Date: Sunday July 23, 2017

To: The Capistrano Unified Board of Trustees

Re:   July 26, 2017 Capistrano Unified BOT Meeting Agenda Item #4 INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR, PROFESSIONAL SERVICES, FIELD SERVICE AND MASTER CONTRACT AGREEMENTS:

___________________________________________________________________ 

Dear Trustees:

I intend to pull Agenda Item #4 at the July 26, 2017 Board of Trustees meeting for the following reasons:

1) There may be an error in the stated amount of new Contracts - Staff is showing $3,916,201. Upon review I show $4,327,379. That is a difference of $417,272.00.

2) CUSD spending priorities seem odd given that CUSD is not able to provide students with basic educational services as a result of a lack of adequate funding.

CUSD lacks sufficient funding to pay for core educational programs like Art, Music and Science that aligns with minimum California State Standards and Curriculum Frameworks, and is taught by an appropriately credentialed teacher. CUSD relies on fundraising and donations to pay for these core educational programs and that creates wealth based inequities in the quality of education that students receive within the district which is an unconstitutional violation of the Civil rights of every student in CUSD.

CUSD facilities are not fixed and maintained. 

CUSD classrooms are overcrowded. 

CUSD staff to student ratios are not  safe.

CUSD Teachers and the District have filed an Impasse due to a lack of funding. 

Yet given this situation CUSD staff is asking the Board to approve the following new contracts:

• $4,500.00 Brainfuse - this is an online tutor company with questionable credibility and horrible customer reviews. The amount of money CUSD is spending on Tutors is growing. Trustees should consider the value of some of these contracts to students given the lack of funding. I would also like to understand how CUSD determines who gets these FREE tutoring services. Many families are spending large sums of money on outside tutoring because of the size of the classrooms and the lack of differentiated instruction. In addition to the inequity- many parents are paying their own teachers for such service.

• $1,360.00 Vincent A Pompei (Professional Development paid for out of the General Fund). A district that lacks sufficient funding to provide a minimum education to ALL students should not be using General Fund money for Professional Development. CUSD spends more on Professional Development than it does on books and supplies.

• $6,800.00 for a Back to School Lunch for 250 people that features a Comedian as a Key note speaker at a cost of $4,300. This is unconscionable given the lack of funding for basic educational services.

• The only “educational services" being offered to the general education students in this compilation of NEW Contracts is the $100,000.00 budgeted for the California Weekly Explorer which was paid for with Gift Funds. 

When Parents and the Public are continually asked to raise new revenue for what constitutes a “basic education”, they are in essence being taxed for a service that the State and the District are already Constitutionally obligated to provide.  That is double taxation. 

When Trustees sit at the dias and admonish the Public for raising questions about Staff recommendations and the District's priorities, that becomes taxation without representation.

Total new contract spending is $4,327,379 of that $4,097,000 went towards Special Education. Only $100,000.00 of Gift Funds went to general education. 

I am also attaching a PUBLIC RECORDS REQUEST for information regarding CUSD's Native American Education program.

Supporting Documentation is below:

PUBLIC RECORDS REQUEST:

Date: Sunday July 23, 2017

To: The Capistrano Unified Board of Trustees

Re:   Native American Education Program

___________________________________________________________________

At the June 28, 2017 BOT Meeting Agenda in a discussion of Agenda Item #27 NATIVE AMERICAN PARENT AND STUDENT COMMITTEE 2017-2018: page 619 there were a lot of questions raised about the number of Native American students within CUSD, the size of the Grant that was being discussed and how many students were actually enrolled in the program. 

PUBLIC RECORDS REQUEST:

A complete accounting of funds received and spent on Native American Education. 

Complete documentation and details of the Grant referenced in Agenda Item #27.

The answer to Trustee Bullockus's questions regarding the number of students eligible for the Grant and the number of students participating in the Grant.

An explanation as to why Staff altered the Board meeting Agenda after the June 28, 2017 BOT meeting to reflect something different than what was presented at the meeting.

Currently Posted Board Agenda Documentation:

Board Audio at 1:33:21

Note: The above documentation has been changed since the original posting because it no longer contains the information that I site in my Blue Card which was prepared off of the original Agenda Item.  There is no longer a total Grant Amount $2,668,890.00 or the price per day per child.

Board Audio at 1:58:33

This Item was pulled by Trustee Hanacek 

Even if we had one student - we should always go for Grant funds. This is an automatic renewal.

Board Audio at 1:59:32 

Dr. Susan Holiday 

This Grant doesn't require a great deal of Staff time. To correct the record it is 173 students enrolled. We receive $35,000 through this grant. 

Note: The original Agenda documentation stated that the Grant was for the period July 1, 2017 - June 30, 2018 in the amount of $2,668,890 for the purpose of providing services related to early childhood development. $40.45 per day per child.

