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Tuesday, May 10, 2011
OUSD to approve $350,000 in legal fees
ORANGE Unified Schools INSIDE
a news service of Orange Net News /O/N/N/
Independent insight into OUSD
What budget crisis?
OUSD Legal Services to be discussed as
Board Consent Agenda asks for $ 350,000 in Legal Fees
One of the most famous Orange Recall bumper stickers seen on hundreds of cars all over Greater Orange from the nasty June 2001 Orange Recall Election was the white and black two lined zinger:
OUSD=Lawyers, Lawsuits,and Litigation.
Bad for Students. Bad for Taxpayers. Bad for Orange.
The Greater Orange Community was lashing out against an unchecked OUSD Board that was using hundreds of thousands of educational tax dollars to pay for politically inspired lawsuits. Orange County Education Alliance attorney Mark Bucher was on their payroll, and the soon-to-be-recalled Board’s Los Angeles attorney was even giving the recalled Trustees political contributions. After the Orange Recall Election was won and the Citizens Board took over, the old political insider law firm was booted and Parker & Covert were re-instated as the OUSD law firm. They have been here ever since as over the years, the Trustees have weighed getting an in-house attorney vs. a hired firm. Next came the attempted Santiago Charter Revocation on the heels of a major sex-scandal and the law firm of Miller, Brown and Dannis- dubbed the Revocation Law Firm- was taken to task by the community for that legal fiasco. It was Trustee Rick Ledesma who led the charge against that firm as Trustee Kathy Moffat served a hellacious year as Board President trying to maintain order under a community revolt against the Revocation Attempt of Orange County’s first charter school. Ledesma symbolically voted No to payments for the Revocation Law Firm year after year as he dutifully pulled the firms payments from the OUSD Consent Agenda every time they appeared and he achieved a reputation as a fiscal watchdog. For years Ledesma was the lone vote, until one day during his first term as Board President, quite by accident, one of his pulled Miller, Brown and Dannis votes resulted in a tie vote. That tie (which appeared to surprise even Ledesma) meant that Miller, Brown, and Dannis were not getting the money- and since then, they have disappeared from the OUSD Agenda. Born in the Orange Recall, Orange Net News has always published the OUSD Agenda approved legal expenses for the calendar year (OUSD works on a fiscal school calendar) for the community to see. Over the years, the community, and sometimes the Trustees have taken notice.
On the May 12, 2011 Board Agenda, the OUSD Trustees will discuss “legal services” under Information Item 13 D. During the same meeting on the Consent Agenda, $350,000 is being asked for approval for three law firms “on going Special Education matters”- Parker & Covert- $100,000 (Agenda pg 33); Atkinson, Andelson, Loya- $150,00 (Agenda pg 29); Harbottle Law Group – 100,000 ( Agenda pg 31).
It was just one year ago that the OUSD Board approved on May 5, 2010 $300,000 to Parker & Covert for general legal payments through June 2011, plus authorized an additional $55,000 to the firm for “Special Education Services”. The same meeting they authorized Dannis, Woliver & Kelly $30,000 for “Special Education services”.
At the April 21, 2011 OUSD Board meeting, Trustee Dianne Singer pulled an $85,000 legal contract to Parker & Covert from the Consent Agenda (Item 14 D) for discussion . In the discussion caused by Singer pulling the item, it was learned that the fees were for a pending law suit and work on surplus property issues from a special fund. Trustee Singer pointed out that jobs have been cut, and salaries have been cut and it is the Board’s responsibility to know where each dollar is spent. Implied in Singer’s move is the fact that in these times of fiscal belt-tightening, when voters may be asked to approve extending tax-hikes for schools, these discussions should be had, especially in a community that has had a history with wasted educational tax dollars, and has the information on the educational dollars being spent on attorney fees. Administrators, teachers and support staff, yes even the school board have taken pay cuts. Have the attorneys cut fees?
The OUSD Trustees voted to approve the $85,000 in attorney fees 6-1, with Singer the lone vote against it. Perhaps after the vote, Board President Ledesma, knew how Singer felt.
