Poway Superintendent Collins charged with 5 felonies

Ex-Poway Superintendent Is Facing Five Felony Charges

By Ashly McGlone

Voice of San Diego

August 7, 2017

 

John Collins is facing five felony charges for allegedly misusing public money, vacation, sick and leave time while superintendent of the Poway Unified School District, according to a complaint filed by the San Diego County district attorney’s office on Friday...

Collins enjoyed a close relationship with the teacher’s union during his tenure as superintendent, which was credited for helping to avoid a strike and layoffs during difficult economic times.

The district was thrust into the national spotlight in 2012 when news emerged about a costly $1 billion capital appreciation bond deal struck on Collins’ watch in 2011, and Collins faced criticism locally during his last year on the job for, among other things, edits made to a consultant report and so-called “me-too” clauses in Collins’ contract that allowed him to benefit from teacher and manager pay negotiations...



[Comments by me and Chris Brewster--and Charles Sellars:]

Chris Brewster

So Poway school board member Charles Sellers says the board offered to work out an "amicable solution" for his departure from the district and the repayment of the funds that he misappropriated. What responsible public entity endeavors to work out an amicable solution with someone who has misappropriated over $300k? This suggests to me a serious lack of judgment on the part of the school board, which is probably already evident in that they kept this individual employed for so long.

Maura Larkins

@Chris Brewster Litigation is very costly and time-consuming. All civil cases should be settled. When they're not settled, it means one or both parties is being unreasonable (unless there is a genuine uncertainty about the law applicable to the case). Clearly, in this case, Collins is being unreasonable, and he wants to do as much harm as he can to the school district.

Chris Brewster

Ms. Larkins: I agree that litigation can costly and time-consuming. I do not agree that all civil cases should be settled. Some, for example, are initiated to intimidate or for other inappropriate reasons. A good example is the civil case against Taylor Swift, which was recently tossed by a federal judge, but only after she contested it in court. Had she settled, she would have implied some degree of personal responsibility, which the judge found lacking. Settling to avoid court costs is a tactic that avoids costs, but can add insult to injury.
The suggestion of my post however is that the members of the school board who presided over the district during this individual's tenure were seriously negligent in allowing someone who has now been charged with felonies to engage in the alleged activities. Trying to mediate with someone you believe has stolen public funds is a fool's errand and even if successful, allows the person to retain some of the purloined public funds. One might suggest that something is better than nothing, but there is principle involved. For example, do you negotiate with someone who has robbed your bank and settle for half of the funds they stole?

Maura Larkins

@Chris Brewster
I would like to amend my comment to say,
"All civil cases should be settled or dropped (unless there is genuine uncertainty about the applicable law)."

Of course, dropping a case is a sort of settlement. In fact, frivolous lawsuits are sometimes settled in favor of the defendant when the plaintiff comes to his senses. Taylor Swift's case could have been settled in her favor, with the plaintiff apologizing to her and perhaps paying her legal fees.

The idea of settling for half the funds stolen might make sense if the money has already been spent and the defendant has no other resources. You can't get blood from a stone, but you can waste a lot of time and energy trying. But remember that it is also possible to settle for ALL the money and then some. Surely you'd approve of that????

I do not believe in the principle of draining a school district of money and people-hours and peace just out of revenge. The first duty of a school district is to the public, not the desire for revenge.

Maura Larkins

@Chris Brewster Also, it is ridiculous for you to pretend that Sellars has responsibility for keeping Collins employed so long. Sellars opposed Collins from the start. Sellars was elected in November 2014. In April 2015, VOSD reported on Sellars:
"John [Collins] and Candy [Smiley, president of Poway teachers] cut up the pie,” said school board member Charlie Sellers, who was elected in November. “The previous board simply rubber-stamped their action and this board is actually questioning their actions and they don’t like it.”
http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/topics/education/how-poway-unified-went-from-big-happy-family-to-family-feud/

Chris Brewster

Ms. Larkins: Could you kindly point out where in my remarks I suggested that Mr. Sellars has responsibility for keeping Mr. Collins employed for so long? I'm unable to find any such implication. As for your other point, I agree that the first duty of a school district is to the public, not the desire for revenge. The school board clearly made some terrible decisions here. The question is, once they determined this gentleman fleeced them, would the best option not be to turn the case over to the DA and ask that as part of the prosecution, the defendant be required to pay the school district back? Achieving an out of court settlement for half (of what they think he stole for example) is not, in my view, in the best interest of the school district or justice. It is Mr. Sellars who is quoted as believing the some mediated settlement would have been desirable. It is with that sentiment that I disagree for the reasons noted.

 

Maura Larkins

@Chris Brewster
If you tell me that you didn't intend to blame Sellars for keeping Collins employed, I believe you.

But let me explain how a logical reader would read your statements (although your final clause might not have accurately reflected what you wanted to say).

To start with, you mentioned Sellars by name, saying, "...Charles Sellers says the board offered to work out an "amicable solution" for his departure from the district and the repayment of the funds that he misappropriated."

You thus pointed out Charles Sellars as the one board member who took public responsibility for the effort to settle with Collins. We can assume that a majority of the board supported this effort, but we don't know who the other individuals were.

You then made clear that this effort by Charles Sellars and these other unknown individuals  demonstrated a lack of judgment: "What responsible public entity endeavors to work out an amicable solution with someone who has misappropriated over $300k? This suggests to me a serious lack of judgment..."

You then added another accusation against Sellars and the unknown individuals, "This suggests to me a serious lack of judgment, which is probably already evident in that they kept this individual employed for so long."

"They" obviously refers to Sellars and the unknown individuals.