If these funds are limited to Early Childhood Development than something is wrong because there would be way less than 112 students. The Contract with Professional Tutors of America is for all grade levels K-12.

Board Audio at 1:59:56 

Trustee Bullockus

We have 173 enrolled in this program, do we know how many total Native American students we have at CUSD

Board Audio at 2:00:01

Dr Susan Holiday

I would need to get back to you.

Board Audio at 2:00:15

Trustee Bullockus

Has anything changed about the Treasurer? They have had a Treasurer for 10 years and now we realize we don't need one?

Board Audio at 2:00:30

Staci Yogi - Executive Director, State & Federal Programs

The Committee adopted the By-laws we had a Treasurer but we do not fundraise or collect money so we don't need a treasurer.

Board Audio at 2:00:25

Trustee Bullockus

Do you know how many students are Native American?

Board Audio at 2:01:27

Staci Yogi - Executive Director, State & Federal Programs

Need to get back to you. CUSD has 700 students in school messenger that are Native American or have listed they are partially native American.

Motion to approve: Trustee Readon

Second: Trustee Bullockus

Item Approved: 7-0-0

I am concerned that CUSD received a $3 million dollar Grant for Native American Indian Education - spent $50,000 on Tutors, and the rest is being used for other purposes.

Staff is giving a Total New Contracts of $3,916,201 

That total appears to be an error of $417,272

Total should be $4,327,379.00

Special Education Spending $4,097,000.00

General Fund Spending $23,967.00

Keenan & Associates (Insurance) $18,107.00

Brainfuse (Online Tutorial) $4,500.00

Vincent A. Pompei (Professional Development) $1,360.00

Gift Funds $100,000.00

California Weekly Explorer (Presentations Educational Programs) $100,000.00

Indian Education $50,000.00

Professional Tutors of American (Tutor Indian Students) $50,000

Food Services $6,800.00

Cynthia Jane McInnis dba Jan McInnis (Keynote Speaker for Back to School Meeting) $4,300.00

BBQ ATOC Inc dba Texas BBQ (Catering for Food Services Back -to School- Meeting) $2,500.00

Capital Facilities Fund $49,612.00

Ninyo & Moore (Geotechnical and Environmental Services Crown Valley Elementary School) $6,686.00 

NMG Geotechnical (Geotechnical services Tesoro High School) $42,926.00

http://californiaweekly.com/what-is-a-walk-through/

The contract for excess workers compensation insurance expired on March 24, 2015. New rates were set for 5 years. Why is CUSD executing annual contracts instead of the 5 year contract?

Brainfuse is an online tutor service. 

The contract is for $4,500.00. They bill $24.75 per hour. This contract will provide 182 hours of tutoring services for CUSD students.

Brainfuse is a company that hires people to tutor students online. Tutors are paid $12 per tutoring session and teach from their homes.

Qualifications: 4-year college degree. Teaching certification is preferable, but not required. You must also submit to a background check as well as reference checks before you can be hired. You must also have computer with Internet access, preferably high-speed.

Reviews of this company were extremely poor. How does CUSD decide who gets these 182 hours of Tutoring?

https://www.indeed.com/cmp/Brainfuse/reviews 

Vincent Pompei is doing a one-day presentation to CUSD administrators and school counselors on Creating Safe & Inclusive Schools for LGBTQ and Gender -Expansive students. Total fee $1,360.00 paid for out of the General Fund.

This presentation is scheduled for July 28, 2017 the day this contract is to be approved by the Board.

Professional Tutors of America provides tutors that travel to students homes. They pay on average $23.42 per hour and the company received pretty good reviews. 

This contract is for $50,000 out of the Indian Education fund. At a rate of $75 per hour this will provide Native American students with 667 hours of Tutoring.

According to Data Quest there are 112 Native American students in the District.

That is 6 hours of tutoring per student.

At the June 28, 2017 BOT Meeting CUSD discussed the Native American Education Program:

This is a contract for a Jane McInnis Comedian /Speaker for a Back to School Meeting that is scheduled Friday August 18, 2017 for 225 people.

The Contract is for $4,300 and is being paid for out of Food Services.

Food Services? That seems inappropriate.

http://theworklady.com/

CUSD lacks sufficient funding to pay for core educational programs like Art, Music and Science that aligns with minimum California State Standards and Curriculum Frameworks and is taught by an appropriately credentialed teacher. Our facilities are not fixed and maintained. Our classrooms are overcrowded. 

Our Teachers and the District have filed an Impasse due to a lack of funding. 

Yet- CUSD is spending $4,300 for a comedian and $2,500 for food for a back to school lunch for $250 people. $6,800 Really?

This is a contract for food to be served at the Back to School Meeting that is scheduled Friday August 18, 2017 for 225 people.

The Contract is for $2,500.00 and is being paid for out of Food Services.