Revisit the Orange Recall CLICK ON: ORANGE RECALL
The Good, The Bad, The Ugly: the April 21st Meeting
The April 21 OUSD Board meeting will be remembered as the meeting that had, the Good, the Bad and the Ugly. With an audience full of employees and high school civics students, lessons in American democracy can’t get much better than an Orange Unified School Board meeting on a night like April 21st. In the Good Category, the OUSD Board announced their choice for a new Superintendent- Deputy Assistant Superintendent Michael Christensen. That announcement caused and outburst of applause in the Board Room as President Rick Ledesma made the Board’s choice known. The choice of Christensen, the 2010 Greater Orange Person of the Year and often just referred to as just Mike during the OUSD Board meetings, was met with universal approval from the community. The watchdog Greater Orange Community Organization praised the OUSD Board’s choice as “a grand slam of good wisdom, good faith and good business”. Christensen takes over the Superintendent’s position from the popular Dr. Dreier on her retirement in August.
Then a Bad situation became quickly apparent after the Superintendent announcement as Ledesma next announced that staff had pulled all of Consent Item 14 I from the Agenda. Trustee Moffat asked if it was to be voted on, and Ledesma responded no, because the agenda had yet to be approved. Trustee Dianne Singer then announced that she had information that with-in the item there was a conflict of interest, and that the district must never allow any thing that even looks like a conflict of interest to appear. Later in the meeting the Trustees alluded to the $224,217 contract to the Anaheim firm of Willdan Homeland Solution for Readiness and Emergency Management noting that the regular bid comparisons and other checks the Trustees usual get were missing with that item.
Later in the meeting, Trustee Diane Singer caused quite a stir by pulling two Consent Items for discussion (the first item reviewed above) as Singer sought to have the OUSD Board slow down on the approval of the $85,000 in legal fees until a clearer budget picture emerged from Sacramento lawmakers. Singer added that OUSD Attorney Spencer Covert was amenable to waiting. After being out voted on that item- things then got Ugly.
Singer also pulled from the Consent Agenda 14 R the item to pay Trustee John Ortega his stipend for missing the March 10, meeting. Again Singer noted that as Trustees it is their duty to show up to get paid. Moffat then injected that the Ed Code allows for the Board to vote to pay a stipend due to “hardships”, but that when it comes to Ortega, the Board never knows what the hardships are and stated it was the Board’s duty to make a judgment call with no explanation. Moffat went on to state that Ortega had frequent absents. Ortega responded by taking exception to Moffat’s comments responding that it was evident that they were brought about by a dislike for him. He defended his absences in 2009 because of training at the FBI National Academy and accused Moffat of grandstanding. Ortega took further exception to being talked about “Like I am out of the room. I’m an adult. Treat me with respect”. When Moffat asked for permission to respond to Ortega, Ledesma denied her permission. Moffat invoked Roberts Rules for a response which Ledesma retorted “As President, I’m the rule here”. Ledesma took the vote. The vote was 4 yes for the item to pay Ortega (Ledesma, Deligianni, Surridge, Wayland) and two No votes (Moffat, Singer).
Inside the May 12 Agenda
Data Returns
A special Work Study Session on the controversial Data Director tool will take place from 4:30-5:30 for the OUSD Board members. The hour long Data Director Training is sure to focus on the data that the system puts out, not on how the data gets in, which is where the controversy lies.
Sources report that OUSD Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services Dr. Gunn Marie Hansen got an earful of those problems when she recently paid a visit to the Orange Unified Education Association’s Representative Council. The time consuming process to input the Data (which the OUSD Data Gurus reportedly have an insatiable appetite for) is only overshadowed by the unrealistic “stop-what-your-doing” timetables and one input machine per campus to feed the Data Director its needed diet of constant testing results. Those results must be presented in a perfect pre-digested way-which just happens not to happen often, causing the long input process to easily double in time. Put plainly, the bang for the buck (unless you are part computer) is so far from the mark that this bit of technology turns the purpose of technology on its head as it tries to make teachers dataticians and data miners. There is a reason the U.S. Census is only done every ten years.
