CUSD Update
Editorial staff

Supt. Woodrow Carter returned from vacation after missing the July 1 swearing-in ceremony of two new school board members, Sue Palazzo and Ken Maddox. Perhaps he has taken time to smooth things over with the other reform trustees after accusing them of causing his problems with the D.A. regarding his contract. The board meeting on Mon., July 21, will be the first opportunity for the new board to transact business with a 5-2 reform majority following the June 24 recall of old-guard trustees Marlene Draper and Sheila Benecke.

Reform trustees will present two aggressive reform items on Monday’s agenda. Trustee Ellen Addonizio will propose a forensic audit of construction costs and spending at the $157-million San Juan Hills High School, which opened last September. Trustee Ken Maddox will propose an ad-hoc committee to review district vendor contracts to look at such issues as vendor performance and conflict of interest.

The Fleming regime and the old majority had brushed aside controversies from the 2002 inception of SJHHS to the present. The new board faces how to complete the campus, including classrooms, sports fields and a $3-million stadium. In March, the public learned the district doesn’t own all the land on which sports facilities and fields are either built or planned.

Also on the agenda will be a presentation of a report about safety issues with regard to the high-pressure fuel pipeline running within 1,000 feet of SJJHS. The preliminary pipeline report, presented prior to the recall election, contained errors that minimized dangers. The board will have a choice of asserting that the school site is safe or funding costly remedies. As another difficult matter, CUSD is contractually obligated to bring all the teachers back while lacking revenue sources. The Mission Viejo City Council has discussed suing CUSD over cutting bus services without first preparing an EIR.

A parent posted a remark on the OC Register’s discussion board about CUSD: “I’d like to be a fly on the wall around the Ed Center this week. Unfortunately, since it is the last building in CUSD that is regularly cleaned, flies are noticed!”