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Sunday, August 30, 2009
OUSD principal's husband adds to fairytale
Once upon a time continues…OUSD Principal’s husband adds to fairytale
Even as Orange Unified Superintendent Dr. Renae Dreier continues to move OUSD into the twenty first century and skillfully sheds the stodgy image created by former OUSD Superintendent Dr. Thomas Godley of a censorship-ridden self-serving Consultant Culture, many of Godley’s former administrators continue the self-serving philosophy of the former superintendent. In the past, OUSD politicians have sought to use the taxpayer paid communication tools for self-serving agendas. Today self-serving educrats seek to use those communication tools for self-serving career advancement and it is again the responsibility of the community to reveal the real story.
Again we turn our attention to Michelle Moore, Principal of Panorama Elementary School in OUSD and her school’s section in the School News Roll Call OUSD edition (page 14). During the Godley Administration, Moore in the past has used this publication for self-serving cheerleading for the Godley Consultant Culture boondoggle, the multi-million dollar failed Focus on Results program. Moore’s public cheerleading of crediting that failed consultant program with her small private-like upper middle class school’s testing successes was not only an affront to the parents of the students, but false in the face of the clear demographic data based on race, wealth and other empirical data cited by educators and policy makers since standardized testing was begun under No Child Left Behind. It is that demographic data that clearly explains why the scores of the “fairy tale” school Moore works at is not a product of her leadership or a taxpayer money guzzling consultant program (see links below). After debunking Moore’s self-serving Consultant hugging hogwash she wrote in the past OUSD edition of School News Roll Call we now turn to the latest August/September 2009 OUSD Issue of School News Roll Call and the Panorama Elementary School’s section piece written by Principal Michelle Moore’s husband, Dr. Rock Moore.
Dr. Rock Moore (with his name as the writer) pens a lavish tribute to his wife Michelle in the latest School News Roll Call and only identifies himself as her husband in one line buried in the article that states: “Mrs. Moore has asked me to include that she has been happily married to fellow educator, Dr. Rock Moore…”. It is interesting to note what a “fellow educator” means in the Moore family. Currently Dr. Moore is a pastor of a storefront-like church called His House in the Canyons which meets Sundays in the theater of Rancho Santa Margarita Middle School. He also leads a Men’s Study Group on Saturdays that meets at the Ruby Diner restaurant in Rancho Santa Margarita and according to his bio is “instructing a class at the local Christian College”
Dr. Moore’s degree is in Theology. Dr. Moore writes in his church’s website biography that he “left full time ministry to pursue educational interest until God led him back to this area in 1999”. Those educational interests included being the assistant superintendent for the Stockton Gospel Rescue Mission in Stockton and later as an administrator for a short time with Adelanto ESD in San Bernardino and he taught a class at Chapman University.
Dr. Moore also writes about his wife Principal Moore that “she is a successful author, with several publications centered on high student expectations and data driven instruction”. Being always leery of educational buzzwords being bantered around by Educrats and people we see as pseudo-educators, the only publication of the supposedly “several publications” that Dr. Moore writes in OUSD’s School News Roll Call that we could find attributed to "successful author" Michelle Moore is as a “co-author” of a 150 page paperback two chapter syllabus-like “book” called Active Teaching and Active Learning Strategies: Creating a Blueprint for Success. The “book” is a collection of long established teaching techniques and lists of state-standards teaching lessons and contains no real original educational thought one would expect from being touted as an educational publication. Who did "successful author" Moore co-author the book with? None other than husband Dr Rock Moore. The “book” is self-published by the pair as Rock and Michelle Moore MiRoc Publishing using an AOL Publishing Program and self-publishing Trafford Publishing. Trafford specializes in “on-demand” boutique self- publishing used by those who want to tell the world they are “authors”. The “book” was edited by Adrian Ober, Office manage at OUSD’s McPherson Middle School.In the August/September 2009 OUSD Issue of School News Roll Dr. Moore also writes about Principal Michelle Moore “Moore has enjoyed speaking on both the national and international levels on contemporary educational themes”. However, again the only records we could find of Principal Moore “speaking” was with her husband presenting workshops together. The workshops for the National Social Studies Association include presenting a workshop at the 2003 National Social Studies Conference in Las Vegas and in 2002 in Toronto, Canada, not exactly an international educational stage.
Unlike his "successful author" wife however, we did find some independent writings from Rock Moore. Aside from a mediocre uninspiring education article during his doctorial work called School Leadership that Promotes a Dynamic School Culture (for National University) Dr. Rock Moore wrote a 396 page evangelical Christian book called Living Obedient in a Disobedient World. Published in 2009 by Revival Nation Publishing, a Christian boutique publishing company that lists 25 Christian evangelistic “authors’ they publish.
The publisher writes on its website what its publishing goals are:
"Our goal is to give authors who have a great writing style, a dynamic message and whose desire is to see the body of Christ edified in their work, and ultimately see lost souls won for the Kingdom, an opportunity to have their work published".
Moore advertises his book for sale on the His House in the Canyons website ($20.00) and also has a “commercial” for it on Tangle, an online community for Christians (you can buy it for $13.00 on the internet or read it for free from Google Books).
Ironically in their joint self-publication the Moores write about truth and trust:
“To clarify, trust derives from the word trost, and embraces the notions associated with comfort. Trust implies instinctive, unquestionable belief in another person or agency. Thusly, in a tandem relationship, trust exists when one fully believes in the integrity or character of another. Hence, when there is a high level of trust, the questioning of others motives or hidden agendas are diminished.”