Other Items:
12 A- Approval of Superintendent’s contract: While his new pay rate is public information- the Agenda item’s Fiscal Impact lists: “As per the terms and conditions of the contract”
12 B- Naming of Facilities- With a policy of no schools named for community members, the push to honor local civil rights hero Lorenzo Ramirez will end up with the El Modena High School Library Media Center named for him and an unprecedented OUSD annual day of celebration- March 2nd , to honor the day in 1945 the landmark case was filed. If OUSD pulls off making March 2nd a true community-wide day of honor, the memory of Ramirez will truly be honored more than a school name ever could.
12 C- Budget Update- not just an Update-but now a guessing game…who will take Christensen’s place at the podium for future Updates?
12 D- The OUSD Legislative Coalition wants OUSD support for a bill to allow the emergency administration of the anti-seizure drug Diastat at schools.
INSIDE the OUSD Budget
Total for Watched Tax Dollars approved in 2011: $435,0002011 Attorney Fee tally
4/21/11 Parker & Covert $ 85,000
5/12/11 Harbottle Law Group $100,000
5/12/11 Atkinson, Andelson, Loya $150,000
5/12/11 Parker & Covert $100,000
TOTAL $435,000
Total for Watched Tax Dollars approved in 2010: $ 395,000
2010 Attorney Fee Tally:
5/27/10 Dannis, Woliver & Kelley $ 30,000
5/27/10 Parker & Covert $ 55,000
5/27/10 Parker & Covert (to 6/11) $300,000
12/2/10
2010 CSBA-Trustees and Superintendent: $ 10,000
TOTAL $ 395,000
Total for Watched Tax Dollars approved in 2009: $1,041,000
Total for Watched Tax Dollars approved in 2008: $901,200.00
Total for Watched Tax Dollars approved in 2007: $704,090.00*
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
Former Superintendent Godley’s Retirement Bonus running total
(beginning 8/2008): $37,720.00*
* 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.
Next OUSD Board Meeting Thursday May 12, 2011. For more information
CLICK ON: AGENDA
Work Study Session 4:30-5:30 OUSD CLOSED SESSION STARTS 5:30 PM,
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/
Orange_NetNews@yahoo.com
“Independent Local Insight”
a news service of Orange Net News /O/N/N/
Independent insight into OUSD
What budget crisis?
OUSD Legal Services to be discussed as
Board Consent Agenda asks for $ 350,000 in Legal Fees
One of the most famous Orange Recall bumper stickers seen on hundreds of cars all over Greater Orange from the nasty June 2001 Orange Recall Election was the white and black two lined zinger:
OUSD=Lawyers, Lawsuits,and Litigation.
Bad for Students. Bad for Taxpayers. Bad for Orange.
The Greater Orange Community was lashing out against an unchecked OUSD Board that was using hundreds of thousands of educational tax dollars to pay for politically inspired lawsuits. Orange County Education Alliance attorney Mark Bucher was on their payroll, and the soon-to-be-recalled Board’s Los Angeles attorney was even giving the recalled Trustees political contributions. After the Orange Recall Election was won and the Citizens Board took over, the old political insider law firm was booted and Parker & Covert were re-instated as the OUSD law firm. They have been here ever since as over the years, the Trustees have weighed getting an in-house attorney vs. a hired firm. Next came the attempted Santiago Charter Revocation on the heels of a major sex-scandal and the law firm of Miller, Brown and Dannis- dubbed the Revocation Law Firm- was taken to task by the community for that legal fiasco. It was Trustee Rick Ledesma who led the charge against that firm as Trustee Kathy Moffat served a hellacious year as Board President trying to maintain order under a community revolt against the Revocation Attempt of Orange County’s first charter school. Ledesma symbolically voted No to payments for the Revocation Law Firm year after year as he dutifully pulled the firms payments from the OUSD Consent Agenda every time they appeared and he achieved a reputation as a fiscal watchdog. For years Ledesma was the lone vote, until one day during his first term as Board President, quite by accident, one of his pulled Miller, Brown and Dannis votes resulted in a tie vote. That tie (which appeared to surprise even Ledesma) meant that Miller, Brown, and Dannis were not getting the money- and since then, they have disappeared from the OUSD Agenda. Born in the Orange Recall, Orange Net News has always published the OUSD Agenda approved legal expenses for the calendar year (OUSD works on a fiscal school calendar) for the community to see. Over the years, the community, and sometimes the Trustees have taken notice.