I believe you if you didn't mean to implicate Sellars in keeping Collins employed so long. If you didn't mean to implicate him, I'd be interested to know that.

Maura Larkins

@Chris Brewster
Regarding your point that settlement is bad because the DA might want to get a judgment for ALL damages, I agree with your sentiment that the money should be paid back in full if Collins has the ability to pay.

But the man seems to be broke. In other words, he is judgment-proof.

You can't get blood from a stone. If he had turned over what he still had at the time of the settlement offer in return for the district waiving the rest of his debt, the students would be ahead.

I doubt Collins will ever pay a cent to Poway Unified.

Chris Brewster

Ms. Larkins: I know nothing about Mr. Sellars other than what I have read here (i.e. his quote). I think the action he supported was unwise and inappropriate. I think that if a public entity becomes aware that a person in their employ has acted unlawfully, they should turn the information over to the proper authorities. Full stop. I think this is a continuation of bad decisions by the board, Whether Mr. Sellars was involved in some or all of them is not something I am in a position to dissect. 

Maura Larkins

@Chris Brewster
Chris, you have every right to believe that the settlement offer was "unwise and inappropriate."
But you are wrong to deny that the new board with Mr. Sellars and Kimberly Beatty did an investigation and turned their results over to the proper authorities.
That's exactly what they did.
They also are suing Collins to get the money back. Are you saying that they shouldn't be suing Collins to get the money back?
We are talking about two separate things here: the criminal case and the civil suit.

And I must disagree with your insistence that "the board" continued the same kind of decision-making after Mr. Sellars and Kimberly Beatty were elected. There was a significant change. For some reason, perhaps a political reason, you don't want to give Sellars and Beatty credit for any change.

Charles Sellers

@Maura Larkins @Chris Brewster Ms. Larkins, thank you for your support it is much appreciated.  Mr. Brewster, what I meant by "amicable" was "mutually agreed".  While I cannot divulge the content of these negotiations, rest assured that our goal as a Board was always to minimize any damage caused to the District.  Sometimes that involves not throwing good money after bad.  While we strongly believe that Dr. Collins owes PUSD all these monies, if not more, there is no guarantee that a court will agree with us.  Even if it does, there is no guarantee that we will ever collect in full from Dr. Collins.  We simply attempted a settlement that would have yielded the most dollars in the least time.  However, Dr. Collins was simply not amenable to negotiation, much less compromise.  Perhaps if he had shown remorse for his actions, paid back what he could, resigned instead of having to be fired, settled instead of forcing us to sue him, he might not be facing jail and the loss of his pension, even though you (and many others) feel that is what he deserves.  I can't speak for the authorities.  We simply followed the law and turned over our findings.  The decisions to  criminally prosecute and strip him of his credentials were made by others.  I'm just saying that had he agreed to do what was best for Poway Unified, he may also have been doing what was best for himself.  While he had numerous opportunities to do just that, he always chose not to and only he can say why. Perhaps he will, in court. - - Charles Sellers, PUSD Trustee.

Chris Brewster

Mr. Sellars: Thanks for taking the time to reply. Much appreciated. My view is that if a public entity, such as yours, has reason to believe that crimes have been committed, that information should be turned over to the proper prosecutorial authorities and they should handle the case. If that was done expeditiously, it is not apparent to me from the stories I have read. 

 

 

Charles Sellers

@Chris Brewster When we fired Dr. Collins for cause in July of 2016, we immediately turned over the results of our forensic audit to both the District Attorney and the Commission on Teacher Credentialing, as required by law.  I can only assume that appeals with the CTC and negotiations with the DA are what took up the past year.  As they say, the wheels of justice turn slowly.

Chris Brewster

Mr. Sellars: Thank you for enlightening me and anyone else reading this thread. If the board expeditiously turned over the audit to the authorities noted, I clearly think that was the right thing to do.

Why Poway Unified Fired Its Superintendent

Superintendent John Collins and the Poway Unified Board got along very well with Poway Federations of Teachers and its president Candace Smiley, even when the district notoriously took on $1 billion dollars of debt in CAB bonds.

Why Poway Unified Fired Its Superintendent
 By Ashly McGlone

VOSD

July 11, 2016

The Poway Unified School District board believes former Superintendent John Collins, who was fired Sunday, took hundreds of thousands of dollars in unauthorized pay, according to dismissal charges obtained by Voice of San Diego and an audit report released by the district Monday.

According to the documents, Collins was also censured for filing litigation without the school board’s approval, and for interfering with the district’s investigation into his financial dealings.

The board could ask a court to force Collins to pay back as much as $345,000 – the amount forensic auditors flagged as unauthorized pay...

See more

Superintendent John Collins sanitizes devastating report about Poway Unified School District

 Poway isn't the only school district where secrecy protects incompetence and bad behavior. All school districts need a heavy dose of sunshine.

Morning Report: Report Sanitized for Poway’s Protection
By Randy Dotinga 
VOSD
Aug 31, 2015

Turns out a tough analysis of dysfunctional management at Poway Unified School District that we got after a public records battle was a lot tougher before we got it.

Superintendent John Collins decided to take a red pen to a $40,000 consultant’s report about district tech problems.

VOSD’s Ashly McGlone uncovered the superintendent’s significant edits, but only after we threatened the district with litigation. As she reports, “words like ‘arrogance’ were replaced with ‘overconfidence.’ ‘Dysfunction’ became ‘issues.’ ‘Extreme and even chaotic’ decision-making became just ‘problematic’ and ‘reckless and wasteful decision-making’ became ‘uncontrolled and inefficient,’ while other descriptors like ‘short-sighted’ and longer passages were scrubbed entirely, district records show.”

