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Tuesday, September 30, 2014
OUSD to reveal Measure K plans
ORANGE Unified Schools INSIDE
Independent
insight into OUSD
a news service of
Orange
Net News
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As Christensen and Pauly spar in the
press...
Measure K architectural plans
take center stage at the OUSD Special Board Meeting Thursday Oct 2nd
The
Orange Unified School Board will hold a Special Meeting Thursday October 2nd to
review the newest architectural plans prepared for the four high schools. Unlike the earlier artist renderings of high
schools plans using a wish list of community stakeholders of each of the sites,
the newest renderings will take into account the Measure K budget of $74
million allotted to each of OUSD's comprehensive high schools.
In
August of this year the OUSD Board authorized each of the master plan
architectural firms ( one for each high school) to develop the drawings of what
could be accomplished at each of the high schools with the funding from Measure
K with the emphasis on educationally related modernization.
In
June, OUSD Trustee Dr. Alexia Deligianni cited the original renderings as one
of her reasons she voted against placing Measure K on the November ballot. Deligianni not only voted against placing the
Bond on the ballot, she also joined with Measure K opponents led by Villa Park
Councilwomen Deborah Pauly in signing the ballot argument against Measure K.
In
the September issue of the Foothills
Sentry Pauly pens a "Guest Editorial" against Measure K. While Pauly writes in the editorial that the
OUSD buildings have " a real need
for refurbishing and modernization"
she falsely blames that need on "OUSD
placing a low priority" on modernization. The controversial Pauly overlooks the truth
of OUSD being the only district in Orange County Orange County
Pauly
too takes aim at the stakeholder planning that involved each of the high
school's own communities in an in-depth study of the high schools. In
the editorial Pauly ( who is not an attorney) also criticizes the legal wording required in the Measure K ballot
description as "copy and paste".
She further criticizes the community stakeholders assessment of their schools as
"disconnect between 'needs' and
'wants'" while she acknowledges that the stakeholders were
specifically told to look at their schools without limits. Community members dreaming
big about what 21st education looks like to the community apparently makes Pauly
uncomfortable enough to call for Measure K's defeat. Or is it something else
that Pauly isn't forthcoming about?
In
the same Foothills Sentry issue, in
the Letters to the Editor section,
OUSD Superintendent Michael Christensen defends the process OUSD took writing
that "I would like to take this
opportunity to clarify some misinformation circulating about the ongoing OUSD High
School
The
Superintendent also noted that the OUSD Board has authorized setting aside
double the current maintenance budget to maintain the high schools. Critics like Pauly have called that figure
low-despite the fact that it doubles the budget that has maintained the current
schools as operational for well past their projected lifetime.
What
the Superintendent's letter does not address is the bang-for-the-buck return
the Greater Orange property owners will reap in property values and equity
should Measure K pass. That simple message on property values is what the Measure K proponents have
touted from the beginning as they have amassed a coalition of supporters that
has crossed demographic, social and political lines.
NEXT OUSD BOARD MEETING Thursday October
2, 2014
OPEN SESSION ONLY NOTE Time change 6:00 pm
CLICK ON: AGENDA
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
Tuesday, September 23, 2014
COMMUNITY UPDATE
COMMUNITY UPDATE
Measure K gets Orange
Firefighters endorsement
C.A.R.E. the grass roots political organization backing OUSD's bond Measure K has announced that the City of Orange Firefighters Association have joined the broad based community coalition pushing for the passage of Measure K.
It is the first ever endorsement of the association of a school related issue.
C.A.R.E. released this statement from the Orange Firefighters:
“We have never taken a position in a school district race or ballot measure, however, because we support safety within our schools and a positive environment for the education of our children, we are pleased to announce our endorsement of Measure K.”
(Orange City
(
Alleged White House intruder has Orange High School
Omar Gonzalez, the 42 year old alleged intruder who authorities say scaled a White House fence with a knife and rounds of ammunition and made it into the White House unlocked front door has connections to Orange High School
Gonzalez reportedly made it through the security just minutes after President Obama and his family had left the White House. After being apprehended by White House guards Gonzalez reportedly told them he wanted to give President Obama information about the "atmosphere collapsing" so Obama could warn the people.
