See all posts re Accelerated School.
The secretive board of The Accelerated School has chosen Joaquin Hernandez as its new CEO. He was presented at a board meeting on August 24, 2010.
Hawthorne Math and Science Academy
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
4467 West Broadway
Hawthorne, CA 90250
Information
Type Public
Established 2003
Enrollment 600 (2008–2009)
As of the 2007-2008 school year, the Hawthorne Mathematics & Science Academy, also known as HMSA, was ranked in the highest decile in California in terms of Academic Performance Index scores.[1] Furthermore, it is nationally recognized by Newsweek as a top-tier public high school.
The current Principal is Joaquin Hernandez and the Assistant Principal is Esau Berumen (Former Biology Dept. Head). It is located at 4467 West Broadway in Hawthorne, California.
Showing posts with label Accelerated Charter Schools (Los Angeles). Show all posts
Showing posts with label Accelerated Charter Schools (Los Angeles). Show all posts
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Sunday, May 09, 2010
Who is the mystery candidate for CEO of The Accelerated School (TAS) in Los Angeles?
See all blog posts re Accelerated School.
See all Patrick Judd posts.
See all Lowell Billings posts.
Update: Joaquin Hernandez is the new CEO of TAS.
The Accelerated School (TAS) in Los Angeles has parted ways with executive director Patrick Judd, and now has an interim CEO named Jonathan Williams.
Who will be the new executive director of The Accelerated School?
On July 28, 2010 the TAS board interviewed an anonymous "recommended CEO candidate." Who is the mystery candidate? If TAS continues to look to Chula Vista Elementary School District for its CEOs, the candidate might be Lowell Billings or Dennis Doyle. Doyle left CVESD only to be pushed out of National School District.
The new CEO at TAS will replace Patrick Judd, who was hired at TAS by his own employee, TAS board member and CVESD superintendent Lowell Billings. Patrick Judd was a board member at Chula Vista Elementary School District until 2008.
Lowell Billings doesn't seem to believe in openness in superintendent searches, does he?
But the San Diego Union Tribune is currently using quotes from him in a series about a different instance of an employee in one district hiring his boss in another district. The trouble is, the SDUT Watchdog blog has so far failed to mention that Lowell Billings is far more of an expert in the subject than he has bothered to mention.
See all Patrick Judd posts.
See all Lowell Billings posts.
Update: Joaquin Hernandez is the new CEO of TAS.
The Accelerated School (TAS) in Los Angeles has parted ways with executive director Patrick Judd, and now has an interim CEO named Jonathan Williams.
Who will be the new executive director of The Accelerated School?
On July 28, 2010 the TAS board interviewed an anonymous "recommended CEO candidate." Who is the mystery candidate? If TAS continues to look to Chula Vista Elementary School District for its CEOs, the candidate might be Lowell Billings or Dennis Doyle. Doyle left CVESD only to be pushed out of National School District.
The new CEO at TAS will replace Patrick Judd, who was hired at TAS by his own employee, TAS board member and CVESD superintendent Lowell Billings. Patrick Judd was a board member at Chula Vista Elementary School District until 2008.
Lowell Billings doesn't seem to believe in openness in superintendent searches, does he?
But the San Diego Union Tribune is currently using quotes from him in a series about a different instance of an employee in one district hiring his boss in another district. The trouble is, the SDUT Watchdog blog has so far failed to mention that Lowell Billings is far more of an expert in the subject than he has bothered to mention.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Aurora Ponce fundraiser a success! Patrick Judd and the Accelerated School fail to hold down a rising star
All Patrick Judd posts HERE.
An email from CutsHurtKids.org:
Here at CutsHurtKids.org we are so excited that the fundraiser has been a success! Our goal was to raise the $1590 that UC Davis states students need for a year's worth of books and supplies.
As you know, among other punishments, Aurora's school (The Accelerated School) took away her summer tutoring job for peacefully protesting budget cuts causing class size increases and teacher layoffs. She needed the job to buy college books in the Fall.
Tomorrow (Tuesday August 11) at 10AM, outside of The Accelerated School, we will be presenting Aurora with a check for over $1680 (and more donations coming in). This event is organized by parent leaders from The Accelerated School and ACORN.
An overwhelming percent (86% at this point) of the donations have come from Public School Teachers. This is a powerful statement that our teachers care deeply about our students.
Aurora Ponce was publicly berated and chastised by her school administrators. In response, social justice educators and community members have risen to her defense. At CutsHurtKids.org we hope that this effort will counter any chilling effect on student-activists.
We hope the message is heard loud and clear: if you stand up for justice, people will stand with you.
Best Wishes,
James Ehrlich,
co-founder,
CutsHurtKids.org
http://twitter.com/CutsHurtKids
AURORA PONCE ALLOWED TO SPEAK AT GRADUATION
School relents on barring valedictorian from graduation speech
LAtimes
June 29, 2009
Aurora Ponce, the 18-year-old South L.A. valedictorian who was barred from giving a speech at graduation because she participated in a student protest over growing class sizes and other concerns, was allowed to speak at Saturday's ceremony.
The teenager, her family and supporters met with officials of the Accelerated School for two hours Friday but the matter remained unresolved, Ponce said. She prepared her speech and school officials reviewed it Saturday morning before giving her approval minutes before the ceremony.
"It meant a lot to me," said Ponce, who is heading to UC Davis in August to study engineering. "All the seniors were supporting me, my parents were there supporting me, my teachers...I was really happy."
-- Seema Mehta
An email from CutsHurtKids.org:
Here at CutsHurtKids.org we are so excited that the fundraiser has been a success! Our goal was to raise the $1590 that UC Davis states students need for a year's worth of books and supplies.
As you know, among other punishments, Aurora's school (The Accelerated School) took away her summer tutoring job for peacefully protesting budget cuts causing class size increases and teacher layoffs. She needed the job to buy college books in the Fall.
Tomorrow (Tuesday August 11) at 10AM, outside of The Accelerated School, we will be presenting Aurora with a check for over $1680 (and more donations coming in). This event is organized by parent leaders from The Accelerated School and ACORN.
An overwhelming percent (86% at this point) of the donations have come from Public School Teachers. This is a powerful statement that our teachers care deeply about our students.
Aurora Ponce was publicly berated and chastised by her school administrators. In response, social justice educators and community members have risen to her defense. At CutsHurtKids.org we hope that this effort will counter any chilling effect on student-activists.
We hope the message is heard loud and clear: if you stand up for justice, people will stand with you.
Best Wishes,
James Ehrlich,
co-founder,
CutsHurtKids.org
http://twitter.com/CutsHurtKids
AURORA PONCE ALLOWED TO SPEAK AT GRADUATION
School relents on barring valedictorian from graduation speech
LAtimes
June 29, 2009
Aurora Ponce, the 18-year-old South L.A. valedictorian who was barred from giving a speech at graduation because she participated in a student protest over growing class sizes and other concerns, was allowed to speak at Saturday's ceremony.
The teenager, her family and supporters met with officials of the Accelerated School for two hours Friday but the matter remained unresolved, Ponce said. She prepared her speech and school officials reviewed it Saturday morning before giving her approval minutes before the ceremony.
"It meant a lot to me," said Ponce, who is heading to UC Davis in August to study engineering. "All the seniors were supporting me, my parents were there supporting me, my teachers...I was really happy."
-- Seema Mehta
Sunday, August 09, 2009
Three weeks left to help undo the harm Pat Judd did to student Aurora Ponce
To see all posts about Patrick Judd, click HERE.
CutsHurtKids.org launches college books fundraiser for Aurora Ponce, valedictorian in South-Central Los Angeles.
Raza Education Fund is the fiscal sponsor. Ms. Ponce is being punished by her school for peacefully protesting school class-size increases & teacher layoffs.
Among other things, her school took away her summer job.
Donations for her college books/supplies are being accepted at www.RazaEducationFund.org
I'm going to college, I'm going to be broke," she said. "I was going to save that money for books. It's going to be hard,” says Ms. Ponce in a June 25, 2009
latimes.com article.
>
>
> We're asking people to consider donations of $5, $10, $20, $50, $100 or whatever they can afford to give this student-warrior, whose bravery we want to reward & encourage.