The superintendent’s told us this about the report: “The result has helped us to celebrate the outstanding work we do and formulate new goals and organizational structures to continuously improve upon our successes.”

A tech staffer went to a meeting with Collins and said the chief wanted to avoid “calling anybody out for the problems that were discovered.”

If student hackers are "depraved," then Poway Unified School District is deeply depraved

This post was first published in May 2008.

I am republishing it in the light of the 2015 convictions of black teachers in Altanta for cheating on standardized student tests.

Apparently Atlanta is a lot like San Diego. 

When illegal activity happens in a school, local officials handle the issue in two very different ways. When the wrongdoer is an adult with political connections, taxpayer money is poured into that person's defense, and the schools go into cover-up mode. On the other hand, if the wrongdoer has no political connections, the school goes after him or her with a vengeance. The justice system stands ready to support schools and other public entities. You're fighting an uphill battle when you want justice from a pubic entity. See series of posts about shenanigans in Poway.  

There was an amazing case at Guajome Park Academy where teachers improperly changed grades, but instead of censuring the teacherd, the school sued a whistle-blower kid who hacked the school computer to prove the wrongdoing.
 
See also my comparison of the Atlanta cheating scandal and the bizarre color-coordinated indictments of school officials in San Diego.
ORIGINAL MAY 2008 POST:

I've learned a lot about dishonesty among San Diego County school officials over the past seven years.

I've been amazed and astounded by it.

However, I never thought of using the word "depraved" to describe Poway Unified School District. I'm thinking about it now. To start with, I will say this: if students who cheated on tests and changed grades are "depraved," then PUSD is definitely deeply depraved.

The San Diego Union Tribune reports that Assistant Principal Keith Koelzer says that the current cheating scandal at Rancho Bernardo High School is "unique in its depth of complexity and depravity."

PUSD has taken $100,000s of taxpayer dollars from education and used it to protect the arbitrary power of individuals in power. For example, at the same time that they are saying that Tyler Chase Harper can't wear an anti-gay T-shirt, they are appealing a court decision that they should pay $300,000 to two gay students whose harassment was ignored and permitted by PUSD.

Which is it, PUSD? Do you think gay students should be protected or not?

Poway has paid far more than $300,000 to fight this case: Donovan and Ramelli v. Poway Unified School District.

It would have been better to give the money to the students, or, better yet, to have protected the students and used the money for education.

But is PUSD depraved?

Encarta dictionary says depraved means "showing great moral corruption or wickedness."

Well, then, yes;  PUSD is depraved. But the students? I think they're too young to earn that title. We can't excuse PUSD on the basis of youthful hijinks.



RBHS assistant principal on hacking case: 'Unique in its depth of ... depravity'
By J. Harry Jones
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
May 1, 2008

RANCHO BERNARDO – An assistant principal revealed details of a cheating scandal uncovered at Rancho Bernardo High School, and his reaction to the decline of morality among some students, in an emotional memo to teachers.

“Our (worst) technological nightmare has just occurred,” Assistant Principal Keith Koelzer wrote. “At this point, we have identified 8 students (with varying degrees of involvement) who hacked into our school network, downloaded several teacher's files on the flashdrives, distributed tests to students days before they were administered and altered grades on student transcripts. The eight students are all Advanced Placement students, they are all smart, but they have no wisdom. “This case is unique in its depth of complexity and depravity.”
Koelzer sent the memo Saturday to teachers and other staff members by e-mail, the day after the scandal was uncovered. The San Diego Union-Tribune requested the memo, and the Poway Unified School District released it Thursday, with small parts of it redacted.
Until now, school officials have released few details about the ongoing investigation.
“On Friday, one student went into incredible detail of his movements in this deceit over the past two months,” Koelzer said in the memo. “After listening, I turned to his mother and asked, 'What do you think of this kind of morality?' The mother replied, 'I am not a mother anymore.' I asked the same question to the boy's father and he responded, 'This is not the morality of my ancestors.'”
Koelzer wrote that the pressure to get into a good college “has overly consumed one of our students. He described to his father and me how his transcripts were altered and personally delivered them to a college. As the student talked, I watched his father's face and I could see his 18-year dream of his child's UC education disappear.”
The names, ages and grade levels of the students have not been released.
“We must honor the due process of these students,” Koelzer said. “The stakes cannot be any higher for these students. They are staring at expulsion, questioning by police, questioning by our district technicians, (a) potential lawsuit by the district” and a rescinding of college offers.
On Monday, district Superintendent Donald Phillips said six students have been suspended while the investigation continues. Principal Paul Robinson said the police are aware of what has happened but are awaiting the results of the school investigation before proceeding..

Standardized test cheating may be widespread in school systems throughout the U.S.

See all posts on cheating on tests.

Report: Test cheating may be widespread
by Donna Krache
CNN
March 25th, 2012

(CNN) An investigative report published in Sunday’s Atlanta Journal-Constitution found indications of standardized test cheating in school systems throughout the U.S.

The seven-month long investigation of testing data examined 1.6 million records from almost 70,000 public schools nationwide. Suspicious score increases, high numbers of erasures and other irregularities were uncovered in about 200 school districts. The indicators found were similar to those discovered in Atlanta Public Schools, says the AJC.

Atlanta as cheating ground zero

The Atlanta Journal Constitution has broken news before about test cheating. In 2009, the paper reported “statistically unlikely” test score gains at some Atlanta schools. A state review determined that some cheating had occurred in more than half of the district’s elementary and middle schools. About 180 teachers have been implicated in the scandal.

So far, one teacher, Damany Lewis, has admitted to cheating and been fired. Other educators suspected of cheating who have not accepted a “resign or be fired” deal are being brought before a tribunal to hear their cases and determine what actions will be taken.