Gonzalez had enlisted in the military in 1997 and was discharged in 2003. He then reenlisted in 2005 and served several tours in Iraq
Currently a Texas resident, Gonzalez reportedly attended Orange High School
The five month experiment by the new owners of the Orange County Register into Los Angeles County
For full details CLICK ON: LA REGISTER CLOSED
Tuesday, September 16, 2014
Republican leaders abandon schools
In
a show of ideological purism, the OC Republican Central Committee not only refused
to endorse public school bond measures across Orange County-
Without
offering an alternative way to rebuilding the public school infrastructure
across Orange County after decades of neglect, the OC Republican Central
Committee members voted to endorse "no" votes on Fullerton Joint Union High School District's
Measure I; Anaheim Union High School
District's Measure H; North Orange County Community College District's Measure
J; and Orange Unified School District's Measure K.
Orange
Unified Trustees Rick Ledesma and Timothy Surridge were recommended for the
party endorsement by Orange Mayor Pro Tem Fred Whitaker and Orange City
Councilman Denis Bilodeau. However, according to the OCPolitical Blog, the two
trustees came under attack from Villa Park Councilwomen Deborah Pauly who
claimed the two trustees ( who had voted for the Bond election) had promised
her that they would vote against putting Measure K on the ballot.
In
the end, a Central Committee voice vote failed to meet the 2/3 majority needed
for the endorsements and the two failed to gain the parties endorsement. (Click on: OCP )
At
the August 18 OC Republican Endorsement Committee Pauly also tried to prevent Whitaker
from being endorsed. Pauly pointed to Whitaker's support of democrat Tita Smith for Orange Mayor. According
to the OCPolitical blog, Pauly accused Whitaker of contributing to Smith's
campaign and having a Smith for Mayor sign in his front yard. In California
Sunday, September 14, 2014
UNO debuts to unite Orange
United Neighborhoods of
Orange debuts
Born out of the Peralta and Sully Miller land battles , the
group made their debut at this year's Orange
International Street Fair.
UNO is dedicated to property rights, open space and
cultivating support for like-minded leaders.
For more information visit their Facebook page : CLICK ON: UNO
Wednesday, September 10, 2014
Peralta,elementary music, and Measure K
ORANGE Unified Schools INSIDE
Independent
insight into OUSD
a news service of
Orange
Net News
/O/N/N/
Peralta lease back on
the OUSD agenda and...
OUSD looks at elementary arts and
music
The
Orange Unified School District
On
the agenda as Action Item 12 C is the Revised Budget report for 2014-15. The report shows that OUSD has a healthy balance of $70.4 million- with $7.4 million of that in a
state required reserve.
The
Peralta lease returns to the September 11 Agenda as Item 12 H. At the August 10, 2014 OUSD Board meeting the
Peralta Lease was the subject of a lengthy discussion on allowing Peralta Golf Partners
to extend the lease with provisions of not selling the property while the
extension is in effect. During the
discussion Trustee Rick Ledesma warned
that 'fixing the schools does not go away" and stated that if Measure K
does not pass he would immediately seek to sell all of OUSD's surplus
properties.
Item
12 B on the September 11 Agenda lets the OUSD Board accept or reject the
auction offers for the Walnut Site. The OUSD Board had placed the value of the
property at $12.9 million.
At the August 10, 2014 OUSD Board meeting several speakers from the meeting spoke during the Public Comments section on Agenda Action Item 12A . The agenda item was on extending the contracts for the architects that did the renderings for the needs assessments on the high school facilities in a lead up to placing Measure K on the November ballot.
Orange
County Third District Orange County Supervisor Todd Spitzer was one of the
audience members who spoke in favor of
Measure K. Spitzer, who has
children attending OUSD schools, announced his support of Measure K as he
described his personal observations of the need of modernizing OUSD schools .
Supervisor Spitzer also signed the ballot argument in favor of Measure K.
Spitzer's
public announcement to support Measure K came just days after OUSD's teacher association endorsed Measure K. While this may not seem unusual it in fact is
the first endorsement of an OUSD Bond by the teachers' union. C.A.R.E. has also announced that for the first time all four high school's parent, teacher and student (PTA's and PSFO's) have voted to support Measure K.
The
OUSD Board however split over the spending of more money on facilities plans
before the election. Trustee Diane
Singer cautioned to wait until after the November vote on Measure K before
spending further money-reasoning that if the measure does not pass, the new
first phase renderings that the action item would provide would not be needed.
Trustee
Dr. Alexia Deligianni (who voted against
placing the measure on the ballot and is the only OUSD Trustee to sign the
ballot arguments against Measure K)
spoke again of her concerns with the original architectural renderings
of high schools that were designed without a budget according to the wishes of
each high school's stakeholders..
