UPDATE: Comments on this thread are now closed. The new 2009 thread is available at this link.
I wrote a post on July 16, 2006, entitled “SAUSD corruption coming out with Mijares gone,” and it blew up to over 2,000 posts. However, it exceeded the capacities of our server and has been truncated recently at about 1,529 posts. But one of our readers has stepped up to the plate and painstakingly copied all of the comments into four NEW posts:
- SAUSD-Mijares corruption thread, 2008 Comments
- SAUSD-Temporary Thread (Migration 5/16/2008) Comments
- SAUSD-Mijares corruption thread, 2007 Comments
- SAUSD-Mijares corruption thread, 2006 Comments
Also, don’t forget you can go to the right sidebar of any page page and search for “SAUSD” to get links to ALL of our past SAUSD stories.
I have been honored that this blog has allowed so many people to vent their frustrations with the SAUSD administration and school board. We will continue to shed light on these issues and I hope that our readers will continue to use this blog to communicate about the corruption at SAUSD.
SAUSD does not belong to the administrators or to the school board. It belongs to us. We will have an opportunity this fall to take back the school board, with three seats opening up. I pray that good candidates will emerge so we will be able to do exactly that. Until then, please keep the comments coming! But post them here, to this new thread. Thank you.
SAHS Teacher
With all this publicity on the shooting maybe you can enlighten us on the security aspects of your school. I know you have a campus police officer and a number of school district safety officers (security guards) at your campus. Where the heck were they all at? Someone wrote on another thread that you have a different police officer now than previous years. I’d rather hear it from someone who works there than take idle comments.
Neither the victim nor the shooters were students of Santa Ana H.S. The 13 yr-old victim lived nearby, but attended a continuation school, in Tustin I believe, run by the O.C. Dept. of Ed. Both SAHS’s principal and v.p. Hummel were on the street within a minute or so of the shooting, and attended to the boy before the paramedics arrived 2 or 3 minutes later. The mother got to the scene also. The boy expired later at the hospital. There were many student witnesses as school had let out only a short time before. Many of them stayed to assist the investigation. What prompted this? Retaliation for an earlier event — we don’t know. SAPD will find out now that they have the shooters. This event was just off campus. It’s only speculation that another campus security officer would have prevented it. My guess is t hat might only push confrontations another half block away. My feeling is that the city needs to develop policies that bring most of our after-school youth under some type of responsible adult supervision so they don’t fall under the web of gang life. Remember that the kid who died was really just a child, but already sported the shaved head and attire of a committed gangster. When a kid is alone after school in an area infested with gangs, and no adult to turn to, being in a gang is a safe harbor.
Anonplus…
First let me say, the death of any child is a tragedy, and I send my prayers to the Valle family.
The safety officers and school police officer arrived within one minute of the call of shots fired. Police and safety officers are not going to obliterate crime, especially when hours and pay have been cut. When you are dealing with large crowds, it’s very difficult to see bad actors, especially when they are kids.
However, all safety and police personnel worked very quickly to render aid to the victim, stop traffic, prevent more students from entering the area and obtain information during a very chaotic scene.
The issue is children with guns. Children with a warped moral foundation, living in a culture of gang violence. Did the suspect’s parents know where he was? Do they check to see who he’s hanging out with? Do they monitor his activities? Meet his friends or their parents? Engage him in physical activities? Make him stay home to study after school? The list goes on.
As parents, we must provide a solid foundation. We must teach our children strength of character, so they can withstand peer pressure or bullying, or the need to be in a gang, or commit a violent act to prove their self worth.
SA Teach & Nobody
Thanks for the firsthand information. It appears everyone was spot on the job. Since the doers were arrested within 12 hours obviously everyone from the first responders to subsequent investigators did an excellent job. Shootings around schools is not new to SA but the presence of the DSO’s and school police has kept shootings off the campus’s and I guess that is the best we can hope for.
What is the money for this grant supposed to be used for and what is it being used for?
I’m sure no one will know the answer. No one is ever held accountable.
I thought it was to be used to lessen harmful school violence and to prepare for natural disasters.
Readiness and Emergency Management for Schools Discretionary Grant Program for 2007
Q184E070062
Santa Ana Unified School District
Santa Ana, CA
Camille Boden
$708,769
http://www.ed.gov/programs/dvpemergencyresponse/184e07awards.pdf
The newspaper said he went to SAHS to walk his sister home from school.
It is not acceptable for a child (gang member or not) to be killed just a few steps away from one of our schools. We should not be satisfied that arrests have been made, and that administrators, school and city police arrived swiftly after the incident. The child that was killed was a former SAUSD student and has a sister who attends SAHS. It has been reported that his gang nickname was “youngster,” but his mother denies he was a gang member. It has also been reported that he was transferred (“shipped out” would be a better term) to a continuation school because of serious discipline issues.
We need to be doing a lot more for our students before they ever get to the point where someone wants to kill them. We need to provide parents with assistance so they can identify tell-tale behaviors that can later destroy them if nothing changes.
Instead of having schools that help families deal with these kinds of issues, SAUSD has Fundamental Schools for students whose parents don’t want their children to attend “regular” SAUSD schools. At Santiago, there was even a special classroom created so that Mayor Miguel Pulido’s son wouldn’t have to attend Willard.
