Judge Whitney dissolves restraining order obtained by Escondido School District against Jose Fragozo

On March 25, 2016 San Diego Superior Court Judge Richard Whitney dissolved the restraining order obtained by Escondido Union School District against its own board member Jose Fragozo.
From the Superior Court website:

	03/25/2016	Minutes finalized for Hearing on Restraining Order heard 03/25/2016 01:30:00 PM.
	03/25/2016	Temporary Restraining Order dissolved.
	03/25/2016	Restraining order as requested denied without prejudice.

See story: EUSD denied restraining order against Trustee Jose Fragozo 

See my original post HERE.

San Diego Union-Tribune story about the case:
Fragozo makes case to lift restraining order
By Pat Maio
Feb. 10, 2016

— Escondido elementary school district Trustee Jose Fragozo testified in Vista Superior Court on Wednesday that he never yelled or threatened school officials who want him banned from district property.
Fragozo’s testimony came near the end of a weeks-long hearing into whether a temporary workplace violence restraining order filed against him by district administrators should be made permanent... Fragozo, 50, is the first Latino elected to the school board. He has said officials want to silence his concerns about declining enrollment, minority issues and what he has said are deficiencies in teaching English language learners...

Rankins-Ibarra, and trustees Zesty Harper and Paulette Donnellon, testified last month that Fragozo has harassed administrators with bullying text messages, emails, finger-pointing antics and name-calling. The superintendent has said the behavior has caused him to fear for his life.

Fragozo said in court Wednesday that he believes his board colleagues are discriminating against him because of his race. 

Superior Court Judge Richard Whitney has presided over the hearing and is expected to issue a ruling in March...

School district, Fragozo face off in court

Update: 
On March 25, 2016 San Diego Superior Court Judge Richard Whitney dissolved the restraining order obtained by Escondido Union School District against its own board member Jose Fragozo.


From the Superior Court website:

	03/25/2016	Minutes finalized for Hearing on Restraining Order heard 03/25/2016 01:30:00 PM.
	03/25/2016	Temporary Restraining Order dissolved.
	03/25/2016	Restraining order as requested denied without prejudice.

Original story:

It seems we have familiar shenanigans going on in San Diego school districts. Escondido Union School District is trying to silence a whistle-blower by destroying his political career.

Here's a pathetic accusation against Jose Fragozo, a board member in Escondido Union School District: "violating personal space."  How is this an offense that deserves a restraining order? 

Then we have "pointing a finger"! Seriously--pointing a finger. 

And my personal favorite, "demeaning staff."  Demeaning staff is normally considered de rigour behavior in school districts. 

Other school officials have committed actual crimes and yet managed to maintain the full support of their districts, and immunity from prosecution. 

I assume this entire case is based on political conflicts.


School district, Fragozo face off in court
by Steve Puterski
Coast News
December 23, 2015

VISTA — The battle between the Escondido Union School District and trustee Jose Fragozo went before a judge on Dec. 18 at the San Diego County Superior Court.

Fragozo is subject to a temporary restraining order filed by Superintendent Luis Rankins-Ibarra with supplementing statements from three other EUSD administrators on Dec. 2 after the four alleged threatening and harassing behavior from Fragozo. The district is attempting to make the order permanent.

During last week’s hearing, EUSD Board of Trustee Zesty Harper testified Fragozo’s behavior grew increasingly volatile over the last year.

The hearing lasted several hours and was continued until Dec. 23.

Trustee Zesty Harper testified as a witness for the district and Rankins-Ibarra saying Fragozo’s demeanor behind closed doors increasingly grew more aggressive, intimidating and threatening over the past year.

Harper, who was elected last year, said she saw several incidents of Fragozo violating others’ personal space, pointing a finger in faces and demeaning staff during meetings.

The district’s attorney, Daniel Shinoff, told the court his clients suffered through tirades and threats of physical violence from Fragozo. In addition, Shinoff said Deputy Superintendent Leila Sackfield felt, at one point, she had been falsely imprisoned, while Assisatant Superintendents Kelly Prins and Kevin Rubow were targets of bouts of yelling “as close as possible” with Fragozo pointing his finger in their faces.

