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Sweetwater Union HS District Votes to Buy iPads for 7th-Graders
anniej: I believe Southwestern placed Ricasa on paid leave. Now that's the right thing to do. Sweetwater should do the same. By the way, sorry about the misspelling of the interim superintendent's name. I meant to type "Brandara".— February 27, 2012 5:35 p.m.
Sweetwater Union HS District Votes to Buy iPads for 7th-Graders
anniej: Regarding your response to placing the indicted school board members on paid leave; Yes, Drand is right, they are innocent until proven guilty, and that's why alleged criminals are placed on PAID leave. They should not be punished monetarily since they are innocent, but they shouldn't be in positions of power pending their trial.— February 27, 2012 11:21 a.m.
Sweetwater Union HS District Votes to Buy iPads for 7th-Graders
You're right Pancho. They are desperate. Sweetwater is in a tail spin. We have a substitute superintendent making unsustainable, long term proposals to a school board comprised of two alleged felons. They should be relieved of their duties pending their trials, and interim superintendent Brand should be replaced.— February 25, 2012 10:06 p.m.
Sweetwater Union HS District Votes to Buy iPads for 7th-Graders
This might be off topic, but then again maybe not. Usually, if not always, an employee accused of a felony is placed on paid administrative leave. How is it that Sweetwater school board members indicted for felonies, including wrongful influence, are permitted to make decisions on spending $4.3 million dollars on Apple's iPads, or on anything else for that matter? It just doesn't make sense. Put them on leave, with pay, like anyone else would be.— February 25, 2012 7:53 p.m.
Sweetwater Union HS District Votes to Buy iPads for 7th-Graders
refriedgringo: You make good points too. One problem though, is where the money is coming from. The board will be spending Proposition O monies that are supposed to be used for construction, infrastructure, etc., and like you say, iPads are books which put them in the instructional materials category. While they might be a better means of acquiring knowledge for some, and instructional monies might be better spent on computers vs books, the fact is that the voters approved Prop O thinking the monies would be used for something else. You are quite right about free books, and that's why the district shouldn't be considering charging parents for any part of this new form of text. By the way I love iPads.— February 24, 2012 4:20 p.m.
Sweetwater Union HS District Votes to Buy iPads for 7th-Graders
Good points everyone. Also, after listening to the tapes, I believe at least one member of the board, Jim Cartmill, was talking about zero percent loans to help parents pay for insuring the iPads. He said something to the effect that parents should have "some skin in the game". Wouldn't that violate our state's longstanding constitutional guarantee of a free public education? As a temporary employee, Brandara has no business proposing such drastic, longlasting policies, and should be sent packing immediately.— February 24, 2012 10:36 a.m.
Did Calexico Unified School District Need a Lawyer and a Lobbyist?
More and more it seems consultants are draining our school districts, and as anniej points out, we taxpayers/parents must step up and demand that it stop, and those school board members that don't listen to their "public consultants" should be removed from office. We need more representatives like Mr. Kim.— February 20, 2012 4:44 p.m.
Bond Oversight Committee’s Suggestions for Sweetwater Union HS District
Visduh: Interesting comment about construction bond issues becoming perverted when there's a proposal to fund iPads. Doesn't construction mean building something, doing seismic retrofitting, resodding a playing field, resurfacing a worn playground, etc.,etc.? Where's the justification for funding iPads? Beyond it seeming to be out of bounds for CONSTRUCTION funds, I don't see any empirical data to justify them as beneficial educational tools, and I mean years of study including a control group. This IS our money! This is probably illegal and at best just another educational knee-jerk innovation that somebody's making a quick buck on. I hope the public comes out to support Mr. Vasquez on the 21st when he asks for a moratorium until everything is sorted out.— February 17, 2012 5:16 p.m.
Bond Oversight Committee’s Suggestions for Sweetwater Union HS District
Thank you Mr. Vasquez for asking the questions that are on the minds of many. Weren't bond monies supposed to be for long term infrastructural purposes only? At least that's what the public was told before we voted approval of Prop O. The moratorium is an excellent idea that should have strong public support on the 21st. Keep up the good work.— February 16, 2012 10:10 a.m.
A Shocking View into Former Sweetwater Superintendent Jesus Gandara's Past
NickDanny: In an earlier post you wrote, "These union people and community extremists are just trying to cause problems." Similar words can be found in a contract between FOCUSCOM, a PR firm run by Dan Hom, and Southwestern College. Southwestern paid them to “isolate and expose extremists” and “control the media". Your statement, intended or not, casts aspersions on a group of people trying their best to fix a problem. Yes, recall is an extreme action, but extreme problems usually call for extreme remedies.— February 7, 2012 9:23 p.m.