasingly rare 7-0 vote, the OUSD School Board voted to amend the current five year lease with the Villa Park Elementary School Restoration Corporation (VPESRC). The amendment includes new fundraising goals, deadlines, and a required Payment Performance Bond before any construction can begin. The April 20th OUSD Agenda Item again brought out community members to speak on both sides of the contentious issue as OUSD Trustees tried to play peacemakers between the two sides and encourage them to meet. With the hope of good news due in July on a multi-million dollar grant the VPESRC applied for, all other prospects for the site would require much more time to bring about. In order to avoid more delays, Trustee Lissa Smith called for the OUSD Administration to begin planning for a just-in-case-scenario that the VPESRC is not awarded the grant resulting in it not to meet its financial obligations by a December 2006 deadline in the newly adopted amendment.

For more information on the VPERC CLICK ON: http://www.vpesrc.org/pages/10/index.htm .

STUDENT WELLNESS: STUDENTS A+; BUREAUCRATS FAIL
Also at the April 20th OUSD meeting, three Villa Park students clearly hit home when they addressed the OUSD Trustees on Villa Park H.S. ASB selling caffeine-filled energy drinks. Local print media quickly picked up the students at-home caffeine effects self-study and their anti-energy drink crusade. This all tied in nicely with the first reading of the new OUSD Board Policy on Student Wellness later in the evening.

Unfortunately, during her public report OUSD bureaucratic Nancy Pollock made a misguided attempt to tie the federally required Wellness Policy to the recent OUSD Administration Good to Great campaign. Pollock took the Turning the Flywheel concept of Good to Great and associated it to the 1990’s evaluation and feedback-loop model “Implement, Evaluate, Improve”. In the process of Pollock’s mix-and-match concept swapping (that appeared to prove that OUSD bureaucrats have no grasp of the Good to Great concepts as outlined in the Jim Collins book and its accompanying monograph), she apparently helped prove the community concern that OUSD Superintendent Thomas Godley’s embrace of Good to Great is more slogan than substance. Pollock went on to further cause community alarm about OUSD Administrators when she stated:

“The exciting thing is we have done it right along with Dr. Godley’s foresight for our district, which is the ummm, ahhh, the Flywheel spinning”.

Perhaps Pollock should get out of the way of the spinning flywheel and read the next installment of ONN’s Hedgehog Digest.

Local print articles on Villa Park students’ energy drink campaign CLICK ON:
http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/news/local/communities/orange_villapark/article_1112022.php
Also: http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/healthscience/healthfitness/article_1112953.php
Orange Net News’ Special Report on
OUSD’s Good to Great:THE HEDGEHOG DIGEST http://greaterorange.blogspot.com/2006/04/hedgehog-digest-part-iii.html

OUSD Assistant Superintendents Contracts to be Extended
One of the first changes OUSD Superintendent Godley pushed for the OUSD Board change was how OUSD Superintendent’s received pay raises. Prior to the change, the OUSD Board publicly approved those pay raises with contract renewals or extensions for the Assistant Superintendents. Now, the OUSD Assistant Superintendents are on the Leadership pay scale and are given raises whenever the Leadership Step and Column pay scale is changed . At the May 4th OUSD Board meeting the Trustees are scheduled to vote to extend the current Assistant Superintendent’s contracts and expand travel reimbursements.
For information on the last OUSD Leadership pay raise CLICK ON:
http://greaterorange.blogspot.com/2006/04/orange-unified-schools-digest.html

Community Donations: Orange County Communication Foundation, $710.00 GATE Math supplies; OCDE-Mike Carona Foundation, $990 Transportation, Jordan Elementary. For a complete list of the $50,650 in donations, see page 42 of the May 4th Agenda (link below).

Highlights of the NEXT OUSD BOARD MEETING APRIL 20 , 2006
To view Agenda CLICK ON: >http://www.orangeusd.k12.ca.us/board/pdf/agenda_050406.pdf

State of the School Report: Kieran Sellers, Orange H.S.

Board Proclamations: Classified School Employee Week (May 22-26); School Nurse Day (May 10); California Day of the Teacher (May 10).
Item 12B- Approval of new contract with Orange Unified Teachers Association
Item 12C- Student Wellness Policy -2nd reading
Item 12F- Extend Current OUSD Assistant Superintendents Contracts to June 30, 2008

Digest’s EDUCATIONAL TAX DOLLARS WATCH 2006

“We’re a $220 million dollar business; we’re going to spend the money somewhere.”-OUSD Trustee Wes Poutsma 9/22/05

Total for Watched Tax Dollars spent in 2006: $ 272,317.00:
2006 Consultant Fee Tally:
3/09/06 Bob Sadler 3 Day Workshop $ 10,000

2006 Attorney Fee Tally:
4/20/06 Parker & Covert: $ 50,000
1/19/06 Parker & Covert: $200,000
Total $250,000

2006 Administrative Conference/Travel:
2/9/06 Roney and 5 principals to Florida $ 10,623
2/23/06 Rooney and 2 principals Tx/ Fl $ 4,050
3/09/06 2 to Florida Conference $ 3,644
Total $18,317

Total for Watched Tax Dollars spent in 2005: $ 978,300.000:
Total 2005 Conference Administrator/Board Fees: $ 7,500.00
2005 Attorney Fee Tally: $730,600.00
Total Watched 2005 OUSD Consultant spending: $ 270,200.00