Trustee
Timothy Surridge agreed that the blueprint process should be in place for what
the estimated $74 million per high school bond could accomplish before the bond
is potentially passed.
Trustee
Rick Ledesma likened supporting the agenda item for the new renderings to being
"good stewards" in preparing
for the bond monies.
The
Deligianni concerns mirror a recent anti-Measure K Op-Ed in The Foothill Sentry and appear to be part of the loosely organized
anti-K campaign that appears to be heavily counting on the hard-right
controlled Orange County Republican Party for help in defeating Measure K. The Orange County Republican Party went on
record against every school bond in Orange
County
Action
Item 12A passed on a 5-2 vote with Deligianni and Singer voting
"No" and the rest of the OUSD
Trustees voting yes.
Item
12 C was also about Measure K. The agenda item requested by Trustee Singer
called for Bond Transparency Training. While all the trustees supported the
idea, the devil was in the details of when and where the training would take
place and who would sponsor the training.
At the end of competing motions, the training was ultimately supported.
Is OUSD starting on a new Consultant "Milieu"?
Is
Orange Unified headed for another round of wasteful spending by bringing back a
Consultant Culture, or rather as the
"description" OUSD Administrative Director of Community and Student
Services Dr. Kenneth Miller used in OUSD's latest press release a "milieu"
(French...as in the language...for environment). Unlike OUSD's budget busting failed Focus
on Results consultant experiment, this new the top down Consultant Milieu may have serious consequences
not just on the budget, but on local perceptions of the "optional"
schools.
A
new elitist OUSD Consultant Milieu spending spree could not come at a
worst time for the community schools as the OUSD Trustees are asking voters for
approval on a series of bonds to upgrade and repair aging schools that are in
dire need of improvement. In all of Orange
County
The
press release sent out by Superintendent Michael Christensen on Friday
September 5, 2014 to the community (but not OUSD employees) touts Cerro Villa Middle School being the first
ever Orange County middle school to be granted the optional
"accreditation" which is called in the release an "award". In the press release "Director of Community" Dr. Miller
is quoted explaining in contorted bureaucratic educrat-speak the benefits of
the Cerro Villa accreditation to Greater Orange "Community" as :
"Our professional team can now see how we as a school
will not only improve our service model in the current milieu but we have also
will [sic ] nurture this opportunity to empower our students to achieve at optimal
levels throughout their high school and postsecondary careers.”
The
optional accreditation of middle, elementary and even pre-schools comes as the
accreditation process itself is under increased scrutiny from educational
reformers of all types.
The
reason no other high achieving Orange
County CLICK ON
The
process for the optional accreditation for Cerro Villa MS was began by Dr.
Miller when he was the school's principal. For the expense of the accreditation process,
Cerro Villa was "granted" a
two year accreditation until 2017 by the quasi-governmental Western Association
of Schools and Colleges (WASC) with reported minimum requirements. That however
will change.
In
1965 the accreditation process for "higher education" was granted to
six agencies with monopolies in geographical areas by federal legislation. The status of those six "agencies"
as official but "private" allows them to tout- as the WASC website
does-that they do not have to give out any information under the Freedom
of Information Act that government agencies do. That means there is no public scrutiny of the
budgets or administrative pay.
For
years the exclusive monopoly of college and high school accreditation was
widely accepted with the strings of federal funding attached, but since the No
Child Left Behind legislation, the accreditation "agencies" have come
under increasing scrutiny by educational reformers on all sides of the
political spectrum Increasing calls for reform or elimination of the six
agencies and/or their monopoly power have been made by a wide range of
education reformers including the notable
American Council of Trustees and Alumni. WASC and the other regional accreditation
monopolies are seen as pawns of the federal government wielding enormous power
over public local control issues and private educational institutions. They
have often been seen as anti-reform. (Click on FEDERAL and
AEI ) .
All
expenses of the accreditation process for the committee and agency
administrators- including airfare, local transportation, lodging, meals,
materials and supplies are paid for by the school district. Payment is
requested in two weeks after the accreditation visit (the schools are invoiced)
and if payment is not received in 30 days after the visit- a 15%
"administrative fee" surcharge is added to the bill (see link
below). In the OUSD press release Dr.
