The Santa Ana Unified School District (SAUSD) will have a board meeting on Tuesday, which will be held at 6pm in the Board Room at the District Office, located at 1601 East Chestnut Ave. The meeting agenda reveals that the board members are going to vote on whether to put another school construction bond on the ballot. Do they think we are complete idiots?
The facts are not pretty. This board fritted away millions of dollars in construction bond money the first time around. They sued the construction management company they hired, and then ended up having to pay them more in a settlement that went against SAUSD. They built a warehouse with bond money, thereby losing state matching funds. That disaster cost the district over $20 million from what I hear.
They passed a PLA (project labor agreement) that shut non-union contractors out of bidding on SAUSD construction projects. They they watched as the construction budgets ballooned and they had to cut back on their projects.
They borrowed the money from the Tustin settlement and never paid it back. They lost a ton of money in the last year due to fraud and ineptitude. They hired a Superintendent without a doctorate in education. Then they paid her more than most neighboring districts pay their Superintendents, who more often than not do have a doctorate in education.
It has been one disaster after another at SAUSD. And now they want us to pay more taxes so they can screw us again. No thanks!
Besides, didn’t the school board admit this past year that enrollment is in serious decline? If that is the case, why do they need a new construction bond? The new high school they just built is seriously lacking for students. They even closed a neighborhood school, even though parents were up in arms over that.
This will be one school board meeting you will want to attend, just to see the board hacks fumble as they try to explain this latest bond boondoggle. Don’t forget that three of the school board clowns are up for reelection – Rosie “I hate Mexicans” Avila, Rob Richardson and Jose Hernandez. Let’s see how they vote on this proposed bond…
UPDATE:
The O.C. Register has posted an article about tomorrow’s school board meeting. Here are a few excerpts:
The Santa Ana Unified school board will consider Tuesday whether to place a $200 million general obligation school construction bond on the ballot this summer.
The bond would pay renovations and upgrades at many of the district’s 60 schools, district officials said. Much of the money would go to alleviate crowding in campuses by removing portable classrooms and replacing them with permanent buildings, officials said.
The bond would require property owners within the district to pay for the next 30 years between $24.40 to $28.10 per $100,000 of assessed valuation.
The bond would be the second in Santa Ana Unified in 10 years. In 1999, voters approved Measure C, a $145 million construction bond. Officials at the time promised voters the construction of 13 schools and renovations at 11 campuses.
But a 2003 Register investigation uncovered soaring costs and other issues that prompted officials to scale down the scope of the work. The district could only afford six new schools, and more than a dozen projects were put on hold.
John Palacio is the one person I can count on for leadership on this board. I hope he will oppose this bond.
Why do you think Palacio can be counted on for good leadership?
He was supportive of the last bond, and was Nativo Lopez’s ally in the Del Terra construction management company debacle. He fought against the interests of neighborhoods to place a number of schools in insensitive, inappropriate, and potentially unsafe locations. Throughout the last construction bond allocations, Palacio has been right there voting with the majority on many bungled and overpriced projects.
The issues go well beyond construction and into many aspects of the school operations.
There isn’t any one on that entire board I would point to as an example of or “trustee” of good leadership.
Say what you must about Palacio. He had his faults but now he is the only one i trust . period
Poster 1,
John told me a week or so ago that he indeed is opposed to this new bond. Let’s see how the rest of the board votes. I know we can at least count on John!
SAUSD screwed up the last bond. Why would any voter approve another bond? Lest you forget the district paid millions in legal fees because Robby Richardson insisted on suing Del Terra and SAUSD lost that case.
C’mon. We’re still paying for Measure C and Rancho Santiago. I don’t believe we need more taxes levied on SAUSD residents.
Let’s make SAUSD admins and the BofE accountable.
Just vote NO to any SAUSD school bond!
We need more Johns and less Ho’s on the SAUSD board!
As usual the Register misrepresents a lot of the truth about SAUSD. To begin with the mess with the measure C money was widely known. Ask Nativo Lopez. In the Register this was mentioned as “other issues”.
The article also mentions the refurbishing of the many schools over 80 years old. To my knowledge only SAHS and Franklin Elementary are that old. Both underwent major renovation with the measure C funds.
The truth is a large number of other schools underwent asbestos removal and remodeling. Roosevelt, Lincoln, and Jackson schools each had identical 24 class room buildings built to replace some of the bungalows. Valley High, Lathrop Intermediate, Sierra Intermediate, Edison Elementary and several others went through major renovations.
Factor in the building of Segerstrum, Godinez, Esqueda, Thorpe, Griset, Community Day and Independent Study. Also include the new warehouse on Fairview next to the Community Day and Independent study complex.
Finally lets not fail to mention Heroes which is complete but standing vacant for teachers training use until Fall.
How much is your house worth? 200,000 or more? At just the $200,000 value this bond would raise your taxes anywhere from $48-$56 per year.
Do you think SAUSD earned the right to this additional money while admitting they have a declining enrollment? One new school is not even being used. Other schools such as Segerstrum and Godinez are not even full.
It doesn’t matter if several of these schools are called Fundamental or not. If there is room coupled with a declining enrollment, this district does not deserve to tax you another $50.00 a year until they start using what they already have. NO WAY!