School Construction Bonds Need More Oversight, Taxpayers Association Says
Debbie L. Sklar
July 28, 2017
Fewer independent oversight committees at school districts in the county are maintaining high transparency standards in their construction bond programs than last year, the San Diego Taxpayers Education Foundation reported Friday...
The Fallbrook Union High School District, Chula Vista Elementary School District and National School District were rated the worst. The National School District was criticized in the report for having no information online about its 2016 bond measure... Read more HERE
Showing posts with label National School District. Show all posts
Showing posts with label National School District. Show all posts
Saturday, July 29, 2017
Wednesday, September 10, 2014
Julian High School District starts a non-classroom-based elementary charter school in National City
Lesson in paperwork
Robert Moreno
Chula Vista Star-News
Aug 09 2014
Two school districts are heading to court over the legal status of a new charter school in National City.
Attorney Gretchen Shipley filed a writ of mandate July 25 on behalf of the National School District alleging that the Julian Union School District illegally placed a charter school at 2400 Euclid Ave.
Shipley cites in court records that the Julian school district is in violation of section 47605 of the California Education Code for its yet-to-open charter school, Beacon Classical Academy Elementary.
Chris Carson, assistant superintendent of business for the National School District, said that the school district was supposed to be given notice of Beacon’s intent to locate within the National School District’s boundaries.
He also said Beacon was supposed to attempt to locate a facility within Julian’s boundaries, which he said they never did and therefore are in violation of an education code.
He said since the National School District was not notified about the charter, the Julian Union School District is also in violation of California Education code.
Code 47605 (a) states: “A petition for the establishment of a charter school shall identify a single charter that will operate within the geographic boundaries of that charter.”
Shipley wrote in court documents that the Julian Union School District did not identify a single charter school that will operate within the geographic boundaries of the Julian Union School District.
Instead Julian Union School District authorized the charter to operate outside its boundaries and within the National School District’s boundaries.
Shipley turned down an interview request because the case is in litigation.
Dr. Alma Van Nice, founder and executive director of the classical academy, said the education code does not apply to Beacon because it is not a school site.
“Beacon Classical Academy is an independent study charter school that was authorized by Julian Union School District,” Van Nice said.
“An independent study charter program is also referred to as a non-classroom-based program because the instruction can take place in the child’s home, the community and at the resource center.”
Van Nice said independent funding for the charter school is not based on attendance but rather on performance.
Carson said the National School District is not against charter schools, but against charter schools that don’t follow the proper rules.
“We want them to adhere to the same rules as any district,” Carson said. “We ask that the Julian school district revoke their charter on the grounds that they are violating the education code in the charter petition.”
In court documents, Shipley said that the Julian school district continues to ignore the laws of the California Education Code despite a cease and desist notice.
“Julian Union School District and Beacon have and are continuing to willfully ignore and violate the Charter Schools Act, when Beacon decided to open its school in the jurisdictional boundaries of petitioner without any notice or effort to comply with the geographic restrictions of the CSA and this action is necessary to compel their compliance with it,” she states.
“Both entities have failed and refused to comply with the law, despite notice of violations and a request for remedy by any or all of them.”
The charter school is set to open Aug. 8.
- See more at: http://www.thestarnews.com/chula-vista/lesson-in-paperwork/#sthash.oKtxQAYP.dpuf
Robert Moreno
Chula Vista Star-News
Aug 09 2014
Two school districts are heading to court over the legal status of a new charter school in National City.
Attorney Gretchen Shipley filed a writ of mandate July 25 on behalf of the National School District alleging that the Julian Union School District illegally placed a charter school at 2400 Euclid Ave.
Shipley cites in court records that the Julian school district is in violation of section 47605 of the California Education Code for its yet-to-open charter school, Beacon Classical Academy Elementary.
Chris Carson, assistant superintendent of business for the National School District, said that the school district was supposed to be given notice of Beacon’s intent to locate within the National School District’s boundaries.
He also said Beacon was supposed to attempt to locate a facility within Julian’s boundaries, which he said they never did and therefore are in violation of an education code.
He said since the National School District was not notified about the charter, the Julian Union School District is also in violation of California Education code.
Code 47605 (a) states: “A petition for the establishment of a charter school shall identify a single charter that will operate within the geographic boundaries of that charter.”
Shipley wrote in court documents that the Julian Union School District did not identify a single charter school that will operate within the geographic boundaries of the Julian Union School District.
Instead Julian Union School District authorized the charter to operate outside its boundaries and within the National School District’s boundaries.
Shipley turned down an interview request because the case is in litigation.