>
> For those who would like to give, but can't until a paycheck arrives, we are asking that pledges be sent to cutshurtkids@gmail.com or proyectos@razaeducationfund.org
So far we have managed to raise just over 50% of $1590 needed for books/supplies at UC Davis. But $790 is still needed.
>
>
> F O R I M M E D I A T E R E L E A S E
LOS ANGELES, CA - July 1, 2009
WHAT: CutsHurtKids.org announces the launch of a college books fundraiser for Aurora Ponce, valedictorian in South-Central Los Angeles, punished by her school for peacefully protesting school budget cuts, class-size increases & teacher layoffs. Raza Education Fund (REF) is the fiscal sponsor.
WHEN: Starts today, July 1st and ongoing through August, 2009.
Ms. Ponce's school, Annenberg High School (one of The Accelerated Schools) located on the corner of Main street and Martin Luther King Boulevard, have punished this stellar student leader for her participation in a non-violent, peaceful student sit-in.
We roundly condemn the actions and inactions of Patrick Judd, Jonathan Williams, Elizabeth Oberreiter and Sandra Phillips in the public punishment of Aurora Ponce, by suspending her for 2 days, not allowing her to participate in the senior class trip, taking away her summer tutor job and barring her from giving her graduation address (until public outrage forced school officials to relent minutes before the ceremony June 27).
This pattern of administrators silencing dissent is unacceptable. Ms. Ponce's case comes on the heels of the June 18 Liechty school diplomas scandal in which 65 brave students were denied their diplomas for turning their backs on graduation speaker Monica Garcia (L.A. Unified School Board President) who has supported drastic budget cuts. The Annenberg High School, a charter school, is also located in Monica Garcia's District 2, according to LAUSD.net
On the 20 anniversary of Spike Lee's film “Do The Right Thing”, released in June, 1989, we are reminded of the consequences of justice denied and pent up anger. The film was prophetic: three years later, in South-Central Los Angeles the 1992 riots took place. Let this serve as a wake up call.
Aurora Ponce, a solid A average student, needs to be commended for her bravery. She honors the spirit of Martin Luther King Jr., for which the boulevard where her alma mater is located is named.
We stand in support of this Los Angeles hero and are collecting funds toward her college books and supplies. Donations can be made online at www.RazaEducationFund.org (securely, via Paypal).
>
> MEDIA CONTACTS:
> Raza Education Fund EMAIL: proyectos@RazaEducationFund.org
> CutsHurtKids.org EMAIL: cutshurtkids@gmail.com
CutsHurtKids.org launches college books fundraiser for Aurora Ponce, valedictorian in South-Central Los Angeles.
Raza Education Fund is the fiscal sponsor. Ms. Ponce is being punished by her school for peacefully protesting school class-size increases & teacher layoffs.
Among other things, her school took away her summer job.
Donations for her college books/supplies are being accepted at www.RazaEducationFund.org
I'm going to college, I'm going to be broke," she said. "I was going to save that money for books. It's going to be hard,” says Ms. Ponce in a June 25, 2009
latimes.com article.
>
>
> We're asking people to consider donations of $5, $10, $20, $50, $100 or whatever they can afford to give this student-warrior, whose bravery we want to reward & encourage.
>
> For those who would like to give, but can't until a paycheck arrives, we are asking that pledges be sent to cutshurtkids@gmail.com or proyectos@razaeducationfund.org
So far we have managed to raise just over 50% of $1590 needed for books/supplies at UC Davis. But $790 is still needed.
>
>
> F O R I M M E D I A T E R E L E A S E
LOS ANGELES, CA - July 1, 2009
WHAT: CutsHurtKids.org announces the launch of a college books fundraiser for Aurora Ponce, valedictorian in South-Central Los Angeles, punished by her school for peacefully protesting school budget cuts, class-size increases & teacher layoffs. Raza Education Fund (REF) is the fiscal sponsor.
WHEN: Starts today, July 1st and ongoing through August, 2009.
Ms. Ponce's school, Annenberg High School (one of The Accelerated Schools) located on the corner of Main street and Martin Luther King Boulevard, have punished this stellar student leader for her participation in a non-violent, peaceful student sit-in.
We roundly condemn the actions and inactions of Patrick Judd, Jonathan Williams, Elizabeth Oberreiter and Sandra Phillips in the public punishment of Aurora Ponce, by suspending her for 2 days, not allowing her to participate in the senior class trip, taking away her summer tutor job and barring her from giving her graduation address (until public outrage forced school officials to relent minutes before the ceremony June 27).
This pattern of administrators silencing dissent is unacceptable. Ms. Ponce's case comes on the heels of the June 18 Liechty school diplomas scandal in which 65 brave students were denied their diplomas for turning their backs on graduation speaker Monica Garcia (L.A. Unified School Board President) who has supported drastic budget cuts. The Annenberg High School, a charter school, is also located in Monica Garcia's District 2, according to LAUSD.net
On the 20 anniversary of Spike Lee's film “Do The Right Thing”, released in June, 1989, we are reminded of the consequences of justice denied and pent up anger. The film was prophetic: three years later, in South-Central Los Angeles the 1992 riots took place. Let this serve as a wake up call.
Aurora Ponce, a solid A average student, needs to be commended for her bravery. She honors the spirit of Martin Luther King Jr., for which the boulevard where her alma mater is located is named.
We stand in support of this Los Angeles hero and are collecting funds toward her college books and supplies. Donations can be made online at www.RazaEducationFund.org (securely, via Paypal).
>
> MEDIA CONTACTS:
> Raza Education Fund EMAIL: proyectos@RazaEducationFund.org
> CutsHurtKids.org EMAIL: cutshurtkids@gmail.com
Friday, June 26, 2009
Los Angeles Times: Patrick Judd refuses to allow valedictorian to make a speech...and fires her from her summer job
Being vindictive and malicious to adults is one thing, but Patrick Judd's retaliation against a child in his care is another. Do he and his administrators stay up nights thinking up punishments? Or do ideas just pop into their heads without any effort?
The TAS brass thinks that certain people are so insignificant that there's no need to take any notice of them.
Here's an old saying that might help Mr. Judd rethink this situation (substituting "girl" for "boy"): Always be kind to the office boy, because he's on his way up, and you're on your way down.
What were Lowell Billings and the other trustees thinking when they hired Patrick Judd to be superintendent of The Accelerated Schools? See all Pat Judd posts HERE.
Photo: Christina House / For The Times
Aurora Ponce, 18, speaks about being barred from making her valedictory speech after participating in a student sit-in.
Valedictorian says Accelerated School barred her from making speech
LA Times
By Seema Mehta
June 25, 2009
...Aurora Ponce says she was also deprived of a tutoring job she was counting on to help with coming college expenses after she took part in a protest over school cuts. Officials aren't talking.
Aurora Ponce is senior class president, boasts a near-perfect A average and is UC-bound with plans to study engineering.
But according to the 18-year-old and her supporters, officials at the Accelerated School, a collection of South Los Angeles charter schools, have barred Ponce from making her valedictory speech at Saturday's graduation as punishment for participating in a student sit-in to protest increased class sizes and the elimination of college prep classes. They have also taken away a summer tutoring job and other honors, she said.
"I see it as retaliation," said the South Los Angeles teen. "I just want to speak during graduation."
Officials involved in the actions regarding Ponce did not return calls seeking comment. They include Patrick Judd, who is in charge of the umbrella organization that oversees the Accelerated Schools; Elizabeth Oberreiter, principal of the Wallis Annenberg High School, Ponce's campus; and Sandra Phillips, principal of the Accelerated School's K-8 school. At least one referred questions to school co-founder Johnathan Williams, who said he was not familiar with the matter and would not release student information to the media in any event.
"All I'll say is this school is doing wonderfully by the children and the families and all the rest," he said. "There's no story here. Everyone is treated fairly here at the Accelerated School and Wallis Annenberg High School."
[Maura Larkins' note to Mr. Williams: If you're not familiar with all the complaints at TAS, then your comments about how wonderful it is are without foundation.]
Dozens of parents and students who protested outside the school Wednesday, many carrying posters calling for Judd's firing, disagreed.
...Critics charge that in recent years, what was once a collaborative environment rich with teacher and parent input has given way to top-heavy management that is not responsive to parents and students and is no longer transparent in its decision-making. These concerns, along with class sizes increasing, popular teachers departing and some college-prep offerings being eliminated, led scores of students to stage a silent sit-in May 15 outside the Annenberg auditorium...
