P.A.L.s [Parents Advocacy League] Question:

Parents continue to take issue with the lack of transparency at CUSD. As a candidate, what do you feel the district could do to improve the transparency to parents and taxpayers in an effort to restore trust in the district? Please be specific.

Responses from Reform Candidates:

Jack Brick:
The CUSD is in need to improve its transparency with parents, teachers and the community as a whole. We should consider the possible creation of an independent office to review CUSD’s finances and operations. The Board of Trustees' proposal would establish an Office of the Inspector General, which would be in charge of detecting and preventing fraud, waste, abuse and ensuring best business practices. Obviously, the outside oversight would make CUSD more accountable and transparent. I suggest the inspector general, appointed by the Board of Trustees, would work for a three-year term and regularly conduct audits and investigations.

Sue Palazzo:
There are several things we can do in CUSD to be a more transparent agency: As a member of a Board of a public agency, securing the trust of the public is the highest priority. Public agencies belong to the public, and we must be transparent and make public records accessible. Requests for documents must be responded to in a truthful and timely manner. The district's Website should include as much information as possible, including the district’s check register.

CUSD must make a commitment to openness. It will require a cultural change and is a challenge that must be addressed. We must be a school district willing to talk about our shortfalls as well as our accomplishments.

Employees must be educated as to their obligation as public employees. Every effort must be made to make meetings, records, votes, actions and deliberations open to the public unless otherwise provided by law. Exceptions are to be strictly interpreted. Public meetings, including meetings conducted by telephone, Internet or other electronic means, are to be held at reasonably convenient times and must be accessible to the public.
For the convenience of the public and so the board can carefully discuss and evaluate the business of the CUSD, meetings should be held at least twice per month. Public meetings are a duty and responsibility of the board in addition to being required by law; eliminating meetings because they cost money to conduct is a breach of the board’s fiduciary duty to the public. Meetings should be held in facilities that are large enough to accommodate anticipated attendance by the public and accessible to those with disabilities.

The District should hold workshops on the almost half-billion-dollar budget to solicit open communication and dialog with our community in advance of approving our budget. The completion of the facility-needs-assessment at all schools will provide us with a detailed plan of each individual school and allow all to realize the disparity between the new and old schools. This entire report should be published on our Website. www.electsuepalazzo.com

Mike Winsten:
CUSD can do a lot to improve its transparency. Here are just a few of the ideas I have:

• Draft and adopt a Constituents Bill of Rights requiring the Administration to pledge to conduct themselves openly, neutrally and transparently, by setting standards of conduct and ethics that are greater than current state law, but in fact raise the bar to the highest standards of openness, honesty, integrity and accountability.
• Draft and adopt a more stringent Conflict of Interest Code that sets standards far greater than the sham standards set by state law, that ensures there are no more cozy hidden relationships involving sole source contracts for years and decades, between CUSD vendors and Administrators, like we have heard about in the recent past;
• Create an Ombudsmen Office directly answerable only to the CUSD Board, not the Superintendent or anyone else in the Administration, whose mission will be to act as advocates on behalf of parents, taxpayers and voters to facilitate the flow of information from within CUSD to these constituents;
• Eliminate Closed Session Board meetings except when and if required by law, not just when allowed by law. What happens behind those closed doors with attorneys, consultants and staff is allowed to occur in closed session, but that does not mean it is required to be handled in closed session. This one proposal alone can go a long way towards increasing transparency and restoring the public’s trust in how CUSD in being administered;
• Stop the practice of releasing Board agendas and supporting materials online only a minimum of 72 hours before Board meetings. Require the Administration to do its homework for Board meetings further ahead of time so Board agendas and supporting materials can be posted online a minimum of one week ahead of time, allowing the public more time to study these materials and participate. Much of what causes controversy in CUSD is the last-minute disclosure of issues known to the Administration for months or longer but which are endlessly brought to the Board as “emergencies,” leaving insufficient time for public debate and rumination.
• Broadcast CUSD Board meetings on Cox Cable like most City Councils and the South Orange County Community College District, so interested parents, taxpayers and voters can watch the meetings at home or on recorded replays, so those who cannot attend Board meetings can stay informed.
• Post CUSD’s general ledger, current contracts, bills and check requests online in real time to the public can scrutinize the flow of money through CUSD;
• Require all online check requests to be accompanied by supporting documentation, including contracts, invoices and check request approvals;
• For each separate Mello Roos bond, and the Measure A bond, post real time account statements, specific use of money histories showing specific location and project where the money was spent, remaining balances, etc. online;
• Study the adoption of some form of trustee term limits and whether to convert the election of Trustees from at-large Board seats to elections by geographic areas to facilitate greater public participation and diversity in the composition of the CUSD Board over time.