Perhaps the Dr. Rock Moore and "successful author" Michelle Moore should take this part of their own writing to heart and perhaps Dr. Dreier needs to remember that the Greater Orange Communities have an "instinctive, unquestionable belief" in her as the OUSD Superintendent to make sure that what is in the OUSD Issue of School News Roll Call is above reproach and far beyond fairytales of the past.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
August/September 2009 OUSD Issue of School News Roll(see page 14):
Click on FAIRYTALE
Information on the Moore families book: SUCESSFUL AUTHORS
Information on Trafford Publishing: WEB PUBLISH
Trafford Publishing Costs from website: COST
His House in the Canyons Church website STOREFRONT CHURCH
Revival Publishing
Panorama Elementary School- Michele Moore’s Fairytale School : Moore's Fairytale
Monday, August 17, 2009
OUSD Board to vote on own $15 pay cut
ORANGE Unified Schools INSIDE
a news service of Orange Net News /O/N/N/
Independent insight into OUSD
While Smith and Moffat put their money where their mouth is…
OUSD Board to vote on own $15 pay cut
The Orange Unified School Board at their August 20, 2009 meeting will again take up a proposal to reduce their stipend after defeating a similar move in May. The latest proposal is for a $15 cut (2% reduction) to their pay. In May they defeated a proposal to take a $75 cut (10%) to their $750 per month stipend. The new proposed $15 cut is being put forth by Trustee Dr. Alexia Deligianni who voted against the originally proposed $75 cut in May.
The May proposal failed in a tie 3-3 vote with the OUSD Trustees voting with their political allied blocks. Trustees Melissa Smith, Kim Nichols and Kathy Moffat voted for the 10% reduction. Voting against the reduction was Ledesma Coalition allies -Trustees Rick Ledesma, John Ortega, and Alexia Deligianni. Trustee Mark Wayland was absent from the meeting. Board President Rick Ledesma at the May vote had called the proposal “political hay” which Trustee Melissa Smith publicly took offense to. At the tense May exchange, Kim Nichols directed the Superintendent to supply her with the needed paper work to take the cut on her own. In June Trustee Kathy Moffat’s name appeared on the DONATION page as donating $75.00 (10% of her stipend) to OUSD. This month in addition to another $75.00 donation from Moffat, Trustee Melissa Smith is listed as donating $900 on the DONATION page of the August 20th Agenda (Agenda page 8) which is listed as “DONATION of STIPEND”. The two month donations from Moffat and Smith total $1,050. Deligianni’s proposed $15 stipend cut will amount to a $1,260 total annual savings for OUSD.
OUSD Superintendent Dreier to take 2% pay cut
Orange Unified Superintendent Dr. Renae Dreier will amend her Employment Contract to take a 2% pay cut. Dreier had stated earlier in the year that she would volunteer to take part in a pay cut. Dreieris in the second year of her $750,000 ($250,000 per year) salary contract. The August 20, 2009 OUSD Agenda Item 12 B (page 3) will authorized the OUSD Board to enter the agreement with the Superintendent.
Superintendents across the country have taken pay-cuts to off set huge budget deficits that have plagued school districts nation-wide. High profile voluntary superintendent pay-cuts in Broward Schools, Florida, Las Vegas, Nevada, Peninsula Schools in Tacoma, Washington have all made news. Also news worthy have been examples of school boards cutting superintendent’s pay like in Lodi Unified where the Lodi School Board cut $15,000 off Superintendent Dr. Nichols-Washer’s annual pay. In other places in lieu of classroom cuts taxpayers are demanding pay cuts for local superintendents like the successful taxpayer revolt in Utah’s Jordan School District that forced Superintendent Barry Newbold to “volunteer” to take a 10% pay cut. Close to home, Long Beach Unified Superintendent Dr. Chris Steinhauser volunteered in January to take a 10% pay cut ($23,000) for two years and donated the money to a special fund to assist district employees in financial need because of budget cuts to hours or employment. In addition, Steinhauser also has agreed to new language in his contract that applies any further pay cut percentages imposed on employees not covered by employee unions to his annual salary.
2% Pay Reduction for Teachers, Substitutes and Administrators
The Orange Unified School District and the teachers’ association, the Orange Unified Educators Association, reached a tentative pay deal to eliminate four teacher staff days, thus reducing teachers’ annual salaries by approximately 2 percent. The agreement (which needs approval) between the teachers and the district to cut all ready scheduled non-student staff development days means that the agreement will not affect student schedules. The recently passed state budget does make provisions for cutting back on student days. OUSD administrators (known as Leadership) will take a retroactive 2% pay-cut to July 1, 2009 under a vote by the Board on August 20th, 2009 Agenda Item 12 A (page 2). In that agenda, Consent Agenda Item 14 K (page 32) has the Board voting to cut OUSD Substitute teacher pay by 2% to a $119 per day.
OUSD must still reach agreements with the classified support staff on cutting wages for the current budget.
INSIDE the JULY 23 OUSD BOARD MEETING
OUSD lost millions of dollars on Bond while Moffat looses credibility
At the July 23rd OUSD Board Meeting, the OUSD Staff reported on the financial losses of the $93 million dollar 2008 OPED Bonds that were issued just as the current financial meltdown was becoming very evident. Staff reported that the OUSD Board hastily approved OPED Bonds had at their worst lost $20 million dollars and were still $10 million dollars in the hole from the original investment and would now cost the OUSD General Fund this year approximately $5 million dollars just to service the 2008 OPED Bonds plus another $8 million to cover the health insurance payments the now non-existing OPED Bond profits were suppose to pay. The total $13 million dollar loss will come out of the OUSD General Fund at a time when OUSD can least afford it as the district slashed programs, closed a school, tries to cut high school guidance counselors, and now asks employee groups to take wage cuts.
