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Tuesday, July 24, 2018
eLECTION Watch and OUSD prepares Response to Immigration Enforcement
eLECTION Watch 2018
Orange Net News /O/N/N/
He's backkkkkk.....
Perennial candidate and former Orange Unified Trustee Steve Rocco files to run for OUSD Board in November 2018
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| Steve Rocco |
Steve Rocco has pulled and filed papers to run for his former seat on the Orange Unified School Board.
Rocco pulled papers and filed the paperwork to run for the Trustee Area 7 seat on Monday, July 23rd. Area 7 incumbent Rick Ledesma filed and pulled papers on the first day of filing on Monday, July 13, 2018.
Rocco (who is often referred to by the media as "eccentric") has run for numerous elected state and local offices for years.
Rocco was first elected in 2004 to the Orange Unified School Board without running a campaign. The local political theory is that his ballot description referring to himself as an educator won him the election. His opponent was a well-known community involved parent who listed his occupation on the ballot as Park Ranger.
Since that 2004 election, local political campaigns have watched opponents ballot descriptions carefully that have resulted in successful court challenges.
Since that 2004 election, local political campaigns have watched opponents ballot descriptions carefully that have resulted in successful court challenges.
After Rocco's colleagues censured him and a recall attempt failed, the OUSD Board under the guise of redistricting moved Rocco's neighborhood in Santa Ana into a different Trustee Area- number seven. In Trustee Area 7, long-time Trustee Rick Ledesma was the incumbent and had maintained an arms-length truce even during the Rocco inspired school board meeting outbursts. Rocco filed for reelection and lost to Ledesma in Trustee Area 7. Rocco ran again for the seat in November 2014 and in a three-way race against Ledesma and another opponent, Rocco came in third with 10.7% of the total vote.
The ballot argument against OUSD Bond Measure S in 2016 was written by Steve Rocco after a judgment in his favor in a case that challenged the Orange County Registrar of Voters awarding Rocco the job of writing the argument against the bond measure that included these paragraphs:
On 7-21-2005, Kathy Moffat and Superintendent Tom Godley visited Jim Doti to destroy Rocco. One result was the Californian’s Aware suit. Joined by the “all” Chapman U team of John Moorlach’s (Mario Mainero, Kathy Moran, Fred Smoller) a lien was put on my home and my wages garnished. The OUSD ”made” $83,000. Their allies include the OC REGISTER. Dr. Villanueva/Pathologist has said that “there is an assembly line of murder and theft coming from the political/medical infrastructure.”
Mr. Rocco’s home was invaded by an Orange city detective, a neighbor of TONY RACKAUCKAS. Todd Spitzer’s neighbor is Kim Nichols. Lynn Nichols headed the failed Rocco Recall.
The deaths of Mr. Rocco’s family have been called murder by Dr. Villanueva.
You don’t want OUSD to have this “play money” that they will dole out to political cronies. In the end, you will be cheated by their “paid” strategists to implement this.
Remember, that you are being victimized.
Former C.A.R.E. Co-Chair Kris Erickson steps up to challenge OUSD Trustee Tim Surridge as two other OUSD races have no candidates yet
Long-time community volunteer Kris Erickson pulled papers to challenge OUSD Area 5 Trustee Tim Surridge. Erickson pulled candidate papers on Monday, July 13th. In April of this year, Erickson launched a campaign website and in May posted a picture of a campaign sign on her personal Facebook page, and has already begun fundraising.
For more information click on:
Kris for OUSD Facebook
Erickson is an attorney with her own law practice that according to her LinkedIn page focuses on "Law and Motion, Appellate Practice, and Court/Jury Trials". Erickson also worked for the County of Orange as both a Public Defender and an Alternate Defender.
Erickson was Co-Char of the original 2014 C.A.R.E (Community Advancement through Renovation for Education) community campaign group that ran the November 2014 Measure K Bond campaign. Erickson was listed as a signer of the ballot argument supporting the school bond. The bond measure needing 55% of the vote lost with 54.6%. In 2016 Erickson was an advisor to C.A.R.E. ad the Yes on Measure S School Bond campaign. Measure S won with 62.5% of the vote.
