Beyond the Blackboard

Trustees Expected to Deal with Patton Situation Tonight

Capistrano Unified School District Trustees are expected to handle the long-lingering situation with former San Clemente High School football coach Eric Patton at their meeting at 6 p.m. tonight.

Patton supporters have been regularly attending school board meetings to speak in favor of the coach/teacher, who was removed from working with students after public accusations about slush funds with a former athletic equipment supplier rippled across Southern California.

Patton and his attorney have even attended a meeting, although Patton has not addressed the board.

Essentially, the allegations are that a former equipment supplier, Lapes, would create "slush funds" for coaches with money pooled when equipment was returned, or with additional charges placed on equipment purchased with district money. Imagine if the district pays for a pair of shoulder pads for $200 with all of the expected reviews and purchase orders. Then the shoulder pads are returned to the supplier. Instead of the $200 going back into school or district accounts, it was credited to a coaches' fund.

There's no allegations that coaches used the money for personal gain, but they could then spend the money -- essentially taxpayer dollars -- on their program without oversight.

Supporters say the coaches did nothing wrong. Scott Martindale at the OC Register reports a coach at Saddleback College was discplined, but by and large districts throughout Southern California took no action against coaches.

Patton, of course, was removed from his head coaching post not long before school, and the football season, began. Imagine the uproar trustees would have faced if the  Tritons had not made it to the CIF finals.

As it is, insiders see the Patton situation (which also involves former Capo Valley coach Chi Chi Biehn, and Dana Hills' Brent Melbon) as a lingering problem for the "new" trustees that needs to be cleared up. Also, Superintendent Joe Farley was pretty firm early on that it appeared wrongdoing had been committed.

The OC Sheriff's investigated/are investigating, but nothing has come of that yet.

On the other side, the case was brought to the public attention and pushed by an Irvine couple who bought Lapes, then tried to sue the former owner, so Patton supporters say they have an alterior motive.

Here's a letter to the board from a Patton supporter:

Dear Board of Trustees,

I wanted to take a minute and express my displeasure with the decision to limit the speakers this past Monday night from the normal 3 minutes to 2 minutes.  This was a total lack of respect for those that prepared comments.  One could certainly interpret this maneuver as a violation of The Brown Act on one hand, but at the very least this was done in poor taste.

I understand there were 8 speakers, although I'm still not sure what Mr. Carter was speaking about.  If you weren't aware, Mr. Carter is an administrator for the District as a financial analyst.  Let's just say his comments were curious at best.  His presence as a speaker and the significance of having an additional speaker that night is very meaningful given the fact that 6 of the 8 speakers were set to speak on Eric Patton's behalf.

Even with the 8 speakers at 3 minutes each, this would only total 24 minutes.  I know there are only 20 minutes allotted, but you would think an extra 4 minutes in the overall scheme of things would not have been that big of a deal.  Given the fact that Eric Patton's reputation and future is at stake here, I find it disturbing the Board couldn't capitulate and allocate the extra 4 minutes.

In light of the fact the only information the Board receives is from Mr. Farley and his team, you would think the Board would be interested in hearing the other side of the argument.  And believe me there is another side to the argument.  Please do yourselves a favor and look into the facts that we do have, but really couldn't present in a 2 minute window.

Trust me when I say if this was a civil case, it would have been thrown out a long time ago.  The true evidence supports Eric Patton's innocence.  What you have been privy to is manipulated data and a litany of assumptions that are incorrect, all of which can be proven.

Out of the approximate 80 districts that looked into the alleged Lapes scandal, I believe CUSD is the only district still pursuing this issue.

All of the other districts dropped the case!  Doesn't this raise the slightest bit of doubt in your minds?  I'm fortunate, I know Eric Patton is not guilty of any wrong doing.  I've been involved in the football program the past 6 years and have had the oversight of all finances.

Given the amount of money that has recklessly been spent on this issue, the financial condition of the District, and the bad press the District will incur, I'm asking you to reach out listen to some common sense.

It's time to drop this case against Eric Patton.  The facts bear it out and there is no other logical decision you can come to.  You were elected to make good moral and fiscal decisions, I trust you will do so.

If you would like to know the real truth, please don't hesitate to contact me.

Sincerely,

Mark W. Klein

CEO

FMI Products, LLC

The meeting starts at 6 p.m. One more interesting note: The board will take any action in closed session, and while they must announce the vote publicly, they will not identify any terminated employee by name in open session.

 

 

Drive Starts for Tax Hike

Our Children Our Future Education Initiative Launches Signature Drive

California State PTA-Backed Measure Will Also Reduce General Fund Deficit

SAN FRANCISCO,CA - The Our Children Our Future 2012 campaign and the California State PTA today launched a signature-gathering drive to secure a spot for the education initiative on the November 2012 ballot.