Former University of Georgia Chancellor Dr. Erroll Davis was named interim superintendent of APS last year. He replaced Dr. Beverly Hall. Hall resigned in June 2011 after 11 years as the head of APS. She was the recipient of praise and awards for her role in the district’s increased graduation rates and higher test scores.

Officials from APS and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation are still investigating what has become known as the “biggest cheating scandal in American history," but according to the AJC, Atlanta is not alone in its testing irregularities.

A nationwide problem

According to the AJC, the paper’s investigation does not prove that any widespread cheating occurred, but “it reveals that scores in hundreds of cities followed a pattern, like, in Atlanta, indicated cheating in multiple schools.”

The report says that in nine districts, test scores fluctuated so much that “the odds of such dramatic shifts occurring without intervention such as tampering were worse than one in one billion.” Houstonschools, the report says, experienced test score jumps two, three or more times than typically seen in one year. When these students went on to the next grade, their test scores plummeted, so the likelihood that the score increases were due to learning is slim. A spokesman for the Houston school district, however, questioned whether cheating was the cause of all the irregularities that the AJC found.

The AJC says that 196 of the country’s 3,125 school districts had enough irregularities that the odds of these irregularities happening by chance alone are worse than one in 1,000.

The paper’s statistical analysis of test scores red-flagged more than one in six tests inSt. Louis and one in seven in Detroit. Officials in the St. Louis district have acknowledged the unusual score changes, but say that cheating is not the cause. Detroit officials have said that score increases were due to “better teaching,” according to the report.

According to the investigation, “dozens” of mid-sized school systems, including those in Gary, Indiana, East St. Louis, Illinois, and Mobile, Alabama exhibited “suspicious” tests in high concentrations.

No Child Left Behind and student outcomes

Standardized testing is a key point of No Child Left Behind, the bipartisan federal legislation signed into law ten years ago.

At the heart of the law is is a mandate for accountability and measured student outcomes, derived primarily from state-administered standardized tests that are given annually in grades 3 through 8 in math and reading.

Critics say that the law promotes “teaching to the test” and that it cultivates a climate for cheating, especially when teachers’ and administrators’ jobs and pay are tied students’ performance on tests.

But supporters say that there needs to be accountability for student learning among teachers and administrators, and that reliable, valid testing is one way to establish that. They call for stricter test-taking measures.

Regardless of the possible reasons behind them, inaccurate test results also erode public confidence in school systems and the credibility of public information.

And experts agree that when cheating happens, it’s the students who suffer. Schools with inflated test scores may look good on paper and earn praise for their staffs, but low-performing students who are entitled to tutoring and other educational options lose out when their scores don’t reflect their deficiencies.

Read the AJC report: “Cheating our children: Suspicious scores across the nation” here.

Grand jury indicts 35 in Georgia school cheating scandal

See further discussion here.

What do you expect when you allow schools to keep their culture of secrecy and backdoor politics? If you want real reform, you have to change the culture of the education establishment.

Schools don't like people who make waves. They like people who fall in line with school politics.

"For example, teachers who reported other teachers who cheated were terminated, while teachers who were caught cheating were only suspended."

Beverly Hall reminds me of the administrators and board members I knew at Chula Vista Elementary School District.

Report: Test cheating may be widespread

Grand jury indicts 35 in Georgia school cheating scandal
35 employees indicted over alleged cheating
By Chelsea J. Carter
CNN
March 29, 2013
Watch this video

Atlanta (CNN) -- In what has been described as one of the largest cheating scandals to hit the nation's public education system, 35 Atlanta Public Schools educators and administrators were indicted Friday on charges of racketeering and corruption.

The indictment is the bookend to a story that was once touted as a model for the nation's school districts after the district's test scores dramatically improved in some of its toughest urban schools.

Among those indicted by a Fulton County, Georgia, grand jury was Beverly Hall, the former schools superintendent who gained national recognition in 2009 for turning around Atlanta's school system.

"She was a full participant in that conspiracy," Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard told reporters during a news conference announcing the charges.

"Without her, this conspiracy could not have taken place, particularly in the degree in which it took place."

The indictment follows a state investigation that was launched after a series of reports by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution newspaper found large, unexplained gains in test scores in some Atlanta schools.

A state review determined that some cheating had occurred in more than half of the district's elementary and middle schools. About 180 teachers were initially implicated in the scandal.

Threats and intimidation

Hall has denied any role in the cheating scandal. In 2011, she told The New York Times that her subordinates had allowed the cheating to occur, but denied she was involved.

Hall resigned from her position in 2011 following the state investigation, which lambasted her leadership and found widespread cheating in dozens of Atlanta schools.

The alleged cheating is believed to date back to early 2001, according to the indictment, when standardized testing scores began to turn around in the 50,000-student school district.

For at least a period of four years, between 2005 and 2009, test answers were altered, fabricated and falsely certified, the indictment said.

Hall allegedly oversaw a system where threats and intimidation were used against teachers, it said.

"As a result, cheating became more and more prevalent," the indictment said.

By the time the 2009 Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests, as the standardized test is known, was administered in Atlanta Public Schools, "cheating was taking place in a majority of APS's 83 elementary and middle schools."

The allegations, the indictment said, are substantiated by the Georgia Governor's Office of Student Achievement analysis of erasures on standardized tests.

'Suspicious' test score gains

According to the indictment, Hall placed unreasonable goals on educators and "protected and rewarded those who achieved targets by cheating. It also alleges she fired principals who failed to achieve goals and "ignored suspicious" test score gains throughout the school system.

