San Ysidro School Board Moves Forward With New Trustees

<figure id="attachment_29603" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-29603" style="width: 546px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="http://laprensa-sandiego.org/featured/san-ysidro-school-board-moves-for…; rel="attachment wp-att-29603"><img loading="lazy" class="wp-image-29603" src="http://laprensa-sandiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/SanYsidroBoardM…; alt="San Ysidro School District starts the year with a new board. From left to right: Jose Barajas, Rodolfo Linares, Antonio Martinez, board president, Superintendent George Cameron, Lucciana Corrales, and Marcos Diaz, board vice-president." width="546" height="211"></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-29603" class="wp-caption-text">San Ysidro School District starts the year with a new board. From left to right: Jose Barajas, Rodolfo Linares, Antonio Martinez, board president, Superintendent George Cameron, Lucciana Corrales, and Marcos Diaz, board vice-president.</figcaption></figure>
On Thursday, December 11th Councilman David Alvarez swore in Rudolfo Linares, Marcos Diaz and Luciana Corrales as new San Ysidro School Board members. The five-member board then announced that during their closed session they unanimously voted to pursue legal action against former Superintendent Manuel Paul for the return of more than $200,000 he received in severance pay.
The San Ysidro School Board has been in turmoil ever since solar power company EcoBusiness Alliance sued the district for breach of contract and won $12 million. A series of South Bay resignations followed, including two San Ysidro board members and former Superintendent Manuel Paul who was indicted in a “pay-to-play” corruption probe. When the school district tried to impose a significant teacher pay cut in October to address the budget shortfall, a strike ensued.
At the meeting, board members tried to move forward, electing Antonio Martinez as the new President and Marcos Diaz as Vice-President. Teachers then voiced concerns from the floor.
Willow Elementary school teacher Nancy Alvarado said, “As you can see by the make-up of the board tonight, the people have spoken and I think this is what they said: we expect our board members to be civil, ethical and to put the collective means of all students above their individual agendas.”
Special Education teacher Patricia Manley said, “The days of corruption, of back door dealings, of arrogance and punishment for speaking out, need to be over. For those of you who have been on here before, I hope you see the handwriting on the wall because the parents of this community, the teachers of this community, are not going to let happen what happened before.”
Martinez responded by focusing on transparency and teamwork. First, he suggested that the recorded audio of the board meetings be available on the school board website. He received applause and the board passed the motion unanimously.
Martinez also took a moment to comment, “I think now is a very important time to emphasize that we’re a team. All of us and as a team, the way I like to look at it is a round table where titles, egos are out the door, we throw them in the trash and we focus on what we need to do and our business, which is our kids…”
Dena Whittington, Assistant Superintendent of Business Services, presented the budget report. “When the budget was adopted, we had a 3.8 million dollar deficit and after setting aside all the required reserves, we were short over 800, almost 900,000 dollars and we didn’t even meet the 3% minimum requirement for our reserves… After the approval of the LCAP [Local Control and Accountability Plan] and other changes that have occurred since June, our deficit spending has been reduced to 1.2 million dollars. We can meet our 1.4 million dollar 3% minimum reserve requirement… and if nothing else changes between now and June 30th, we would have $700,000 above and beyond our minimum reserve requirement.”
Whittington provided a thick booklet of financial statements to board members. Martinez remarked, “I think that was one of the biggest mistakes we made as a board is we didn’t get the proper training on how to read a budget.” He then recommended that the board hold a workshop where the budget is explained in layman terms. The meeting would also be open to the public. 
Rudolfo Linares began a discussion about Willow Elementary’s Wilda Storm reading program, created by Storm Educational Enterprises for $63,000. The funds would come out of LCAP funds. Linares said he wasn’t against Wilda Storm, but it was his understanding that teachers were being intimidated by the district to approve the program.
Marcos Diaz agreed. “Historically there is a culture and I was going to save it for my remarks at the very end. There is fear in the teacher ranks. Some of them, I don’t know if they’re warranted, I don’t know, but there is fear of reprisals. There is a hostile work environment.”
The Principal of Willow Elementary, Manuel Bojorquez, then stood before the board and explained he felt angry that he was questioned in this way. The process started four months ago when the old board decided not to pass the Wilda Storm program for the whole district. The board then approved the program only for La Mirada and Smythe Elementary. Bojorquez said he presented Wild Storm to his teachers; they were given the choice to pick a support program that helped staff move forward with Common Core. “I can tell you, I don’t intimidate people. I’m not here to do that. I’m here to work and to work with the children, okay.”
The program was approved 4-1 with Linares opposed and Diaz changing his mind after hearing the Principal speak.
Linares then suggested that certain attorney fees not be paid at this moment. While board members agreed in theory, Superintendent Dr. Cameron said, “Not paying this is not in our district’s best interest. The next step is to continue to reduce legal fees, to continue to close out those pending issues that we’re dealing with, and to use legal counsel that the board feels confident in their level of service, and their level of expertise…”
Linares has been vocal about holding both the Superintendent and the district’s hired attorney’s accountable. Ahead of Manuel Paul’s sentencing, which takes place at 2pm on Thursday, December 18th, Linares sent a letter to Judge William Gallo. “I respectfully request that you reject the plea bargain offered to Mr. Manuel Paul and send him back to the District Attorney for jury trial. Please allow the community to exercise their constitutional right to judge him to the full extent of the law for the crimes committed against not only to the community but to the most defenseless, the children.”
Diaz said he had also sent his own letter to the judge. At least two other former San Ysidro teachers, Josie Harnada and Mary Ann Saponara, have done the same.
“We’re known as the most dysfunctional district in the nation. We need to change that,” Linares said in his closing statement.