It's unclear how many students were punished, but Ponce said she was immediately escorted off campus without her parents being notified and was suspended for two days. Other punishments have dribbled out since...
A SIMILAR STORY: IRANIAN CLERIC URGES FIRM PUNISHMENT FOR PROTESTERS
Iranian cleric urges firm punishment for protesters
TEHRAN, Iran
June 26, 2009
CNN
Two weeks into turmoil, Iran's leaders turned up the heat Friday as a high-ranking cleric warned protesters that they would be punished "firmly" and shown no mercy.
Ayatollah Ahmed Khatami says rioters in Iran will be "firmly" dealt with if they continue to protest.
"Rioters and those who mastermind the unrest must know the Iranian nation will not give in to pressure and accept the nullification of the election results," said Ayatollah Ahmed Khatami during Friday prayers in Tehran, according to Iran's state-run Press TV.
"I ask the Judiciary to firmly deal with these people and set an example for everyone," Khatami said...
YET ANOTHER EFFORT TO SILENCE PROTESTERS
Video shows Honduran troops shooting protesters' bus tires
July 3, 2009
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (CNN) -- Honduran soldiers shot out the tires of buses headed for a demonstration in support of ousted President Jose Manuel Zelaya, a video obtained by CNN shows.
This image from a cell phone video shows Honduran soldiers shooting out the tires of a bus.
The video, believed shot within the past two days, shows a line of buses stopped on a road in what is reported to be the city of Limones. The city is about 70 miles (112 kilometers) northeast of the capital, Tegucigalpa.
A noisy, chaotic crowd is milling around the buses while soldiers move among them. Some slight pushing can be seen.
"The people united can never be defeated," many crowd members chant in unison.
Gunfire is heard and the crowd grows quieter. More shots are heard and then the video shows soldiers shooting out the tires on a yellow bus. Air hissing from a tire can be heard and the video shows a flattened tire. ..
.
.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-valedictorian25-2009jun25,0,3843783.story
http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2009/06/quiet-protest-costs-student-a-chance-to-speak.html
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/06/27/iran.protests/
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/americas/07/03/honduras.video/index.html?eref=rss_mostpopular
The TAS brass thinks that certain people are so insignificant that there's no need to take any notice of them.
Here's an old saying that might help Mr. Judd rethink this situation (substituting "girl" for "boy"): Always be kind to the office boy, because he's on his way up, and you're on your way down.
What were Lowell Billings and the other trustees thinking when they hired Patrick Judd to be superintendent of The Accelerated Schools? See all Pat Judd posts HERE.
Photo: Christina House / For The Times
Aurora Ponce, 18, speaks about being barred from making her valedictory speech after participating in a student sit-in.
Valedictorian says Accelerated School barred her from making speech
LA Times
By Seema Mehta
June 25, 2009
...Aurora Ponce says she was also deprived of a tutoring job she was counting on to help with coming college expenses after she took part in a protest over school cuts. Officials aren't talking.
Aurora Ponce is senior class president, boasts a near-perfect A average and is UC-bound with plans to study engineering.
But according to the 18-year-old and her supporters, officials at the Accelerated School, a collection of South Los Angeles charter schools, have barred Ponce from making her valedictory speech at Saturday's graduation as punishment for participating in a student sit-in to protest increased class sizes and the elimination of college prep classes. They have also taken away a summer tutoring job and other honors, she said.
"I see it as retaliation," said the South Los Angeles teen. "I just want to speak during graduation."
Officials involved in the actions regarding Ponce did not return calls seeking comment. They include Patrick Judd, who is in charge of the umbrella organization that oversees the Accelerated Schools; Elizabeth Oberreiter, principal of the Wallis Annenberg High School, Ponce's campus; and Sandra Phillips, principal of the Accelerated School's K-8 school. At least one referred questions to school co-founder Johnathan Williams, who said he was not familiar with the matter and would not release student information to the media in any event."All I'll say is this school is doing wonderfully by the children and the families and all the rest," he said. "There's no story here. Everyone is treated fairly here at the Accelerated School and Wallis Annenberg High School."
[Maura Larkins' note to Mr. Williams: If you're not familiar with all the complaints at TAS, then your comments about how wonderful it is are without foundation.]
Dozens of parents and students who protested outside the school Wednesday, many carrying posters calling for Judd's firing, disagreed.
...Critics charge that in recent years, what was once a collaborative environment rich with teacher and parent input has given way to top-heavy management that is not responsive to parents and students and is no longer transparent in its decision-making. These concerns, along with class sizes increasing, popular teachers departing and some college-prep offerings being eliminated, led scores of students to stage a silent sit-in May 15 outside the Annenberg auditorium...
It's unclear how many students were punished, but Ponce said she was immediately escorted off campus without her parents being notified and was suspended for two days. Other punishments have dribbled out since...
A SIMILAR STORY: IRANIAN CLERIC URGES FIRM PUNISHMENT FOR PROTESTERSIranian cleric urges firm punishment for protesters
TEHRAN, Iran
June 26, 2009
CNN
Two weeks into turmoil, Iran's leaders turned up the heat Friday as a high-ranking cleric warned protesters that they would be punished "firmly" and shown no mercy.
Ayatollah Ahmed Khatami says rioters in Iran will be "firmly" dealt with if they continue to protest.
"Rioters and those who mastermind the unrest must know the Iranian nation will not give in to pressure and accept the nullification of the election results," said Ayatollah Ahmed Khatami during Friday prayers in Tehran, according to Iran's state-run Press TV.
"I ask the Judiciary to firmly deal with these people and set an example for everyone," Khatami said...
YET ANOTHER EFFORT TO SILENCE PROTESTERS
Video shows Honduran troops shooting protesters' bus tires
July 3, 2009
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (CNN) -- Honduran soldiers shot out the tires of buses headed for a demonstration in support of ousted President Jose Manuel Zelaya, a video obtained by CNN shows.
This image from a cell phone video shows Honduran soldiers shooting out the tires of a bus.The video, believed shot within the past two days, shows a line of buses stopped on a road in what is reported to be the city of Limones. The city is about 70 miles (112 kilometers) northeast of the capital, Tegucigalpa.
A noisy, chaotic crowd is milling around the buses while soldiers move among them. Some slight pushing can be seen.
"The people united can never be defeated," many crowd members chant in unison.
Gunfire is heard and the crowd grows quieter. More shots are heard and then the video shows soldiers shooting out the tires on a yellow bus. Air hissing from a tire can be heard and the video shows a flattened tire. ..
.
.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-valedictorian25-2009jun25,0,3843783.story
http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2009/06/quiet-protest-costs-student-a-chance-to-speak.html
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/06/27/iran.protests/
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/americas/07/03/honduras.video/index.html?eref=rss_mostpopular
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Parents and Students apparently really do want Pat Judd to leave TAS (The Accelerated School) in Los Angeles
[Photo by Ciro Cesar La Opinion, Los Angeles]An article about former Mountain Empire School District superintendent (and CVESD board member) Patrick Judd has come out in a Los Angeles newspaper, La Opinion. For those who don't read Spanish, someone was kind enough to leave a comment in English yesterday:
Parents and Students want Patrick Judd out of The Accelerated School!
Parents and students have been protesting outside of the school for a couple of weeks demanding that Patrick Judd’s contract be terminated effective immediately.
Check out the web link to an article in La Opinion regarding the protest.
[Maura Larkins note: The article quotes Judd as saying that he didn't know anything about the protest and had no idea what the parents were upset about. When the reporter informed him about the complaints, Judd said parents should go to "the appropriate authorities" with their issues.]
He should be embarrassed to make such a comment because it only proves that he does nothing but hide in that big office on the second floor and earns $12,000 a month and a $500.00 car allowance plus his medical insurance... Whoever is responsible for hiring him is a smart cookie. Oh! I forgot it was Kevin Sved the co-founder of The Accelerated School that jumped ship when the going got tuff. Kevin Sved left Johnathan Williams to deal with the sinking ship! What are friends for???
To see all posts about Patrick Judd, click HERE.