The City of Santa Ana doesn’t cut it either. It lacks safe, after school activities such as bowling alleys, miniature golf and skate parks. There’s not even a Chuck E. Cheese in the city. There are neighborhood associations, but they are run so ineffectively by city employees, you can’t count on them to help make neighborhoods safer.
So with parents who refuse to look for the signs that their children are in trouble, and city and schools not providing children with the help they need, it’s a wonder we don’t have more violence in the streets than we already do.
Has Santa Ana become Oakland South?
http://orangejuiceblog.com/2008/09/has-santa-ana-become-oakland-south/
Time for more gang injunctions in Santa Ana? By Thomas Anthony Gordon
http://orangejuiceblog.com/2008/09/time-for-more-gang-injunctions-in-santa-ana/
Santa Ana shooting victim’s killers arrested. By Art Pedroza
http://orangejuiceblog.com/2008/09/santa-ana-shooting-victims-killers-arrested/
Dropouts stand little chance of success in life. By Thomas Anthony Gordon
http://orangejuiceblog.com/2008/09/dropouts-stand-little-chance-of-success-in-life/
A teenager was shot dead right outside Santa Ana High School. Here are the Orange Juice posts related to that story:
Has Santa Ana become Oakland South? by Art Pedroza
Time for more gang injunctions in Santa Ana? By Thomas Anthony Gordon
Santa Ana shooting victim’s killers arrested. By Art Pedroza
Dropouts stand little chance of success in life. By Thomas Anthony Gordon
Should SAUSD ban students from wearing hoodies? by Thomas Anthony Gordon
Santa Ana Councilwoman Michele Martinez to host Town Hall Meeting about gang violence. By Art Pedroza
For Immediate Release: Contacts:
September 11, 2008 Michele Martinez, Santa Ana Councilwoman
(714) 200-3181
Urgent Town Hall Meeting on Gang Violence to be held on Monday, September 15, 2008 at 4 pm.
Location: Angel Park on 3rd Street and Flower
Dear Students, Parents and Community Leaders,
In light of the shooting and death of 13-year-old, Rodrigo Valle, on Wednesday and the arrests made this morning, I will be holding a town hall meeting addressing the ongoing issue of gang violence. This forum will allow residents to voice their concerns about gang activity and share their ideas on how best to advance the City’s efforts to deter and combat local gangs.
The two gang affiliates suspected of the shooting were arrested this morning at 3:15 and 4:30 am. The Santa Ana community has been credited for playing a significant role in the arrest of the two suspects.
“There was an overwhelming amount of information and support from the community,” Chief Paul Walters said. “Our detectives went door to door talking to people and it paid off.”
It is imperative that we build on any positive development that has occurred in the community. Gang shootings have risen this year and we need to be proactive in reversing this trend. Our kids need a safe environment to attend school to continue their growth and our future.
I have received numerous calls from parents, teachers and students regarding this issue and pressing for a meeting to tackle this problem. Everyone is encouraged to take advantage of this opportunity to be a part of the solution to this epidemic. The results of the meeting will help guide our community in enhancing anti-gang initiatives. Please join me in creating a better tomorrow for Santa Ana.
Sincerely,
Michele Martinez**
Council Member
City of Santa Ana
(714) 200-3181 Cell
Finishing touches are in the works for contract language between the Disgtrict and SAEA for the 2007-2008 contract. Expect copies of the contract and member voting materials to be at sites later this week.
SAEA (Teachers’ Union) is planning on supporting Richardson, Hernandez and Valerie Amezcua in the upcoming board election.
The classifieds union is reportedly going to actively work against current board president, Hernandez.
Why in God’s name would SAEA back Richardson and Hernandez? Both have shown to be city hacks with a “Me first” attitude. Richardson came back onto the board after a stint on the city council and every since his presence the district has consistantly declined. I don’t understand what SAEA sees in him. Hernandez has not shown me anything to indicate he cares one bit about raising the bar for education but he has shown that he doesn’t care who he fires as long as he continues to receive his medical benefit package while he agrees consistantly to cut employees benefits down to the bone. Is it because both agreed to give the teachers jobs back? I don’t understand.
Right On Anonplus!
Don’t shoot the messenger here. Meg Robinson from SBHS gave the rundown. Apparently she and some other SAEA brass interviewed the 9 candidates. Some candidates were asked particular questions on budget and column/step, and others were not. According to Robinson, Rosie Avila will not be returning to SAUSD, so there will be 3 seats available this election – including those of Richardson and Hernandez. Some SAEA political team members also went to the candidates debates and according to Meg Robinson, Valerie, Rob and Jose were the most knowledgeable of the group. Certainly the other 6 were nice and decent people, but they are veritable newcomers and it would take them a long time to understand all the issues. There was some dissention among some of the teachers who listed all of the bad decisions that have been made by the board over the last few years in particular. It was stated that Hernandez had been responsible for the loss of so many classified positions. David Barton said that progress had actually been made with the board of education and that the information they had been receiving from the district management was no t necessarily accurate or true. The board members now seem to understand both sides of the issues and are more sympathetic towards making decisions that favor teacher and student goals. The union feels that it is better to have board members who understand budget (like Richardson) and the various issues of SAUSD history because they will be more in a position to move things forward.
No other names were given in place of Richardson or Hernandez by anyone. Does anyone know what the classifieds are doing as far as endorsements?
