CUSD Update
Editorial staff

The Capo school board called a special meeting on June 2. According to the Recall Committee, the board will admit during the meeting they violated the law regarding Supt. Woodrow Carter’s contract. The matter will be discussed under Item 5 of the agenda. From information posted by the Recall Committee:

“ … note that this agenda does not contain: 1) any explanation as to the fraud committed by Carter and Trustee Mike Darnold when they executed a contract containing a severance clause never even discussed by the board – they’ve tried to simply ignore this little problem; and 2) there is no agenda item calling for the public censure of Darnold and Carter.

”Interestingly, instead of saving class size reduction or rescinding any teacher layoffs, CUSD is proposing: A) Agenda Item No. 3, give a new $175,000-per-year contract to Sherine Smith; B) Agenda Item No. 6, give Carter a three-year million-dollar deal (while ignoring the fact he was just caught red-handed committing fraud); C) hold closed-session meetings to discuss hiring some new administrators … .”

The district is simultaneously facing a huge deficit ($20 million) and discussing salaries and pay increases for top officials.

CUSD’s plan for rehiring all laid-off teachers and preserving class size is based on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s proposal to borrow against future lottery sales. This kind of thinking is nothing new at CUSD, where borrowing against the future and spending money it doesn’t have are the norm. CUSD’s budgets have been based on assumed monies projected at highest levels of optimism. The district for the past five years has proceeded to spend more than 100 percent of what comes in.

OC Register’s Mark Landsbaum wrote in his June 1 column that only 35 percent of about 2,000 residents polled statewide last week said Schwarzenegger’s budget plan is satisfactory. Landsbaum commented, “We like it when folks recognize the obvious. And this budget is as obvious a mess as we’ve seen in a while. The governor’s lottery scheme (dare we say “scam”?) is such an obvious bad idea that we suspect it’s merely the excuse he will use for imposing a sales tax increase, which is precisely how he’s couched the plan.”

The plan hasn’t been addressed by legislators and, if approved, it could be this fall – after school resumes – before it takes effect. A CUSD parent posted on a discussion board that CUSD’s June 2 agenda, as written, asks trustees to approve the final budget for next year. At best, the financial picture at CUSD will look good for only a short while.

CUSD’s proposal is based on politics, not fiscal responsibility, in a district where two incumbents – Marlene Draper and Sheila Benecke – are targets in the recall election on June 24. If the district can spin itself into looking good for even three weeks, the old gals could survive. Some voters are apparently still deciding if they want to take a chance on something new or stick with proven lawbreaking, corruption and failure.

As another ongoing trouble spot – the new $150-million high school in San Juan Capistrano – a parent noted a recent discovery that some of the school’s sports fields aren’t owned by the district. Some of the fields, including those under power lines, are built on land still owned by the developer.

If the board majority changes with the June 24 recall election, the public could begin to get a glimpse of how the old guard operated.