The agenda for the Monday, January 12 CUSD trustee meeting was actually posted before Tuesday's special session in which Superintendent A. Woodrow Carter was put on paid leave.
A new one was posted today, and I was interested in seeing the changes.
The one key: The last item in closed session is "Public Employment ... Interim Superintendent."
There's no mention of who might get the job -- I've heard a former Saddleback guy named Bob Metz mentioned quite a few times. Actually for months now. I put a call into Metz and left a message at some point, but never heard back.
The item on Monday's agenda I was most interested in was pertaining to settling all the issues at San Juan Hills High School. There's quite a few: The district doesn't own all the land being used for the school, and owes the original developer $6 million from a bridge loan earlier in the work.
That money was supposed to repaid when the school district initiated a community facilities district on the 155-home Whispering Hills project. The staff report notes the CFD can't go forward until these issues are cleared up.
The San Juan Hills-Whispering Hills relationship, of course, has always been a bit tangled. How much the district paid for some of the work is among the items in a letter that parents sent to the Attorney General, and the reason the district -- the new trustees -- launched a forensic audit.
I'd be careful if the guy worked for Saddleback Unified ---they built the Mission Viejo HS right next to a high pressure gas line. I'm not talking about a small feeder line.. This is the real thing. How can we trust anyone that would locate a HS adjacent to the main public utility like that??
Posted by: SC DAD | January 08, 2009 at 04:00 PM
SC DAD - absolutely right!!! Maybe Richard Reardon "Wonder Man" can make an excuse for that. Hope he chimes in.
Posted by: sosp | January 08, 2009 at 04:46 PM
seriously? he worked for a school district that chose a poor location (in your opinion) for a high school and THAT is what concerns you? Wouldn't his qualifications be of more concern?... ties to Education Alliance, if any?... relationship with the recall group.???
Posted by: sickofthedrama | January 08, 2009 at 05:09 PM
Really--they had better ask the questions...
What are the contingency plans??
Did you consider if a train went off the tracks and dug through the lines?? What if the train was transporting nuclear material and an earthquake hit and the gas line ruptured?
Did they publish and practice monthly all those plans??
What if a terrorist cut into the line and used it to hold the HS hostage??
I hope the guy went through the planning cycle with this stuff because the new board is very tuned into this risk management stuff!!!
Posted by: SC DAD | January 08, 2009 at 05:25 PM
Obviously if the school where he worked has a potential hazard, he should have made contingency plans etc... But Metz is currently an interim Principal at Trabucco. I assume he is not the guy who chose the site. To say that we should "be careful of a guy who is from saddleback" because "they" chose a site near a gas line is like saying we should not consider any of the 15,000+ employees who have ever worked for or been affiliated with CUSD for a given position because that is where that Fleming guy was from, and because "THEY" too built a school near a gas line.
I am much more concerned that the next guy who comes in has strings attached and an earpiece attached with a direct line to the alliance/recall group. Lets hope this guy, or whoever they choose is just a qualified leader with an honest interest in running an educational organization.
Posted by: sickofthedrama | January 08, 2009 at 05:52 PM
Seriously, you are all talking about a school that open its doors in 1966. The guy could have been in school himself! Think it through.
Posted by: Proud to be a Stallion parent | January 08, 2009 at 06:10 PM
Dear SC Dad,
Thanks! I needed a giggle. I graduated from MVHS and can't believe that I survived. With all of the peril and danger surrounding me, I'm surprised I don't glow.
Posted by: Just Weary | January 08, 2009 at 06:27 PM
The real issue here is that the recall trustees are considering installing a person with zero experience as superintendent of one of the largest school districts in America. Are they serious? Talk about the blind leading the blind....
Posted by: socmom | January 08, 2009 at 08:26 PM
I would like to add one more item to the agenda: Explanation why Carter was fired. Jonathan can you help with that? I think your reach and influence would mobilize parents to demand that the explanations is given.
Thank you very much.
Posted by: Fanofstupidity | January 08, 2009 at 09:40 PM
Think about it. Who would want to be superintendent in CUSD now? Anyone who is up on educational issues in California has probably heard about CUSD: the allegations of corruption, the recalls, the pending lawsuits by neighboring cities and aggrieved families, the firing of the superintendent who just a few months earlier was everyone's choice to lead the District forward, the deep financial crisis, a board of trustees that is controlled by a cabal of local attorneys, and on and on.
CUSD needs a very smart leader. Anyone who would want to be superintendent is either not very smart, has delusions of grandeur, or is a masochist.
Posted by: Heard it all before | January 08, 2009 at 09:43 PM