“Some SAEA political team members also went to the candidates debates and according to Meg Robinson, Valerie, Rob and Jose were the most knowledgeable of the group.”
I was there and I don’t agree at all.
I also spoke with many who attended the event, and most in attendance thought Valerie was the most impressive, as did I.
While Rob and Jose are nice guys, they were far from impressive, not elaborating in their answers or even answering any tough questions.
I thought Valerie Amezcua, Gloria Alvarado and Roman Reyna gave more thought out, well rounded answers that actually focused on the needs of the children and academics. They understand the needs of the students.
I’ll be putting up a post soon that has detailed answers to the questions they were asked.
Anon 9:18
It is not my intent to shoot the messenger, just ask questions I don’t understand. On the face of your comment it would seem like logical decisions were made by SAEA, but something just doesn’t feel right, at least to me. For any board member to say they NOW realize they were being fed inaccurate information by the school district administration is virtually an admission that the board members (at least 3) were NOT doing their jobs. But I feel that statement was disingenuous at the very least.
It was this board that placed Russo and approved her underlings. It was this board that cut teachers and classified and then backed off when placed under a microscope. It was this same board that came out with statements such as student safety would not be cut, and then cut safety anyway.
I’m sure Richardson and Hernandez are very skilled at making statements that SAEA wanted to hear while outsiders were strictly trying to be honest with the limited information they had on district matters. After all Richardson is an experienced politician and Hernandez is a lawyer.
As far as I’m concerned new and inexperienced HONEST blood is not a bad thing. Getting up to speed is a great excuse to keep the old blood in. We seem to be having that argument at the presidential level too. My bet is both unions support Obama even though his experience is questionable. Why a double standard in Santa Ana?
Perhaps the missing component that no one is acknowledging is electability. Incumbants have proven they can get elected, challengers usually have not. Opposing a reelected incumbant can have a price you dont want to pay.
Nothing will change………
I see the BS starting already………
“The union feels that it is better to have board members who understand budget (like Richardson) and the various issues of SAUSD history because they will be more in a position to move things forward.
No other names were given in place of Richardson or Hernandez by anyone. Does anyone know what the classifieds are doing as far as endorsements?”
THE UNION, THE TEACHERS, AND THE STUDENTS WILL GET MORE OF THE SAME RUNNING AROUND IN CIRCLES WITH NO REAL CHANGE IF HERNANDEZ AND RICHARDSON REMAIN IN POWER.
I don’t think Meg Robinson is being honest with herself or anyone else.
Thomas Anthony Gordon is the one we should be listening to with his recommendations of Valerie Amezcua, Gloria Alvarado and Roman Reyna.
or we could go with this suggestion…….which is better than Meg Robinson’s.
From a Sept 5, 2008 post…
“To save money, we should elect THREE CHIMPS who do one thing and one thing only…vote exactly the way John Palacio does. Then we will have a School Board that cares about the children, gets the job done, and saves SAUSD lots of money that can be used to educate the children.”
from Anonplus….”As far as I’m concerned new and inexperienced HONEST blood is not a bad thing.” Right On Anonplus !!
I have some questions in regards to the following posting by Anonyms’ thought provoking statement……..
“Perhaps the missing component that no one is acknowledging is electability. Incumbants have proven they can get elected, challengers usually have not. Opposing a reelected incumbant can have a price you dont want to pay.”
Does this suggest that a change of leadership must also take place in the Santa Ana City Council at the same time because of some backlash that is allowed to take place?
Does it mean challengers are retaliated against in some way?
Does it mean that certain members of the Teacher’s Union are in bed with the SAUSD School Board by even suggesting Richardson and Hernandez are competent?
Why aren’t the elections done for all board members at the same time?
I know the reason why, but it seems that by doing it on a rotating basis,
it keeps just enough Clowns in place to leave the good guys in a minority.
What is the answer to the problem of corruption in Santa Ana?
The teachers union has been soliciting funds for the board of education candidates. The three endorsed candidates were announced last night at the meeting. Maybe just refuse to give money to the same old candidates and endorse Gordon’s suggestions. It would be nice to know who the classified union supports. I mean, you can’t just be against a guy or two and not have any suggestions on who you actually want.
I am looking forward to seeing Thomas Gordon’s post on what he observed at the debates. It’s too bad the debates were not allowed to be recorded and replayed for everyone. I think that was a big mistake on the part of the city’s merchants.
Meg Robinson is no friend of the average teacher. She has only herself as a concern. Her complicity allowed Jones to remain as principal for far longer than was necessary. The new principal is just as nutty, but in more of a huggy way and Robinson helps her deny staff rights by giving her preemptive ideas on how to abuse teachers and not technically fall over the line. Too bad she never put in the effort to just become one of the administration members once and for all.
There will always be a certain amount of collusion in order to get things done between district and union. Some of the new contract language is very encouraging, for example. Change and progress must be constantly pushed.
anon (9/16): What new contract language do you consider to be “very encouraging”? I don’t imagine it was allowing the District to interview for inter-district transfers. Perhaps it was allowing teachers to be evaluated only every five years under certain conditions, including agreeing to an unscheduled observation.
It seems to me we should have made significant gains in language if we’re taking a 0% pay increase. I don’t see such gains. Allowing the district to interview teachers seeking to voluntarily transfer to a different site seems to actually be regressive even if SAEA appointees will be part of the interviewing team.
