As a concerned parent and grandparent in this district I am speaking about the disappointment I have in many of our CUSD Board of Trustees. I have tried my utmost to watch, observe and keep an open mind regarding the fulfilling of their tenure. Yet, week after week, month after month, my disillusionment continues.
I have attended almost every CUSD board meeting for the past six years and feel that along with my other interests in the school district; I have a pretty good understanding of the goings on of the district. A few years ago a Recall Group decided to stir things up when the boundary change wasn’t to their liking. They used the district office as their platform, but that was just an excuse to get their agenda to the forefront. During that campaign I saw the petition gathers telling outright lies to get signatures. (The signature gathers got paid between $3 and $5 per signature). I saw ads placed showing the bad conditions on some campuses, even when the problems had long be corrected, I heard lies told about a supposed “enemies list” where the superintendent was taking out his ire on students, with no proof what-so-ever.
After the election of the new trustees, I sat in board meetings and actually saw the recall leaders giving hand signals to how the trustees should vote on issues, and later text messages sent and received by those on the dias. Board members came to these meetings with their packets sealed (or unread) and were given yellow notepads with questions they were to address. All prepared by the few discontented people on the Recall Committee.
During the last year, I have seen one insurance company fired with allegations of lawsuits pending, and then have the insurance given to another company that had the same types of lawsuits pending, but had given donations to this group during their election. I have been at award presentations at our high schools where the trustees were noticeably missing, but attending a Recall Committee sponsored meeting on “Our Orange County Failing Schools.” I have sat and listened to board members asking the worse case scenario of the pipeline at San Juan Hills High School, only being satisfied when they were told that if there was a major earthquake after a severe continual rainstorm that there may be a very slight possibility of a small leakage, using this reason as well as other misinformation as to why not to complete this high school.
Over the last couple of weeks I was amazed to find that our board of trustees have decided to settle a lawsuit in the amount of over $600,000 in favor of those people responsible for there election, when not one piece of evidence had been provided to show merit for such an award in addition to the fact that Dr. Fleming’s case has not yet been brought to trial. The only reason I can think that this decision to settle was made is the fear that Dr. Fleming will indeed be acquitted. If this is not conflict of interest, I’d like to know what is.
Parents need to get informed; they need to see what is going on in our school district before this group destroys it. Capistrano Unified has always had the reputation as one of the best school districts in the nation. During the last two years we have lost some of the best administrators we could have ever wished to have. Teachers have left and many more are seeking employment elsewhere. It is time for each and every one of us to step up, learn the facts and make education decisions for the future of our children. I am not telling anyone how they should vote, I am just trying to put truthful information out there and ask you each to do your own research. Don’t rely on lies sent by a group of angry citizens who didn’t get their way and have large money backing. Let’s get back to our grass roots and elect local representatives that put children first!
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Why Vote to "by Trustee Area"
Early last spring Erin Kutnik asked to have an agenda item put forth on the next board meeting. This did not occur, and it actually took two more meetings before it was addressed. This agenda item pertained to changing the way trustee areas were voted. Voting by trustee area was a platform which many of the current trustees ran. But to the surprise of everyone it was voted down. Why was there a change of opinion? Could it be that these trustees don’t believe they can be re-elected if the votes relied on the local constituencies? The Recall Election was won by a 10% vote of the population and most of that was based in North Mission Viejo and Santa Margarita, where the leaders of the Recall committee live. The Recall candidates did not appear at the forum held by the League of Women’s Voters to let their constituencies ask questions and get to know them. Their campaigns were run on lies and misinformation that they sent via mail in the name of both the Democratic and Republican parties.
Therefore, since the CUSD Board of Trustees voted down the agenda item, three of us concerned parents, Erin Kutnik, Kevin Kirwan and myself, took it upon ourselves to take the next step in the process of changing the way the voting should take place. We went to the County Board of Supervisors, received the correct information and documents, and then gathered petitions asking for the change. There was a required 750 signatures to have the petition presented to the County Board. In just 13 short days we gathered over 1200 signatures, which were then verified by the County.
A date was set for a public hearing that needed to be heard at our CUSD district offices. This was held on September 30th. The petitioners were heard first, followed by the CUSD trustees’ lawyer with open comments. (It should be noted that the trustees hired a lawyer to present their side, the cost in July and August amounted to almost $30,000 with the September costs yet unknown and this money came out of our district coffers, money that could have been spent for our children). The County Department for Redistricting passed the petition with an 8:1 vote. This means that the issue of voting by area will appear on the June 2010 ballot.
