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Sweetwater school district to team with Alliant University?
It is usual for students in public high school to be able to 'co-enroll' at the public community college with the permission of their high school counselor and parent. Most community colleges do not charge ANY tuition for students who are co-enrolled. These students earn credits that may be applied to high school grad requirements OR are a head start on their college transcripts. SUHSD students are welcomed at Southwestern College and can earn credits there even while they are still in high school! My own son earned 6 units while a senior in high school and they transferred when he entered college. No mess, no or very little MONEY, and no fuss!— May 13, 2013 1:06 p.m.
Sweetwater school district to team with Alliant University?
"SCAMWATER....the latest show in town" It's a shame we taxpayers are on the hook for it all.— May 13, 2013 11:50 a.m.
Sweetwater cheer coaches seek pay from district
Very interesting turn of events, all to make even more chaos, more smoke and mirrors. IF the cheer coaches are actually considered employees (and it seems they have not had any of the formal 'hiring on' processes such as fingerprinting, social security number, W-4 forms, etc) the discussion can be property dealt with in closed session as a personnel matter. However, per the Brown Act, any employee whose 'service' to the public ageny is on the agenda for closed session discussion may requst and be granted the right to have that conversation in public session. However, it seems to me that these cheer coaches may not be actually employess, but are rather performing contracted service. How are the athletic coaches hired at the sites? If they are not 'regular' employees (and I believe that not all are regular PE teachers) there should be some protocols for payment of their stipends. So, just who is the Brown Act supposed to 'protect' here via closed session? If there is a formal complaint against McLaughlin and /or Brand, that can be handled in closed session, but either MAY elect to have the discussion in open session. Again, why don't they elect to take the high road and stop making buck-passing excuses. and have the Board deal with the matter in public, and do what elected officials are suposed to do and DIRECT their CEO to get on with it and PAY UP. And why is Brand making Rodrigo a scapegoat if the cheer coaches were hired by a DISTRICT employee known as a 'cheer advisor'? Why is he now mandating that it be the site principal who must find the money? Again, Brand has the resources to just PAY THE BILL NOW.— May 12, 2013 4:59 p.m.
Sweetwater cheer coaches seek pay from district
MEMO TO FAST EDDY (CONT'D): Oh, and Ed, I am guessing you have some sort of discretionary fund in your Superintendent's budget, perhaps funded by some of the revenue that comes in from Pepsi or Coke vending contract that will cover the payment to these coaches. It is a relatively small amount after all, especially compared to your compensation. You could probably cover it out of your montly expense account. Won't take long to write the checks.— May 12, 2013 1:27 p.m.
Sweetwater cheer coaches seek pay from district
MEMO TO FAST EDDY: It is really so much easier to take the high road, do (as so many others are saying) the RIGHT THING, tell the truth and admit that mistakes have been made here. If you tell the truth, you will not have to scramble to make up cover-your-ass stories and remember what lies you have told about what and to whom. You can avoid playing the blame game, and pointing fingers at your staff. Own up to it....try it...it will feel so much better. Apologize to the coaches and those you have blamed...take the hit yourself EVEN IF someone else goofed up. That is YOUR JOB and why you earn the very, very big bucks. And for GOD's sake, PAY THEM what they have earned!! If you pay them on Monday, I'll bet you will avoid some of the verbal tomatoes that will otherwise surely come your way during Public Comment session in the Board Meeting. You have a PR person: have that person write a statement that accepts the blame and says you are sorry and that the girls are being paid NOW. THat is what leadership should look like. GEESH!— May 12, 2013 1:14 p.m.
Sweetwater cheer coaches seek pay from district
Viewer: sales tax does not a property tax payer make! FYI, our schools are funded by way of the property taxes collected throughout the district. We are the taxpayers who are being wronged, and our children who are supposed to be served by the School District we fund. Nevertheless, we are all in this together. What's the dispute here?— May 11, 2013 7:18 p.m.
Sweetwater cheer coaches seek pay from district
Eastlaker, you are so very on target! This situation has all the 'odor' of the serial lies, bobbing and weaving, sleight-of-hand and foot-in-mouth we saw from the District and Fast Eddy in regard to the toxic-dirt brouhaha at Southwest High School. Same disregard for the taxpaying pubic and for the innocents he has again deceived. Viewer, you must be new to the conversation so we will let you know that this is indeed about the taxpayers (us) and the taxpayer dollars (ours) that are flying out the window as wasted resources every second Fast Eddy is in charge. BUT, this is also about ithe District leadership personnel WE PAY and their lack of integrity, honesty and fair dealing. Good fiscal management and scrupulous management should go hand in hand. Sadly, Fast Eddy and his hacks, and the corrupt Board, have no ethics or principles. THAT is why we continue to protest actions taken by this school district that are unfair and unprincipled. Such actions are wasteful of taxpayer money because they put the District in legal jeopardy. It is likely that tons of OUR taxpayer money will be expended in the District's attempt to justify their malfeasance. Their lawyers are expensive, and of course, we Taxpayers end up footing the bill.— May 11, 2013 5:24 p.m.
Sweetwater cheer coaches seek pay from district
According to the above article, "Meanwhile, Ida Spector, the mother of Gonzalez, called district superintendent Ed Brand. According to Spector, Brand reassured her and said not to worry, “we take care of our own.” He promised to pay both women and even suggested to Spector that when her daughter received her teaching credential “the district wanted first shot at her.” So, Ed, just exactly WHO are 'our own'? It does not appear that he mean these hard-working and trustful coaches, now does it? Perhaps by 'our own' he means, instead, the indicted members of the Board of Trustees. Again I ask, WHO is paying their legal bills as they prepare to defend against their indictments that include charges of extortion, bribery, perjury, etc.etc.etc.— May 11, 2013 1:50 p.m.
Sweetwater cheer coaches seek pay from district
How sad! What a crazy way to run operations.... "A district 'cheer advisor' recruits cheer coaches at Starbucks yet, and offers 'district stipend' to be paid out of some funds yet to be raised. The eager coaches sign up, do the work, and are stiffed. Fast Eddy Brand, ever the smooth one, oozing charm to pacify an irate parent, bucks them back down to the school principal for payment. Yet another version of his shell game. What about the 'DISTRICT' stipend, and what happened to the District's 'cheer advisor' who reeled them in? This is worse than sloppy personnel management. Again, we have evidence of malfeasance in spades and more exposing the District to legal liability on several fronts!— May 9, 2013 9:48 p.m.
Montgomery Adult School’s last Viva Vida conference?
Years ago each high school district decided how adult education would be handled in their service area. As community colleges 'grew out of' high school districts, they usually serve the same territory. As a result, Sweetwater UHSD offered a robust, and award-winning adult education program which has successfully served the community for years. In San Diego, they took the opposite approach and the community college district has been the agency for adult education, again for a very, very, long time. I would say to Governor Brown: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Whoever has been the agency to deliver adult education has usually done quite a good job of it. It makes NO sense for such upheaval and to arbitrarily legislate that community colleges (who have not been funded for the huge job they have to do as it is, and now must do more with even less given the new requirements for student success measures) absorb Adult Education programs if they have not already been managing them. Further, the funding the Governor has 'guestimated' for such is far LESS than what Adult Education had been receiving. The students, and communities who rely on Adult Education to train entry-level workers across a wide range of occupations, will all surely lose.— May 6, 2013 1:09 p.m.