Friday, March 20, 2009
The Accelerated School (TAS) in Los Angeles: classified staff unionizes
UPDATE FROM ANONYMOUS COMMENTER:
Come to The Accelerated School this Tuesday, March 24th from 4-8 pm to hear the board make up excuses, Patrick Judd blame everyone else, and perhaps more lawsuits to be filed that day.
See all posts on Patrick Judd.
See all posts on The Accelerated School (TAS).
ORIGINAL POST:
March 18, 2009 was a day of joy for The Accelerated School’s classified staff!
They have unionized with SEIU Local 99. As a parent of The Accelerated School I support the unionization of the teachers and classified staff.
...According to Mr. Eric Johnson, President of TAS Board of Trustees Patrick Judd was brought to The Accelerated School to help take our school out of program improvement; I think it’s more like program destruction. Patrick Judd has managed to create nothing chaos.
Patrick Judd has been forced down our throats and we parents weren’t allowed to give input into his hiring and the current extension of his contract for another school year. Teachers, parents, students, community and staff are doomed! Don't be mistaken, we parents will not give up the fight to remove Patrick Judd and Sandra Phillips.
(This report appeared as an anonymous comment elsewhere on this blog, but it's so informative regarding both events and attitudes at TAS that I thought it deserved a post of its own. --Maura Larkins)
TAS teachers also want to unionize
The Accelerated School charter teachers seek representation by UTLA
First time that employees of a Los Angeles start-up charter school are seeking union representation.
February 5, 2009 - United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) announced today that it has filed papers with the Public Employees Relations Board (PERB) to represent teachers, counselors and other certificated employees of The Accelerated School (TAS) after teachers approached the union requesting representation. PERB will now process the papers to certify UTLA as the exclusive bargaining representative for the purposes of negotiating a contract and representing TAS employees...
TAS consists of grades pre K-12 at one campus, and a dual-language school for grades K-6, the Accelerated Charter Elementary School (ACES), at a separate location nearby. Approximately 70 teachers, counselors, etc. are employed by the schools...
Email correspondence and a question from a parent at The Accelerated School:
What kind of investigation is this??? The people that were contacted were Johnathan Williams, Co-founder and TAS Board of Trustees Secretary and Sandra Phillips, K-6 Principal. I forgot some happy parents??? What happened to interviewing the TAS Parent Coalition??? This investigation if you can call it that was one sided. ALL LIES! We parents have been asking to see the schools budget, agendas, and minutes but Patrick Judd has not complied with our requests.
T. R. Porter's response to a TAS parent:
From: "Porter, T.R" LAUSD
Sent: Tuesday, March 17, 2009 11:27:13 AM
Subject: RE: concerns at TAS
Dear Mr. Robert Saldaña,
...I, along with staff of the Charter Schools Division, have received your e-mail expressing concerns about the validity of The Accelerated School Charter Renewal Petition... you indicated specific disagreements and concerns with hiring decisions made by The Accelerated Schools’ governing board, regarding Mr. Patrick Judd...
With regards to The Accelerated School ‘s governing board’s decision to hire Mr. Patrick Judd...I am not aware that Mr. Billings benefited, in any way, from his recommendations of Mr. Judd...
I spoke (February 23, 2009), with Mr. Jonathan Williams (TAS Co-founder, Co-Director)... However, if you have continuing doubts concerning this issue, please address these concerns to the TAS governing board, directly.
(Maura Larkins' note: Marvelous idea, Ms. Porter! Mr. Saldana should ask Mr. Billings if Judd was hired as repayment for Judd's hiring Mr. Billings. Perhaps he could also ask if Billings was trying to strengthen his political position on the board. This should set to rest everyone's worries about the appearance of a conflict of interest. Why didn't folks down in Chula Vista think of this? Perhaps Ana Stover wouldn't have had to sue Lowell Billings for the abusive tactics he used to enforce political loyalty, if only she had known about this clever strategy.)
...Should our office... receive information that has the appearance of impropriety, the Charter Schools Division would have the responsibility to consider what follow-up actions were appropriate.
[Maura Larkins' note: You already have information that the hiring has the appearance of impropriety.]
... These minutes document the board’s considerations and actions that changed Mr. Judd’s status from an unpaid volunteer consultant to a paid consultant...
If the scope of Mr. Judd’s responsibilities was unclear at the time he was hired, my understanding is that you now have the organizational chart that clarifies his duties...
My own inquiries to the CSD fiscal staff, regarding payment from TAS to Mr. Judd, did not yield responses that indicated a need for further follow up. In addition, TAS, like other independent charter schools, has autonomy for much of the decision-making regarding payments to their school’s staff.
...Best regards.
t.r. Porter, Ed.D
Coordinator, Charter Schools Division
Phone: 213 241 2665
Fax: 213 241 6862
e-mail address: t.r.Porter@lausd.net
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A TAS parent writes to T. R. Porter
February 22, 2009
To: Porter, T.R
Subject: concerns at TAS
Dear Ms. T.R. Porter,
My name is Robert Saldaña; I am a parent of The Accelerated School located on 400 S. Main Street in Los Angeles , California 90037.
Ms. Sandra Phillips, K-6 Principal of The Accelerated School provided me with the draft of our charter petition... but I have some serious concerns as to the validity of the petition... Other parents and I have already voiced our concerns to The Accelerated School Board of Trustees to no avail...
We have probable cause to believe that one of our Board Members Mr. Lowell J. Billings from Chula Vista Elementary School District recommended for hire a former [boss] of his Mr. Patrick Judd to oversee all operations of The Accelerated School, Accelerated Charter Elementary School (ACES), and Wallis Annenberg High School.
...We have requested...Mr. Patrick Judd’s scope-of-work, where the money is coming from to pay his salary, what process was taken to hire him as a consultant, how many other consultants were interviewed, and what was the purpose of hiring Mr. Patrick Judd. We strongly believe the hiring of Mr. Patrick Judd is questionable, a conflict of interest and is unethical.
Parents were informed by Kevin Sved, Co-founder at a parent meeting that Mr. Patrick Judd was hired as a consultant through a leadership grant to create systems for the schools.
Now it is clear that Mr. Patrick Judd was hired and given complete oversight of all the family of schools mentioned above.
This is evident in our schools organizational chart that Mr. Patrick Judd is more than a consultant but in fact he oversees everything.
...According to Mr. Johnathan Williams and Patrick Judd, LAUSD Charter Schools Division has no jurisdiction over our schools because we are an independent charter... it’s apparent that no one is listening to the parents of The Accelerated School...
Sincerely,
Robert Saldaña
Come to The Accelerated School this Tuesday, March 24th from 4-8 pm to hear the board make up excuses, Patrick Judd blame everyone else, and perhaps more lawsuits to be filed that day.
See all posts on Patrick Judd.
See all posts on The Accelerated School (TAS).
ORIGINAL POST:
March 18, 2009 was a day of joy for The Accelerated School’s classified staff!
They have unionized with SEIU Local 99. As a parent of The Accelerated School I support the unionization of the teachers and classified staff.
...According to Mr. Eric Johnson, President of TAS Board of Trustees Patrick Judd was brought to The Accelerated School to help take our school out of program improvement; I think it’s more like program destruction. Patrick Judd has managed to create nothing chaos.
Patrick Judd has been forced down our throats and we parents weren’t allowed to give input into his hiring and the current extension of his contract for another school year. Teachers, parents, students, community and staff are doomed! Don't be mistaken, we parents will not give up the fight to remove Patrick Judd and Sandra Phillips.
(This report appeared as an anonymous comment elsewhere on this blog, but it's so informative regarding both events and attitudes at TAS that I thought it deserved a post of its own. --Maura Larkins)
TAS teachers also want to unionize
The Accelerated School charter teachers seek representation by UTLA
First time that employees of a Los Angeles start-up charter school are seeking union representation.
February 5, 2009 - United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) announced today that it has filed papers with the Public Employees Relations Board (PERB) to represent teachers, counselors and other certificated employees of The Accelerated School (TAS) after teachers approached the union requesting representation. PERB will now process the papers to certify UTLA as the exclusive bargaining representative for the purposes of negotiating a contract and representing TAS employees...
TAS consists of grades pre K-12 at one campus, and a dual-language school for grades K-6, the Accelerated Charter Elementary School (ACES), at a separate location nearby. Approximately 70 teachers, counselors, etc. are employed by the schools...