Trustee Area means that Board Members have specific geographic areas within the District in which they must reside and are elected only by the residents of that area.
Voting by Trustee Area will:
· Enable voters to clearly identify and get to better know their current Trustee and the candidates for the Trustee position representing their geographic area
· Enable the Trustees to establish themselves within their Area as the Trustee who most thoroughly understands the issues of the students and schools within their area
· Facilitate improved communications between all constituents and Trustees
· Provide that the elections of Members of the Board of Trustees are for a truly representative local governing body
· Reduce the cost of campaigns for school board positions by limiting the campaign to smaller geographic areas and numbers of voters
It is my personal opinion that “voting by area” is the only way in which the parents of the children in CUSD have any chance in taking back their district. This is the only way in which we can make trustees accountable to their own constituencies and to keep special interest groups out. Please consider this information in the upcoming election.
Therefore, since the CUSD Board of Trustees voted down the agenda item, three of us concerned parents, Erin Kutnik, Kevin Kirwan and myself, took it upon ourselves to take the next step in the process of changing the way the voting should take place. We went to the County Board of Supervisors, received the correct information and documents, and then gathered petitions asking for the change. There was a required 750 signatures to have the petition presented to the County Board. In just 13 short days we gathered over 1200 signatures, which were then verified by the County.
A date was set for a public hearing that needed to be heard at our CUSD district offices. This was held on September 30th. The petitioners were heard first, followed by the CUSD trustees’ lawyer with open comments. (It should be noted that the trustees hired a lawyer to present their side, the cost in July and August amounted to almost $30,000 with the September costs yet unknown and this money came out of our district coffers, money that could have been spent for our children). The County Department for Redistricting passed the petition with an 8:1 vote. This means that the issue of voting by area will appear on the June 2010 ballot.
Trustee Area means that Board Members have specific geographic areas within the District in which they must reside and are elected only by the residents of that area.
Voting by Trustee Area will:
· Enable voters to clearly identify and get to better know their current Trustee and the candidates for the Trustee position representing their geographic area
· Enable the Trustees to establish themselves within their Area as the Trustee who most thoroughly understands the issues of the students and schools within their area
· Facilitate improved communications between all constituents and Trustees
· Provide that the elections of Members of the Board of Trustees are for a truly representative local governing body
· Reduce the cost of campaigns for school board positions by limiting the campaign to smaller geographic areas and numbers of voters
It is my personal opinion that “voting by area” is the only way in which the parents of the children in CUSD have any chance in taking back their district. This is the only way in which we can make trustees accountable to their own constituencies and to keep special interest groups out. Please consider this information in the upcoming election.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Uncovering Scholarship Money
For those of you like me that are beginning the process of seeking colleges and possibly scholarships to get your children through, I found this interesting article and thought I'd share it:
Uncovering Scholarship Money
by Annette LyonFinding
The money to pay for college may be easier than you think.
Scholarships are only for super-intelligent and seriously athletic kids, right?
Well, yes and no.
Academic and sports scholarships are some of the most widely known and sought-after scholarships, but there are plenty of other scholarships based entirely on other things. Enough money to pay for school can be found even if your child isn't class valedictorian or a star quarterback.
If students look hard enough for the money, they'll find it.
What you and your child shouldn't be looking for is a single, big scholarship that will cover tuition (or more) for four years. Instead, change your way of thinking and look for as many small scholarships as your child can qualify for. Many corporations, charities, companies, and other organizations offer small scholarships ranging from several hundred to a couple thousand dollars each.
Considering how expensive a college education is, that may not sound like much. But what if your child were able to land twenty or more scholarships, each averaging a thousand dollars? His or her entire education could be paid for.
Millions of dollars of scholarship money goes unclaimed each year for one simple reason: no one applied for it. Your child can be the one who snags the opportunity.
So how do you get smaller scholarships?
Plan AheadDuring ninth or tenth grade (or earlier!), students should be thinking ahead to the kinds of things they'll need to include in a scholarship application. They won't be applying until eleventh or twelfth grade, but a lot of what will get them noticed by scholarship committees will be the activities they're involved in before that.
Encourage them to be part of school programs, look for leadership opportunities, join school clubs, do extracurricular activities, participate in service organizations and honor societies, or do anything else they might be interested in. Keep track of awards they receive, whether they're from scouting, the PTA Reflections contest, or a team or club. Remind them of the importance of recording all their major accomplishments and leadership roles, including club leaders, Church leadership (such as Laurel president), and any other noteworthy experience they have during high school.