Immediately, after the staff report, OUSD Trustee Kathy Moffat chose to take on the “information put out to the community via our local blogs” regarding a statement she had made in 2008 regarding her questioning the wisdom of the issuance of the $93 million dollar OPED Bonds. Moffat’s attempt to blur her recorded words and “set the record straight” from last year’s discussions to approve the OPED Bonds was the first comment by any Board member in response to the staff report about the loosing investments and the $13 million cost to the OUSD General Fund. Moffat took exception to the Orange Net News’ July 20th 2009 edition of ORANGE Unified Schools INSIDE that reviewed the March 20th, 2008 Board Meeting trustee discussions that lead to the approval of two resolutions to approve the OPED Bond contracts. The July 20, 2009 ONN Report had a short statement summarizing Moffat’s comments she made in 2008 as she and other Board members struggled to understand the high-stakes financial game they were undertaking under a one day deadline to sell bonds at a negotiated rate. That ONN summary stated:
“Moffat revealed that she had consulted three educational financial experts who all had advised her against the bond issuance at this time because of the continued economic upheavals.”
That was a summary of Moffat’s March 2008 public comments when Moffat publicly stated she had spoken with three financial experts about the proposed OPED Bond and “to a person, they all said this is very complicated, very uncertain and they all said don’t do this”.
That 2008 Moffat statement is in direct conflict with her July 23, 2009 meeting “set the record straight” Board Meeting statement about the Orange Net News report on her 2008 on-the-record comments. At that July 2009 meeting she publicly contradicted her earlier 2008 statement about what her financial advisors advised. At the July 2009 meeting Moffat said:
“One of the people I consulted with urged caution, two of the people I consulted with said this sounded like a reasonable plan and a creative way to deal with a very difficult financial situation”.
Orange Net News issued an editorial report with the full content of both of Moffat’s conflicting statements on what her advisors stated.
CLICK ON: MOFFAT WRONG AGAIN
OUSD FAILS TO APPROVE $30,000 to Miller, Brown, Dannis
OUSD Board Trustee Rick Ledesma made his customary parliamentary move to separate the vote on the $30,000 payment to Santiago Revocation law firm Miller, Brown, Dannis at the July 23 meeting and for the first time the motion to approve failed for lack of a majority in a 3-2 vote. Ledesma was joined by Deligianni in voting No and Trustees Ortega and Wayland were absent. Moffat, Smith and Nichols voted to approve the payment. It takes a 4 vote majority to approve. The long time coming victory appeared to even catch Ledesma by surprise.
OUSD Re-FLAGS Schools
In an aside comment by OUSD Trustee Mark Wayland at the July 23 Board Meeting, he commented that some teachers had told him that they do not have American flags in their rooms. That comment resulted in a mandatory inventory and flag inspection from the district of every classroom with new flags being delivered all over OUSD.
INSIDE the AUGUST 20th OUSD BOARD MEETING
Information Item 13 B- Sale of Surplus property- The four identified surplus sites known as Killefer, Parkside, Peralta and Walnut already processed through the 7/11 Surplus Committee may have buyers
Consent Item 14 P (page 38-39) - 23 programs are identified that will be receiving funds from OUSD’s $9.4 million share in California’s portion of Federal Stimulus monies called State Fiscal Stabilization Funds. The identified programs listed in the Agenda on pages 38-39 include G.A.T.E, Art and Music and “Counselors 7-12”. However, each OUSD high school that had 6 guidance counselors last year will be starting the school year with just 4 as the Drier Administration that fired counselors at the end of last year tries to make that shocking number permanent which balloons ratios of students to counselors in OUSD high schools to close to 600 to 1 and makes her administration on par with the number of counselors not seen since the Barbara Van Otterloo administration.
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): $14,520.00*
* 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 Consultant Fee Tally: Total $176,400
2006 Attorney Fee Tally: Total Approved $655,000
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:
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
Next OUSD Board Meeting August 20, 2009 -OUSD BOARD ROOM
For AGENDA-CLICK ON: AUGUST 20 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/
“Independent Local Insight”
a news service of Orange Net News /O/N/N/
Independent insight into OUSD
While Smith and Moffat put their money where their mouth is…
OUSD Board to vote on own $15 pay cut
The Orange Unified School Board at their August 20, 2009 meeting will again take up a proposal to reduce their stipend after defeating a similar move in May. The latest proposal is for a $15 cut (2% reduction) to their pay. In May they defeated a proposal to take a $75 cut (10%) to their $750 per month stipend. The new proposed $15 cut is being put forth by Trustee Dr. Alexia Deligianni who voted against the originally proposed $75 cut in May.
The May proposal failed in a tie 3-3 vote with the OUSD Trustees voting with their political allied blocks. Trustees Melissa Smith, Kim Nichols and Kathy Moffat voted for the 10% reduction. Voting against the reduction was Ledesma Coalition allies -Trustees Rick Ledesma, John Ortega, and Alexia Deligianni. Trustee Mark Wayland was absent from the meeting. Board President Rick Ledesma at the May vote had called the proposal “political hay” which Trustee Melissa Smith publicly took offense to. At the tense May exchange, Kim Nichols directed the Superintendent to supply her with the needed paper work to take the cut on her own. In June Trustee Kathy Moffat’s name appeared on the DONATION page as donating $75.00 (10% of her stipend) to OUSD. This month in addition to another $75.00 donation from Moffat, Trustee Melissa Smith is listed as donating $900 on the DONATION page of the August 20th Agenda (Agenda page 8) which is listed as “DONATION of STIPEND”. The two month donations from Moffat and Smith total $1,050. Deligianni’s proposed $15 stipend cut will amount to a $1,260 total annual savings for OUSD.