Email correspondence and a question from a parent at The Accelerated School:
What kind of investigation is this??? The people that were contacted were Johnathan Williams, Co-founder and TAS Board of Trustees Secretary and Sandra Phillips, K-6 Principal. I forgot some happy parents??? What happened to interviewing the TAS Parent Coalition??? This investigation if you can call it that was one sided. ALL LIES! We parents have been asking to see the schools budget, agendas, and minutes but Patrick Judd has not complied with our requests.
T. R. Porter's response to a TAS parent:
From: "Porter, T.R" LAUSD
Sent: Tuesday, March 17, 2009 11:27:13 AM
Subject: RE: concerns at TAS
Dear Mr. Robert Saldaña,
...I, along with staff of the Charter Schools Division, have received your e-mail expressing concerns about the validity of The Accelerated School Charter Renewal Petition... you indicated specific disagreements and concerns with hiring decisions made by The Accelerated Schools’ governing board, regarding Mr. Patrick Judd...
With regards to The Accelerated School ‘s governing board’s decision to hire Mr. Patrick Judd...I am not aware that Mr. Billings benefited, in any way, from his recommendations of Mr. Judd...
I spoke (February 23, 2009), with Mr. Jonathan Williams (TAS Co-founder, Co-Director)... However, if you have continuing doubts concerning this issue, please address these concerns to the TAS governing board, directly.
(Maura Larkins' note: Marvelous idea, Ms. Porter! Mr. Saldana should ask Mr. Billings if Judd was hired as repayment for Judd's hiring Mr. Billings. Perhaps he could also ask if Billings was trying to strengthen his political position on the board. This should set to rest everyone's worries about the appearance of a conflict of interest. Why didn't folks down in Chula Vista think of this? Perhaps Ana Stover wouldn't have had to sue Lowell Billings for the abusive tactics he used to enforce political loyalty, if only she had known about this clever strategy.)
...Should our office... receive information that has the appearance of impropriety, the Charter Schools Division would have the responsibility to consider what follow-up actions were appropriate.
[Maura Larkins' note: You already have information that the hiring has the appearance of impropriety.]
... These minutes document the board’s considerations and actions that changed Mr. Judd’s status from an unpaid volunteer consultant to a paid consultant...
If the scope of Mr. Judd’s responsibilities was unclear at the time he was hired, my understanding is that you now have the organizational chart that clarifies his duties...
My own inquiries to the CSD fiscal staff, regarding payment from TAS to Mr. Judd, did not yield responses that indicated a need for further follow up. In addition, TAS, like other independent charter schools, has autonomy for much of the decision-making regarding payments to their school’s staff.
...Best regards.
t.r. Porter, Ed.D
Coordinator, Charter Schools Division
Phone: 213 241 2665
Fax: 213 241 6862
e-mail address: t.r.Porter@lausd.net
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A TAS parent writes to T. R. Porter
February 22, 2009
To: Porter, T.R
Subject: concerns at TAS
Dear Ms. T.R. Porter,
My name is Robert Saldaña; I am a parent of The Accelerated School located on 400 S. Main Street in Los Angeles , California 90037.
Ms. Sandra Phillips, K-6 Principal of The Accelerated School provided me with the draft of our charter petition... but I have some serious concerns as to the validity of the petition... Other parents and I have already voiced our concerns to The Accelerated School Board of Trustees to no avail...
We have probable cause to believe that one of our Board Members Mr. Lowell J. Billings from Chula Vista Elementary School District recommended for hire a former [boss] of his Mr. Patrick Judd to oversee all operations of The Accelerated School, Accelerated Charter Elementary School (ACES), and Wallis Annenberg High School.
...We have requested...Mr. Patrick Judd’s scope-of-work, where the money is coming from to pay his salary, what process was taken to hire him as a consultant, how many other consultants were interviewed, and what was the purpose of hiring Mr. Patrick Judd. We strongly believe the hiring of Mr. Patrick Judd is questionable, a conflict of interest and is unethical.
Parents were informed by Kevin Sved, Co-founder at a parent meeting that Mr. Patrick Judd was hired as a consultant through a leadership grant to create systems for the schools.
Now it is clear that Mr. Patrick Judd was hired and given complete oversight of all the family of schools mentioned above.
This is evident in our schools organizational chart that Mr. Patrick Judd is more than a consultant but in fact he oversees everything.
...According to Mr. Johnathan Williams and Patrick Judd, LAUSD Charter Schools Division has no jurisdiction over our schools because we are an independent charter... it’s apparent that no one is listening to the parents of The Accelerated School...
Sincerely,
Robert Saldaña
Saturday, February 28, 2009
PATRICK JUDD IS DESTROYING OUR SCHOOL!
Photo: Patrick Judd, formerly of Chula Vista Elementary School District and Mountain Empire School District.Dear Mr. Erick C. Johnson,
On Friday, February 13, 2009 our children received a Statement by TAS Board President indicating that you and The Board of Trustees had met to discuss the union petition filed by UTLA. You also stated that the Board had numerous concerns about the unionization and how it will impact our children, families, staff and teachers.
We would like you and the rest of The Board of Trustees of The Accelerated School to know that we the TAS Parent Coalition fully support our teachers in their decision to unionize. In the coming days we will be talking to other parents and informing them as to why our teachers decided to unionize and ways that we can support them in their decision.
Whatever impact comes as a result of the teachers unionization will be the sole responsibility of The Accelerated School Board of Trustees, Patrick Judd and Sandra Phillips. We, the TAS Parent Coalition offered to facilitate an open dialogue with you and some of the Board of Trustees, teachers and parents but you turned us down. The teachers came to the Board of Trustees meetings with their concerns and fears but you and the rest of the Board of Trustees turned your backs on the teachers and us parents. You and the Board of Trustees chose to believe Mr. Patrick Judd over all of us. You and the Board of Trustees believed Patrick Judd when he told you it was only a small group of teachers causing problems and complaining.
Teachers and parents worked hard to find ways of resolving the issues but no one was listening and teachers needed protection from Patrick Judd and Sandra Phillips tyrannical ways. In all of The Accelerated School’s existence the need for teacher unionize has never taken place until now and it’s all due to Mr. Patrick Judd and Sandra Phillips poor leadership skills. The teachers’ decision to unionization speaks volumes to the poor leadership of Patrick Judd and Sandra Phillips. If The Accelerated School Board of Trustees continues to trust and allow Mr. Patrick Judd an individual who is consumed in litigation and questionable practices to continue to directly oversee the operations of all its schools; we are all in serious trouble. Mr. Patrick Judd has a proven record of wasting taxpayer and school monies to hire lawyers for litigation that could’ve been prevented. We, the TAS Parent Coalition ask that The Board of Trustees terminate Mr. Patrick Judd’s contract as soon as possible due to the fact that his hiring has been detrimental to the students, families, staff and teachers of The Accelerated School, Accelerated Charter Elementary School, and Wallis Annenberg High School. We, the TAS Parent Coalition strongly believe that we can’t move forward with an Individual like Mr. Patrick Judd. He can’t relate to our teachers, our families and most of all our children.
There is no need to reply to our email we only ask that you and the rest of The Board of Trustees listen carefully to the pleas of the parents, students, staff, and teachers do not continue to ignore us all.
Sincerely,
Robert Saldaña and TAS Parent Coalition
CC:Dori E. Miles, UTLA Area Representative
Howard Blume, LA Times Writer
LAUSD Charter Schools Division
Monica Garcia, LAUSD Board President
Antonio Villaraigosa, Mayor of Los Angeles
The Accelerated School, Wallis Annenberg, and Accelerated Charter Elementary School Parents
Check out the following link:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-union9-2009feb09,0,4416099.story
Monday, November 10, 2008
Accelerated Charter School Sued by Former Teacher
Click here for all blog posts about Accelerated Schools.
OFFICIALS OF CHARTER SCHOOL, LA UNIFIED MISUSED STATE FUNDS, SUIT SAYS
Former teacher accuses officials of improperly using state construction funds
DEFENDANTS SAY THE ACTION IS POLITICALLY MOTIVATED.
By Joel Rubin and Evelyn Larrubia,
LA Times
February 24, 2007
Seven years ago, the Los Angeles Unified School District joined with a charter school to build a sparkling new campus in South Los Angeles. The deal, using public funds and private donations, was hailed as an ideal partnership.