In 2009, Hall was named the National Superintendent of the Year by the Schools Superintendents Association, which at the time said her "leadership has turned Atlanta into a model of urban school reform."

But the indictment paints another picture of Hall, one of a superintendent with "a single-minded purpose, and that is to cheat," Howard told reporters.

"For example, teachers who reported other teachers who cheated were terminated, while teachers who were caught cheating were only suspended," the indictment alleges.

"The message from Beverly Hall was clear: There were to be no exceptions and no excuses for failure to meet targets."

At the heart of the conspiracy to cheat, the indictment said, was money.

"It is further part of the conspiracy and endeavor that targets achieved through cheating were used by Beverly Hall to obtain substantial performance bonuses," the indictment said.

It also alleges a number of others received performance bonuses based on test scores.

2011: Seven edcuators step down as scandal unfolds

Racketeering and conspiracy

Of the 65 counts in the indictment, Hall and 34 others were charged with one count of violating Georgia's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, commonly known as RICO.

In addition to racketeering, Hall also is charged with making false statements and writings and theft by taking.

If convicted on all counts, she could face a maximum of 45 years in prison.

Among those also indicted were four of Hall's executive administrators, six principals, two assistant principals, six testing coordinators, 14 teachers, a school improvement specialist and a school secretary.

These Atlanta Public Schools officials are among those named:

-- Millicent Few, director of human resources, is accused of participating in the conspiracy and making false statements during the investigation.

-- Tamara Cotman, a regional supervisor who oversaw dozens of Atlanta's schools, is accused of intimidating witnesses, including a principal and other staff, in an effort to hinder an investigation.

-- Sharon Davis-Williams, who also oversaw a region of Atlanta's schools.

-- Michael Pitts, who oversaw a region of Atlanta's schools, also is accused of intimidating witnesses, primarily staff at Parks Middle School, in an effort to hinder or delay an investigation.

-- Christopher Waller, principal at Parks Middle School in Atlanta, where at least four teachers are accused of conspiring to cheat on standardized tests, is also alleged to have pressured teachers to cheat as early as spring 2006.

-- Armstead Salters, principal of Gideons Elementary School, where at least four teachers say he allegedly pressured them into cheating.

Hall and the 34 others named in the indictment have been ordered to surrender to authorities by Tuesday, said Howard, the district attorney.

Was the first warning that something was wrong in Poway a May 2012 article by VOSD's Andrew Donohue?

See Update April 2015

Photo by Sam Hodgson

Why exactly was Poway Federation of Teachers President Candy Smiley (left) so happy in this picture?

A few months after this picture was taken, it was revealed that all three Poway Unified board members endorsed by Smiley's organization had voted to sell bonds that would force a future generation to pay a billion dollars in interest for a $126 million loan.

Voice of San Diego editor Andrew Donohue wrote an interesting article last May about "the unique lesson Poway has to teach."

Donohue noted, "Over the last two decades, though, the union and district have forged an uncommonly collaborative bond that started with trust on the budget and has now gone far beyond."

Yes, they were collaborative all the way to a huge scandal about CAB school bonds.

I don't believe that the board would have been able to pull of the CAB stunt without the blessing of the teachers union.

When there's too much "collegiality" among the people who run schools, different points of view don't get aired. Decisions are made behind closed doors. All the public ever sees is the smiling faces of the people who get along so very well together.

School boards work hard to present an image of peace and joy, but that's often the signal that the rest of us should start worrying.

I did more research and found a strong link between the Republican Party and the five Poway school board members who created the CAB bond deal.

Linda Vanderveen, Andy Patapow and Marc Davis openly claim Republican credentials. I couldn't find a party affiliation for Penny Ranftle or Todd Gutschow, but they both received the endorsement of Republican Poway Mayor Don Higginson. It seems that ALL the board members either were Republicans or managed to make themselves acceptable to Republicans.

Interestingly, Marc Davis got the approval of the Poway Federation of Teachers as well as the Republican Party. Penny Ranftle and Todd Gutschow also were endorsed by Poway Federation of Teachers.

Clearly, the bond deal was designed to please Republican constituents who insisted on no new taxes. Todd Gutschow made clear that this demand by constituents was what pushed the board into designing the unusual bond deal.

On November 6, 2012 voters threw out Vanderveen, and likely would have thrown out Patapow if there had been another challenger. Patapow squeaked ahead of Vanderveen by 2032 votes out of about 50,000. Voters replaced Vanderveen with a Democrat, Kimberley Beatty.


Where the Teachers Union and District Love Each Other
May 9, 2012 | Updated: Aug 3, 2012
By ANDREW DONOHUE
Voice of San Diego

When Candy Smiley talks about the school district, the pronoun she uses subtly belies the unique lesson Poway has to teach.

"We," she says over and over again.

"We didn't spend the $6 million from the feds. We can't control the state budget," she says. "When we got the money, we could've hired teachers. We decided collectively not to, that we would save it so that we could ensure that teacher salaries would return."

Smiley leads the union for teachers at Poway Unified School District. Further south, things aren't so friendly. The San Diego Unified School District has repeatedly made end-of-days financial warnings, only to find a way to put off painful cuts at the last second. Meanwhile, union leaders have engaged in a full-throated campaign to discredit the district's numbers and the people that produce them. Nobody trusts the numbers; nobody trusts each other.

Things used to be like this in Poway, too.

Over the last two decades, though, the union and district have forged an uncommonly collaborative bond that started with trust on the budget and has now gone far beyond. Upheaval in the leadership of the San Diego teachers union has led to a pledge of greater unity with the district. Meanwhile, the district has continued to plead with the union to at least sit down and start negotiating a solution to a fiscal crisis that looks likely to put hundreds of teachers out of a job.