As announced several times over the last few years by the Orange County District Attorney and Grand Jury, CUSD has clearly failed its transparency obligations over the last decade. I’ve been an advocate at the front of fight for greater transparency over the last several years. Your vote for me will allow me continue to shed light on the inner workings of CUSD on your behalf where I can do the greatest good.  For more information, please visit www.cusdrecall.com or you can contact me at mike@cusd.us.  Thank you for taking the time to make an educated vote for our public schools.

Ken Maddox:
The single most important thing the Board can do to establish transparency has already begun. It is simply having an honest and open dialog on the dais. For far too long, the Superintendent dictated to the Board. This has finally come to an end. Attend a Board meeting and you will see a frank discussion about the myriad topics that are of concern.

Detractors are crying foul. They complain about a lack of unity or the disagreements that occur. But this is very healthy change of events. Sometimes democracy is messy. We should want our Trustees to bring an independence of thought and a genuine concern for our schools to the table. The best transparency is an open dialog among the elected for all to see.

Responses from Union-backed candidates:

Andrea Kooiman:
I can’t speak for the other candidates; however I can tell you what I have done to be more transparent. First, I believe that communication is very important. Since becoming a trustee candidate, I have made myself available to all of my constituents. I have been actively answering questionnaires for online forums, participating in the PALs and Dispatch questions, attending various meet and greets around town and attending local coffee chats. Although I had no opposition, I participated in the League of Women Voters forum. I have answered all questions e-mailed to me.  In addition, I am one of the only candidates that have been actively answering questions on my website blog.

Once elected, I will continue be the trustee that is available to hear concerns of the constituency. Regardless of whether or not my views are in-line with yours, it is nice to be heard and given the respect of consideration and a response.  I firmly believe that each parent is in charge of their child’s educational experience and will fight hard and advocate for your parental rights. I want to hear from you so we can work together on the true focus of this district, our kids

Erin Kutnick:
Honesty and transparency are critically important and must be maintained in order to get the focus in our district back to the classroom. Events of the past several months have continued to erode the public’s trust in our district. We need to hire an in-house attorney who is experienced in school districts and the brown act to make sure that we are in total compliance with the open meeting laws. We also need to establish and maintain an open door policy at the district. For the past few months, I’ve met with hundreds of people, answered their questions honestly and openly, and been available to anyone who wants to talk. I attended the Candidate’s Forum and publicly answered every question I was asked.  I’ve answered all the questions put forward by the paper and your parent’s group.  I have not hidden from anyone nor will I. I welcome parent’s opinions and involvement in all discussions and I know how important it is to be heard.  It is very unfortunate that we no longer have sub-committee meetings due to the new board’s decision last week.  These meetings were originally established as part of the new “transparency” to give people the opportunity to participate in decisions.  If elected, I will openly communicate with parents, be available to hear their concerns, and maintain an environment maintain an environment that encourages participation by all.

Duane Stiff:
First I believe the Board of Trustees should reinstate the Committee process which has been very successful for the past year. Every issue regarding Facilities, Finance, and Curriculum which was scheduled to be brought before the Board was first introduced at the Committee level.  Unfortunately at the Special meeting of the Board on October 10th. the Committee process was eliminated. Secondly, I believe that parents want to be aware of the instructional activities which are being utilized by their children's teacher in the learning process.  Principals and teachers should be recognized and rewarded for enhancing the methods by which parents are made more aware and knowledgable as to what is occurring in the classroom. Lastly, I believe that the entire Board must agree upon the meaning of 'Transparency' and what it means to those whom the organization serves - most importantly that it is not something that can be 'turned on and off'' by a majority vote.

Gary Miller:
No Response