But that transaction is coming under scrutiny. Several individuals from the Accelerated School and the school district were named in a lawsuit this week alleging improper use of state school construction funds.
Among those named in the suit is Accelerated's co-director, Johnathan Williams, who is running for a seat on the district's seven-member school board.
Neither Williams nor his campaign staff had seen the lawsuit, but campaign consultant Ace Smith called the litigation "a shameless political attempt to try to denigrate the fantastic work that's been done by the Accelerated School in South Los Angeles."
Williams could not be reached for comment. But Kevin Sved, who directs and founded the school with Williams, defended the deal to build the school. He had not read the lawsuit, but said lawyers for the school and district had carefully vetted the project at the time.
"The result," Sved said, is a school "providing free, quality education in an underserved section of Los Angeles."
The lawsuit was filed by Dennis Dockstader in Los Angeles Superior Court last summer but kept under seal until late last week. Dockstader, a whistleblower and former teacher, has made at least two similar, unsuccessful allegations against the school district, according to Michelle Meghrouni, a senior district lawyer.
Dockstader brushed aside allegations that the suit was politically motivated, noting that it was originally filed months before Williams declared his intention to seek office.
Dockstader would not further discuss the suit — or the other false claims actions he has filed previously.
False-claim suits seek the return of government funds from a person or entity that improperly used or obtained them. If successful, Dockstader and his legal team would be entitled to 25% to 50% of the recouped money, said attorney Mark Allen Kleiman, a false-claims specialist not involved in this case.
Such suits are filed under seal until the attorney general decides whether to dismiss, participate in or stand aside during the litigation. In this case, state prosecutors chose to let the suit proceed without their active involvement.
The lawsuit alleges that the land and construction contract violated numerous state rules and bidding requirements and seeks the return of all state money applied to the project, estimated in court documents at more than $12.5 million. Dockstader charges in the suit that, among other things, the school project was designed to bilk the state out of $2.8 million it paid the district to help defray the costs of the campus land.
According to the lawsuit and Los Angeles Unified documents, the district and Accelerated pursued and then abandoned the idea of Accelerated donating the land to the district. (The land had originally been given to Accelerated by the previous owner.) The district instead bought the nearly four-acre site at South Main Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. The move qualified the district for the additional state funds, which were used to help build the modern campus. The suit argues that the state was defrauded of money for which the school district and Accelerated had no legitimate claim.
Williams was not named in the original complaint, which targeted only L.A. Unified, the Accelerated School and the Cal State Los Angeles Foundation, which held the title to Accelerated's land. But a recent state Supreme Court ruling barred litigation against government agencies, so attorneys working with Dockstader amended the list of defendants this week to drop L.A. Unified and add specific individuals, including Williams, his partner Sved and Jim McConnell, the former head of construction for L.A. Unified. McConnell declined to comment on the lawsuit.
When the construction collaboration was conceived, L.A. Unified desperately needed to relieve overcrowding and was eligible for millions in state school construction funds. Accelerated, for its part, had a ready plan for a new, larger campus, but was short on capital.
Ultimately, the project cost more than $50 million, said Eric Johnson, the president of Accelerated's board of trustees. He estimated that about $21 million came from state and district funds and $18.6 million from Accelerated's own fundraising. In addition, L.A. Unified lent $9.9 million to Accelerated, and the nearly $6 million paid for the land deal was also used to build the new campus.
Johnson said it was clear practically from the start that the best idea was to sell the district the land, then pump that money back into the project.
"Someone may have suggested that the land be donated, but clearly that's not the smart way to do it," he said.
The state will only pay so much for construction costs, based on how many pupils the school will serve, he explained. But it will pay for half of the district's land acquisition costs on top of that.
"Part of their job is to get as much bond money as possible," Johnson said Friday. "I think the school district would have been clearly remiss to structure it any other way."
Separate from the lawsuit, Accelerated has fallen behind on repaying the loan from the district. (It made its first payment in more than a year in December.) With more than $9 million still unpaid and the loan due in summer 2009, school district officials have said they are negotiating an extension for the balance of Accelerated's debt. They also emphasized that the terms of the loan do not impose any penalties on Accelerated for late payments.
In previous interviews, Williams has characterized attention to the loan issue as politically motivated.
Williams, 40, is running a well-funded campaign to unseat Marguerite Poindexter LaMotte, the one-term incumbent who represents District 1 of the Los Angeles Unified School District.
The school he co-founded was once named Time magazine's elementary school of the year. Accelerated's state-of-the-art campus opened formally in April 2005 and serves about 1,200 students in pre-kindergarten through grade 12.
Charter schools are publicly financed but, in exchange for boosting student achievement, are free from many of the restrictions imposed on traditional schools.
State officials had no immediate response on whether they were fully notified about the land transaction or what difference that could have made.
"The Office of Public School Construction takes the allegations very seriously," said Rob Cook, a deputy director for the California Department of General Services, which supervises the construction agency. He said agency staff "will take a close look at this matter."
The story below is more proof that TAS was having problems even before Patrick Judd arrived.
Jim Kouri
Vice President of the National Association of Chiefs of Police
Wednesday, March 30, 2005
...Accelerated School, Los Angeles: On August 17, 2004, Corey Lay pleaded no contest to possession of child pornography charges in county court. The 36-year-old man formerly served as a fourth-grade teacher at the Accelerated School in Los Angeles. ICE agents executed a search warrant at Lay’s home in December 2003 and discovered child pornography on one of his computers. Lay is now a registered sex offender...
.
.
http://4lakids.blogspot.com/2007_02_01_archive.html
http://mensnewsdaily.com/blog/kouri/2005/03/child-porn-ring-smashed-by-immigration.html
OFFICIALS OF CHARTER SCHOOL, LA UNIFIED MISUSED STATE FUNDS, SUIT SAYS
Former teacher accuses officials of improperly using state construction funds
DEFENDANTS SAY THE ACTION IS POLITICALLY MOTIVATED.
By Joel Rubin and Evelyn Larrubia,
LA Times
February 24, 2007
Seven years ago, the Los Angeles Unified School District joined with a charter school to build a sparkling new campus in South Los Angeles. The deal, using public funds and private donations, was hailed as an ideal partnership.
But that transaction is coming under scrutiny. Several individuals from the Accelerated School and the school district were named in a lawsuit this week alleging improper use of state school construction funds.
Among those named in the suit is Accelerated's co-director, Johnathan Williams, who is running for a seat on the district's seven-member school board.
Neither Williams nor his campaign staff had seen the lawsuit, but campaign consultant Ace Smith called the litigation "a shameless political attempt to try to denigrate the fantastic work that's been done by the Accelerated School in South Los Angeles."
Williams could not be reached for comment. But Kevin Sved, who directs and founded the school with Williams, defended the deal to build the school. He had not read the lawsuit, but said lawyers for the school and district had carefully vetted the project at the time.
"The result," Sved said, is a school "providing free, quality education in an underserved section of Los Angeles."
The lawsuit was filed by Dennis Dockstader in Los Angeles Superior Court last summer but kept under seal until late last week. Dockstader, a whistleblower and former teacher, has made at least two similar, unsuccessful allegations against the school district, according to Michelle Meghrouni, a senior district lawyer.
Dockstader brushed aside allegations that the suit was politically motivated, noting that it was originally filed months before Williams declared his intention to seek office.
Dockstader would not further discuss the suit — or the other false claims actions he has filed previously.
False-claim suits seek the return of government funds from a person or entity that improperly used or obtained them. If successful, Dockstader and his legal team would be entitled to 25% to 50% of the recouped money, said attorney Mark Allen Kleiman, a false-claims specialist not involved in this case.
Such suits are filed under seal until the attorney general decides whether to dismiss, participate in or stand aside during the litigation. In this case, state prosecutors chose to let the suit proceed without their active involvement.
The lawsuit alleges that the land and construction contract violated numerous state rules and bidding requirements and seeks the return of all state money applied to the project, estimated in court documents at more than $12.5 million. Dockstader charges in the suit that, among other things, the school project was designed to bilk the state out of $2.8 million it paid the district to help defray the costs of the campus land.