If both the district and its teachers are serious about repairing their relationship, then Poway is as good a place as any for them to study.

I originally interviewed Smiley and Poway Superintendent John Collins for a story we did on the revolution happening in teacher evaluation, but Poway's tale didn't fit directly into the story.

Still, I learned a lot from our conversation and many of you have asked for more reporting highlighting solutions being used by other communities.

So here are four takeaways from my research:

• How They Came to Trust Each Other

The way Collins and Smiley describe it, Poway once struggled with many of the same problems other local school districts have today. The district and its unions argued over money. The budgets weren't transparent. Nobody trusted each other.

But about a decade and a half ago, things changed. A new superintendent came aboard. The union president wanted to throw out the emotions and just get down to the data. So, the district and the union sat down and went through the budget line by line. They no longer argued about what the problems were, but rather simply how to solve the problems.

From Smiley:

Once you start talking about the data, you start building a trusting relationship.

Everybody grew to understand the budget in a very honest, transparent way. It wasn't "he said, she said." That is the way we have been doing our business ever since. Today, the two groups still sit down together in a room five times a year to do this. The budget is color-coded to show everyone what's gone up and down. For every question the union has, the administration has an answer and documentation to back it up.

In San Diego Unified, the district has offered to bring the union in and go line by line through the budget. So far, the union hasn't taken them up on the offer.

The union argues that the district has a history of miscommunication when it comes to its budget. And it has a point. District officials admit that for years, their budget was in disarray, and that incorrect information was often given out.

But the same officials say that confusion is a thing of the past. District Deputy Superintendent of Business Operations Phil Stover says confidently that he knows where every penny in the district is being spent. All the union has to do is ask, he says, and he can lay it all out.

In Poway, that’s already happening.

Smiley again:

We can ask any question we want and I have complete confidence that I will get a straight answer and there will be back-up documentation.

Pretty soon, you just start building a trust. And when they are honest with me we are honest with them.

I feel very responsible for this relationship that was built before I arrived.

Says Collins:

Over the years what that's resulted is a relationship with the union that's based in trust and open and honest communication. Everything's on the table. All our records are available.

We've already agreed on what the facts are and then we focus on solving the problem.

Instead of arguing we don't want to do this, it was, what are we going to do to keep the district from going bankrupt.

Collins and Smiley even issue joint communications to employees and management. • What That Means Practically for District Finances

In Poway, teachers have taken a 4.3 percent salary rollback and the district has offered early retirement to avoid layoffs. Not out of the ordinary. Other places, like San Diego Unified, have also made similar moves.

However, the rollbacks expire this year and the two sides say the district can handle the increased costs. They decided not to spend one-time money from the federal government immediately after receiving it, instead putting it in a reserve. And they're already talking about renegotiating if everything doesn’t pan out.

"They agreed if things get worse we'll be back at the table," Collins said.

• One Reason Behind the Relationship

Poway teachers are a rare breed in San Diego County.

They're part of the American Federation of Teachers, one of two big umbrella teachers unions in the country. Most teachers across the region, and those in San Diego, belong to the National Education Association.

As New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof has written about, AFT leader Randi Weingarten has been pushing for unions to be actively participating in school reforms.

"I know the AFT has been very progressive," Collins said.

• What That Means for Everything Else

Now, back to the reason I interviewed Smiley and Collins to begin with.

There's a revolution happening right now in how data is used to evaluate teachers and push accountability. It's very controversial, and San Diego Unified isn't having any of it.

Big districts across the country, though, have been.

So I wanted to know if Poway's considering the use of sophisticated data to measure teacher performance.

Their answer: The two sides are in the early stages of meeting and talking about this very thing.

The Poway Federation of Teachers has surveyed its members. They recently had an all-day meeting about assessments with teacher union representatives from every school, every principal, the superintendent, his cabinet and four of the five school board members.

Smiley says evaluation needs to go beyond just test scores. There needs to be multiple measures.

"I'm confident that we will be building our own evaluation tool and we'll decide if we use test scores," she said. "We hope we'll be designing this — rather than having someone else design it for us."

Collins, not surprisingly, agreed.

"We're going to try to get some models in before we get told how to do it. We're hoping we can show the state a better model," he said.

Disclaimer: I'm not an expert in Poway education. This piece is based off of two interviews and a tip I'd received. If you think it's off base or there's something I'm missing, comment on this story or email me. I'm the editor of VOSD and you can reach me at andrew.donohue@voiceofsandiego.org or 619.325.0526.


[Maura Larkins comment: In fact, over a period of years I repeatedly told Andrew Donohue that VOSD was ignoring corruption in our county schools. His response was to refuse to publish important stories. Scott Lewis backed him up. I suspect that Buzz Woolley and Irwin Jacobs' deep pockets are responsible for VOSD's kid-gloved handling of school issues.

In Poway, as in most school districts, the pendulum keeps swinging back and forth

In Poway, two wrongs don't make a right
Mark Schaeffer
Voice of San Diego opinion
Nov 8, 2012

I attended Midland, Twin Peaks, and Poway High schools for much of my K-12 years. When in high school, the school board fired the superintendent, alleging cover-ups in the construction as one of several points. Following this, those board members voting to fire were subject to a recall election.

Then, a custodian of my acquaintance claimed the Mount Carmel auditorium was problematic. I do remember being on-stage for a holiday concert in 1977, wondering what would happen (thankfully, nothing).

When renovation work started, a manager said (I paraphrase), either the original work had no inspectors, or they should be imprisoned.

"Two wrongs do not make a right" should apply here.