Miller thanked educational consultant Tony Ferruzzo of the consultant firm DecisionInsite (Click on CONSULTANT)
and WASC's Executive Director Dr. Van Leuven for their guidance through the
process. The press release further
stated that Leuven, who is based in Burlington California , had
personally come to Orange Click ON
Unlike
governmental oversight, the private accreditation firms operate much like
consultant firms with a twist, they can demand payment and add on fees all
before rendering a life or death decision for schools. While the WASC uses
unpaid "volunteers" for the real time consuming committee work that
reviews the schools for the process, the administrators of the mega-agencies
get paid- reportedly very well.
Christensen's
press release included information that Yorba and Portola Middle Schools were
next in line for the accreditation
process-reportedly much to the surprise of the staffs at both middle
schools. The staffs at those schools were only made aware that their schools
would be part of an optional accreditation process when the community press
release was brought to their attention. The press release stated that OUSD had "initiated the WASC process for middle
schools" mentioned both Portola and Yorba by name. Now, like the costly mistake of trying to
unsuccessfully impose the failed Focus on Results top down consultant
culture on school stakeholders during the unpopular "Good to Great" Godley Administration, with the new
influx of educational tax dollars the
current OUSD administration appears poised to follow with their own expensive encore
top-down Consultant Milieu.
Despite
the recent OUSD mailer on Measure K to the Greater Orange Community touting the
high achievement in OUSD schools (which happened after the former OUSD Superintendent Dr. Dreier ended
the OUSD Consultant Culture and switched to using the talent of OUSD
administrators and teachers) OUSD middle and elementary schools appear poised
to work on Dr. Miller's new consultant driven "service model in the
current milieu" to "nurture
this opportunity to empower our students to achieve at optimal levels
" because obviously what the new OUSD Director of Community and Students
appears to be inferring is that OUSD teachers and schools have been failing
students all these years and need more consultant hoops to jump through to
prove they can "empower our students to
achieve at optimal levels".
Now with tens of millions of educational tax dollars "in
the current milieu" , will OUSD return to the failed top down pre-recession Consultant Culture or as it may now be know as a new Consultant
Milieu?
INSIDE the September 11, 2014 Meeting
Item 9E- New Student Board Members representing OUSD's high
schools
Item 9F- Walk to School Week and Day recognition
Action Items 12 D,F,E,G: Vote on revisions to various Board
Policies.
NEXT OUSD BOARD MEETING Thursday September
11, 2014
CLOSED SESSION NOTE Time change 5:30 pm
OUSD Regular Session: 7:00
pm
For the AGENDA-CLICK ON: AGENDA
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
Wednesday, September 03, 2014
Villa Park CALPERS vote gets attention
A move by the Villa Park City
Council to notify CALPERS -the state employee benefits system- of a notice of
intent is getting widespread attention throughout California
Two years ago a similar
report showed the small conservative city had $3.5 million liability. This month's vote to get a new report is
being hailed by Mayor Barnett and Councilwomen Pauly as a public service in
advertising the new costs recently voted by the California
For a full report Click on: CAPTIOL WEEKLY
Tuesday, September 02, 2014
GOP- no to bond, but Yes to....
eLECTION Watch 2014
Orange Net News /O/N/N/
The OCPolitical blog reported that at tonight's September 2 2014 Orange County GOP Endorsements Committee members voted to make recommendations to the full Orange County Central Committee at its meeting later this month that they oppose the OUSD Bond Measure K and endorse Trustee Rick Ledesma and Tim Surridge.
Measure K's opposition was spearheaded by Villa Park Councilwomen Deborah Pauly who called OUSD's long involved community stakeholder vision plans the "Taj Mahal" plans. General conspiracy theories of "fiscal mismanagement" were bantered around by other committee members.
At the August 18th Orange County Central Committee Meeting, members voted to send both Ledesma and Surridge to the Endorsement Committee based on their votes to place Measure K on the ballot.
When Ledesma was asked by the Endorsement Committee about his efforts to cut spending- Ledesma pointed to his efforts to sell off the district's surplus properties to developers.
At the August 14 2014 OUSD Board Meeting, Ledesma led the charge against an extension of the lease holders (Peralta Golf Partners) of the surplus OUSD Peralta site. Ledesma repeatedly stated he opposed the 18 month extension of the lease because of a provision that the district not offer the land for sale during the extension period. Ledesma repeated that he wanted to have the option to revisit selling the site after the November election and he took the lease owners to task for profiting off the lease on the site.
At the endorsement meeting, Ledesma stated that he has opposed the Bond Measures in 2004 stating that he did that because "He could not find a way to fund maintenance without the unions scooping out the money."