OUSD Superintendent Dreier to take 2% pay cut
Orange Unified Superintendent Dr. Renae Dreier will amend her Employment Contract to take a 2% pay cut. Dreier had stated earlier in the year that she would volunteer to take part in a pay cut. Dreieris in the second year of her $750,000 ($250,000 per year) salary contract. The August 20, 2009 OUSD Agenda Item 12 B (page 3) will authorized the OUSD Board to enter the agreement with the Superintendent.
Superintendents across the country have taken pay-cuts to off set huge budget deficits that have plagued school districts nation-wide. High profile voluntary superintendent pay-cuts in Broward Schools, Florida, Las Vegas, Nevada, Peninsula Schools in Tacoma, Washington have all made news. Also news worthy have been examples of school boards cutting superintendent’s pay like in Lodi Unified where the Lodi School Board cut $15,000 off Superintendent Dr. Nichols-Washer’s annual pay. In other places in lieu of classroom cuts taxpayers are demanding pay cuts for local superintendents like the successful taxpayer revolt in Utah’s Jordan School District that forced Superintendent Barry Newbold to “volunteer” to take a 10% pay cut. Close to home, Long Beach Unified Superintendent Dr. Chris Steinhauser volunteered in January to take a 10% pay cut ($23,000) for two years and donated the money to a special fund to assist district employees in financial need because of budget cuts to hours or employment. In addition, Steinhauser also has agreed to new language in his contract that applies any further pay cut percentages imposed on employees not covered by employee unions to his annual salary.
2% Pay Reduction for Teachers, Substitutes and Administrators
The Orange Unified School District and the teachers’ association, the Orange Unified Educators Association, reached a tentative pay deal to eliminate four teacher staff days, thus reducing teachers’ annual salaries by approximately 2 percent. The agreement (which needs approval) between the teachers and the district to cut all ready scheduled non-student staff development days means that the agreement will not affect student schedules. The recently passed state budget does make provisions for cutting back on student days. OUSD administrators (known as Leadership) will take a retroactive 2% pay-cut to July 1, 2009 under a vote by the Board on August 20th, 2009 Agenda Item 12 A (page 2). In that agenda, Consent Agenda Item 14 K (page 32) has the Board voting to cut OUSD Substitute teacher pay by 2% to a $119 per day.
OUSD must still reach agreements with the classified support staff on cutting wages for the current budget.
INSIDE the JULY 23 OUSD BOARD MEETING
OUSD lost millions of dollars on Bond while Moffat looses credibility
At the July 23rd OUSD Board Meeting, the OUSD Staff reported on the financial losses of the $93 million dollar 2008 OPED Bonds that were issued just as the current financial meltdown was becoming very evident. Staff reported that the OUSD Board hastily approved OPED Bonds had at their worst lost $20 million dollars and were still $10 million dollars in the hole from the original investment and would now cost the OUSD General Fund this year approximately $5 million dollars just to service the 2008 OPED Bonds plus another $8 million to cover the health insurance payments the now non-existing OPED Bond profits were suppose to pay. The total $13 million dollar loss will come out of the OUSD General Fund at a time when OUSD can least afford it as the district slashed programs, closed a school, tries to cut high school guidance counselors, and now asks employee groups to take wage cuts.
Immediately, after the staff report, OUSD Trustee Kathy Moffat chose to take on the “information put out to the community via our local blogs” regarding a statement she had made in 2008 regarding her questioning the wisdom of the issuance of the $93 million dollar OPED Bonds. Moffat’s attempt to blur her recorded words and “set the record straight” from last year’s discussions to approve the OPED Bonds was the first comment by any Board member in response to the staff report about the loosing investments and the $13 million cost to the OUSD General Fund. Moffat took exception to the Orange Net News’ July 20th 2009 edition of ORANGE Unified Schools INSIDE that reviewed the March 20th, 2008 Board Meeting trustee discussions that lead to the approval of two resolutions to approve the OPED Bond contracts. The July 20, 2009 ONN Report had a short statement summarizing Moffat’s comments she made in 2008 as she and other Board members struggled to understand the high-stakes financial game they were undertaking under a one day deadline to sell bonds at a negotiated rate. That ONN summary stated:
“Moffat revealed that she had consulted three educational financial experts who all had advised her against the bond issuance at this time because of the continued economic upheavals.”
That was a summary of Moffat’s March 2008 public comments when Moffat publicly stated she had spoken with three financial experts about the proposed OPED Bond and “to a person, they all said this is very complicated, very uncertain and they all said don’t do this”.
That 2008 Moffat statement is in direct conflict with her July 23, 2009 meeting “set the record straight” Board Meeting statement about the Orange Net News report on her 2008 on-the-record comments. At that July 2009 meeting she publicly contradicted her earlier 2008 statement about what her financial advisors advised. At the July 2009 meeting Moffat said:
“One of the people I consulted with urged caution, two of the people I consulted with said this sounded like a reasonable plan and a creative way to deal with a very difficult financial situation”.
Orange Net News issued an editorial report with the full content of both of Moffat’s conflicting statements on what her advisors stated.
CLICK ON: MOFFAT WRONG AGAIN
OUSD FAILS TO APPROVE $30,000 to Miller, Brown, Dannis
OUSD Board Trustee Rick Ledesma made his customary parliamentary move to separate the vote on the $30,000 payment to Santiago Revocation law firm Miller, Brown, Dannis at the July 23 meeting and for the first time the motion to approve failed for lack of a majority in a 3-2 vote. Ledesma was joined by Deligianni in voting No and Trustees Ortega and Wayland were absent. Moffat, Smith and Nichols voted to approve the payment. It takes a 4 vote majority to approve. The long time coming victory appeared to even catch Ledesma by surprise.
