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Wednesday, May 24, 2017
Peralta and El Rancho on OUSD Agenda
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Selling the Peralta Site back on OUSD Agenda this week
The controversial sale of OUSD's Peralta Site is back on
the OUSD Agenda on May 25th. Closed Session starts at 5:00 pm with comments on the agenda taken before the Closed Session starts.
Closed Session Item
4 D has the OUSD Board discussing the price with district lawyers and "an unidentified number of potential
buyers for the property" . The
agenda item only identifies the site by its address, not by name.
In 2012 the OUSD Board voted not to lease the property to
developers who were planning a high density apartment complex.
OUSD Trustee Timothy Surridge then went on a community-wide
lobbying tour trying to drum-up support for selling the property. Surridge and his board allies stated that
voters would not pass a facilities bond if the district is not using all of its
resources.
Selling the Peralta Property, which currently is being used
mostly for recreation, has been a goal of Surridge and his Board allies for
years. Now with term limits, time is
running out for the members of the OUSD Board who want the property sold to
developers.
OUSD Board has two options for El Rancho Charter vote
on Thursday
A renewal of the El Rancho Charter by the OUSD Board of
Trustees is certain this Thursday May
25th. The question is- Which charter will the Board approve?
The OUSD Board Agenda Item 12 B ( Agenda pages 3-176)
includes two Options for the OUSD Trustees to vote on-both options would approve
a charter for El Rancho.
Which of the two options -and therefore charters-depend on
if the El Rancho Charter Board and the district have reached an agreement by
the OUSD Board meeting and have an approved Memorandum of Understanding (MOU2). The El Rancho Charter Board held a 9
am May 22nd Special Charter Board Meeting to discuss and possibly approve a
MOU2.
Option A for the OUSD Board vote is contingent on the El
Rancho Board not approving a MOU2.
Option A has the OUSD Board renewing the current El Rancho charter that
was originally approved in 2012.
Option B has the OUSD Board approving a new charter with an
agreed upon MOU2 that the OUSD Administration finds meets all of their
concerns.
As of the posting of this story, the El Rancho Charter
website is still urging parents to show up on Thursday wearing red to support
the charter. The website alert states
that the "El Rancho Charter
School
For more information click on : EL RANCHO ALERT
The growing problems between OUSD's second charter middle
school started with a letter from El Rancho Principal Michele Walker to OUSD
insisting that one of the versions of the El Rancho Charter application
submitted this year was automatically renewed when the legally required 60 day
time period elapsed without OUSD taking action on the charter application.
OUSD has taken the position that the numerous El Rancho charter
applications it received all were drafts, and therefore not subject to the
legal timelines.
The April letter from Walker
Another point that OUSD is insisting on clarification is
language in the charter about the OUSD loan to the charter school for a
construction of a new science center.
That science center is currently under construction.
OUSD has also cited that no evidence has been presented
that the changes in the Charter were voted on by 75% of the staff as required
by the original charter. Also among the other
numerous concerns outlined in the OUSD Agenda Item are deletion of required
insurance related items that OUSD insists are needed to protect staff and
students.
The posted November 2016 minutes from the El Rancho Charter
Board report that Principal Walker was at home recovering from a surgery. Item
19 states that Walker
The December 2016 El Rancho Board minutes show that the
Principal Walker participated by telephone.
Nothing from the posted agenda shows that the required Brown Act notification
requirements were followed in the December El Rancho Charter related to the
principal teleconferencing. The only item voted on by a roll call ( another
Brown Act requirement) was the Charter approval in Agenda Item 15.
The only votes by staff reported in the agenda was a 56-3
to change the special education SELPA.
The January 2017 El Rancho Board Minutes do not report any
staff votes. Item 15 reports that the
Principal was present at the January meeting and was meeting with the district
to arrange a presentation on the El
Rancho Charter to the OUSD Board in February.
The minutes continue to explain "Possibly approval in April".
There are no minutes posted for any other El Rancho Board
meetings in 2017 (February, March, April, May) and therefore no public records
of the required staff vote on the charter changes.
In August 2016, El Rancho Charter was on a list of 250
charters from the ACLU that were allegedly in violation of state law. The ACLU
report accused El Rancho of not following the state law mandating that charters accept all students. The ACLU report alleged that El Rancho
Charter limited enrollment based on a student's academic performance.
In February 2017, OUSD paid a $10 million dollar settlement
to families of El Rancho students
injured in a 2014 bus crash.
New OUSD Assistant Superintendent
of Facilities and Planning to be named
replacing Executive Director position
OUSD will add a third Assistant Superintendent when they
name a new Assistant Superintendent of
Facilities and Planning on Thursday night. The new position will replace the current
Director of Facilities and Planning.
Agenda Item 12 F approves a new contract for the new
Assistant Superintendent "consistent
with the contracts of the other two Assistant
Superintendents".
The most current public information on salaries for 2015
from Transparent California shows the
two OUSD Assistant Superintendents with benefits two years ago were between $215,000 and
$219,000.
By comparison, Transparent California reports that same
year the salary for Matthew Strother, the current Executive Director of
Facilities and Planning, was $100,000.
For a list of OUSD 2015 salaries click on:
The new $200,000 plus Assistant Superintendent position comes as talks between the
district and its employee unions have stalled.
 |
| Executive Director Matthew Strother |
The May 24th Agenda, Consent Agenda Item 14 I (pg 288) eliminates
the current OUSD position of Executive Director of Facilities and Planning.
INSIDE the May 25th OUSD Agenda
Other items on the May 25th Agenda:
- Action Item 12 A:
- Action Item 12 C: Selling of Killefer Annex Site
NEXT OUSD BOARD MEETING Thursday May
25, 2017
Next OUSD Board Meeting -OUSD BOARD ROOM
CLOSED SESSION: 5:00 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
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