Dr. Alma Van Nice, founder and executive director of the classical academy, said the education code does not apply to Beacon because it is not a school site.
“Beacon Classical Academy is an independent study charter school that was authorized by Julian Union School District,” Van Nice said.
“An independent study charter program is also referred to as a non-classroom-based program because the instruction can take place in the child’s home, the community and at the resource center.”
Van Nice said independent funding for the charter school is not based on attendance but rather on performance.
Carson said the National School District is not against charter schools, but against charter schools that don’t follow the proper rules.
“We want them to adhere to the same rules as any district,” Carson said. “We ask that the Julian school district revoke their charter on the grounds that they are violating the education code in the charter petition.”
In court documents, Shipley said that the Julian school district continues to ignore the laws of the California Education Code despite a cease and desist notice.
“Julian Union School District and Beacon have and are continuing to willfully ignore and violate the Charter Schools Act, when Beacon decided to open its school in the jurisdictional boundaries of petitioner without any notice or effort to comply with the geographic restrictions of the CSA and this action is necessary to compel their compliance with it,” she states.
“Both entities have failed and refused to comply with the law, despite notice of violations and a request for remedy by any or all of them.”
The charter school is set to open Aug. 8.
- See more at: http://www.thestarnews.com/chula-vista/lesson-in-paperwork/#sthash.oKtxQAYP.dpuf
Friday, May 31, 2013
Dennis M. Doyle turns up as CEO of the secretive charity CoTA (Collaboration of Teachers and Artists) in San Diego
UPDATE: CoTA finally responded to me after I contacted the San Diego Foundation and a reporter. The 2011-2012 Form 990 is now on the Internet.
ORIGINAL POST:
School watchers may be wondering what happened to Dennis Michael Doyle after he suddenly resigned as Superintendent of the National School District in the middle of the school year in 2009. Mr. Doyle spent most of his career at CVESD (Chula Vista Elementary School District), then went to National School District for a very short time.
We don't know why he resigned, and his new job is no less secretive.
I have sent two emails and left one phone message asking why the organization's Form 990s for the years 2011 and 2012 are not on the agency's website, but Julie Kendrig, Doyle's assistant, is ignoring me.
Here's the email I sent:
May 25, 2013
to: jkendig@cotaprogram.org
subject: When will CoTA be putting its Form 990s for 2011 and 2012 on its website?
Hi Julie,
I could only find 2010 and earlier on your website. Is CoTA planning to put the more recent 990s on the site?
Thanks,
Maura Larkins
Julie Kendig
Here's more about CoTA and its board president Lucille Neeley's interesting relationship with San Diego Unified School District and real estate developer RNLN.
Photo: Dennis Doyle with former Assembly insurance committee member Paul Vargas*
*Paul Vargas left his insurance oversight post in 2006 to become an insurance company executive. Then he stepped up to the US House of Representatives. As my father used to say, California has the best government money can buy.
ORIGINAL POST:
School watchers may be wondering what happened to Dennis Michael Doyle after he suddenly resigned as Superintendent of the National School District in the middle of the school year in 2009. Mr. Doyle spent most of his career at CVESD (Chula Vista Elementary School District), then went to National School District for a very short time.
We don't know why he resigned, and his new job is no less secretive.
I have sent two emails and left one phone message asking why the organization's Form 990s for the years 2011 and 2012 are not on the agency's website, but Julie Kendrig, Doyle's assistant, is ignoring me.
Here's the email I sent:
May 25, 2013
to: jkendig@cotaprogram.org
subject: When will CoTA be putting its Form 990s for 2011 and 2012 on its website?
Hi Julie,
I could only find 2010 and earlier on your website. Is CoTA planning to put the more recent 990s on the site?
Thanks,
Maura Larkins
Julie Kendig
Here's more about CoTA and its board president Lucille Neeley's interesting relationship with San Diego Unified School District and real estate developer RNLN.
Photo: Dennis Doyle with former Assembly insurance committee member Paul Vargas*
*Paul Vargas left his insurance oversight post in 2006 to become an insurance company executive. Then he stepped up to the US House of Representatives. As my father used to say, California has the best government money can buy.
Sunday, September 23, 2012
English Learners Put High-Tech Blackboards to New Use
Wouldn't it be great if someone did a follow-up on the results of the huge investments (see last paragraph in story below) made by local school districts in digitized whiteboards? Here's a story from 2008.