OUSD Re-FLAGS Schools
In an aside comment by OUSD Trustee Mark Wayland at the July 23 Board Meeting, he commented that some teachers had told him that they do not have American flags in their rooms. That comment resulted in a mandatory inventory and flag inspection from the district of every classroom with new flags being delivered all over OUSD.
INSIDE the AUGUST 20th OUSD BOARD MEETING
Information Item 13 B- Sale of Surplus property- The four identified surplus sites known as Killefer, Parkside, Peralta and Walnut already processed through the 7/11 Surplus Committee may have buyers
Consent Item 14 P (page 38-39) - 23 programs are identified that will be receiving funds from OUSD’s $9.4 million share in California’s portion of Federal Stimulus monies called State Fiscal Stabilization Funds. The identified programs listed in the Agenda on pages 38-39 include G.A.T.E, Art and Music and “Counselors 7-12”. However, each OUSD high school that had 6 guidance counselors last year will be starting the school year with just 4 as the Drier Administration that fired counselors at the end of last year tries to make that shocking number permanent which balloons ratios of students to counselors in OUSD high schools to close to 600 to 1 and makes her administration on par with the number of counselors not seen since the Barbara Van Otterloo administration.
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): $14,520.00*
* 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 Consultant Fee Tally: Total $176,400
2006 Attorney Fee Tally: Total Approved $655,000
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:
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
Next OUSD Board Meeting August 20, 2009 -OUSD BOARD ROOM
For AGENDA-CLICK ON: AUGUST 20 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/
“Independent Local Insight”
Sunday, August 09, 2009
Orange Net News is still here
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Thursday, August 06, 2009
SPECIAL REPORT: OUSD and Teachers reach pay cut agreement
SPECIAL REPORT
A news service of Orange Net News /O/N/N/
OUSD and Teachers reach pay cut agreement
The Orange Unified School District and the teachers’ association, the Orange Unified Educators Association, have reached a tentative pay deal to eliminate four teacher staff days, thus reducing teachers’ annual salaries by approximately 2 percent. The Orange Unified School Board had approved a 2009-2010 in the black budget using the 2% pay cut for employees. Last month, OUSD Superintendent Dr. Renae Dreier announced that she had initiated a 2% pay cut for district administrators to take effect next month. It is unknown whether the Superintendent (who had stated earlier in the year that she would take a pay cut) included herself in the 2% pay cut. Dreier is in the second year of her $750,000 ($250,000 per year) salary contract.
The agreement between the teachers and the district to cut all ready scheduled non-student staff development days means that the agreement will not affect student schedules. The recently passed state budget does make provisions for cutting back on student days.
Sources in the OUSD District office report that no agreement has been reached yet between the district and the teachers on the proposed cut back of OUSD high school guidance counselors. Community members have opposed those cut backs. California and OUSD lag behind the nation in student-counselor ratios. In a recent reorganization during boom budget times, an extra high school vice principal was added to each of the OUSD high schools. Those positions and consolidation of the three remaining “small schools” have been seen as targets of parents in the community looking to avoid cuts that impact student services.
OUSD must still reach agreements with the classified support staff on cutting wages for the current budget. OUSD Board Trustee Dr. Alexia Deligianni has submitted another proposal to cut OUSD Trustee compensation. The first proposal to cut the Trustee pay by 10% was defeated along a political alliances vote. Deligianni (who votes with the block that defeated the first proposal) has proposed a 2% cut that is being asked of all the OUSD employee groups.
SPECIAL REPORT
A news service of Orange Net News /O/N/N/
Ecast on the
INTERNET COMMUNITY GROUP i/))) cg
A 21st Century Communications System
Produced by the
Orange Communication System /OCS/
A news service of Orange Net News /O/N/N/
OUSD and Teachers reach pay cut agreement
The Orange Unified School District and the teachers’ association, the Orange Unified Educators Association, have reached a tentative pay deal to eliminate four teacher staff days, thus reducing teachers’ annual salaries by approximately 2 percent. The Orange Unified School Board had approved a 2009-2010 in the black budget using the 2% pay cut for employees. Last month, OUSD Superintendent Dr. Renae Dreier announced that she had initiated a 2% pay cut for district administrators to take effect next month. It is unknown whether the Superintendent (who had stated earlier in the year that she would take a pay cut) included herself in the 2% pay cut. Dreier is in the second year of her $750,000 ($250,000 per year) salary contract.
The agreement between the teachers and the district to cut all ready scheduled non-student staff development days means that the agreement will not affect student schedules. The recently passed state budget does make provisions for cutting back on student days.
Sources in the OUSD District office report that no agreement has been reached yet between the district and the teachers on the proposed cut back of OUSD high school guidance counselors. Community members have opposed those cut backs. California and OUSD lag behind the nation in student-counselor ratios. In a recent reorganization during boom budget times, an extra high school vice principal was added to each of the OUSD high schools. Those positions and consolidation of the three remaining “small schools” have been seen as targets of parents in the community looking to avoid cuts that impact student services.
OUSD must still reach agreements with the classified support staff on cutting wages for the current budget. OUSD Board Trustee Dr. Alexia Deligianni has submitted another proposal to cut OUSD Trustee compensation. The first proposal to cut the Trustee pay by 10% was defeated along a political alliances vote. Deligianni (who votes with the block that defeated the first proposal) has proposed a 2% cut that is being asked of all the OUSD employee groups.