On the May 12, 2011 Board Agenda, the OUSD Trustees will discuss “legal services” under Information Item 13 D. During the same meeting on the Consent Agenda, $350,000 is being asked for approval for three law firms “on going Special Education matters”- Parker & Covert- $100,000 (Agenda pg 33); Atkinson, Andelson, Loya- $150,00 (Agenda pg 29); Harbottle Law Group – 100,000 ( Agenda pg 31).
It was just one year ago that the OUSD Board approved on May 5, 2010 $300,000 to Parker & Covert for general legal payments through June 2011, plus authorized an additional $55,000 to the firm for “Special Education Services”. The same meeting they authorized Dannis, Woliver & Kelly $30,000 for “Special Education services”.
At the April 21, 2011 OUSD Board meeting, Trustee Dianne Singer pulled an $85,000 legal contract to Parker & Covert from the Consent Agenda (Item 14 D) for discussion . In the discussion caused by Singer pulling the item, it was learned that the fees were for a pending law suit and work on surplus property issues from a special fund. Trustee Singer pointed out that jobs have been cut, and salaries have been cut and it is the Board’s responsibility to know where each dollar is spent. Implied in Singer’s move is the fact that in these times of fiscal belt-tightening, when voters may be asked to approve extending tax-hikes for schools, these discussions should be had, especially in a community that has had a history with wasted educational tax dollars, and has the information on the educational dollars being spent on attorney fees. Administrators, teachers and support staff, yes even the school board have taken pay cuts. Have the attorneys cut fees?
The OUSD Trustees voted to approve the $85,000 in attorney fees 6-1, with Singer the lone vote against it. Perhaps after the vote, Board President Ledesma, knew how Singer felt.
Revisit the Orange Recall CLICK ON: ORANGE RECALL
The Good, The Bad, The Ugly: the April 21st Meeting
The April 21 OUSD Board meeting will be remembered as the meeting that had, the Good, the Bad and the Ugly. With an audience full of employees and high school civics students, lessons in American democracy can’t get much better than an Orange Unified School Board meeting on a night like April 21st. In the Good Category, the OUSD Board announced their choice for a new Superintendent- Deputy Assistant Superintendent Michael Christensen. That announcement caused and outburst of applause in the Board Room as President Rick Ledesma made the Board’s choice known. The choice of Christensen, the 2010 Greater Orange Person of the Year and often just referred to as just Mike during the OUSD Board meetings, was met with universal approval from the community. The watchdog Greater Orange Community Organization praised the OUSD Board’s choice as “a grand slam of good wisdom, good faith and good business”. Christensen takes over the Superintendent’s position from the popular Dr. Dreier on her retirement in August.
Then a Bad situation became quickly apparent after the Superintendent announcement as Ledesma next announced that staff had pulled all of Consent Item 14 I from the Agenda. Trustee Moffat asked if it was to be voted on, and Ledesma responded no, because the agenda had yet to be approved. Trustee Dianne Singer then announced that she had information that with-in the item there was a conflict of interest, and that the district must never allow any thing that even looks like a conflict of interest to appear. Later in the meeting the Trustees alluded to the $224,217 contract to the Anaheim firm of Willdan Homeland Solution for Readiness and Emergency Management noting that the regular bid comparisons and other checks the Trustees usual get were missing with that item.
Later in the meeting, Trustee Diane Singer caused quite a stir by pulling two Consent Items for discussion (the first item reviewed above) as Singer sought to have the OUSD Board slow down on the approval of the $85,000 in legal fees until a clearer budget picture emerged from Sacramento lawmakers. Singer added that OUSD Attorney Spencer Covert was amenable to waiting. After being out voted on that item- things then got Ugly.
