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Thursday, October 24, 2013
OUSD vote 7-0 to end Peralta Project
SPECIAL REPORT
ORANGE Unified Schools INSIDE
Independent
insight into OUSD
a news service of
Orange
Net News
/O/N/N/
OUSD BOARD ENDS FAIRFIELD
Tonight , the
Orange Unified School Board voted 7-0 to terminate the controversial exclusive
plan and end all agreements with Fairfield LLC to build a high density apartment
project under a 99 year lease on the former Peralta School
The
vote brought an end and a stunning defeat to the Board Majority under OUSD
Board President Timothy Surridge.
Surridge had stated at the September meeting he was ready to vote to end
the project.
Surridge
however framed his capitulation to the broad-based community coalition that
spanned the entire Greater Orange Communities as " a
compromise". Surridge called for the
price of his vote to end the project to be met by the opponents of the project
agreeing to sell all the district's approximately 40 acres of reserved
properties.
The
evening started with Surridge calling for the Informational item on a likely
facilities Bond to be heard before the Action items ( of which the Peralta vote
was one). The business community public
speakers before the item however, while supporting a Bond, called on selling of
all the districts reserve properties.
When
the vote on the Peralta Properties finally came to the OUSD Board, Surridge asked that the public
comments be held until after the vote. Those public comments from the Save
Peralta Property neighbors however were far from being in the mood for a
compromise that would turn the Peralta site , or any of the reserve properties
over to developers.
The
evening did provide continued insight into the divisions between the two sides
of the Board. Trustee Diane Singer at the start of the meeting made a point
that her agenda item to re-consider having only one meeting a month was not
added to the agenda. In an awkward surreal moment , OUSD Superintendent Michael
Christensen reported to Singer that Board President Surridge had determined
that the agenda was too long to add Singer's item, to which Singer retorted
that was the reason to have more than one meeting a month.
In
another surreal moment after the 7-0 vote and the public comments to not sell
the district's reserve properties, Trustee John Ortega went into a soliloquy
not seen since the Rocco days. Starting
with "I just want to hear the positives", the almost five minute
rambling included several remarks about him "getting it"-to his take on his
thoughts that it was "inappropriate" for Orange City Council members to oppose the
Peralta apartment project before it got to them ( "and I'll tell that to
their face"). As the Trustee continued he included several references to his job on the school
board being about students and the state of his old high school. Toward the end, as groans in the audience
grew and heckling from the audience began, Surridge mercifully helped Ortega
end his open ended public thought process.
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
Peralta Apartment vote on Thursday
ORANGE Unified Schools INSIDE
Independent
insight into OUSD
a news service of
Orange
Net News
/O/N/N/
As OUSD's waiver from open space requirements set to
end on Nov 10th ...
Peralta Site Vote on this week's Oct
24 Board Meeting Agenda
as a Community Bond group seeks a
rushed "package deal"
The
Orange Unified School District's October 24th Board Meeting Agenda includes
Action Item 12 B, a vote on the future of the Peralta School Site just as the
deadline for the OUSD waiver from California Department of Education surplus
property rules is about to end. Those
rules mandate surplus school property first go to parks or recreation.
Agenda
Item 12 B (Agenda page 5) presents three
voting scenarios to the OUSD Board. The first option listed is to approve the
Ground Lease Option Agreement with Fairfield Residential LLC and direct the
OUSD Staff to "do any and all things
to complete the transaction".
The
second option listed is to disapprove the Ground Lease Option Agreement and to
direct staff "not to move forward
with Fairfield
The
third option states to direct staff "to
bring back the item for consideration and potential action at a future
date."
To
complicate the process, November 10, 2013
is when the waiver OUSD received from the California Department of Education to
dispose of the Peralta Site through a
Request for Proposal (RFP) process ends. It is that waiver that allows Fairfield
That
waiver received in 2011 was to free OUSD from the California Education Codes that preserves surplus school property
as open space. Without the waiver, the California Education Code dictates that
surplus school property's priority goes to being parks or recreation. The CDE waiver
allowed OUSD to not complying with the California
OUSD
received the waiver in November 2011. The waiver from the CDE requirements for
surplus property was received 7 months before the Peralta Neighborhood began
organizing against the site becoming high density apartments. Ironically, many of the Peralta high density apartment opponents
across the city have opposed the project on the grounds that the current open
space would be lost.
