CUSD Update: Who’s in Charge?
Editorial staff

Voters in the Nov. 2006 CUSD election got it right. The vast majority chose newcomers – reform candidates – over incumbents loyal to former superintendent James Fleming. A new majority is emerging, with Trustee Duane Stiff (a Fleming leftover) lately switching sides to vote with the three reform trustees who won last year.

The three other leftover trustees (Marlene Draper, Sheila Benecke and Mike Darnold) have dug in their heels, clinging to Fleming’s grand-style misspending. Staff members who were selected and trained by Fleming – his cronies and shills – are still running the show and putting together PowerPoint presentations to keep up appearances.

Interim Superintendent Woodrow Carter, a former military man who is used to giving orders, has been on the job for several months. He inherited Fleming’s administration, and they’re apparently telling the new guy that last year’s voter revolt was “just a few unhappy parents.”

On Nov. 5, the board room was filled with two groups who engaged in a tug-of-war over millions of dollars to be spent on facilities. The new high school, San Juan Hills, was represented by students and their parents who demanded stadium seating. Other schools, including Newhart and Capo High, were represented by parents who asked for such basics as clean buildings and adequate numbers of restrooms.

When Carter presented the report for the agenda item, one might expect that he would be even-handed, but he wasn’t. Those who attended the meeting said he advocated for the $3 million stadium for the new school, which has already cost more than $140 million.

Trustees voted 4-3 to table the item. If Carter was surprised, it shows he doesn’t accept the prevalent mood of the community or understand the dynamics of the school board.

Carter needs to get a handle on spending, and he needs to demand accountability from district employees who offer bizarre explanations of funding. Examples of administrative confusion abound, including multiple versions about how the district would pay to finish the new high school. As another disturbing matter, parents discovered $24 million of Measure A funds – bond money taxpayers approved to modernize old CUSD facilities – was used to build the new high school.

A CUSD resident commented on the information being presented and misrepresented: “Either those who are responsible for school finance don’t know what they’re doing or they’re shifting money around until no one can figure out how it was spent. A parent with a background in finance said the district needs a financial analyst to sort it out.”

The PowerPoint presentation on Nov. 5 said money is available to use on the new high school (by bringing it to the top of the priority list). But it didn’t show pictures of all the old schools that have fallen below state minimum standards. Older school campuses with aging portables look like trailer parks. Even the priorities at the new school are backwards, with the administrative staff and three holdover trustees preferring a stadium and pool over completing the required number of classrooms. Some residents were surprised to hear plans to bring a portable onto the new campus even before construction is finished.

A parent who has been attending the Carter-conceived Facilities Subcommittee meetings said the purpose is more a marketing or P.R. tool than a forum about problems and solutions. Her impression conflicts with Carter’s stated intent of open government and public participation.

With a reform-minded majority emerging on the board of trustees and voters dumping incumbents in the 2006 election, Carter cannot afford to ignore the obvious message. If he can’t manage to jump on the train, he should at least jump off the tracks.