Singer also pulled from the Consent Agenda 14 R the item to pay Trustee John Ortega his stipend for missing the March 10, meeting. Again Singer noted that as Trustees it is their duty to show up to get paid. Moffat then injected that the Ed Code allows for the Board to vote to pay a stipend due to “hardships”, but that when it comes to Ortega, the Board never knows what the hardships are and stated it was the Board’s duty to make a judgment call with no explanation. Moffat went on to state that Ortega had frequent absents. Ortega responded by taking exception to Moffat’s comments responding that it was evident that they were brought about by a dislike for him. He defended his absences in 2009 because of training at the FBI National Academy and accused Moffat of grandstanding. Ortega took further exception to being talked about “Like I am out of the room. I’m an adult. Treat me with respect”. When Moffat asked for permission to respond to Ortega, Ledesma denied her permission. Moffat invoked Roberts Rules for a response which Ledesma retorted “As President, I’m the rule here”. Ledesma took the vote. The vote was 4 yes for the item to pay Ortega (Ledesma, Deligianni, Surridge, Wayland) and two No votes (Moffat, Singer).
Inside the May 12 Agenda
Data Returns
A special Work Study Session on the controversial Data Director tool will take place from 4:30-5:30 for the OUSD Board members. The hour long Data Director Training is sure to focus on the data that the system puts out, not on how the data gets in, which is where the controversy lies.
Sources report that OUSD Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services Dr. Gunn Marie Hansen got an earful of those problems when she recently paid a visit to the Orange Unified Education Association’s Representative Council. The time consuming process to input the Data (which the OUSD Data Gurus reportedly have an insatiable appetite for) is only overshadowed by the unrealistic “stop-what-your-doing” timetables and one input machine per campus to feed the Data Director its needed diet of constant testing results. Those results must be presented in a perfect pre-digested way-which just happens not to happen often, causing the long input process to easily double in time. Put plainly, the bang for the buck (unless you are part computer) is so far from the mark that this bit of technology turns the purpose of technology on its head as it tries to make teachers dataticians and data miners. There is a reason the U.S. Census is only done every ten years.
Other Items:
12 A- Approval of Superintendent’s contract: While his new pay rate is public information- the Agenda item’s Fiscal Impact lists: “As per the terms and conditions of the contract”
12 B- Naming of Facilities- With a policy of no schools named for community members, the push to honor local civil rights hero Lorenzo Ramirez will end up with the El Modena High School Library Media Center named for him and an unprecedented OUSD annual day of celebration- March 2nd , to honor the day in 1945 the landmark case was filed. If OUSD pulls off making March 2nd a true community-wide day of honor, the memory of Ramirez will truly be honored more than a school name ever could.
12 C- Budget Update- not just an Update-but now a guessing game…who will take Christensen’s place at the podium for future Updates?
12 D- The OUSD Legislative Coalition wants OUSD support for a bill to allow the emergency administration of the anti-seizure drug Diastat at schools.
INSIDE the OUSD Budget
Total for Watched Tax Dollars approved in 2011: $435,0002011 Attorney Fee tally
4/21/11 Parker & Covert $ 85,000
5/12/11 Harbottle Law Group $100,000
5/12/11 Atkinson, Andelson, Loya $150,000
5/12/11 Parker & Covert $100,000
TOTAL $435,000
Total for Watched Tax Dollars approved in 2010: $ 395,000
2010 Attorney Fee Tally:
5/27/10 Dannis, Woliver & Kelley $ 30,000
5/27/10 Parker & Covert $ 55,000
5/27/10 Parker & Covert (to 6/11) $300,000
12/2/10
2010 CSBA-Trustees and Superintendent: $ 10,000
TOTAL $ 395,000
Total for Watched Tax Dollars approved in 2009: $1,041,000
Total for Watched Tax Dollars approved in 2008: $901,200.00
Total for Watched Tax Dollars approved in 2007: $704,090.00*
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
Former Superintendent Godley’s Retirement Bonus running total
(beginning 8/2008): $37,720.00*
* 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.
Next OUSD Board Meeting Thursday May 12, 2011. For more information
CLICK ON: AGENDA
Work Study Session 4:30-5:30 OUSD CLOSED SESSION STARTS 5:30 PM,
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/
Orange_NetNews@yahoo.com
“Independent Local Insight”
