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Sweetwater's Bond Oversight Committee Calls Special Meeting
erupting: I posted the Ed Code section in response to Jmbrickley saying one of the district's solutions for filling vacancies was to place a high school principal in one of the seats. As far as the interview panel being a part of the BOC, I don't know.— August 10, 2012 4:11 p.m.
Sweetwater's Bond Oversight Committee Calls Special Meeting
California Education Code: Section 15282(b) No employee or official of the district shall be appointed to the citizens' oversight committee. No vendor, contractor, or consultant of the district shall be appointed to the citizens' oversight committee. Members of the citizens' oversight committee shall, pursuant to Sections 35233 and 72533, abide by the prohibitions contained in Article 4 (commencing with Section 1090) and Article 4.7 (commencing with Section 1125) of Division 4 of Title 1 of the Government Code.— August 10, 2012 8:30 a.m.
Sweetwater School District Kids Face Bus Cuts
(bureaucracy)— August 7, 2012 4:04 p.m.
Sweetwater School District Kids Face Bus Cuts
A budget should be built based on priorities. In the case of a school district, top priority should be students' needs and services. Getting to school safely certainly should be somewhere at the top of the list. Spending $20,000 *a month* on an interim/substitute superintendent isn't. Sweetwater budget practices and priorities are upside down. They should be struggling to find ways to finance their beauracracy, not the needs of students.— August 7, 2012 12:44 p.m.
Dust Devil Settles in Southwest High’s Dumped-Dirt Debacle
anniej and Susan: I agree. Mr. Gauger and his immediate supervisor deserve credit for trying to protect the public's safety. It is Brand and Co., that didn't listen to them, who must take the blame.— July 29, 2012 1:45 p.m.
Dust Devil Settles in Southwest High’s Dumped-Dirt Debacle
Mr. Gauger, who tried to stop this debacle and warned higher-ups of safety issues related to the dirt, could have explained the mysterious pile of dirt right from the beginning. But instead, it took a public records request and the *San Diego Reader* to inform the public. I wonder if when contacted by the reporter, Mr. Gauger was ordered to keep his mouth shut, or was simply afraid of retaliation from a district known for its vindictiveness towards employees who speak up and expose problems? In either case, the public is, once again, ill-served. Thanks once again to the Reader, for keeping us informed. By the way, erupting, this story is a punster's heaven; "soiled reputations", "dirt swept under the rug".........— July 29, 2012 12:40 p.m.
Public Input Stifled at Sweetwater's Board Meeting
Thank you, Jmbrickley, for posting this. "Individual speakers shall be allowed three minutes to address the Board on each agenda or nonagenda item. The Board shall limit the total time for public input on each item to 20 minutes. WITH BOARD CONSENT (my emphasis), the president may increase or decrease the time allowed for public presentation, depending on the topic and the number of persons wishing to be heard." [Schools Board's Bylaws] This seems simple enough to understand, and If board member Bertha Lopez wanted a vote taken regarding shortening public speaking, then, at least by my definition, consensus was not reached. The willful violation of OUR school board's bylaws, is a slap in the public's face. Message: Public, we don't care what you think, period. There really doesn't seem to be anything short of a recall that will effectively change matters in Sweetwater. You're right visduh, the board continues to act as expected, however, what's changing is the number of people realizing how bad things have gotten and how necessary a regime change has become.— July 26, 2012 7:02 p.m.
Fraud Possible in Calexico Unified School District Bond Expenditures
Superintendent Fragale is at least making a sincere effort to solve Calexico Unified's problems by calling for the forensic audit. In the Sweetwater district, many have called for a forensic audit as well, but interim superintendent Brand and his board majority have consistently ignored public opinion. It will be very interesting to watch what unfolds in Calexico as they take this giant step forward. Hopefully the DA is paying attention.— July 24, 2012 2:02 p.m.
Dirt Dumped at Southwest High School's Campus Still Under Investigation
Mr. Woods says the Department of Toxic Substance Control asked why the district was looking at the dirt, implying there was nothing wrong with it. He then goes on to say he wasn't certain they would put that in writing. Why not? This sounds like a few of the "good ol' boys" talking instead of a communication between public agencies that are supposedly serving and protecting the public. Their findings should be in writing and posted for us all to see.— July 16, 2012 10:48 a.m.
Questionable Contract for Southwestern College?
I became suspicious of the new superintendent, Melinda Nish, when she saw no problem with cutting teachers salaries at the same time wanting to raise the vice-presidents' pay. She heard everyone saying, union leaders included, that raising VP's salaries wasn't a problem, but the timing was wrong. She decided not to listen. Well, now we have another issue with this Brahmbhatt/Cambridge contract. Ms Nish, the public has learned many lessons from Southwestern's unscrupulous past, and our memories are fresh. Mr. Careghino is absolutely correct, the college is under a microscope, we are watching your every move, and this one is unacceptable.— July 12, 2012 11:13 a.m.