SPECIAL REPORT
A news service of Orange Net News /O/N/N/
Ecast on the
INTERNET COMMUNITY GROUP i/))) cg
A 21st Century Communications System
Produced by the
Orange Communication System /OCS/
Wednesday, August 05, 2009
INSIDE UPDATE: KATHY MOFFAT WRONG (AGAIN)!
ORANGE Unified Schools INSIDE UPDATE
a news service of
Orange Net News /O/N/N/
Independent insight into OUSD
“So I just wanted to correct that very serious error”
KATHY MOFFAT WRONG (AGAIN)!
Orange Unified School Board Trustee Kathy Moffat took on the “information put out to the community via our local blogs” regarding a statement she had made in 2008 regarding the issuance of the $93 million dollar OPED Bonds. Those OPED Bonds have lost money during the current financial crisis costing the OUSD General Fund around $13 million dollars. The loss comes at a time when OUSD can least afford it as the district slashed programs, closed a school and now asks employee groups to take wage cuts. Moffat’s attempt to blur her recorded words and “set the record straight” from last year’s discussions to approve the OPED Bonds was the first comment by any Board member at the July 23rd Board Meeting after hearing a report about the losing investments in the $93 million dollar OPED Bond. The OUSD Staff reported that those losses will cost the OUSD General Fund approximately $5 million dollars just to service the Bond this year on top of an addition $8 million dollars to pay for the benefits that the now non-existing OPED Bond profits were suppose to cover.
The Orange Net News’ July 20th 2009 edition of ORANGE Unified Schools INSIDE reviewed the March 20th, 2008 Board meeting discussions that lead to the approval of two resolutions to approve the OPED Bond contracts. The July 20th ONN Report stated:
Moffat revealed that she had consulted three educational financial experts who all had advised her against the bond issuance at this time because of the continued economic upheavals.
That short statement was a summary of Moffat’s comments she made in 2008 as she and other Board members struggled to understand the high-stakes financial game they were undertaking under a one day deadline to sell bonds at a negotiated rate as Dr. Godley and the slick presenter said (using that age-old car dealer sales pitch) act now or loose the great deal. Capitalizing on the fearful financial news of the day, they told the board they had 1 day to accept the negotiated rate or risk selling the Bonds at a competitive rate to firms like “Bears Sterns, JP Morgan or Goldman Sacks”.
At last month’s July 23, 2009 OUSD Board Meeting the OUSD Staff reported that the hastily approved Board OPED Bond had at its worst lost $20 million dollars and was still $10 million dollars in the hole from the original investment and would now cost the OUSD General Fund $13 million. After that report, Moffat chose to immediately challenge the ONN report of what she had stated at the March 2008 meeting to approve the Bond Resolutions. Moffat said:
“Recently, there was information put out to the community via our local blogs about, kind of a retrospect about this program and when we adopted it and the questioning done by different Board members and that kind of thing. In the blog it specifically said I had sought out expertise from financial experts that I knew, and that’s true.
However, the blog said that all three advised against this, that’s not true. So, I want to set that record straight. One of the people I consulted with urged caution, two of the people I consulted with said this sounded like a reasonable plan and a creative way to deal with a very difficult financial situation which we would have to deal with in profound ways if we did nothing.
So I just want to correct that very serious error”
Well, Kathy we would like to correct your very serious error.
That is NOT what you said at the March 20, 2008 meeting.
The following is what Moffat stated verbatim in 2008:
“The reasons for my questions is this; ever since last Thursday when everything started to go pretty crazy in the financial markets, I started to have more questions about this.
This is obviously a very big investment and I consulted with three people who I consider to be experts in the financial world. One of them is a career international banker, and one is a person who works in the field of public agency investment and finance, and another one is a former banker and currently president of a real estate development firm. And to a person, they all said this is very complicated, very uncertain and they all said don’t do this”.
As you can see Moffat’s 2008 statement “And to a person, they all said this is very complicated, very uncertain and they all said don’t do this” is very different from Moffat’s 2009 the blog is wrong and setting the record straight statement:
“One of the people I consulted with urged caution, two of the people I consulted with said this sounded like a reasonable plan and a creative way to deal with a very difficult financial situation”.
We wanted to “just correct that very serious error” and point out that our 2008 and 2009 reports were accurate and Moffat’s re-creation of what she publicly stated at the March 20 meeting is not true, which again makes Kathy Moffat’s version of events wrong and Orange Net News right again.
RENAE DRIER RIGHT (AGAIN)!
What was the problem in Greely, Colorado? Local polls and emails from Greely showed that for many in the community then Greely Superintendent Dr. Renae Drier was not universally admired. And while many in the Greater Orange Communities still take exception to the interview junket that three OUSD Board members took to Greely at taxpayer expense to “interview” the community, we don’t blame Drier for their move. In fact if she were OUSD Superintendent then, we have a feeling she would of seen the junket as a waste of money.
Since becoming Orange Unified Superintendent over a year ago, Drier has moved to end the Consultant Culture of OUSD that over the years dumped millions upon millions of taxpayer educational dollars into the black hole of education-consultants (pay attention Michelle Moore and Larry Hausner). She has moved to end the “who-you-know” gets you the job culture and reached out with an open door policy to the community and staff as she has confidently lived by her “Knowledge is Power” mantra and led by example.
Symbolism aside, she has cut-out needless frills (like that “art muralists” for the strategic initiative workshops) and solicited the community for funding. Drier has favored OUSD personnel to provide expertise services that in the past had been expensively outsourced. Drier has moved on a long sought-out consolidation of the district’s three employee groups into one money-saving health plan.