Correction: “inter-district transfers” should read “intra-district” (within the district)
Correction to previous post: “inter-district transfers” should read “intra-district” (transfer from one site to another within the district)
The cure for incumbancy is enough people wanting change, when things can’t get any worse you no longer care that they were elected before IF you can field viable candidates AND get people out to work for their election.
I agree w/Anonplus …. As far as I’m concerned new and inexperienced HONEST blood is not a bad thing.”
Richardson has nearly two decades of experience on the board — are we much better off? NO.
Hernandez was recruited by his neighbor Audrey Noji as her third vote. Hernandez has voted 95% of the time with Noji and Richardson. It’s time for CHANGE.
As far as the SEAE … they foisted a tax increase on SAUSD property owners and now they are fiddling around with putting in place “their” candidates.
SAUSD voters — WAKE UP!
It’s time to toss Richardson and Hernandez from the SAUSD sandbox.
The Board (bored) members need to get in touch with the constituents they claim to serve. In the ten years I have been at my school site, ONE board member has ever taken a few hours to visit…even then, the concerns shared were never acted upon, so it was a farce. Additionally, only three times in ten years has the superintendent ever visited the site…and those visits were only “window-dressing” walk-throughs with no actual dialogue with teachers. SAD!
At my site we are still waiting (three weeks into the school year) for:
Open Court workbooks (Spelling & Vocabulary, Comprehension & Language Arts)
Houghton Mifflin Math curriculum: all we have are the Teacher Texts and the basic student workbooks. We don’t have any of the ancilliary materials we were promised during the Draconian, week-long inservice we endured over the summer. Where the hell are all the “groovy/cool” manipulatives, homework and other workbooks that were peddled to us during our vacation time that were so foundational to the proper implementation of this “new & improved” math curriculum?
A MAJOR factor for why this District doesn’t find success is that they DO NOT have a clue what works for the students. They willy-nilly throw new curriculums at us/the students without a care. Why don’t they have a clue? Because they stupidly ignore TEACHERS who actually educate the students. I can assure you that every time I have let the District know about opportunities to better educate the students, they obfuscate, ignore, and even attack whoever would try to improve SAUSD. They do not treat the students as their own.
Take a look at “their” curricular ideas to make everything better educationally this year at the elementary level:
Social Studies: new curriculum added last year, no inservice on how to use, no pacing guide.
Science: new curriculum added this year, no inservice on how to use, no pacing guide.
Math: new curriculum added this year, boring week-long inservice, “spiffy” manipulatives not provided and ancilliary workbooks not provided.
Reading/Language Arts: Open Court workbooks not on site: Spelling & Vocabulary, Comprehension & Language Arts
I want to puke every time I hear an SAUSD Admin. come to our site and tell us that we need to “work smarter, not harder”, or “get more bang for your buck by teaching to the standards”. These people haven’t taught in the classroom for decades and even their previous “years of experience” are indeed suspect.
Every administrator in SAUSD needs to take a leave of absence and go back to the classroom for a year! They have joined the “dark-side”…they need to come into the light
Is there corruption at Willard? Or is it just plain inefficiency? Last week School Site Council (SSC) ballots were placed in employees’ mailboxes with instructions to vote by September 17th. Three teachers’ names were listed, without any information as to how the names were chosen. Days later, Principal Bishop sends out a letter asking staff members to volunteer to be placed on the ballot for SSC. Nothing mentioned the ballot that was already distributed.
Is Bishop hand picking his school for idearn nominees? Or are effectivness and communication lacking? Does anyone know if there are specific guidelines that must be followed?
Things are not looking good at Century, Godinez(new school mind you) and Segerstrom, Saddleback(i havent heard about Valley) These schools are understaffed.. missing classified staff and a few teachers. I have seen some classified staff being Nurse, Office clerks, secretaries, Accounts clerks all in one. When I call my office manager she is too busy being receptionist..The attendance clerks are being the nurse! They are pulling other staff to “fill in” in other areas! I feel for these people and I know a few have started to go to the Union because they can’t make them do that many jobs! Good for them! Wake up Administration! Make some noise and let’s get our office staff back! Oh.. that’s right the administration don’t have to worry about it as they are not the ones who have to answer the phones, or be a secretary or be a nurse.. heaven forbid we should ask them to lend a hand!
I was wondering how long it would take before a few of the teachers would start reporting problems at their schools about curriculum, staffing, equipment, or administrations. My best guess was two weeks, but it looks like things actually took three weeks. Is anyone surprised it is business as usual at Chestnut? I, for one, am not. The reason this thread has lasted over 2 years is because this district, board, and administration just keep on doing what they have been doing for years.
Teach 80, are you saying they are using clerks as nurses? There is a lawsuit waiting to happen if they are actually treating or diagnosing people. As far as the overtaxing of classified, I don’t believe anyone on Chestnut didn’t already know this was going to happen including the BOE. One thing you can count on are more stress workman compensation cases denied by the ditzy risk manager while she tries to figure out the soccer field schedules.
CSEA Santa Ana Chapter 41
On September 17, 2008 the Santa Ana Unified School Districts Classified Employees voted to endorse & support the following candidates for the Board of Trustees.
Valerie Amezcua,
Gloria Alvarado,
Roman Reyna.
