Taxpayers Need Local Oversight of the Capistrano Unified School District

Local Oversight Is The Only Way To Protect The Educational Interests Of Students, And

The Financial Interests Of TaxpayersPresentation to the City of San Clemente

A Continual Lack of Adequate Per Pupil Funding From the State Is Placing a Growing Tax Burden on Local Municipalities – Other Bond Measures are already in the works.

City Mayors learned about Measure M in July 2016 (4 months prior to the election) from constituents; not in ad hoc meetings with CUSD. Most local municipalities and elected officials do not closely follow their local school board. They do not have the resources to pay staff to attend meetings and report on school board actions. Most importantly, CITIES, COUNTIES AND LOCAL BUSINESSES LEARNED THAT THEY CANNOT AFFORD TO ALLOW LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICTS TO OPERATE WITHOUT STRICT OVERSIGHT IF THEY WANT TO ENSURE A QUALITY EDUCATION FOR STUDENTS, AND PROTECT TAXPAYERS FROM MUNICIPAL TAX OVERBURDEN.

UNDERSTANDING CALIFORNIA'S NEW EDUCATION FUNDING LAW "LOCAL CONTROL FUNDING FORMULA"

The "Base Grant" is universal for all students.

The "Supplemental Grant" provides additional funding to districts based on the percentage of students in the district that are English Language Learners, Receiving Free and Reduced Lunch, and/or are in Foster Care.

The "Concentration Grant" provides even more funding for districts that have large concentrations of students that are English Language Learners, Receiving Free and Reduced Lunch, and/or are in Foster Care.

The State set the Base Grant at $6,500 per student when it implemented the Local Control Funding Formula.

Districts with a low percentage of students who are English Language Learners, Receiving Free and Reduced Lunch, or are in Foster Care are funded solely by the Base Grant.

LCFF Limits Per Pupil Funding to 2007-08 levels + Inflation

• California's new education funding law; "Local Control Funding Formula", limits per pupil funding to 2007-08 levels + inflation, not to be reached until 2021.

• By 2021, CUSD will have had flat funding for 14 years straight at less than $7,693.20 + inflation per pupil.

• CUSD is one of the most underfunded school districts in California; and the United States, receiving one half of what the Laguna Beach Unified School District receives (just ten miles up the road).

Average per pupil funding United States: $11,009

Average per pupil funding in California: $9,595

Average Per Pupil Funding Laguna Beach: $15,823

Average per pupil funding CUSD: < $7,693.20 + inflation

THE STATE IS CHOOSING TO UNDERFUND CERTAIN SCHOOL DISTRICTS

State Revenues Are At Record Highs

In 2007-08 State General Fund revenues were $103 billion; today they are $122 billion, an increase of $19 billion.

In 2007-08 Total State revenues were $145 billion; today they are $171 billion, an increase of $26 billion.

The State has sufficient revenues to adequately fund every student in K-12 Public Education but is Choosing not to.

The State Set the Base Funding Grant To LowIn December 2006 the State of California commissioned a study to determine the actual cost to educate a student in California in 2007-08. According to the study, the minimum cost was $8,932 per pupil. The study also showed that CUSD; a suburban school district should be receiving between $10,726 and $12,077 per pupil to provide all students with a minimum education.

The State Set the Base Grant at $6,500 per pupil knowing that the minimum cost to educate any student in California was $8,932 per pupil..

Whether it is an unintended consequence, or by design, setting the Base Grant at $6,500 deprives EVERY STUDENT who lives in a District with a low percentage of students who are English Language Learners, Receiving Free and Reduced Lunch, or are in Foster Care of the minimum funding needed to ensure that every student has an equal opportunity to obtain a minimum education, as mandated by the State Constitution and Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution.

Some examples of local revenue streams:

• Fundraising for Art, Music, Science – those schools that cannot fundraise go without Art, Music, or Science that aligns with minimum State Content Standards and Curriculum Frameworks, and it taught by a properly credentialed teacher. Relying on fundraising and donations to fund core educational programs creates wealth based inequities within CUSD.

• ASB funded positions $200,000 - $300,000 per month at $10 per hour. How is the increase in minimum wage going to effect funding these positions?

• Parking fees - CUSD generates over $500,000 per year in revenue.