Drier’s new pronouncement for the annual Administrative Retreat on August 12 is a no-frills 1 day down to business event where the participants (not the taxpayers) will pay for their own lunches. Dr. Drier is right again!
ADELIGIANNI TO TRY BOARD PAY CUTS (AGAIN)
OUSD Trustee Dr. Deligianni has submitted an item for the August 20th , 2009 OUSD Board meeting to roll back OUSD Board compensation by 2%, the same as the Leadership cuts and proposed cuts to OUSD employee groups.
OUSD Trustee Melissa Smith had proposed in May to cut OUSD Board stipends by 10% because of the current fiscal crisis. After a terse exchange between political allied fractions on the OUSD Board, the motion failed in a tie 3-3 vote with the OUSD Trustees voting with their political allied blocks. Trustees Melissa Smith, Kim Nichols and Kathy Moffat voted for the reduction. Voting against the 10% reduction was Ledesma Coalition allies -Trustees Rick Ledesma, John Ortega, and Alexia Deligianni. Trustee Mark Wayland was absent from the meeting.
Before the original vote OUSD President Rick Ledesma dismissed the minority members’ pay cut proposal as “wonderful political hay” noting that he agrees cuts are needed, but questioning the sincerity of the move by the three co-sponsors stating: “Where were these heroes when they were voting for millions and millions of dollars for consultants not long ago”. Ledesma also cited past votes for “pay increases to superintendents” and “me too pay increases for administrators”. Adding his belief that “symbolism works both ways” he questioned the timing and the relative small total savings to the district.
Trustee Melissa Smith responded to Ledesma by taking exception to Ledesma’s characterization of the proposal as “political hay” stating “ I have nothing to gain politically” citing that her residence has been moved from her trustee area (this was done in the Nichols Rocco Realignment) and she will not be running again. Smith also took exception to Ledesma’s comments about the timing of the proposal noting that she had been working on the proposed cuts since February. Smith defended past salary increase votes by stating that “market is what determines” the pay needed to offer and attract qualified people with competitive salaries. Ledesma retorted that competitiveness can be measured in many ways.
During the pre-vote discussion other Trustees explained their votes. Trustee Kim Nichols while acknowledging that the total savings were small, said the proposal would show that the Board was “participating in the crisis” and was a symbolic way to tell the community and employees that “we are in it with you” with the gesture. Later in the meeting Nichols directed the Superintendent to provide Nichols with any paperwork that was needed for Nichols to take the 10% pay cut individually. Smith added to Nichols' reasons for voting for the pay cut reasoning that it was more than symbolic, but a way for the Trustees to “share the burden”.
#################################################
Watch for detailed complete coverage of the Orange Unified School District with the regular ORANGE Unified Schools INSIDE edition
This edition of
ORANGE Unified Schools INSIDE UPDATE
Independent insight into OUSD
is an independent news service of Orange Net News /O/N/N/
Orange_NetNews@yahoo.com
“Independent Local Insight”
Ecast on the
INTERNET COMMUNITY GROUP i/))) cg
A 21st Century Communications System
a news service of
Orange Net News /O/N/N/
Independent insight into OUSD
“So I just wanted to correct that very serious error”
KATHY MOFFAT WRONG (AGAIN)!
Orange Unified School Board Trustee Kathy Moffat took on the “information put out to the community via our local blogs” regarding a statement she had made in 2008 regarding the issuance of the $93 million dollar OPED Bonds. Those OPED Bonds have lost money during the current financial crisis costing the OUSD General Fund around $13 million dollars. The loss comes at a time when OUSD can least afford it as the district slashed programs, closed a school and now asks employee groups to take wage cuts. Moffat’s attempt to blur her recorded words and “set the record straight” from last year’s discussions to approve the OPED Bonds was the first comment by any Board member at the July 23rd Board Meeting after hearing a report about the losing investments in the $93 million dollar OPED Bond. The OUSD Staff reported that those losses will cost the OUSD General Fund approximately $5 million dollars just to service the Bond this year on top of an addition $8 million dollars to pay for the benefits that the now non-existing OPED Bond profits were suppose to cover.
The Orange Net News’ July 20th 2009 edition of ORANGE Unified Schools INSIDE reviewed the March 20th, 2008 Board meeting discussions that lead to the approval of two resolutions to approve the OPED Bond contracts. The July 20th ONN Report stated:
Moffat revealed that she had consulted three educational financial experts who all had advised her against the bond issuance at this time because of the continued economic upheavals.
That short statement was a summary of Moffat’s comments she made in 2008 as she and other Board members struggled to understand the high-stakes financial game they were undertaking under a one day deadline to sell bonds at a negotiated rate as Dr. Godley and the slick presenter said (using that age-old car dealer sales pitch) act now or loose the great deal. Capitalizing on the fearful financial news of the day, they told the board they had 1 day to accept the negotiated rate or risk selling the Bonds at a competitive rate to firms like “Bears Sterns, JP Morgan or Goldman Sacks”.
At last month’s July 23, 2009 OUSD Board Meeting the OUSD Staff reported that the hastily approved Board OPED Bond had at its worst lost $20 million dollars and was still $10 million dollars in the hole from the original investment and would now cost the OUSD General Fund $13 million. After that report, Moffat chose to immediately challenge the ONN report of what she had stated at the March 2008 meeting to approve the Bond Resolutions. Moffat said:
“Recently, there was information put out to the community via our local blogs about, kind of a retrospect about this program and when we adopted it and the questioning done by different Board members and that kind of thing. In the blog it specifically said I had sought out expertise from financial experts that I knew, and that’s true.