English Learners Put High-Tech Blackboards to New Use
By EMILY ALPERT
Voice of San Diego
Friday, Feb. 1, 2008
...Magic is now standard at El Toyon Elementary School in National City, where Vazquez teaches bilingual classes for first and second grade students. Here, every classroom boasts an interactive whiteboard; across the National School District, half of classrooms got the tools this year.
National, a district with a history of achieving against the odds, has adopted the technology more widely than any other school district in San Diego County. It's an unlikely Mecca for high-tech, a school where educators say most children go home to play with Nintendos, not PCs. Ninety percent of its students are from low-income households; nearly 70 percent are still learning English.
But here, the technology has yielded results, according to an early study. Test scores ticked upward in the high-tech classrooms, where 5 percent more students passed state tests compared to their less-wired counterparts. Teachers report that students are more attentive and excited, and go absent less frequently.
National City's success points to an emerging focus for the technology: Bringing second-language students up to speed. English-language learners are the core challenge for National City schools, said Superintendent Dennis Doyle, and interactive whiteboards offer new ways to coax them toward success. Eighteen teachers tested the tools districtwide last year. This year, more took on the technology, with 20 boards in use at El Toyon alone.
"It's like … the Wii," Doyle said. "Everyone wanted it. You didn't have to advertise."
Interactive whiteboards aren't new. British schools embraced the boards four years ago, pouring nearly $50 million in government funds into the technology. Proponents tout the boards as a way to keep fickle students engaged, and to cater to different learners with multi-sensory lessons. Yet researchers have been skeptical, noting that achievement hasn't surged as the boards crop up in British classrooms.
But Britain is a world away from National City, where educators say the whiteboards are ideal for English-language learners. The tool is new to National City, but the methods aren't: lots of images and lots of interaction. To explain a word in English, Vazquez can pull a picture from the web; to keep students from tuning out, she sprinkles her lessons with quick quizzes, and invites students to the board to move objects and words onscreen.
[Maura Larkins comment: all of this can be done by any good teacher with a blackboard! When I was a teacher, I had banker boxes full of pictures and appropriate worksheets that I would pull out when my students wanted to pursue and unexpected topic.]
...Interactive boards aren't a magic bullet, educators caution. Like other technologies, they depend largely on how — and if — teachers use them. Past efforts to digitize U.S. classrooms have fizzled, lacking support from teachers, who need training and technical support, said B.J. Afeman, a project specialist in the San Diego County Office of Education. After computers did little to boost scores in the 1990s, many schools are wary of placing their hopes in technology, especially with a budget crisis looming, Afeman said.
"You can't just buy a laptop and expect kids to get smarter," said Afeman, who worked closely with National City on the project. "National did it differently."
National is known for doing things differently — and well. Statewide, its math scores top all other school districts with similar percentages of low-income and English-learning students; its English scores rank fourth. In 2004, two National elementary schools were tapped as exceptionally high-performing schools by Springboard Schools, an Oakland nonprofit that analyzes school success. Its test scores regularly rank it among schools that are far wealthier, whiter and more English-savvy.
Computers are plentiful here compared to most schools in San Diego County, with nearly one computer for every three students. But the key is how computers are used in National City schools, Doyle said — not how many there are.
Teachers decide when and how to use the boards, and are key to whether the lessons flourish or flop. Learning to use the technology takes time, as does crafting special lessons. It took Vazquez six hours to assemble her half-hour class about orange juice. Now, however, she and other El Toyon teachers can always use that lesson, pulling it up year after year.
Doyle has wisely tied technology to measurable goals, instead of heralding the technology itself, said Bruce Braciszewski, executive director of the Classroom of the Future Foundation. National also pushed professional development via the whiteboards. Teachers can trade ideas, archive their charts, and discuss individual students' progress through the system.
"Teaching is no longer that job you do all by yourself," Doyle said.
...South Bay Union School District, centered in Imperial Beach, is eyeing the technology, but nervous about the price, especially as California aims budget cuts at schools.
...Chris Oram, National's technology director, estimated the systems' total cost at $500,000. Each board costs roughly $7,000 including pre-made programs and egg-shaped controllers for students, Oram said. Individual schools pay for the boards, usually out of federal and state funds allocated to help low-income students and English-language learners. Each National City school receives between $250,000 and $500,000 annually in such funds.
National elementary schools also pay for three full-time employees to troubleshoot and train teachers to use the boards — a $250,000 cost, Oram estimated...
[Maura Larkins comment: I wonder if the whiteboards turned out to be a white elephant. Dennis Doyle hasn't revealed why he suddenly resigned, but perhaps the board was unhappy about excessive spending similar to that in the story below.]