Keep a running file of these kinds of items. Your student might not use them all, but he or she won't know for sure until it's time to fill out those applications.
Since a lot of scholarships are based on geography, race, gender, industry interest, and talent, students should also know to jot down anything about themselves that a specific scholarship might look for. They don’t want to miss out on a scholarship aimed at students in the Northwest, or one for students wanting to go into computer animation, or one for female students of Asian descent, if any of those things apply!
Creating ThemesWhen it's time to fill out the applications, your child should pull out his or her file of activities and accomplishments. They should try to find patterns, such as service projects, leadership, ethnic identity, or interests and talents (athletics, science, music, etc.). These will be themes for scholarship applications.
Now students should expand on these themes by writing three solid examples for each one. Each example should describe their actions and accomplishments within that theme. The running file will be useful for ideas.
Examples need to be specific. "Participated in a Sub-for-Santa event" is pretty vague. For a student's participation, that could mean anything from donating a dollar to coordinating the entire event. However, "Spent 45 hours coordinating 15 high school students in a Sub-for-Santa drive, raising $2,400" is much more specific - and impressive.
When describing Church youth callings, they'll need to put the callings in terms that will make sense to members of a scholarship committee, who will not likely be of your own religion. Therefore it is important to describe the actual activities and accomplishments will come across better. Be specific, instead of just putting president of girls group, the following works much better: "For 10 months, acted as president of church girls' group consisting of 8 young women ages 16 and 17. Helped plan and carry out weekly activities that included life skills and community service."
But students should try to be even more specific than that - what specific weekly activities, life skills, and community service projects were they involved in? How did they plan it? How many hours went into a specific service project? The more concrete their examples, the more likely they are to nab that scholarship.
Letters of Recommendation. Many scholarships ask for letters of recommendation from teachers, employers, or other adults who know the student well. In order to meet application deadlines, students should be sure to ask for the letters well in advance so the writers have plenty of time to return them.
Reuse MaterialsOver and over students will find scholarship applications asking for similar items: letters of recommendations, themes, essays, transcripts, test scores, etc. Many of these can be used in several applications, especially if they're kept in computer files that your child can simply print out again. Those things students can't make computer copies of should be photocopied several times and kept on hand.
Finding the ScholarshipsLocating scholarships can be tricky if you don't know where to look.
Here are a few places to start searching:
Start local.Ask businesses, radio stations, rotary clubs, etc., in your own community. You might find a small company with a scholarship that's gone unawarded for years.
Spread the word. Tell family, friends, co-workers, teachers, and neighbors that you're looking for scholarships - and that no scholarship is too small. Someone might come back with a little-known award through his or her employer or some other avenue that you never would have known about otherwise.
Use your student's school counseling office.Many have binders full of scholarship information. Academic counselors can point your child toward other resources.
Search scholarship directories.Bookstores and libraries have many such directories available every year, such as How to Go to College Almost for Free, by Ben Kaplan. Use online scholarship search engines. Search for "scholarship search engines" and you'll find many great sites. Your student can input scholarship criteria, and the engine will come up with applicable scholarships.
Warning: No reputable organization or website will ever ask you to pay for providing scholarship information. Do not pay a person or website to hunt for you. Chances are you won't get enough funding to pay for their fees, let alone to pay for school.
Don't let your child put off planning for college. And remember that grades aren't everything. If students want to find money for school, it's there for the taking.
LDS Living, Inc. September/October, 2009. Photo by Julia Freeman-Woolpert/sxc.hu.
var addthis_pub="ldsliving";
Uncovering Scholarship Money
by Annette LyonFinding
The money to pay for college may be easier than you think.
Scholarships are only for super-intelligent and seriously athletic kids, right?
Well, yes and no.
Academic and sports scholarships are some of the most widely known and sought-after scholarships, but there are plenty of other scholarships based entirely on other things. Enough money to pay for school can be found even if your child isn't class valedictorian or a star quarterback.
If students look hard enough for the money, they'll find it.
What you and your child shouldn't be looking for is a single, big scholarship that will cover tuition (or more) for four years. Instead, change your way of thinking and look for as many small scholarships as your child can qualify for. Many corporations, charities, companies, and other organizations offer small scholarships ranging from several hundred to a couple thousand dollars each.
Considering how expensive a college education is, that may not sound like much. But what if your child were able to land twenty or more scholarships, each averaging a thousand dollars? His or her entire education could be paid for.
Millions of dollars of scholarship money goes unclaimed each year for one simple reason: no one applied for it. Your child can be the one who snags the opportunity.
So how do you get smaller scholarships?
