Comments to Board of Trustees
by Kim Lefner

[Presented to the CUSD Board of Trustees at the Jan. 6 special meeting]

Good evening, trustees. Mr. Carter promised to accomplish a number of tasks that. to my knowledge, he’s failed to complete. Following are just a few examples, as well as actions he appears to have taken without Board approval. I ask that you take these into consideration in your evaluation of his performance:

1. At the first Finance Subcommittee meeting, Carter promised to implement zero-based budgeting and to establish budgets for the departments. He’s had over a year to implement these basic processes yet has failed to do so. While Carter blames it on the state cuts, the fact is that CUSD had a $12-million deficit long before the state ever announced cuts were coming. Carter’s failure to resolve the previous deficit makes the state’s cuts hit us even harder.
2. Carter was notified 9 months ago that CUSD was in violation of Title 5 setbacks and the improper use of public funds to improve and maintain private property at SJHHS.
   
   What steps has Carter taken to resolve the setback violations? What steps has he taken to recover the public money spent to improve that private property? What has Carter done to resolve the fact that we don’t own the outfield portion of the ball field at SJHHS? 
3. On December 9, the Whispering Hills developer confirmed that Carter’s been negotiating with him to purchase the slope adjacent to the football stadium at San Juan Hills. I can’t find the Board approval authorizing him to do that. Who authorized Carter to negotiate this purchase? How much is he offering to the developer? What has he done to recover the $135,000 of public money CUSD has already spent to stabilize that privately owned slope? Is Carter factoring into the purchase price the improvements made to that slope with our public monies? 
4. One of Carter’s first actions upon being hired was to cancel the Board-approved contract to study school boundaries.  I can’t find where Carter ever received Board approval to cancel that contract. Who granted him the authority to take this action? Why did he not plan for the influx of students in drawing his own boundaries, which resulted in severe overcrowding at schools such as Truman Benedict in San Clemente? What has he done to remediate the damage caused by his re-drawing of boundaries?

These are just a few of the many examples of Carter’s failure to get the job done. I ask that these comments be entered into the meeting minutes in their entirety.

Thank you.