Lavish Spending at San Diego Anti-Terror Center
Colin Weatherby
Voice of San Diego
Oct. 5, 2012
An anti-terrorism center in San Diego was cited in a U.S. Senate report on Wednesday for its excessive spending, reports the U-T.
The state-operated center purchased 55 flat-screen televisions, claiming that the purchase was necessary for monitoring the news. The former director of the center was fired after spending nearly $75,000 on the purchase. The TVs were meant to be used for a training program that never happened, and were instead used to display calendars.
Throw in a few sixers, a bowl of peanuts, and a couple of Chargers posters and we might have San Diego's best new sports bar, right? OK, maybe not.
English Learners Put High-Tech Blackboards to New Use
By EMILY ALPERT
Voice of San Diego
Friday, Feb. 1, 2008
...Magic is now standard at El Toyon Elementary School in National City, where Vazquez teaches bilingual classes for first and second grade students. Here, every classroom boasts an interactive whiteboard; across the National School District, half of classrooms got the tools this year.
National, a district with a history of achieving against the odds, has adopted the technology more widely than any other school district in San Diego County. It's an unlikely Mecca for high-tech, a school where educators say most children go home to play with Nintendos, not PCs. Ninety percent of its students are from low-income households; nearly 70 percent are still learning English.
But here, the technology has yielded results, according to an early study. Test scores ticked upward in the high-tech classrooms, where 5 percent more students passed state tests compared to their less-wired counterparts. Teachers report that students are more attentive and excited, and go absent less frequently.
National City's success points to an emerging focus for the technology: Bringing second-language students up to speed. English-language learners are the core challenge for National City schools, said Superintendent Dennis Doyle, and interactive whiteboards offer new ways to coax them toward success. Eighteen teachers tested the tools districtwide last year. This year, more took on the technology, with 20 boards in use at El Toyon alone.
"It's like … the Wii," Doyle said. "Everyone wanted it. You didn't have to advertise."
Interactive whiteboards aren't new. British schools embraced the boards four years ago, pouring nearly $50 million in government funds into the technology. Proponents tout the boards as a way to keep fickle students engaged, and to cater to different learners with multi-sensory lessons. Yet researchers have been skeptical, noting that achievement hasn't surged as the boards crop up in British classrooms.
But Britain is a world away from National City, where educators say the whiteboards are ideal for English-language learners. The tool is new to National City, but the methods aren't: lots of images and lots of interaction. To explain a word in English, Vazquez can pull a picture from the web; to keep students from tuning out, she sprinkles her lessons with quick quizzes, and invites students to the board to move objects and words onscreen.
[Maura Larkins comment: all of this can be done by any good teacher with a blackboard! When I was a teacher, I had banker boxes full of pictures and appropriate worksheets that I would pull out when my students wanted to pursue and unexpected topic.]
...Interactive boards aren't a magic bullet, educators caution. Like other technologies, they depend largely on how — and if — teachers use them. Past efforts to digitize U.S. classrooms have fizzled, lacking support from teachers, who need training and technical support, said B.J. Afeman, a project specialist in the San Diego County Office of Education. After computers did little to boost scores in the 1990s, many schools are wary of placing their hopes in technology, especially with a budget crisis looming, Afeman said.
"You can't just buy a laptop and expect kids to get smarter," said Afeman, who worked closely with National City on the project. "National did it differently."
National is known for doing things differently — and well. Statewide, its math scores top all other school districts with similar percentages of low-income and English-learning students; its English scores rank fourth. In 2004, two National elementary schools were tapped as exceptionally high-performing schools by Springboard Schools, an Oakland nonprofit that analyzes school success. Its test scores regularly rank it among schools that are far wealthier, whiter and more English-savvy.
Computers are plentiful here compared to most schools in San Diego County, with nearly one computer for every three students. But the key is how computers are used in National City schools, Doyle said — not how many there are.
Teachers decide when and how to use the boards, and are key to whether the lessons flourish or flop. Learning to use the technology takes time, as does crafting special lessons. It took Vazquez six hours to assemble her half-hour class about orange juice. Now, however, she and other El Toyon teachers can always use that lesson, pulling it up year after year.
Doyle has wisely tied technology to measurable goals, instead of heralding the technology itself, said Bruce Braciszewski, executive director of the Classroom of the Future Foundation. National also pushed professional development via the whiteboards. Teachers can trade ideas, archive their charts, and discuss individual students' progress through the system.
"Teaching is no longer that job you do all by yourself," Doyle said.