Plan AheadDuring ninth or tenth grade (or earlier!), students should be thinking ahead to the kinds of things they'll need to include in a scholarship application. They won't be applying until eleventh or twelfth grade, but a lot of what will get them noticed by scholarship committees will be the activities they're involved in before that.
Encourage them to be part of school programs, look for leadership opportunities, join school clubs, do extracurricular activities, participate in service organizations and honor societies, or do anything else they might be interested in. Keep track of awards they receive, whether they're from scouting, the PTA Reflections contest, or a team or club. Remind them of the importance of recording all their major accomplishments and leadership roles, including club leaders, Church leadership (such as Laurel president), and any other noteworthy experience they have during high school.
Keep a running file of these kinds of items. Your student might not use them all, but he or she won't know for sure until it's time to fill out those applications.
Since a lot of scholarships are based on geography, race, gender, industry interest, and talent, students should also know to jot down anything about themselves that a specific scholarship might look for. They don’t want to miss out on a scholarship aimed at students in the Northwest, or one for students wanting to go into computer animation, or one for female students of Asian descent, if any of those things apply!
Creating ThemesWhen it's time to fill out the applications, your child should pull out his or her file of activities and accomplishments. They should try to find patterns, such as service projects, leadership, ethnic identity, or interests and talents (athletics, science, music, etc.). These will be themes for scholarship applications.
Now students should expand on these themes by writing three solid examples for each one. Each example should describe their actions and accomplishments within that theme. The running file will be useful for ideas.
Examples need to be specific. "Participated in a Sub-for-Santa event" is pretty vague. For a student's participation, that could mean anything from donating a dollar to coordinating the entire event. However, "Spent 45 hours coordinating 15 high school students in a Sub-for-Santa drive, raising $2,400" is much more specific - and impressive.
When describing Church youth callings, they'll need to put the callings in terms that will make sense to members of a scholarship committee, who will not likely be of your own religion. Therefore it is important to describe the actual activities and accomplishments will come across better. Be specific, instead of just putting president of girls group, the following works much better: "For 10 months, acted as president of church girls' group consisting of 8 young women ages 16 and 17. Helped plan and carry out weekly activities that included life skills and community service."
But students should try to be even more specific than that - what specific weekly activities, life skills, and community service projects were they involved in? How did they plan it? How many hours went into a specific service project? The more concrete their examples, the more likely they are to nab that scholarship.
Letters of Recommendation. Many scholarships ask for letters of recommendation from teachers, employers, or other adults who know the student well. In order to meet application deadlines, students should be sure to ask for the letters well in advance so the writers have plenty of time to return them.
Reuse MaterialsOver and over students will find scholarship applications asking for similar items: letters of recommendations, themes, essays, transcripts, test scores, etc. Many of these can be used in several applications, especially if they're kept in computer files that your child can simply print out again. Those things students can't make computer copies of should be photocopied several times and kept on hand.
Finding the ScholarshipsLocating scholarships can be tricky if you don't know where to look.
Here are a few places to start searching:
Start local.Ask businesses, radio stations, rotary clubs, etc., in your own community. You might find a small company with a scholarship that's gone unawarded for years.
Spread the word. Tell family, friends, co-workers, teachers, and neighbors that you're looking for scholarships - and that no scholarship is too small. Someone might come back with a little-known award through his or her employer or some other avenue that you never would have known about otherwise.
Use your student's school counseling office.Many have binders full of scholarship information. Academic counselors can point your child toward other resources.
Search scholarship directories.Bookstores and libraries have many such directories available every year, such as How to Go to College Almost for Free, by Ben Kaplan. Use online scholarship search engines. Search for "scholarship search engines" and you'll find many great sites. Your student can input scholarship criteria, and the engine will come up with applicable scholarships.
Warning: No reputable organization or website will ever ask you to pay for providing scholarship information. Do not pay a person or website to hunt for you. Chances are you won't get enough funding to pay for their fees, let alone to pay for school.
Don't let your child put off planning for college. And remember that grades aren't everything. If students want to find money for school, it's there for the taking.
LDS Living, Inc. September/October, 2009. Photo by Julia Freeman-Woolpert/sxc.hu.
var addthis_pub="ldsliving";
For those of you who enjoy "you tube" and don't attend all the cusd board meetings, here's what you're missing!
This you tube link was just sent to me. Very interesting. Please forward and distribute as you see fit.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDh1cGq3BDc
This you tube link was just sent to me. Very interesting. Please forward and distribute as you see fit.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDh1cGq3BDc
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