CSEA Santa Ana 41 is looking for assistance with our candidates elections to the SAUSD Board of Education. If you are able to phone bank, walk neighborhoods, pass out fliers or want yard signs to help.
Contact Robert Chavez, Pilar Sanchez or Joe Lopez at
csea41@hotmail.com or (714) 600-5158
Anonplus.. you heard right! Our office staff fills in as nurse when the nurse is not in! The office manager and attendance clerk at our school are the nurse too! Administration is supporting this.. not to mention the other classified staff they pull in to fill in where needed! Seriously.. It is awful! To our administration it’s no problem.. to them it’s just “oh we don’t have a receptionist.. lets pull the girl from counseling or athletics or or or or.. We have no nurse..let’s appoint the office manager, the attendance clerk…or or or..” They act like these people have no choice AND MUST do this.. The thing is if this was the teaching staff and they tried to pawn this stuff off on us we wouldn’t stand for it. I hope the classified staff get treated with more respect very soon. I hope the people they laid off get there jobs back.. I wish the administration would take the time to really see what those people do for them.
Hello all! I am at a high school and I am a attendance clerk sometimes a data entry clerk sometimes a school accounts clerk and on a really crappy day i am a nurse. I am sick of it. I have contacted my union to let them know what is going on and I got one response with a “we are looking into it” I may file a grievance but I hate looking like those complainer but what other choice do I have. They eliminated alot of key people on our staff and the rest of us are just supposed to take up the slack. No overtime is offered just comp time. I refuse to work that. Teacher 80 I think administration is the same all over cause they just act like life is good, no problem.
Here’s another one : Until recently, when severly disabled children were delivered home by bus, and no one was waiting at the curb, the children were taken by the bus driver to the school police station. District Admin decided the police officers were going to take care of these children until a parent showed up. Many of these children have special dietary and physical needs, in addition to uncontrollable behaviors. Some are not capable of staying seated or taking instructions.
If all officers were in the field on calls, the dispatcher was left to answer the phone, dispatch officers, answer the door, make sure the disabled child stayed seated, take the child to the restroom, get water etc., all while taking care of emergency calls!
WHO THOUGHT THIS WAS A GOOD IDEA???!!!!
This went on for several weeks until the issue was brought to the attention of the Union. At this point changes have been made to take the children back to their school sites to contact parents, however if there is no one at the school site they will be taken to School Police.
Someone give me an aspirin.
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/santa-gang-gangs-2158963-police-people
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
In Santa Ana: ‘We will make a stand’ against gangs
More than 100 residents pledge to fight gangs after 13-year-old is gunned down outside high school.
By DOUG IRVING
The Orange County Register
Comments 124| Recommend 23
SANTA ANA – Teachers, preachers, children and parents joined hands Monday afternoon and pledged to take back their neighborhoods from the gangs that police say have killed 11 so far this year – most recently a 13-year-old boy.
More than 100 people gathered just blocks from where Rodrigo Valle was gunned down outside Santa Ana High School. They applauded recent police efforts to crack down on gangs, but said the solution had to begin at home and in the community.
Organizers of the event said it was the beginning of a 100-day action plan to get people involved in improving the lives of children and teenagers. They passed around sign-up sheets with boxes to check that included “Gang Intervention Class Training,” “Grass-roots organization” and “Become Mentor.”
“It does not start with city government,” said Councilwoman Michele Martinez, who helped organize the rally. “It does not start with the Police Department. It starts with our own home. It starts in the community.”
Gangs in Santa Ana and in other big cities around the state have been recruiting younger kids, Police Chief Paul M. Walters has said. He has talked about seeking another gang injunction; the first such injunction issued in the county targeted Santa Ana’s Santa Nita gang.
Last month, police arrested 85 people during a three-day sweep that targeted neighborhoods hard-hit by gang violence.
On Monday, church leaders vowed to get more involved in the fight to keep kids out of gangs. Neighbors said they would keep pressure on City Hall for more youth programs and better parks.
Jane Russo, the superintendent of the Santa Ana Unified School District, said it was time to “roll up our sleeves and do what we need to do.”
And Pastor Kevin Brown asked those gathered to join hands and declare: “We will make a stand and we will continue to stand … until gang violence is stamped out in this city.”
Contact the writer: 714-704-3777 or dirving@ocregister.com
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/school-homeless-children-2158634-students-district
Homeless children: the collateral damage in the foreclosure crisis
Yvette Cabrera
Columnist
The Orange County Register
ycabrera@ocregister.com Comments 0| Recommended3
It was inevitable that there would be collateral damage from the mortgage crisis, soaring home foreclosures and most recently, the economic meltdown on Wall Street tied to brokerage giants Merrill Lynch and Lehman Brothers, but when the collateral damage is a child it should be a wake-up call for all of us.
Ten months ago I began following families who were pushed over the edge into homelessness, landing in Orange County’s armories, shelters and motels. They faced issues ranging from domestic violence, to bad credit histories, to difficulty finding jobs that paid enough to cover the high-priced rents in our county.
As summer progressed, however, the face of homelessness in Orange County began changing. Suddenly, I was interviewing a mother of three who was laid off from her mortgage industry job in June and was trying to move her three children into a Costa Mesa motel on Harbor Boulevard.
Job losses, home foreclosures and the economy are contributing to a nationwide increase in homeless children, says Barbara Duffield, policy director for the National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth in Washington D.C.