With
the November 10, 2013 deadline, the second Agenda option appears to essentially
kill the deal, while the third option appears to direct the staff to renew or
apply for a new waiver from the recreation and other requirements of the CDE
surplus property regulations.
This
week's Agenda includes the entire Ground Lease Option Agreement on pages 7-97
(for link CLICK ON
School Bonds, Parks
and Surplus Property
The
campaign against the Peralta Development has been spearheaded by the alliances
formed by the Save Peralta Property. The group quickly became a major player
not only in the Peralta neighborhood, but throughout the Greater Orange
Community. That success is in part due to the evident anti-development and pro-open
space political environment of the Central Orange County Metro area and in
particular the Greater Orange Communities-especially in the City of Orange.
With
the stated purpose of the Peralta development by OUSD Board supporters to "leverage" money for school
improvements, those same Board members have repeated the story that if the OUSD
Board has undeveloped properties, the community will not support the goal of
passing a Bond. In the last two failed OUSD Bond elections the issue of vacant
OUSD properties was never an issue. Never.
The
fact is that the issue of vacant OUSD properties has only been an issue in one
OUSD election.
In
the OUSD Recall of 2001, the OUSD Barham Ranch Property was an issue because
many supporters of the winning Citizen's Board Slate that were elected by the success
of the 2001 Recall were open space
advocates. With Sun Cal developers wanting the Barham Ranch land, the open
space advocates wanted OUSD to sell the 500
acre property to the County
of Orange
Within
a year of the 2001 Recall victory the Barham Ranch land was sold to the County of Orange
That
was the only election OUSD property has been an issue-and in that election the
issue again was development vs. open space. Never has OUSD surplus land played
an issue in an election. That however, appears to be changing. The current Board
is totally misreading the community on the surplus property, similar to how Washington
The
linkage of Peralta and an OUSD 2014 Bond is entirely the fabrication of the
current Board majority. Now a local business group supporting a Bond has
approached the Save Peralta Property group wanting again to couple the two
issues. The business group is insisting that all surplus property be sold to
make way for a bond. The Save Peralta
Group is insisting that the two issues be kept separate. However, if in fact the properties are sold,
the California Education Code requires that open space and recreational
concerns be top priorities- UNLESS there is a waiver from those requirements as
was the case with the Peralta Property.
For
more information on the Save Peralta Property position on the
"linking" of the Peralta Property and a 2014 OUSD School Bond CLICK
ON: PERALTA
Thursday's
agenda also includes Agenda Item 12 C -declaring the Riverdale School
Unlike
pervious Bond attempts, the movement towards the next OUSD Bond has been open
and transparent. This week's Agenda also includes items 12 D- an update of the
facilities planning and needs of OUSD's high schools. The improvements in the
High School Facilities Master Plan are to be paid for by a school Bond. With
four different firms -one for each high school, the goal of the OUSD
Administration in the master plan is for "equity
and parity" across the district's high school communities. This item's
written goal is to present for the OUSD Trustees approval "educational specifications to provide direction and establish
expectations across the district". The presentation will include architectural
renditions.
Along
with the open process seeking a Bond measure, the Agenda includes Item 13 A- an
open informational item that includes information on a 2014 School Bond. The
information includes: Feasibility Assessment; Ballot measure development; and
an advocacy campaign. Agenda item 13 B takes advocacy a step further with OUSD Trustee
Rick Ledesma advocating OUSD hiring the services of a "Public Information or
Firm" to help with information on the High School Facilities Master Plan.
OUSD Closed Session will discuss Taft lawsuit
Information
on a lawsuit filed in May of last year against Orange Unified, the Principal of
Taft Elementary School and a former Taft Special Education teacher will be
heard in Closed Session at the OUSD October 24th meeting.
