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Donna Frye asks Sweetwater school board to make information available to the public
I went by the district office Friday to ask for documents on Community Facilities District 1. Deanne Vicedo, Clerk of the Board, acted liike she was trying to help. She went to the finance dept to look for the documents. She came back and said she could not find the documents. She asked me to make a request in writing, which I did. It was obvious she was stalling, either by her own doing or at the order of others. Either way, these are documents the district has and should be able to produce. Another example of the district avoiding and refusing to follow their legally mandated requirements under the Brown Act. I will be back Monday to see if they "found" the documents yet.— October 19, 2013 8:34 p.m.
Teachers for Sweetwater district face insurance cost hike
A parent put it wonderfully when he heard the district wants to buy a new district office in Eastlake at the same time Ed Brand is shaking down the teachers on their health benefits. "Buildings over Beings". That is Ed Brand for you. A flashy new building is more important than the health benefits for teachers and their families!! Here is that flashy new building in Eastlake Ed wants to buy. About 1/2 block away from Jim Cartmills h.joffices for Lets Talk Health. A coincidence? Well you conspiracy theorists might think not!! http://www.sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/o… http://www.sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/o…— October 19, 2013 7:33 p.m.
Teachers for Sweetwater district face insurance cost hike
We as parents of students, community members, employees, business owners, etc, have the same challenges as teachers as far as being involved and engaged in district issues, and attending board meetings! If we care about our district, lets look forward to what we can do to change this horrific situation, and stay away from the blame game. We have board meetings coming up, lets attend in numbers and be loud and clear with our messages! We have elections coming up, lets be loud and clear about our support for new Trustees! We need to change the situation in this district! We have the opportunity to make it happen. Lets not repeat the mistake of re electing Trustees under indictment - that just plays into the belief that we are backwards and ignorant in the South Bay!!— October 17, 2013 7:52 p.m.
Teachers for Sweetwater district face insurance cost hike
Susan, first of all, once again thank you for your great reporting on issues in this district. You are the only one that has consistently reported on the egregious behavior of trustees, Superintendents and others in this district. Our community thanks you for the reporting. As far as class sizes, i met with Maria Castilleja at the beginning of last school year when she was acting Supt. we reviewed the district master plan for class sizes at numerous schools. This is when the district was trying to make the case that open boundaries were not causing over crowding. It was appalling to see how unorganized district leadership was at the beginning of the school year. Based on district records, classes were totally unbalanced, and many schools had exceeded the districts own 85% capacity limit! Yet, with a straight face with the records in front of us, she tried to convince us schools were not overcrowded, schools had not exceeded their 85% capacity, and all was well!! One of the things from that meeting that was hard to believe was the negotiation on student teacher ratio. Apparently, the teachers union agreed to 183 students per teacher, which with 5 classes (one is a prep period), meant an average of about 36 students per class. But because of open boundaries and capacity issues, the districts own plan showed 40, 50 even 55 students in some classes, with 15 or 20 in others. It led me to believe that the union leadership sold the teachers down the river on class size. As far as Mello oversight, a few of us parents have met twice with CFO Al Alt. We've asked tough questions, asked for clarity on muddled and misleading reports, and will continue to ask, meet and request. Dr. Alt has been very good about hearing our concerns, and trying to address them. This will be a work in progress, and we would love more community involvement on this.— October 17, 2013 5:01 p.m.
Cancer research gets little from NFL's "pink" affiliation
Its money cancer research would not have but for the nfl. Also, its brings awareness on the largest stage possible, both wins for cancer research.— October 17, 2013 3:29 p.m.
Teachers for Sweetwater district face insurance cost hike
Keep an eye out for the Agenda for Mondays board meeting. Ed Brand may once again try to spend $30 million he does not have to buy the old NIFCU corporate office in Eastlake. If the board approves it this time, it will be on the backs of teachers, students and community members!— October 17, 2013 2:56 p.m.
Teachers for Sweetwater district face insurance cost hike
A few concerns with this. First of all class sizes: with Brands Open Boundaries determination, some schools on the eastside have ballooned in enrollment. Many classes have 50+ students in them. An increase in avg class size will make those classes worse. The formula used for teacher student ratio is ass backwards. They negotiate total students and divide it by 5 periods and that is the class size average. No matter that some classes are unbalanced - 50 in one class 25 in another. Classes are rarely balanced in size! My son has multiple classes with over 40 student, and this may go up!! As far as mismanagement of money and where to look, pay attention to the Mello Roos Fund. There is no oversight committee to watch this fund. This fund used to be at $180 million, now its at about $78 million! About $50 million is on loan to the district - what happened to the other $50 million? Knowing how Diane Russo used to cook the books and hide money, its no wonder Ed Brand is living in a gated community in Escondido. And the poor teachers continue to take cuts, the students get less, and the community gets fleeced!! All so Brand can live like a king in his compound!!— October 17, 2013 1:07 p.m.
Sweetwater school district's real estate deals gain momentum
This plot of land is an eyesore! It makes sense that it be sold and developed. It will get the district out of the land ownership/management/development business, and it will provide a boost to an area sorely in need of it. http://www.sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/o…— October 17, 2013 12:44 p.m.
Alliant University's San Diego campus could be sold
Eastlaker, maybe we should do a PRQ on Ed Brands financial disclosure form he is required to fill out annually. The same one he forced the Bond Oversight Committee fill out.— October 17, 2013 12:30 p.m.
Alliant University's San Diego campus could be sold
Don great question. Many of us are wondering the same. Why would he go to such extremes for this partnership? Is it really for the students, or is there some self serving (financial) reason behind this? We only hope Susan can untangle and report on that web!— October 17, 2013 12:21 p.m.