However, the blog said that all three advised against this, that’s not true. So, I want to set that record straight. One of the people I consulted with urged caution, two of the people I consulted with said this sounded like a reasonable plan and a creative way to deal with a very difficult financial situation which we would have to deal with in profound ways if we did nothing.
So I just want to correct that very serious error”
Well, Kathy we would like to correct your very serious error.
That is NOT what you said at the March 20, 2008 meeting.
The following is what Moffat stated verbatim in 2008:
“The reasons for my questions is this; ever since last Thursday when everything started to go pretty crazy in the financial markets, I started to have more questions about this.
This is obviously a very big investment and I consulted with three people who I consider to be experts in the financial world. One of them is a career international banker, and one is a person who works in the field of public agency investment and finance, and another one is a former banker and currently president of a real estate development firm. And to a person, they all said this is very complicated, very uncertain and they all said don’t do this”.
As you can see Moffat’s 2008 statement “And to a person, they all said this is very complicated, very uncertain and they all said don’t do this” is very different from Moffat’s 2009 the blog is wrong and setting the record straight statement:
“One of the people I consulted with urged caution, two of the people I consulted with said this sounded like a reasonable plan and a creative way to deal with a very difficult financial situation”.
We wanted to “just correct that very serious error” and point out that our 2008 and 2009 reports were accurate and Moffat’s re-creation of what she publicly stated at the March 20 meeting is not true, which again makes Kathy Moffat’s version of events wrong and Orange Net News right again.
RENAE DRIER RIGHT (AGAIN)!
What was the problem in Greely, Colorado? Local polls and emails from Greely showed that for many in the community then Greely Superintendent Dr. Renae Drier was not universally admired. And while many in the Greater Orange Communities still take exception to the interview junket that three OUSD Board members took to Greely at taxpayer expense to “interview” the community, we don’t blame Drier for their move. In fact if she were OUSD Superintendent then, we have a feeling she would of seen the junket as a waste of money.
Since becoming Orange Unified Superintendent over a year ago, Drier has moved to end the Consultant Culture of OUSD that over the years dumped millions upon millions of taxpayer educational dollars into the black hole of education-consultants (pay attention Michelle Moore and Larry Hausner). She has moved to end the “who-you-know” gets you the job culture and reached out with an open door policy to the community and staff as she has confidently lived by her “Knowledge is Power” mantra and led by example.
Symbolism aside, she has cut-out needless frills (like that “art muralists” for the strategic initiative workshops) and solicited the community for funding. Drier has favored OUSD personnel to provide expertise services that in the past had been expensively outsourced. Drier has moved on a long sought-out consolidation of the district’s three employee groups into one money-saving health plan.
Drier’s new pronouncement for the annual Administrative Retreat on August 12 is a no-frills 1 day down to business event where the participants (not the taxpayers) will pay for their own lunches. Dr. Drier is right again!
ADELIGIANNI TO TRY BOARD PAY CUTS (AGAIN)
OUSD Trustee Dr. Deligianni has submitted an item for the August 20th , 2009 OUSD Board meeting to roll back OUSD Board compensation by 2%, the same as the Leadership cuts and proposed cuts to OUSD employee groups.
OUSD Trustee Melissa Smith had proposed in May to cut OUSD Board stipends by 10% because of the current fiscal crisis. After a terse exchange between political allied fractions on the OUSD Board, the motion failed in a tie 3-3 vote with the OUSD Trustees voting with their political allied blocks. Trustees Melissa Smith, Kim Nichols and Kathy Moffat voted for the reduction. Voting against the 10% reduction was Ledesma Coalition allies -Trustees Rick Ledesma, John Ortega, and Alexia Deligianni. Trustee Mark Wayland was absent from the meeting.
Before the original vote OUSD President Rick Ledesma dismissed the minority members’ pay cut proposal as “wonderful political hay” noting that he agrees cuts are needed, but questioning the sincerity of the move by the three co-sponsors stating: “Where were these heroes when they were voting for millions and millions of dollars for consultants not long ago”. Ledesma also cited past votes for “pay increases to superintendents” and “me too pay increases for administrators”. Adding his belief that “symbolism works both ways” he questioned the timing and the relative small total savings to the district.
Trustee Melissa Smith responded to Ledesma by taking exception to Ledesma’s characterization of the proposal as “political hay” stating “ I have nothing to gain politically” citing that her residence has been moved from her trustee area (this was done in the Nichols Rocco Realignment) and she will not be running again. Smith also took exception to Ledesma’s comments about the timing of the proposal noting that she had been working on the proposed cuts since February. Smith defended past salary increase votes by stating that “market is what determines” the pay needed to offer and attract qualified people with competitive salaries. Ledesma retorted that competitiveness can be measured in many ways.
During the pre-vote discussion other Trustees explained their votes. Trustee Kim Nichols while acknowledging that the total savings were small, said the proposal would show that the Board was “participating in the crisis” and was a symbolic way to tell the community and employees that “we are in it with you” with the gesture. Later in the meeting Nichols directed the Superintendent to provide Nichols with any paperwork that was needed for Nichols to take the 10% pay cut individually. Smith added to Nichols' reasons for voting for the pay cut reasoning that it was more than symbolic, but a way for the Trustees to “share the burden”.
#################################################
Watch for detailed complete coverage of the Orange Unified School District with the regular ORANGE Unified Schools INSIDE edition
This edition of
ORANGE Unified Schools INSIDE UPDATE
Independent insight into OUSD
is an independent news service of Orange Net News /O/N/N/
Orange_NetNews@yahoo.com
“Independent Local Insight”
Ecast on the
INTERNET COMMUNITY GROUP i/))) cg
A 21st Century Communications System