Closed
Session Agenda Item 4 is a discussion with OUSD lawyers on the case Cesar P, et al vs Orange Unified. The
case stems from the April 2012 incident that was widely reported involving
former Taft Elementary School
Lentini,
Taft Principal Antoniette Coe and 100 "does" are listed with Orange
Unified as defendants in the case that the case's General Allegations list as "caused detriment, damage and injury to
Plaintiffs". The case lists
numerous minor plaintiffs and their guardians.
The
lawsuit lays out 5 Causes of Action: 1. Violation of the 1959 Unruh Civil
Rights Act ; 2. Violation of US Civil Rights under the 8th and 14th
Amendments; 3 Breach of Duty of Care
Arising Under Special Relationship; 4,
Negligence; and 5; Discrimination on Basis of Disability (Sec 504 of the
Rehabilitation Act of 1973).
The
lawsuit asks from all the defendants general damages, special damages and
treble damages. It also seeks punitive damages from Daniel Lentini, as well as all
legal fees and "For such other and
further damages as provided by law, or such relief as the court may deem just
and proper".
For back story CLICK ON: OC REGISTER
INSIDE the OUSD Board Agenda
The following are noteworthy
highlights of the OUSD Agenda. For the complete agenda see the link below.
Closed
Session
- 4 C- Discussion of
Evaluation Instruments and Goals for the evaluation of the Superintendent-
another item on the Superintendent's evaluation
Action
Items
- 12
A Automatic Electronic Defibrillators
- 12 F Common
Core State Standards state funding options
NEXT OUSD BOARD MEETING October
24, 2013
Next OUSD Board Meeting -OUSD BOARD ROOM
CLOSED SESSION- 5:30 pm
OUSD Regular Session: 7:00 pm
For AGENDA-CLICK ON
For more information call the OUSD
Superintendent’s office at 714-628-4040
For budgeting questions call Business Services at
714-628-4015
ARCHIVAL Information and direct news can be found
at:
the Greater Orange News Service
http://greaterorange.blogspot.com/
ORANGE
Unified Schools INSIDE
and the
Greater Orange News Service
are independent news services of /O/N/N/
Orange
Net News
“Greater Orange
Saturday, October 05, 2013
NRA threatened OUSD
SPECIAL REPORT
NRA reports that it threatened legal action against OUSD over Canyon shirt controversy
NRA reports that it threatened legal action against OUSD over Canyon shirt controversy
The National Rifle Association's legal arm-the Institute for
Legislative Action reports on its website that it had threatened the Orange Unified
School District with legal action over
Canyon High School
That threatened legal action prompted a very public apology
from the Orange Unified
School District 's Superintendent and a
promise of "training" for the Canyon High School
Two years ago, a similar incident over a cultural
insensitive high school Senior day called
"Senioris" and "Senioritas" at Canyon High also prompted an apology and training, but that incident was handled at a lower staff level.
"Senioris" and "Senioritas" at Canyon High also prompted an apology and training, but that incident was handled at a lower staff level.
The current controversy quickly became a national story this
week after being reported by local
media. However, the threat of NRA legal
action has not been reported.
The NRA-ILA site reports the student Haley Bullwinkle and
her parents:
"have received an unconditional apology from Michael
Christensen, the Superintendent of Schools, Orange County
Unified School
District
The site also includes the full link of the district's
statement (LINK BELOW).
Friday, October 04, 2013
Canyon HS controversy goes national
Canyon HS again in national spotlight over NRA shirt
Orange Unified's Canyon High School is again in the national spotlight over an incident that came to light this week involving a student that wore a NRA shirt to school. The story which broke locally, has been picked up by national news services, gun advocate and conservative websites and blogs, and the influential Huffington Post.Canyon HS sophomore Haley Bullwinkle, who clams to have worn the shirt to school without incident before, was stopped when she wore the shirt in September. The student reports being stopped by a school security guard and being sent to the principal's office where she was made to change into a school provided shirt. Her parents claim that after sending an email to Canyon Principal Kimberly Fricker about the incident, Jed Bullwinkle is quoted in interviews saying that Fricker replied that the shirt had a gun on it and was not allowed by the campus police and dress code.