For the 2007-2008 school year, many districts saw double-digit increases in homeless students. Duffield, who conducted a survey in late April examining how home foreclosures were impacting children, discovered that some districts had more homeless students in a month than they did the previous year.
“It’s mostly the economy, and it’s a combination in some school districts – the economy being first and housing crisis being the secondary factor,” says Duffield.
As a shaken Wall Street copes with this week’s financial crisis, main street America is living the crisis. Newport Mesa Unified School District administrators say almost every motel in the district has homeless children, including 55 students at the Harbor Boulevard motel where I’m tracking several families.
The statistics are troubling, but it’s the painful losses facing these children that are heart wrenching. Duffield’s April survey showed that Santa Ana Unified School District experienced a 13.2 percent increase from the last school year, for a total of 5,772 homeless students in April and included one example of a couple with five children who lost their home because they couldn’t afford their mortgage.
“They have known for several months about the foreclosure and were waiting for a miracle to help them save their home,” the notes in the SAUSD data explain. “Their children are collateral damage from this situation.”
Huntington Beach Union High School District reported a similar situation where a family was renting with the intent to buy a home and was evicted when the home went into foreclosure. And in the Anaheim City School District, which had 3,225 homeless students in April, a single mother with eight children also lost her home to foreclosure. The family slept in their SUV and at a friend’s house, using school bathrooms to brush their teeth and comb their hair.
The number of homeless children in Orange County is staggering. The latest figures from the Orange County Department of Education show that for the 2007-2008 school year there were 16,422 homeless students – a 20 percent increase from the previous school year’s total of 13,130.
A majority of these students are squeezed into homes where their family is doubled or tripled up with other families. Others live in motels, shelters, cars or on the streets. Jeanne Awrey, the OCDE’s manager of student support services, attributes the increase in part to schools that are doing a better job of collecting this data and reaching out to homeless students.
Newport Mesa Unified School District, which includes some of the priciest homes in the nation, typically has about 50 to 150 homeless students enrolled throughout the year, but Judy Garland, the district’s director of child welfare and attendance and homeless liaison, expects that number to swell this year.
The hardships are being felt across the board, says Garland, who in recent weeks has seen a major increase in families who can’t afford even basic needs.
“I think it’s a direct effect of the economy, absolutely,” says Garland. “These are not families who are used to having these problems. They are from all sides of our towns. This is a problem we’re seeing in Newport Beach, in Costa Mesa.”
The situation is so dire, that in recent weeks, Garland has seen churches stepping up to pay families’ rents. NMUSD also has a “homeless store” where needy families can get shoes, clothes, toiletries, and school supplies, but Garland says her primary goal is getting the children to school.
“Obviously our only thing as a school district is to make sure they have what they need to get to school,” says Garland. “Because often the only thing these children have of any consistence is education.”
Contact the writer: at ycabrera@ocregister.com or 714-796-3649.
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/kindergarten-day-school-2156032-district-time
Is full-day kindergarten the next step for O.C. schools?
Tougher academic standards and parent demand credited for adoption of longer day for new students.
By FERMIN LEAL
The Orange County Register
Comments 59| Recommend 3
For Allison DeLeon, just over three hours of kindergarten for her daughter Meaghan didn’t seem like enough time when she was trying to choose schools this spring.
Some private and public schools in the Huntington Beach area only offered the traditional three-hour program. But Westminster School District offered a full day of kindergarten, more than six hours of class time.
“It was an easy choice,” DeLeon said, whose daughter recently started school at Stacey Elementary in Westminster School District. “Kindergarten isn’t like it was when I was growing up. It’s become a lot more intense, and the more preparation my daughter receives, the better she’ll do in the long run.”
Across Orange County, more and more school districts have started offering all-day kindergarten. Educators say it’s in response to appeals from parents, the increased academic rigors across all grades, and as a way to curb the trend of declining enrollment that has hit elementary schools countywide.
Westminster School District, Magnolia School District and Ocean View School District offer a full day of kindergarten to some or all students. Saddleback Valley Unified and Orange Unified have run pilot programs at some campuses. And other districts have begun discussing the issue.
“Over the years, kindergarten has become more academically rigorous with state standards and a stronger focus on standardized testing,” said Trish Montgomery, spokeswoman for Westminster School District. “Time for things like finger-painting, building blocks and other non-academic yet vital developmental activities was cut because there just wasn’t enough time in the day.”
Now, with a longer kindergarten day, there is more time for everything, Montgomery said.
In 1997, the state constructed a list of grade-by-grade academic standards that outlined what should be taught. Kindergarten students are required to learn how to count to 100, spell basic words, perform simple addition and subtraction equations, and understand basic sentence structure and dozens of other new tasks.
Montgomery also said the longer kindergarten day will help English learners, about 43 percent of all students in Westminster School District, adapt faster to their new language.
Adding all-day kindergarten is still a tough sell for many cash-strapped districts, which would have to hire new teachers and make room for the additional classrooms. In a traditional kindergarten setting, one classroom can accommodate morning and afternoon classes, and are usually run by just one teacher and instructional aide. With a full-day program, the need for space and teachers could double, unless districts decide to opt out of the state’s popular 20-1 class-size reduction program and increase class sizes.
