Capo USD Update
School board meets Feb. 12

The Capistrano Unified School District board of trustees will meet Mon., Feb. 12, 7 p.m., in the administrative building, 33122 Valle Road, San Juan Capistrano.

Among items on the agenda, the board will discuss how to cut $9 million, its estimated budget deficit for 2007-2008. Interim Supt. Charles McCully is quoted in the Feb. 10 OC Register: “There’s a realization and an acceptance that the numbers are real and that we must make the cuts. … People are beginning to realize that this district has lived on growth and that growth has flattened. We’re going to have to do whatever’s necessary to keep our budget balanced.”

A Mission Viejo resident reacted to the quote, saying, “McCully is relying on the district’s P.R. machine to make the situation sound palatable. He should have said people realize this district has lived on borrowed money – borrowing from the future to finance a bureaucracy that’s top-heavy with administrators, spending itself into bankruptcy. The district is in dire financial straits.”

As another matter, some parents are advocating the termination of payment of legal fees to defend former Supt. James Fleming. One of the parents wrote an email stating she was unable to find such an action item on the Feb. 12 agenda. She wrote to other parents and copied blog staffers: “… please address this issue during Oral Communications [during the board meeting]. When you fill out your request to address the board, check Oral Communications and write in ‘terminate payment of Fleming's legal fees’ in the subject line. Oral Communications are usually heard around 8:30 but may be earlier or later, depending on the rest of the agenda. Thanks for your support.”

A previous email stated: “Please ask the trustees to keep their word when they stated they would agree to pay for Fleming's legal defense fees (with our kids' education dollars) only until such time as they had evidence of his wrongdoing. Well, now we have, in black and white, evidence that Fleming targeted our children on a political list. The evidence is attached to Judge Waldrip's report (see previous email listed below with link to the report). It very clearly detaiIs Fleming's request to one of his assistant superintendents (Susan McGill) to collect the names of petition gatherers (which they did, illegally, at the ROV's office) and to make a list of our children, including CUSD schools they attend, their grade levels, etc. In other words, he targeted our children.” 

Waldrip's report on the CUSD allegations (about the enemies hit list, etc.) can be accessed at http://www.thecapistranodispatch.com/archives/CUSD%20Investigation.pdf.