“promotes or depicts: gang, drugs, alcohol, tobacco, violence, criminal activity, obscenity, the degrading of cultures, ethnicity, gender, religion and/or ethnic values. (In general, anything that is divisive or offensive to a staff member.)”
Jed Bullwinkle claims that Haley's first Amendment rights were violated. The story quickly became national news when Jed Bullwinkle contacted attorney Chuck Michel. A civil rights attorney, Michel's clients include the California Rifle Association and the Pistol Association.Mr. Bullwinkle has also asserted in interviews that the school's initial actions were hypocritical considering that the drill team uses "drill rifles" and the school mascot of a Native American Comanche includes spears and bows and arrows.
As the media began to pick-up the story, OUSD reversed the Principal's decision. OUSD Superintendent Michael Christensen's office issued a statement saying the shirt would be allowed and that the staff would be "trained" to make sure a similar incident did not happen again.
Other incident's have occurred across the country regarding NRA shirts in schools. The power of the NRA was on full display last year as it went up against the Obama Administration's efforts for "gun control" in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary shootings.
More than that however, the principal appeared to be on shaky Constitutional ground. In the 1969 Supreme Court ruling in a landmark case Tinker vs Des Moines the high court upheld high school students' Constitutional First Amendment rights. (CLICK ON TINKER).
YAHOO SEARCH FRONT PAGE LINK: (CLICK ON NRA )
Wednesday, October 02, 2013
PROCLAMATION
Metro Views
giving voice to the Greater Orange Communities
service of the Greater Orange Community Organization :GoCo:
OCTOBER 2nd Proclamation
This is a day of Independence For all California students and their descendants.
Yes, let the joyous news be spread The wicked Old Test at last is dead!
Yes, let the joyous news be spread The wicked Old Test at last is dead!
THE WICKED TEST IS DEAD
Ding Dong! The Test is dead. Which old Test? The Wicked Test!
Ding Dong! The Wicked Test is dead.
Wake up you sleepy head, rub your eyes, get out of bed.
Wake up, the Wicked Test is dead.
It's gone where failures go,
So sing and let them know!
Yo-ho, let's sing and ring the schools bells out
shout it high, sing it low.
And Let every student know
Ding Dong The Wicked Test is dead!
Views expressed in Metro Views are not necessarily the views of the
Greater Orange Community Organization :GoCo: or its affiliates
Orange Communication System /OCS/
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ORANGE Unified Schools INSIDE COMMUNITY UPDATE
Greater Orange News SErVICE SPECIAL REPORT
Brown signs AB 484
Gov Brown signs AB 484-
ending most California
Today Governor Jerry
Brown signed Assembly Bill 484. The new law immediately suspends most of
the old California Standardized tests (STAR) and funds a trial run this year of
the new Smarter Balanced Assessments.
The new tests are suppose to be taken on
computers, but the new law also provides a written test for districts that do
not have the technology available for testing on computers. By most estimates,
that testing caveat applies to most of California
The new tests are aligned with the new Common Core curriculum.
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson released a statement that included:
“I’ve said from the beginning, California
(Full statement here: Torlakson )
In addition to the federal Department of Education Secretary Arne Duncan opposing the California
a number of groups, including Ed Voice,
Educators 4 Excellence, Teach Plus, and Parent Revolution, had urged Brown to veto the law.
Opponents to the law cited the prospect of a year's worth of missing assessment data.Duncan had
threatened to withhold federal funding if California
Opponents to the law cited the prospect of a year's worth of missing assessment data.
The new law only
funds either the math or English parts of the new Smarter Balance Assessments in
grades 3-8 and 11 for a district, but not both. A school district giving both tests would pay for the second test itself.
No individual scores, school performance scores, or statewide results will be generated from the initial trial run in the spring.
No individual scores, school performance scores, or statewide results will be generated from the initial trial run in the spring.
.
FULL TEXT of new LAW: AB 484
Legislative Analysis of Law: Analysis