[Maura Larkins' comment: Sackfield "felt" she was falsely imprisoned? Why didn't she call the police? Why didn't she file a criminal complaint? I suspect the accusation was dreamed up long after the event in question. Has anyone questioned Sackfield's propensity for paranoia?]

Shinoff also cited 158 school shootings since 2013 including three local shootings have given the four added reasons for concern, but Fragozo’s attorney, Laura Farris, blasted Shinoff for attempting to link her client and mass shootings.

During Farris’ opening statement, she said her client has not threatened any district official and his passion for the district stems from wanting the best for its students. She added Rankins-Ibarra is overly sensitive to others in disagreement with how to approach the district’s issues.

In addition, Farris claims the district has prevented Fragozo from performing his duties and “obliterated” his constitutional rights.

“He demanded accountability for test scores,” Farris said. “They are using the shootings to get Mr. Fragozo out of the picture.”

Update from Superior Court files:

12/23/2015 Court request to continue the Hearing on Restraining Order and reissue the temporary orders was granted. The Hearing on Restraining Order was continued to 01/08/2016 at 09:00 AM in Department N-21. For more on Escondido Union School District, see Coach Carter case.

Jury to CVESD: Pay Danielle Coziahr $1,012,000

A San Diego jury has a message for CVESD board members Pamela Smith, Cheryl Cox, and Bertha Lopez: your decision to discriminate against Danielle Coziahr in 2006 based on her gender caused $1,012,000 in costs and damages.

These three women apparently didn't lose any sleep over dismissing a teacher who was considered a leader by teachers with much more experience. I listened to testimony with the jury, and the evidence was clear: Coziahr was fired was one reason only, and that was that she was a woman who had a young child and another on the way.

The three women on the Chula Vista Elementary School District board demonstrated again and again that they aren't one bit softer than the hard-nosed duo of Patrick Judd and Larry Cunningham. Pam, Bertha and Cheryl seemed to go along with anything the boys wanted, even if it was illegal, or even criminal.

And the illegality didn't stop when former San Diego police chief David Bejarano took Cheryl Cox's place in January of this year.

The CVESD board needs a complete overhaul. And a reconstituted board would be wise to get rid of Parham & Rajcic law firm, and instead ask lawyers like Danielle Coziahr's attorneys Laura Joan Farris and C. Daniel Carroll for legal advice.

The Danielle Coziahr case has gone to the jury

Attorneys Laura Joan Farris (left) and Daniel Carroll yesterday finished the trial of Coziahr v. Chula Vista Elementary School District, and the case has gone to the jury.

The jury has one easy job and one hard job: first, to decide if the district violated the law, and second, to decide how much the district should pay Danielle Coziahr.

Education suffers when leaders like Danielle Coziahr are dismissed at the whim of inexperienced first-year principals,while the district board and administrators ignore what is going on in schools.

When problems surface, the CVESD board and its go-between, Tom Cruz, just tell the lawyers to spend whatever it takes to keep tax dollars out of the hands of teachers, and channel those dollars into the hands of lawyers.

Dan Carroll and Laura Farris take on CVESD

Dan Carroll of McCann and Carroll is taking on CVESD in San Diego Superior Court. He is representing Danielle Coziahr, a teacher who is suing for discrimination based on gender and pregnancy.

I wasn't able to go in to court today for opening arguments, since I'm busy writing a motion to compel CVESD's lawyers to produce documents and submit to depositions in their defamation case against me. Why did they bring the case when they know that they have to keep the truth covered up? The answer is that they believe that public entities will continue to protect them, as they protect public entities.

I wonder what the paper trail looks like in the Coziahr case. It was virtually non-existent in my case, except for the documents that were altered or hidden.

Laura Farris is co-counsel in the Coziahr case.

I'll be looking forward to witness testimony tomorrow and Thursday.