...South Bay Union School District, centered in Imperial Beach, is eyeing the technology, but nervous about the price, especially as California aims budget cuts at schools.
...Chris Oram, National's technology director, estimated the systems' total cost at $500,000. Each board costs roughly $7,000 including pre-made programs and egg-shaped controllers for students, Oram said. Individual schools pay for the boards, usually out of federal and state funds allocated to help low-income students and English-language learners. Each National City school receives between $250,000 and $500,000 annually in such funds.
National elementary schools also pay for three full-time employees to troubleshoot and train teachers to use the boards — a $250,000 cost, Oram estimated...
[Maura Larkins comment: I wonder if the whiteboards turned out to be a white elephant. Dennis Doyle hasn't revealed why he suddenly resigned, but perhaps the board was unhappy about excessive spending similar to that in the story below.]
Lavish Spending at San Diego Anti-Terror Center
Colin Weatherby
Voice of San Diego
Oct. 5, 2012
An anti-terrorism center in San Diego was cited in a U.S. Senate report on Wednesday for its excessive spending, reports the U-T.
The state-operated center purchased 55 flat-screen televisions, claiming that the purchase was necessary for monitoring the news. The former director of the center was fired after spending nearly $75,000 on the purchase. The TVs were meant to be used for a training program that never happened, and were instead used to display calendars.
Throw in a few sixers, a bowl of peanuts, and a couple of Chargers posters and we might have San Diego's best new sports bar, right? OK, maybe not.
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Bertha Lopez sows strife at Otis Elementary in National City School District
The San Diego Union Tribune has supported Bertha Lopez in recent editorials, and has covered up her wrongdoing in the past, so the editors deserve a nod of appreciation for allowing this story to be published. Perhaps one day Don Sevrens will break down and allow Chris Moran to write the full story of Castle Park Elementary.
Candidate ripped in letter signed by teachers
By Chris Moran
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
October 18, 2008
CHULA VISTA – Teacher Bertha Lopez, who's running for Sweetwater Union High School District board, switched schools this summer after a majority of teachers at her old campus signed a letter accusing her of creating division and tension among the staff.
Lopez said she asked to transfer from John A. Otis Elementary to Rancho De La Nación Elementary, both in National City, for personal and professional reasons...
Lopez is president of the Chula Vista Elementary School District board and said she is running for the Sweetwater post now that her son is in middle school.
In April, 18 teachers on a staff of about 25 at Otis signed a letter addressed to National School District board members criticizing Lopez. The San Diego Union-Tribune obtained the letter through a public records request after being told about it through an anonymous tip.
The two-page letter from Otis teachers says of Lopez: “She is not a team player, and in actuality she has worked assiduously at creating division and tension among staff members.”
The letter also says: “A great majority of the staff have lost all confidence in Ms. Lopez as an effective language arts specialist for our school. She has continually fostered a negative environment.”
[Blogger's note: Why is Bertha Lopez running for the Sweetwater board? One reason may be to kill two birds with one stone: to expand the power of what I call the "Judd group" into SUHSD while maintaining her CVESD seat in the hands of the same group. CVESD has a habit of appointing board members when a trustee leaves. This is how Larry Cunningham and David Bejarano got their positions on the board.]
Candidate ripped in letter signed by teachers
By Chris Moran
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
October 18, 2008
CHULA VISTA – Teacher Bertha Lopez, who's running for Sweetwater Union High School District board, switched schools this summer after a majority of teachers at her old campus signed a letter accusing her of creating division and tension among the staff.
Lopez said she asked to transfer from John A. Otis Elementary to Rancho De La Nación Elementary, both in National City, for personal and professional reasons...
Lopez is president of the Chula Vista Elementary School District board and said she is running for the Sweetwater post now that her son is in middle school.
In April, 18 teachers on a staff of about 25 at Otis signed a letter addressed to National School District board members criticizing Lopez. The San Diego Union-Tribune obtained the letter through a public records request after being told about it through an anonymous tip.
The two-page letter from Otis teachers says of Lopez: “She is not a team player, and in actuality she has worked assiduously at creating division and tension among staff members.”
The letter also says: “A great majority of the staff have lost all confidence in Ms. Lopez as an effective language arts specialist for our school. She has continually fostered a negative environment.”
[Blogger's note: Why is Bertha Lopez running for the Sweetwater board? One reason may be to kill two birds with one stone: to expand the power of what I call the "Judd group" into SUHSD while maintaining her CVESD seat in the hands of the same group. CVESD has a habit of appointing board members when a trustee leaves. This is how Larry Cunningham and David Bejarano got their positions on the board.]
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