Meet the Players Who Shaped Poway Schools' Bond Deals

I'm also curious about the identities of the lucky dogs who BOUGHT these bonds, and whether they have links to the people in this article. Heaven forbid that they might BE some of the same people in this article.

Meet the Players Who Shaped Poway Schools' Bond Deals
In August, dozens of residents showed up to a Poway Unified school board meeting to voice their concern over the district’s controversial bond program.
Oct 9, 2012
By SANDY CORONILLA
Voice of San Diego

Over the last few weeks, we’ve learned a lot about the Poway Unified School District’s controversial bond deals. We’ve learned they will saddle future residents with more than $1 billion worth of debt. We know the district squeezed $21 million in extra up-front cash to pay attorney’s fees and other costs associated with the bonds. But what we haven’t focused on, until now, are the people behind these extraordinary deals.

We decided to put together a quick guide to Poway’s players, so we could share what we know about the individuals responsible for putting together Poway’s bonds. Here’s more information about the players in our suburban saga.

John Collins, superintendent

• Collins began his career in education at the San Diego Unified School District in 1976. In 1989, he was hired by Poway as an assistant principal and worked in school administration at three different schools during the next seven years. For nine years he was the deputy superintendent in charge of business and learning support services and he became Poway’s superintendent in July 2010, following the retirement of Don Phillips.

• Late last year, local media reported that Collins’s home was in foreclosure after a public notice stated an auction would be held to settle $1.1 million in unpaid obligations.

• In his own words: “We want to be open, transparent and forthright in our responsibility to the district. If only one member of the community comes forward with questions and concerns, it’s one too many.” Yet, Collins has so far refused to provide even basic information about a proposed review of the district’s bond deals. He won’t say who’s doing the review, how much it costs or why the individual or company conducting it was chosen.

Linda Vanderveen, board president

• Vanderveen has served three consecutive four-year terms on Poway Unified’s board and is up for re-election this year.

• In her own words: “Our newly renovated schools are testimony to the community's commitment to our Building for Success program. People move to [Poway] for the schools. Clearly, we are doing something right.”

• My colleague Will Carless has called and emailed Vanderveen several times seeking comment or an interview. Vanderveen has ignored all of his requests.

Andy Patapow, board vice president

• Patapow has served four consecutive terms on Poway’s board and is up for re-election this year. He was the principal of Poway’s continuation school for 28 years.

• U-T San Diego reported that he accepted more than $300 in meals from Stone & Youngberg, the underwriter of last year’s controversial bond deal.

• Patapow has also ignored repeated calls and emails from Carless requesting comment.

Marc Davis, board clerk

• Davis is the newbie of the group. This is Davis’s first term as a board member; in 2014 he will be up for re-election.

• Davis promoted himself as a businessman and financial adviser during his campaign in 2010. He is the president and founder of Davis & Seiley Wealth Management.

• In his own words: “I am running to share my financial and business expertise to help address the monumental budget problems that we have now and will have in the future. I understand financial markets, contracts, employment rules, pension plans … and tax issues.”

• Davis is one of three board members who has responded to interview requests. In an Aug. 8 e-mail to Carless regarding the extra money Poway squeezed out of its bond deals, he wrote: “[Poway Unified] did not circumvent the will of the people in doing this but followed long standing legal precedent in doing so and the advice of our bond counsel.” Three attorneys not affiliated with the district who were contacted by Carless said Poway’s deals were, in fact, extraordinary, since they pushed the boundaries of state law. The district’s 2011 deal was also deemed illegal by the state Attorney General’s Office.

Todd Gutschow, board member

• Gutschow is in the middle of his second term as a board member; he’ll be up for re-election in 2014. He was appointed to the Citizens’ Oversight Committee for Proposition U.

• In his own words: He told Voice of San Diego in an Aug. 14 interview: “I think most people who take a moment to think about things before they vote would have said, ‘Well, gee. We’re going to be paying more money for a longer period of time. And that’s probably going to mean that’s going to be more expensive.’ I think that general idea is something most people could have and should have recognized. Would they be able to estimate how much? Would they have been able to have that kind of level of detail? No.”

• Of the five board members, Gutschow has been the most willing to communicate with us on this story. He, Collins and Board Member Penny Rantfle met for an interview last month, and Gutschow is the only board member to respond to Carless’s calls. He has, however, ceased communicating with us as of late.

Penny Ranftle, board member

• Ranftle has been on the board the longest; she’s in the middle of her fifth consecutive term, meaning she has spent the past two decades in her position.

• She has virulently defended Poway from criticism over its bond deals. During the Aug. 14 interview, she said the board had acted in good faith and had delivered what voters wanted: more money to construct schools, without raising taxes.

• Rantfle has spoken out against scrutiny of Poway’s bond deals at school board meetings, including one held on Sept. 10, when she said: “It saddens me to see a couple of members of the media that have turned their scrutiny of this district into some sort of a sport. They have taken a single aspect of this massive rebuilding and modernization program and wrapped it into innuendo and inaccurate reporting, without regard to the damage or expense it is causing the district.”

The Consultants: The Dolinka Group: Benjamin Dolinka

• Poway used this group of financial consultants, which specializes in advising school districts about general obligation bonds, for Proposition C.

• According to its LinkedIn profile, the privately held company employs fewer than 50 employees.

• For the past 20 years, Benjamin Dolinka, the group’s president, has served as a financial adviser to Poway. On March 22 last year, a few weeks after receiving the warning letter from the state Attorney General’s Office, Collins submitted a letter of recommendation for the Dolinka Group praising Dolinka:

“[W]orking with Benjamin Dolinka and the finance team, we have been able to minimize our risks while maximizing the benefits,” he wrote.