The Our Children, Our Future:  Local Schools and Early Education Investment and Bond Debt Reduction Act will provide critically needed funding for public schools and early childhood education. Our Children, Our Future will deliver new revenue directly to schools so local communities can reverse years of education budget cuts and use the funds to improve students' academic achievement. Investing in schools and early childhood education is needed to prepare students to compete in the global economy and protects the future of California's economy. Our Children, Our Future is the only initiative that invests in every child and directly in every local school site to improve educational outcomes.

"This measure will transform our schools and help give California children the education they deserve. It provides vital new resources for our severely underfunded public schools," said Carol Kocivar, president of the California State PTA. "Every student and every public school will benefit - and tough accountability provisions will ensure the money is used to improve student achievement."

California schools this year face a shocking 23 percent reduction in funding compared to 2008. Per-pupil funding in California is 47th in the nation, lagging behind the national average by $2,580 - more than at any time in the past 40 years. Our state ranks dead last in class sizes - 50th out of 50 states - with the largest class sizes in the nation.

"Our schools are in a crisis, and we can't let this continue," said Molly Munger, co-director of the Advancement Project in Los Angeles. "Investing in our schools and early childhood education is the best thing we can do for our economy and our state. This is the ballot measure that will make possible the restoration and transformation of California schools into the safe, stimulating educational environments we need to prepare students to compete in the global economy and secure the future of our economy and our state. Moreover, it recognizes the state's economic crisis and provides near term budget relief. Our state will recover from a broken economy, but we can't recover if we fail an entire generation of children by depriving them of educational opportunities."

Every student and every public school in California will benefit from Our Children, Our Future. The initiative requires that funds must be used to improve student performance and gives local school boards the authority to decide, with community input,  how new education funds will be spent at each school site, rather than mandating a "one- size-fits-all" policy from Sacramento. Under the Our Children, Our Future initiative, no more than one percent of the K-12 funds may be spent on school-district administration, with the rest going directly to school sites on a per-pupil basis to improve educational opportunity and achievement for students. Publicly available independent audits and other tough accountability provisions will ensure that funds are spent appropriately to benefit students.

The California State PTA-backed initiative received title and summary from the California Attorney General's office last week, an approval necessary to begin gathering signatures.

"We're now going full-steam ahead with this initiative," said Addisu Demissie, campaign manager for Our Children, Our Future. "We're funded, we're organized, we have a campaign structure, and we're committed to this superior plan for moving our state forward."

A recent USC Dornsife College/Los Angeles Times statewide poll found that 64 percent of registered voters would pay more taxes to improve school funding, as long as they are confident the money would be spent in their own communities.

Because all Californians share in the benefits of a better-educated workforce, the measure fairly shares the costs among Californians and asks those in the wealthiest one percent to pay the most because they are most able to afford it. The initiative raises income tax rates on a sliding scale from four-tenths of one percent to 2.2 percent on multi-millionaires. To keep the increases affordable, it applies only to incomes after all deductions are taken, and before tax credits are given. It exempts the first $14,632 of income after deductions on joint returns.

The Our Children, Our Future: Local Schools and Early Education Investment and Bond Debt Reduction Act will raise $10 billion annually over the next 12 years for direct investment in public school classrooms and early education programs, and earmarks 30 percent of the new revenue for the first four years to help California pay down education-bond debt to help end the state's budget deficit. For the remaining eight years, the initiative directs 85 percent of the new funds to K-12 schools and 15 percent to early childhood education programs.

Californians can use the Our Children Our Future Benefit Calculator at OurChildrenOurFuture2012.com to determine how much will be raised for their school through the Our Children, Our Future Act.

Maddox, err, Lopez, is Back ...

As some commenters have noted, Ken Maddox is back in the public eye, sort of.

The former Capistrano Unified School District Trustee, removed from office in a 2010 recall, is posting on the Aliso Viejo Patch web site, but using the name Ken Lopez.

You might remember he added Lopez to his name while a trustee.

So far, he's blogged in support of the school's decision to allow the expansion of Oxford Prep Academy Charter School, and about adopting dogs.

Patch uses volunteer columnists. Maddox identifies himself as a "policy analyst" but does not say anything about for whom, or his past public service. The state Board of Equalization website still has his name as Ken Lopez Maddox as a senior advisor for tax and legislative policy.

I've heard he might be planning a run for Aliso Viejo City Council.

Here's his columns:

On OPA

On adopted dogs

 

Also on Tonight's Capistrano Unified Agenda

Capistrano Unified School District has released updated drafts of adjusted trustee area boundaries, which will be reviewed and discussed at the Board of Trustees’ meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012.

The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. in the Board Room at the CUSD Education Center, 33122 Valle Road, San Juan Capistrano.

The drafts, drawn by National Demographics Corporation, can be found at http://bit.ly/zT8p5U.

The trustee area boundary adjustment is a process that occurs once every decade after data from the U.S. Census is updated. In addition, voters approved Measure H in November 2010 that changed the method of electing members of the Board to a “by trustee area” election process. This requires Board members to live in a particular Trustee area, and be elected by voters living within that area. The election scheduled for Nov. 6, 2012, will utilize the new method of election.