According to the lawsuit and Los Angeles Unified documents, the district and Accelerated pursued and then abandoned the idea of Accelerated donating the land to the district. (The land had originally been given to Accelerated by the previous owner.) The district instead bought the nearly four-acre site at South Main Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. The move qualified the district for the additional state funds, which were used to help build the modern campus. The suit argues that the state was defrauded of money for which the school district and Accelerated had no legitimate claim.
Williams was not named in the original complaint, which targeted only L.A. Unified, the Accelerated School and the Cal State Los Angeles Foundation, which held the title to Accelerated's land. But a recent state Supreme Court ruling barred litigation against government agencies, so attorneys working with Dockstader amended the list of defendants this week to drop L.A. Unified and add specific individuals, including Williams, his partner Sved and Jim McConnell, the former head of construction for L.A. Unified. McConnell declined to comment on the lawsuit.
When the construction collaboration was conceived, L.A. Unified desperately needed to relieve overcrowding and was eligible for millions in state school construction funds. Accelerated, for its part, had a ready plan for a new, larger campus, but was short on capital.
Ultimately, the project cost more than $50 million, said Eric Johnson, the president of Accelerated's board of trustees. He estimated that about $21 million came from state and district funds and $18.6 million from Accelerated's own fundraising. In addition, L.A. Unified lent $9.9 million to Accelerated, and the nearly $6 million paid for the land deal was also used to build the new campus.
Johnson said it was clear practically from the start that the best idea was to sell the district the land, then pump that money back into the project.
"Someone may have suggested that the land be donated, but clearly that's not the smart way to do it," he said.
The state will only pay so much for construction costs, based on how many pupils the school will serve, he explained. But it will pay for half of the district's land acquisition costs on top of that.
"Part of their job is to get as much bond money as possible," Johnson said Friday. "I think the school district would have been clearly remiss to structure it any other way."
Separate from the lawsuit, Accelerated has fallen behind on repaying the loan from the district. (It made its first payment in more than a year in December.) With more than $9 million still unpaid and the loan due in summer 2009, school district officials have said they are negotiating an extension for the balance of Accelerated's debt. They also emphasized that the terms of the loan do not impose any penalties on Accelerated for late payments.
In previous interviews, Williams has characterized attention to the loan issue as politically motivated.
Williams, 40, is running a well-funded campaign to unseat Marguerite Poindexter LaMotte, the one-term incumbent who represents District 1 of the Los Angeles Unified School District.
The school he co-founded was once named Time magazine's elementary school of the year. Accelerated's state-of-the-art campus opened formally in April 2005 and serves about 1,200 students in pre-kindergarten through grade 12.
Charter schools are publicly financed but, in exchange for boosting student achievement, are free from many of the restrictions imposed on traditional schools.
State officials had no immediate response on whether they were fully notified about the land transaction or what difference that could have made.
"The Office of Public School Construction takes the allegations very seriously," said Rob Cook, a deputy director for the California Department of General Services, which supervises the construction agency. He said agency staff "will take a close look at this matter."
The story below is more proof that TAS was having problems even before Patrick Judd arrived.
Jim Kouri
Vice President of the National Association of Chiefs of Police
Wednesday, March 30, 2005
...Accelerated School, Los Angeles: On August 17, 2004, Corey Lay pleaded no contest to possession of child pornography charges in county court. The 36-year-old man formerly served as a fourth-grade teacher at the Accelerated School in Los Angeles. ICE agents executed a search warrant at Lay’s home in December 2003 and discovered child pornography on one of his computers. Lay is now a registered sex offender...
.
.
http://4lakids.blogspot.com/2007_02_01_archive.html
http://mensnewsdaily.com/blog/kouri/2005/03/child-porn-ring-smashed-by-immigration.html
Friday, October 24, 2008
Patrick Judd exposed? Russell Coronado's election should be a slam-dunk.
Several months ago I became aware of a rumor that former Mountain Empire School District superintendent Patrick Judd had been accused of sexual harrassment, but I didn't print it because it was simply a rumor. Judd went on some mysterious kind of leave early in 2008 and never went back to work; instead, he retired after several months of unexplained absence.One Mountain Empire board member, apparently someone trying to cover for Judd, said that he was on sick leave.
JUDD REFUSES TO BE ACCOUNTABLE TO VOTERS ABOUT SEVERAL VERY SERIOUS ISSUES
Judd said it wasn't sick leave, but he wouldn't say what it was. Yet Judd had the nerve to run for re-election as trustee of Chula Vista Elementary School District, apparently on a platform of silence. This much is clear: Judd does not believe in openness or honesty.
And neither does Lowell Billings, superintendent of CVESD.
Lowell Billings (photo at left) is Judd's employee in CVESD. But the reverse relationship holds true at The Accelerated School (TAS) in Los Angeles, where Billings is on the board. Apparently Billings felt sympathy for Judd, or political obligation to Judd, and hired Judd as a consultant at the Accelerated (Charter) School.Recently I read a letter written to the San Diego Union Tribune. It said in part:
"...Every educator in Mt Empire and the entire east county seems to be aware that the former Superintendent (P. J.) did not go out on sick leave because of an illness, but rather because of the same type of claim that Mr. Sandoval, Mr. Lopez and Mr. Poveda would be familiar with, he was not sick rather he was in hot water. You should ask some questions in Mt. Empire and perhaps request a copy of the claim..."
I am inclined to differentiate between true sexual harrassment, the abuse or exploitation of a human being, and the less serious problem of enthusiastic admiration of an attractive individual, which is sometimes inappropriately labeled.
A HISTORY OF CONTEMPT FOR WOMEN
Patrick Judd has a history of abuse of and contempt for women. One example is the Danielle Cozaihr case. Last December CVESD was ordered to pay $1 million for Lowell Billings' and Patrick Judd's actions against a young teacher who made the mistake of having a baby at a program improvement school.
Another example of Judd's misplaced loyalties is the Fred Kamper case.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
The Accelerated Charter School Tries to Silence Parents
Photo: Patrick Judd, recently hired consultant for TASSome of the best information can be found in the comments section of news articles. Here's a recent comment that was added to this post:
"Parents are now being threatened by current administration which includes Patrick Judd, Sandra Phillips, Sergio Sanchez and Co-founders of The Accelerated School, not to say negative things about the school because we are in the process of renewing our charter.
"If we continue to voice our concerns we will lose our charter. What? I don't think so, they can't threaten us, they should've thought about that before they hired these incompetent nitwits.
"Our current K – 6 Principal Sandra Phillips doesn’t even posses a California state teaching or administrator credentials. Their response to this is “Charter schools don’t require administrators to be credentialed”. This is a JOKE! How is she supposed to provide any guidance or support to our teachers when she isn’t qualified to do so? This is why the students are failing. Parents like me didn’t know that this was the case until we began questioning and investigating her background. We parents were under the impression that Sandra Phillips was credentialed. As of today we discovered that one of the Co-Directors and Sandra Phillips are in a relationship? Now the plot thickens???
"Then they hire Patrick Judd without informing parents of his baggage and he is suppose to be helping the school clean up their act or as I believe remove anyone who speaks out against them. This is all a big fat joke and our children and community are suffering the repercussions of their continued mistakes."
[Maura Larkins' note: A lot of people think that freedom of speech is protected by our Constitution because it is morally right. That's not the reason. The reason is that freedom of thought leads to economic development, to financial advancement for the whole country. Why are people in power afraid of it? Because they fear that the march to the future will pass them by. They are protecting their own careers and finances. Patrick Judd and Lowell Billings are ensconced firmly in the divine-right-of-kings era, and I suspect that's exactly why they were chosen by the TAS board.
The Accelerated School would do well to encourage open discussion among teachers and parents. They should ask Patrick Lencioni to come and help them overcome their dysfunction.
Note that "Fear of Conflict" is one of the five dysfunctions. Judd and Billings are terrified of conflict. They don't know how to sit down and talk openly and honestly about problems--I doubt that they even talk openly with each other.]
Photo below: TAS board member Lowell Billings. (Not Dick Cheney, though some have noted a growing resemblance.)
.jpg)
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Parents want Patrick Judd out
I write about a lot of schools and a lot of school board members, but Patrick Judd manages to get the lion's share of attention from readers. I think "Patrick Judd" is the most frequent search term that brings visitors to my website (with Bertha Lopez in second place).