Ironically (and most likely unknown to the Endorsement Committee) just last week, both Ledesma and Surridge had interviews seeking to get the endorsement and money of the Orange Unified teachers' union- the OUEA.
In a surreal comment, ultra conservative Endorsement Committee member Mark Bucher (who was the attorney for the 2001 Recalled OUSD Reactionary Board) is reported to have made the comment that "the unions are trying to run schools into the ground and get conservatives to vote for higher taxes"
At that same August OUSD meeting, Surridge too opposed the lease extension calling on the owners to reveal their financial records. Progressive member Diane Singer immediately took exception to her self-proclaimed "conservative colleagues" line of reasoning. Singer pointed out that she had a problem the district as a government entity getting involved with telling a private enterprise what type of profits they could make.
Those who know Surridge well should not be surprised by his anti-capitalistic streak. Surridge February 20, 2014 rant against the Peralta business is well documented (see video).
Surridge's philosophical stance about capitalism appears to follow a growing fringe Christian anti-Capitalism movement.
In April of last year, Surridge shared this link on his Facebook Page:
Tim Surridge shared a link.
Thought provoking article for the philosophical.....http://www.marketwatch.com/story/capitalism-is-killing-our-morals-our-future-2013-04-27?siteid=yhoof2
The commentary article by Paul B Farrell is titled (Click on) Capitalism is killing our morals, our future: Commentary: In a Market Society, everything is for sale
The article begins:
Over the years we’ve explored the reasons capitalism blindly continues on its self-destructive path. Recently we found someone who brilliantly explains why free-market capitalism is destined to destroy the world, absent a historic paradigm shift: That is Harvard philosopher Michael Sandel, author of the new best-seller, “What Money Can’t Buy: The Moral Limits of Markets,” and his earlier classic, “Justice: What’s the Right Thing to Do?”
The premise for what Surridge writes on his Facebook that is "thought provoking" is the philosophy of Christian Anti-Capitalism (Click on: CAC )
Live blogging from the GOP Endorsement Committee meeting (see below) gives an inside detailed look at the arguments and personalities.
Posted by Chris Nguyen on September 2, 2014
"We’re live from OCGOP Endorsements Committee tonight as they hold the first of two meetings to make recommendations for the September Central Committee meeting’s endorsements..."
(Blog posting on Measure K discussion)
"6:53 PM: Tim Surridge speaks about the Napa
6:54 PM: Deborah Pauly notes this is the largest bond ever proposed by a K-12 school district. She says the Taj Mahal plan would cost three times as much as the bond. She notes about the failure of the district to put enough money for maintenance.
6:55 PM: Robert Hammond speaks about finding better ways to fund repairs to the schools like his alma mater, Orange High School
6:57 PM: Thomas Gordon moves to recommend opposing Measure K, the Orange Unified School District
6:58 PM: Bucher speaks about fiscal mismanagement of school districts.
NO MEASURE K RECOMMENDED BY A 4-0-1 VOTE. (Mathews abstaining.)"
(Blog posting on Ledesma and Surridge discussion)
" 7:12 PM: Rick Ledesma explains he has served on the Board for years and is a financial analyst. He opposed the bonds in 2004. He could not find a way to fund maintenance without the unions scooping out the money. He reminds the committee that he is the only Republican running in his Trustee Area and that Surridge is the only Republican running in his Trustee Area.
Huang asks about his efforts to cut spending.
Ledesma speaks about his efforts to sell off surplus properties. He speaks about the cities inhibiting the full surplus property value.
Gordon asks if Ledesma opposes PLAs.
Ledesma says yes.
7:17 PM: Gordon moves to endorse Ledesma and Surridge. He is concerned about their liberal opponents. He urges them to continue opposing PLAs and to oppose future bonds.
Huang supports the motion and urges Ledesma and Surridge to act prudently if the bond passes and creatively if it fails.
Bucher says this is a tough one. He fears the unions are trying to run schools into the ground and get conservatives to vote for higher taxes.
LEDESMA AND SURRIDGE RECOMMENDED FOR ORANGE UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT 3-2 (BUCHER AND MCCURDY DISSENTING)."
For the complete report Click on: OCPOLITICAL
eLECTION Watch 2014
Orange Net News /O/N/N/
and the
Greater Orange News Service
are independent news services of /O/N/N/
Orange Net News
“Greater Orange