• According to the group’s website, Dolinka “focuses on creating new financial and demographic services, identifying potential public-public and private-public partnerships.”

The Consultants: California Financial Services: Michael Ogburn

• This small financial planning firm has advised school districts and local governments for 26 years, according to its website.

• Its founder Michael Ogburn specializes in school district finance in Southern California, and has worked with at least two local districts: Escondido Union and Poway.

The Lawyers: Bowie, Arneson, Wiles & Giannone

• Poway used this Newport Beach law firm for advice on its bond deals.

• According to its website, the firm employs 10 attorneys and has been around for about 40 years and provides public agencies, like school districts, with legal services involving planning, financing and construction of school facilities.

• The firm was the recipient of a letter from state Attorney General Kamala D. Harris’s office last year warning that the deal it was helping Poway Unified put together was illegal.



ClarieceT posted at 3:16 pm on Tue, Oct 9, 2012.

...[Board member] Jeff Mangum was part of the 2009 Series A which had excessive premiums and he was one the one who moved and Vanderveen seconded the resolution approving the Series B bond which had a premium of $21 million dollars...

The Poway deal gets fishier

I already knew that school boards hired lawyers to help them get away with violating the law, but in Poway they took this practice to a whole new level. This is the district that called kids "depraved" for cheating on tests.

The Poway deal gets fishier
By Felix Salmon
Reuters
SEPTEMBER 26, 2012

Remember Poway, and the exorbitant interest costs it was paying on its debt? At first glance, those costs were so huge because of the way the deal was structured: there were no interest or principal payments before 2033, and the final payments weren’t due until 2051.

In reality, however, there was something else going on as well: while Poway claimed to have only borrowed $105 million, they were lying about that: in fact, they borrowed $126 million, taking a $21 million kickback on top of the $105 million they were ostensibly borrowing.

As such, in reality they’re “only” paying $855 million of interest on a $126 million principal amount, rather than the $876 million of interest on $105 million in principal that we originally thought. But this is not a good thing. In fact, Will Carless — who’s been pushing this story hard, and has done a huge amount of work in reporting and explaining it — makes a very persuasive case that it’s illegal.

After all, the whole point of pushing the repayment dates back to 2033 and beyond was that Poway had already maxed out everything it was allowed to borrow before that. “When voters allow a school district to issue bonds,” Carless explains, “they set what appears to be a strict dollar limit on how much can be borrowed”. But somehow, that cap on the amount the district can borrow does not seem to be well defined. Somewhere along the way, definitions got fuzzy.

It should be pretty simple, this question of how much someone has borrowed: you just look at how much money they received when they did the borrowing. And to determine how much interest they’re paying, you take all the money they repay, and subtract that initial amount.

But Poway isn’t doing that. Instead, it’s defining the amount that it’s borrowing as the face value on the bonds. Set a bond with a low face value, and you get to borrow much more than face value, without going over the borrowing limit set by voters.

And that’s exactly what Poway did. By artificially jacking up the interest rate on the bonds — and the longest-dated bond, remember, had an interest rate of a whopping 7.2% — Poway managed sell the bonds at a substantial premium to par. That action, according to a formal letter filed by the California attorney general’s office, was not legal. The AG’s office didn’t prosecute Poway, on the grounds that doing so would cause Poway to incur substantial litigation costs. But it explicitly said that Poway’s behavior was unlawful, and that if this kind of thing became a habit, then it might indeed end up being prosecuted.

What’s more, if Poway sold these bonds at 120 cents on the dollar, there’s no way it could buy them back at 105 cents or less, as I suggested a few weeks ago: unwinding this deal is going to be expensive. Not $850 million expensive, of course, but tens of millions of dollars all the same. I was going on the fact that Bondview shows the bonds trading at about 101 cents on the dollar, but there might be something weird going on there.

In any case, the more we learn about this Poway bond, the smellier it gets. And of course officials aren’t talking:

“The simple fact is that [Poway Unified] did not borrow any more funds than those approved by the voters,” Superintendent John Collins wrote in an email on August 29.

Collins wouldn’t elaborate on this position. He and the Poway school board did not respond to several requests for interviews. Nor did Poway officials agree to interviews with their legal or financial staff.

Well done to Carless for pushing on this; I hope his piece causes enough of a stir that Poway is going to be forced to answer for its actions in some forum. But in the meantime, it would be great to get some clarity on which bonds in particular ended up selling at well above par, and where those bonds are trading today. If, that is, they’re trading at all.

How easy is it to arrest a parent who complains too much? Just schedule a hearing for her kid, and arrest her there.

It's hard not to be entertained by the following theater of the absurd from Poway.

A parent got mad and sent a 600-page fax to Poway Unified School District lawyers. The district responded by getting a court to order that the parent pay $2 for each page. When the parent didn't pay, the court issued a $25,000 warrant for her arrest.

I'm not making this up. Poway Schools reeeeally wanted to teach parent Lindsey Stewart to be quiet.

On February 14, 2007, PUSD and Atkinson, Andelson, Loya, Romo & Rudd (AALRR) filed an application in Superior Court for an order to reissue the bench warrant. Here is a quote from the declaration of Penelope R. Glover in Support of Application for Order Reissuing Bench Warrant:

“I am informed and believe that Respondent has scheduled a hearing at the Poway Unified School District, Extended Student Services Conference Room, 13626 Twin Peaks Road, Poway, California, on February 20, 2007, at 9:30 a.m. and will be appearing personally for the hearing. It is necessary that the bench warrant be reissued at this time... so that service can be effected on Respondent at the February 20,2007 hearing, if she has not been served before then.”

Lindsey Stewart says attorney Justin Shinnefield managed to get 9 witnesses who were under subpoena to stay home.