Judd was eased out of Mountain Empire School District this year, but his pal Lowell Billings seems to have helped him ease into a position at Accelerated Charter School in Los Angeles.
Both teachers and parents are unhappy with Judd's performance at his new school. I wish them the best.
Perhaps both Chula Vista Elementary School District and Accelerated Charter School will be able to get rid of Judd this year. CVESD, where Judd is a trustee, has an election coming up, and he's facing a highly qualified and well-liked challenger in Russell Coronado.
Charter Schools are coming under closer scrutiny since so many abuses have been found. Parents might want to ask to look at the budgets and the salaries of employees and consultants.
Below are comments that were added to this post.
Anonymous said...
OMG! I‘m a parent of The Accelerated School and I just discovered Patrick Judd’s background and trail of destruction. We parents of The Accelerated School are extremely upset and we will not tolerate the lies. We want Patrick Judd and our elementary school Principal Sandra Phillips out. There is no room for this at our school especially when we are in program improvement year 3.
8:08 PM
Anonymous said...
We need help to get rid of Patrick Judd from The Accelerated School!
8:10 PM
Judd was eased out of Mountain Empire School District this year, but his pal Lowell Billings seems to have helped him ease into a position at Accelerated Charter School in Los Angeles.
Both teachers and parents are unhappy with Judd's performance at his new school. I wish them the best.
Perhaps both Chula Vista Elementary School District and Accelerated Charter School will be able to get rid of Judd this year. CVESD, where Judd is a trustee, has an election coming up, and he's facing a highly qualified and well-liked challenger in Russell Coronado.
Charter Schools are coming under closer scrutiny since so many abuses have been found. Parents might want to ask to look at the budgets and the salaries of employees and consultants.
Below are comments that were added to this post.
Anonymous said...
OMG! I‘m a parent of The Accelerated School and I just discovered Patrick Judd’s background and trail of destruction. We parents of The Accelerated School are extremely upset and we will not tolerate the lies. We want Patrick Judd and our elementary school Principal Sandra Phillips out. There is no room for this at our school especially when we are in program improvement year 3.
8:08 PM
Anonymous said...
We need help to get rid of Patrick Judd from The Accelerated School!
8:10 PM
Monday, August 25, 2008
Accelerated Charter School defaults on loan from taxpayers
I did not know about Accelerated Charter Schools in Los Angeles until I found out yesterday that CVESD's own superintendent Lowell Billings in on the board, and had apparently helped CVESD trustee Patrick Judd get a job there as a consultant. What's Billings doing on a Los Angeles board? And why did he bring the backward-looking Judd to a school that presents itself as reform-minded?
From Schools Matter blog
January 09, 2007
Accelerated Charter School Puts Brakes on Repayment of $10 Million Loan From L.A.Taxpayers
The edu-business world is making a killing from corporate welfare payments and easy-pay or no-pay loans from city and state officials across the country who are bilking taxpayers as a part of the charter school revolution. Here's a great example of one sweetheart deal that has come to light in California. Some clips:
A nationally recognized charter school in South Los Angeles has defaulted on a $9.9 million loan extended by the Los Angeles Unified School District using voter-approved bond funds, documents and interviews show.
From Schools Matter blog
January 09, 2007
Accelerated Charter School Puts Brakes on Repayment of $10 Million Loan From L.A.Taxpayers
The edu-business world is making a killing from corporate welfare payments and easy-pay or no-pay loans from city and state officials across the country who are bilking taxpayers as a part of the charter school revolution. Here's a great example of one sweetheart deal that has come to light in California. Some clips:
A nationally recognized charter school in South Los Angeles has defaulted on a $9.9 million loan extended by the Los Angeles Unified School District using voter-approved bond funds, documents and interviews show.
Did Accelerated Charter School in LA bilk the taxpayers?
Los Angeles Times
Suit targets charter school deal
By Joel Rubin and Evelyn Larrubia
February 24, 2007
Seven years ago, the Los Angeles Unified School District joined with a charter school to build a sparkling new campus in South Los Angeles. The deal, using public funds and private donations, was hailed as an ideal partnership.
But that transaction is coming under scrutiny. Several individuals from the Accelerated School and the school district were named in a lawsuit this week alleging improper use of state school construction funds.
Among those named in the suit is Accelerated’s co-director, Johnathan Williams, who is running for a seat on the district’s seven-member school board...
Williams could not be reached for comment. But Kevin Sved, who directs and founded the school with Williams, defended the deal to build the school. He had not read the lawsuit, but said lawyers for the school and district had carefully vetted the project at the time.
[Blogger's note: School attorneys are famous for telling school officials exactly what they want to hear. Their job seems to be to help officials get away with whatever they want to do.]
...The lawsuit was filed by Dennis Dockstader... a whistleblower and former teacher,
False-claim suits seek the return of government funds from a person or entity that improperly used or obtained them...In this case, state prosecutors chose to let the suit proceed without their active involvement.
...Dockstader charges in the suit that, among other things, the school project was designed to bilk the state out of $2.8 million it paid the district to help defray the costs of the campus land...The suit argues that the state was defrauded of money for which the school district and Accelerated had no legitimate claim...
Suit targets charter school deal
By Joel Rubin and Evelyn Larrubia
February 24, 2007
Seven years ago, the Los Angeles Unified School District joined with a charter school to build a sparkling new campus in South Los Angeles. The deal, using public funds and private donations, was hailed as an ideal partnership.
But that transaction is coming under scrutiny. Several individuals from the Accelerated School and the school district were named in a lawsuit this week alleging improper use of state school construction funds.
Among those named in the suit is Accelerated’s co-director, Johnathan Williams, who is running for a seat on the district’s seven-member school board...
Williams could not be reached for comment. But Kevin Sved, who directs and founded the school with Williams, defended the deal to build the school. He had not read the lawsuit, but said lawyers for the school and district had carefully vetted the project at the time.
[Blogger's note: School attorneys are famous for telling school officials exactly what they want to hear. Their job seems to be to help officials get away with whatever they want to do.]
...The lawsuit was filed by Dennis Dockstader... a whistleblower and former teacher,
False-claim suits seek the return of government funds from a person or entity that improperly used or obtained them...In this case, state prosecutors chose to let the suit proceed without their active involvement.
...Dockstader charges in the suit that, among other things, the school project was designed to bilk the state out of $2.8 million it paid the district to help defray the costs of the campus land...The suit argues that the state was defrauded of money for which the school district and Accelerated had no legitimate claim...
Patrick Judd finally hired (after months of looking); Lowell Billings serves board members better than he serves students
Patrick Judd and Lowell Billings: old friendships never die?
UPDATE
INFORMATION FROM THE COMMENTS SECTION:
Come to The Accelerated School this Tuesday, March 24th from 4-8pm to hear the board make up excuses, Patrick Judd blame everyone else, and perhaps more lawsuits to be filed that day.
ORIGINAL POST:
For many months school districts all over southern California have been doing Google searches for the mysteriously-retired superintendent Pat Judd of Mountain Empire School District. They all decided against him--except for a small charter school in Los Angeles.
It seems there's always a charter school with interesting board members who will give a job to a guy who has left his job under suspicious circumstances.
Judd is now a consultant at Accelerated Charter School in Los Angeles.
I looked at the school's web page and was taken aback to see that one of the trustees is none other than Lowell Billings, who is superintendent of Chula Vista Elementary School District in San Diego county, where Patrick Judd sits on the board.
What is Lowell Billings doing on the board of a charter school in Los Angeles, you may ask? It turns out that the world of education is a small one, which helps explain a lot of things, including the lack of new ideas.
I was chagrined, but not surprised, to also find that Charles Oppenheim, of the law firm Foley & Lardner, is on the board. Education attorney firms are given huge amounts of money to protect the status quo in education.
Judd is being paid as a consultant, and he's acting the only way he knows how to act: lots of hostility, little insight. Judd once memorably stated that we've known for a hundred years how to educate kids. “We have a traditional model for educating children that’s been around for 100-plus years.” (This quote appeared in the Chula Vista Star-News in 2004.) This is a man firmly planted in the early 1900's. Apparently he hasn't noticed that kids have changed.
Reports have already started coming out of Accelerated Charter School about Patrick Judd's shenanigans.
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