Some parents and other critics of a longer kindergarten day say immersing 5-year-olds in more than six hours of school as they are starting their education is too much.
“It may be difficult to engage a kindergartner for six straight hours of classroom work,” said Henry Tran, who considered two years ago sending his son to an all-day kindergarten program, but decided against the plan.
Magnolia School District provides all-day kindergarten to all students, but classes only run for three hours a day for the first few weeks. After a month, the school day expands to six hours. This allows students time to adjust to their teacher, classmates and other issues, officials said.
Other districts have variations of longer kindergarten.
Santa Ana Unified School District’s primary academy offers children at about a dozen campuses who finished kindergarten but aren’t ready for first-grade work a second year at the same grade level. And some kindergartners at San Juan Elementary in Capistrano Unified spend six hours in class as part of the school’s dual-language immersion program.
Though it’s just 10 days into the new school year, DeLeon already says her decision to place daughter Meaghan into an all-day kindergarten program is paying off.
“My daughter loves her new school,” she said. “She’s excited every day and loves to tell me about all that she’s learned.”
Contact the writer: 714-445-6687 or fleal@ocregister.com
Staff Member. I wish I could say I was surprised but I’m not. The union saying “We’re looking into it” is about as assuring as if they were going to confirm that there is water in the ocean. They agreed to job combining knowing full well something like this would happen. CSEA watched SAEA negotiate most of their teacher’s jobs back. In a pitiful effort to appear not to be outdone and to get classified jobs back, CSEA agreed to the creation of these multi-combination jobs. I believe these jobs are supposed to be similar in nature. I hope CSEA didn’t just totally agree classified employees could fill in anywhere, especially where they are not qualified, such as a nurse.
This was why, a few years ago, the district fought an effort for a personnel commission. I’ve worked in both types of districts and observed the major differences. Today you can see why. These commissions look at job descriptions and limitations and require they be adhered to. In some ways those commissions can over ride the board of education, and the union is virtually by-passed. “It ain’t my job” is not met with, “We’ll look into it”.
God forbid, staff member, you dispense any kind of medication including aspirin under the guise as a qualified health provider assigned to act as the nurse.
Justanobody. That is incredible. As I understand you, special needs children are still being taken to the police station as a last resort. Are the police or dispatchers being given special training to handle these kids? I assume not. Even the special needs bus drivers are probably better trained for this sort of thing. Why wouldn’t the bus company provide a person trained to watch over these kids instead of cops and dispatch people with no training? It sounds as though the bus company is just unloading their problem onto the police. It seems to me that the district should provide a specialist in these cases. Maybe the district can charge the parent for the specialists time since they were negligent in picking up their child. I’m sure the parent would sue the district if anything happened to their child.
Below is information on the Board of Education Candidates for SAUSD. It would be nice if the candidates could stop by and post comments or a statement of their intentions to run for the board and some of their focus to keep voters informed. I noticed that CSEA now has endorsed three candidates, so it would be great to also have CSEA say why they selected those particular three.
If anyone can step up to get information posted here, it would be greatly appreciated.
http://www.smartvoter.org/2008/11/04/ca/or/race/3201/
Board Member; Santa Ana Unified School District Voter Information
4 Year Term. Candidates (Vote for 3)
Gregory Barraza
Occupation: College Professor
Email:gbarraza@saddleback.edu
Rob Richardson
Occupation: Governing Board Member, Santa Ana Unified School District
Email:rob.richardson@earthlink.net
Cecilia Aguinaga
Occupation: School Police Coordinator
Vice-Chair Human Relation Commission
President of the Santa Ana Lions Club (First woman presiddent in the 85 years history of Santa Ana Lions Club)
Secretary of United Mexican American Veterans Association
Memebership Vice-Chair PTA Council of Santa Ana
Board member o Latino Young Leader Intitute
Board member of ROP (Regional Outreach Program for students who do not wish to follow higher education)
Priorities:
Teach English
Parental Involvement
Security in the Schools
Roman Reyna
Occupation: Youth Program Director
Email:roman4schoolboard@gmail.com
Valerie Amezcua
Occupation: Parent/City Commissioner
Email:friendsofvalamezcua@gmail.com
Jose Alfredo Hernandez
Occupation: Appointed Governing Board Member, Santa Ana Unified School District
Defense Attorney
Fellow at the Center for Children’s Rights, Whittier Law School
Bachelor of Arts History, UCLA
Parent of 3 SAUSD current students
Board of Directors for the YMCA of Santa Ana
Board of Directors for the Hispanic Bar Association
Priorities:
Continue to improve graduation rates
Continue to improve on tests scores
Ensure fiscal responsability
Gloria Alvarado
Occupation: Recreation Program Coordinator
Email:info@gloriaalvarado.com
Irene Ibarra
Occupation: Business Owner
Email:irene92703@yahoo.com
Mike Gonzalez
Occupation: Business Owner/Instructor
Email:gonzalez0433@sbcglobal.net
——————————————————————————–
Basic candidate data supplied by the applicable elections official. Order of candidates is random and changes daily.
To, CSEA 41
Your comment was not missed. Despite the usual attempt by someone to toss in a few long newspaper stories to interrupt the flow of conversation and reports of misdeeds by the district, your comment was read.
As RV says it would be good to have some input from CSEA on the choices they made. Overlooking Cecilia was obvious as her primary supporter and former politico police chief has moved on to greener pastures. The selections listed seem pretty reasonable without knowing more. I hope someone can post and comment on the decision process used.