For more information Measure K Ballot and arguments
Co-Chair of the 2014 C.A.R.E. campaign with Erickson was Andrea Yamasaki. When a vacancy in Trustee Area 1 occurred Erickson supported having Yamasaki appointed to the position. However, Area 5 Trustee Timothy Surridge orchestrated to have his friend Gregory Salas appointed to the position. Residents in Greater Orange were angered by the unpopular move by Surridge to have Salas (who had recently moved to OUSD) appointed. Residents circulated an election petition to force a district-wide vote to fill the seat. Yamasaki won with 74.9% of the vote to Salas' 25.1 %.
The Trustee Area 1 seat that Yamasaki won and the Trustee Area 4 seat occupied by long-time trustee Kathy Moffat are also up for a vote in November 2018. Neither seat as of posting time had any candidates file. Candidates have until August 12th to file. If an incumbent candidate fails to file by that deadline in August, the deadline for new candidates to file will be extended by one week to Friday. August 17, 2018.
For more information Click on
ORANGE Unified Schools INSIDE
Independent insight into OUSD
a news service of
Orange Net News /O/N/N/
Former OUSD Bus Driver pleads guilty in 2014 Anaheim Hills school bus crash
Last month Gerald Douglas Rupple, the former OUSD school bus driver pleaded guilty to felony charges resulting from an April 2014 school bus crash in Anaheim Hills. Rupple was driving students from El Rancho Middle School when he lost consciousness. The bus ran off the road at an estimated 50 mph and crashed into numerous trees. Of the eleven students injured, four students suffered major injuries including broken bones, a shattered spine, bleeding in the brain and the amputation of a toe.
Orange Unified School District reached a $10 million settlement with the families of students injured in the crash in January 2017.
Rupple made his guilty plea via teleconferencing video on Skype from Ajo. Arizona. Rupple had undergone a double lung transplant and was too ill to travel to California. Officials from the Orange County Superior Court set up cameras in Rupple's hospital room at the Banner University Medical Center.
The charges carry a maximum sentence of 26 years and four months in state prison. Sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 19, 2018, in Santa Ana. Media reports are that a sentence has not been agreed on, but there have been informal discussions of a 10-year maximum sentence with possible probation.
OUSD Trustees July 26th meeting includes new Board Policy on "Response to Immigration Enforcement" for schools
Agenda Item 13 C (pages 13-90) on Thursday, July 26th Orange Unified School Board meeting includes the first reading of numerous changes to the OUSD Board Policies. Under the Agenda item on page 74 is a new policy called "Response to Immigration Enforcement".
The new policy comes as a result of a 2017 state law requiring the California Attorney General to develop a policy guide for school officials that lays out how they can protect students from immigration enforcement on school grounds. The law was part of a package of California laws passed in response to President Trump's call for increased deportations.
On March 30, 2018, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra on Friday released the policy guide. The new guide details the steps California school officials should take if regarding federal immigration agents on campus. It also requires schools to shield the immigration status of students and their family members and deals a child’s parents have been detained or deported. The school guidelines were issued a day after the state issued similar guidelines for California law enforcement agencies.
The new OUSD policy cites the Attorney General guidelines and gives the OUSD Superintendent the duty to draw up procedures for schools that comply with the state issued guidelines (Agenda page 74):
"Consistent with requirements of the California Offices of the Attorney General, the Superintendent or designee shall develop procedures for addressing any requests by a law enforcement officer for access to district records, school sites, or students for the purpose of immigration enforcement."
The Thursday, July 26th Agenda also includes multiple items concerning Measure S Bond and an item on a district solar power initiative for seven schools.
For more information click on
Attorney General Xavier Becerra Guidelines
OUSD Public Relations costs
In February 2018 OUSD Trustees voted $219,424 for a Public Relations contract (Click on):
Here is what spending $219,424 of educational tax dollars on PR buys (For the latest in OUSD News on the web Click on):
NEXT OUSD BOARD MEETING Thursday, July 26, 2018
Next OUSD Board Meeting -OUSD BOARD ROOM
CLOSED SESSION- 6:30 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
ARCHIVAL Information and direct news can be found at:
the Greater Orange News Service http://greaterorange.blogspot.com/
ORANGE Unified Schools INSIDE
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Greater Orange News Service
are independent news services of /O/N/N/
Orange Net News