The latest drafts have been drawn using criteria approved by the Board of Trustees at its Nov. 14 meeting and refined during its discussions on Dec. 12, 2011, and Jan. 9, 2012.

Members of the public who wish to provide feedback on the draft plans can attend one of the meetings, send their input to [email protected], or mail comments to the Capistrano Unified School District Board of Trustees, 33122 Valle Road, San Juan Capistrano, CA 92675.

A final decision is expected to be made on Jan. 25 or Feb. 13.

Fireworks Monday at Capo Unified School District Meeting

A spat erupted between Capistrano Unified School District trustees on Monday, with the board majority accusing two colleagues of trying to shut down the school district.

Trustees were considering staff’s request to borrow $30 million in tax revenue anticipation notes, which have become common tools for school cash-strapped school districts. The TRANs provide money now and are repaid with the tax money provided by the state in the next fiscal year.

But Trustees Ellen Addonizio and Sue Palazzo pointed out the district already has one TRANs loan outstanding, and that this was the first time CUSD issued a TRANs that went across two fiscal years.

Addonizio wanted more of an update on the district's finances, including a special meeting, before voting on the item. Superintendent Joe Farley responded he believed district staff had well briefed trustees on the state of the district.

The trustees, reading prepared statements, also accused the other board members of getting the district into financial trouble by restoring furlough days and other cuts to teachers in 2010.

That issue has been hashed over again and again—a resident even filed an unsuccessful lawsuit to stop it—and trustees let Addonizio and Palazzo know they felt it was time to move on.

“I am offended that it is continually brought up,” Trustee Anna Bryson snapped at the pair. Ironically, Bryson was elected as an ally of the two. The other trustees also voiced their displeasure, especially when staff told the trustees refusing to act on the TRANs Monday would ultimately leave the district without cash to pay its employees and other bills.

“Why don’t you just make the motion you want—to shut down the district,” Trustee Lynne Hatton asked the pair.

Trustee Gary Pritchard added that he couldn't even wrap his head around what Addonizio and Palazzo were trying to accomplish, but labeled the effort "ludicrious."

Trustee John Alpay accused the pair of stumping for the November election, when he, Brick, Pritchard and Palazzo face re-election.

It was business czar Ron Lebs' last meeting, too. He was the one handling the issue. "You're going to miss us, aren't you," Alpay asked.

The motion to start work on the TRANs passed 4-2, with Jack Brick absent. Trustees next meet January 25.

I'll get some audio up when I can...

Capistrano Releases Potential Trustee District Maps

Many, many sentences in the reports stress these are only a starting point, but the Capistrano Unified School District has posted maps of potential new voting areas for the district's seven trustees.

The five scenarios look at trustee areas that mirror high-school attendance areas, elementary attendance areas, city boundaries and other criteria.

They also identify whether they'll create an open seat up for grabs in the next election, or pit two existing trustees against each other.

The work was required because of the 2010 Census, which shows 343,291 people in the CUSD boundaries, 17 percent Hispanic.

And remember, with the passage of Measure H, voters will only cast ballots for one trustee -- the one from their area.

The public hearings on this kick off Monday night.

Here's the maps:

Download CUSD District Maps

Here is the district news release:

Public Hearing, Board Discussion Scheduled for Monday, Dec. 12

 

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO—Capistrano Unified School District has released preliminary drafts of adjusted trustee area boundaries, which will be reviewed and discussed at the Board of Trustees’ meeting on Monday, Dec. 12.

            The five drafts, drawn by National Demographics Corporation, are considered a starting point that will stimulate discussion, ideas, and direction for the consultant to develop a final plan for approval. The maps can be found at http://bit.ly/uALe24 (pdf).

            The trustee area boundary adjustment is a process that occurs once every decade after data from the U.S. Census is updated. In addition, voters approved Measure H in November 2010 that changed the method of electing members of the Board to a “by trustee area” election process. This requires Board members to live in a particular Trustee area, and be elected by voters living within that area. The election scheduled for Nov. 6, 2012, will utilize the new method of election.

            While the drafts have been drawn using criteria approved by the Board of Trustees at its Nov. 14 meeting, the plans are not final or exclusive. Considerable revision is likely and different parts of the plans can be melded into one final proposal.

Plan A boundaries are drawn using the least amount of change and are relatively compact; Plan B relies heavily on city borders; Plan C is drawn taking into account elementary school attendance areas; Plan D is based on high school attendance area boundaries; and Plan E is drawn using city boundaries and high school attendance areas as guidelines.

The plans will be brought back to public meetings for review and discussion on Jan. 9 and Jan. 25, 2012. The final plans are scheduled to be adopted at a Board of Trustees’ meeting on either Jan. 25 or Feb. 13, 2012.

Members of the public who wish to provide feedback on the draft plans can attend one of the meetings, send their input to [email protected], or mail comments to the Capistrano Unified School District Board of Trustees, 33122 Valle Road, San Juan Capistrano, CA 92675.