Hey Anon 9/21/08 at 11:08am. Stop sticking in the long articles trying to change the course of the conversation. You can post a hyper link. I think everyone here knows how to click on a hyperlink. Furthermore we can read the OC Register or the OC Juice Blog.
YES!! The nurse has left instructions for who gets what medication! Yes..we are supposed to give it to the student. I have said I was not comfortable doing that and I was told “we have no choice” I have refused along with a few others to be bullied into working Back to School night..(we can’t give you OT but we can give you comp) We have to tell staff not to send students up unless it is a emergency.. well hello! Things happen during the day and what are we suppose to tell kids.. “you are not a emergency..go back to class.” I hope this all ends soon!
Just a Nobody
If you decide to hang here you will have to get used to that interruption ploy used by district or even union advocates. No one has the time to read the last 2 years worth of comments, but if you did you would find that just as soon as any part of a problem is zeroed in on someone posts a few very loooooong articles in to throw the topic of discussion off. After a while you learn to expect it.
Staff member
No wonder you are in a panic. Trust me, you have choices. Who told you that you didn’t? You can simply refuse. Medications are as deadly as a gun. If the school cop was off campus or sick and someone handed you a gun and told you to go stop a fight would you do it? Probably not. Handing you the keys to the drug cabinet is about as stupid as handing you a gun unless you are trained to use either one. To my knowledge no one is allowed to hand out medications on a campus unless they are trained to know what the drug is for and the amounts a patient should or should not have. That is why the district hires a nurse and other trained qualified people. That isn’t why they hired you.
If you gave my kid the wrong dosage or even the wrong drug by accident I would sue you, the district, the nurse and anyone else I could think of. Unless you are an EMT, LVN, or better I would seriously go to the wall over this even if you are threatened with termination. Just my opinion.
Duffield’s April survey showed that Santa Ana Unified School District experienced a 13.2 percent increase from the last school year, for a total of 5,772 homeless students in April and included one example of a couple with five children who lost their home because they couldn’t afford their mortgage.
“They have known for several months about the foreclosure and were waiting for a miracle to help them save their home,” the notes in the SAUSD data explain. “Their children are collateral damage from this situation.”
The number of homeless children in Orange County is staggering. The latest figures from the Orange County Department of Education show that for the 2007-2008 school year there were 16,422 homeless students – a 20 percent increase from the previous school year’s total of 13,130.
The hardships are being felt across the board, says Garland, who in recent weeks has seen a major increase in families who can’t afford even basic needs.
The situation is so dire, that in recent weeks, Garland has seen churches stepping up to pay families’ rents. NMUSD also has a “homeless store” where needy families can get shoes, clothes, toiletries, and school supplies, but Garland says her primary goal is getting the children to school.
Does anyone else find these numbers staggering? How is SAUSD handling this problem? Is it being addressed at all? I have not seen anything on their website. Maybe they’ve notified the teachers about the spike in homelessness for the district’s students? Newport Mesa has a homeless store to help, I don’t imagine that is possible for a district the size of Santa Ana to organize?
Footnote to Staff member,
Unless the contract has been changed since I last checked, comp. time has to be paid out if not taken within 2 pay periods. I haven’t read the latest contract so I’m going with what the previous one said. If it hasn’t been changed then either take the comp time or work and force the district to pay you. Personally I’d take the time off rather than dole out medications, but we all need money too.
I think that those articles are relevant. They all have something to do with SAUSD. Art has kindly put up this thread and has archived the last couple of years full of developments, misdeeds, articles etc… I would make this blog and all of the thousand submissions on the older archives, mandatory reading for any newcomers to the board of education and as a lesson of what not to do and what kinds of games have already been played on the community, students and staff.
Links go bad, so it is wise to post a link as well as the story. I don’t find it hard to skim over the conversations that I don’t find compelling. Some articles and information seem to get “scrubbed” from the internet, too. There was a long article/legal brief on Tracy Brenan that was pulled down because someone complained about the length. I think it was a mistake, because the meat of the article could always be accessed on THIS blog. I doubt that article can be found again. I hope someone proves me wrong and finds it again – especially if there are lots of problems still present at Saddleback under Dr. Brenan’s administration.
If the history cannot be accessed, then the district is more at risk to repeat past failures. Jmo.
Red Vixen
Point taken, but it’s the timing of the looong articles. They seem to pop up when someone is blowing the whistle.
I hear new info has gone out regarding the new stuff they are talking about for classified..I’m hearing getting back all 436 people who were layed off but at 4 hrs with their original pay and benefits.. Anyone know anything?
We have put up a new post with ALL the candidate’s statements for the SAUSD candidates at this link: http://orangejuiceblog.com/2008/09/sausd_school_board_candidate/
justanobody,
Point taken. And whether it is coincidence or deliberate attempts to interrupt, I think there are enough of us here who care about getting the truth out, that we will be able to remain focused and determined 😉
Art,
You might want to invite the candidates to review the post that you’ve done and give the candidates a chance to possibly comment or add additional information. That would be great and it would show who is interested in engaging the community in dialogue. Just a suggestion…
It would be nice to see other people step up with their endorsements. The teachers’ union gave their rationale for picking their three candidates. What about the classifieds’ choice?