• No on Measure M CUSD’s $889 million dollar School Facilities Bond could have cost every property owner up to $600 per year for 25 – 35 years

CUSD lacks transparency and has already demonstrated that it was willing to hide an $889 million dollar bond from local agencies. CUSD has chosen to give employees 4 consecutive year of across the board compensation increases totaling over $120 million, while refusing to spend $10 million to fix every leaky roof and HVAC system in the District.

CUSD cannot be trusted to take care of students, or be a good steward of taxpayer money.

Despite record high revenues, the State of California's 5-year Infrastructure Plan does not allocate a single penny to K-12 Public Education. $51 billion of the $55 billion dollar plan is allocated to Transportation aka "High Speed Rail". Because the State is CHOOSING not to allocate funding for K-12 facilities, every school District in the State will be forced to take on massive local debt to fund school facilities. That has already begun to happen with the passage of 162 new Prop 39 Bonds in November 2016.

The State takes tax money that should be spent on education and uses “excess revenueto start new programs and entitlements that are not constitutionally mandated.

Finding Solutions Starts with KnowledgeKNOWLEDGE IS POWER

I created CUSDWatch (a paid subscription service) to provide local municipalities with a fast effective way to digest a 500 – 1000 page Board Agenda so that Cities could force CUSD to be more transparent in order to ensure that the educational interest of students and the financial interest taxpayers will be represented in all matters before the Board.

The CUSDWatch subscription service will provide elected officials and other interested parties with the following:

• I will read the Board agenda when it is posted 72 hours prior to a meeting and provide an overview of the upcoming meeting. I will flag items of interest to particular Cities or groups so that they may comment on the item BEFORE the Board votes and post the preview on CUSDWatch.

• I will continue to attend board meetings; pull appropriate items, and speak on the record as an individual.

• After each Board meeting, when the board audio is posted, I will summarize the vote on each agenda item, and mark the corresponding board audio so that items of particular interest can easily be found and listened to. The review of each meeting will be posted on CUSDWatch.

• I will continue to publish articles online, and in the local Patch. I will send articles to the local press so that the Public will be able to gain greater awareness of CUSD Board policies and actions.

• A sample of the December 14, 2016 CUSD Board meeting review is available for preview online at CUSDWatch at the following link: http://cusdwatch.com/index.php/december-14-2016

The first Board Meeting is January 25, 2017. Subscription services will begin with the January 25, 2017 board meeting.

The subscription cost is $250.00 per meeting. There are about 20 regular board meetings, and 4 optional dates for special meetings. One subscription will cover an entire City Council, City Manager and City attorney at an annual cost of approximately $5,000.

I am requesting that that this Item be put on the City of San Clemente’s next Agenda for Board Approval.

On Wednesday January 18, 2017CUSD is having a special board workshop at 6:00pm. 1. Conflict of Interest Training2. Asset Management planning.

The following are Items from the November 2016 – December 2016 Board Agendas that are of specific interest to the City of San Clemente:

• CUSD is not affording Talega residents the same priority in choosing schools as Ladera Ranch, despite the fact the the law entitles both Mello Roos areas to have a seat at two different schools. They are not notifying parents in Talega of their options.

• The “Re- Imaging of San Clemente’s Lobo Elementary School misleads the public. It is a “branding/marketing scheme” and makes no real changes to curriculum.

• Fund 25 spending by Trustee Area – did san Clemente get its fair share of funds?

• Matriculation Pathway for the Mandarin Immersion program is unfair to San Clemente Families who have multiple children at different schools and will force many to stop attending MIP.

• CUSD Staff (without Board approval) has been eliminating funding for high achieving students and has systematically dismantled the GATE program. Kristen Vital’s statement on the record verifies this.

WARNING TO ALL TALEGA RESIDENTS THAT WANT TO ATTEND SAN JUAN HILLS HIGH

Talega CFD Study Area 1500 can enroll in San Juan Hills or San Clemente.

The following is a Statement from Laura Ferguson Talega Residents for Fair Taxation:

Talega students have the legal right to attend either San Clemente High School or San Juan Hills High School. They cannot be denied a seat at either school.

Per CA Govt. Code Sect. 53312.7 taxpayers who funded facilities with Mello-Roos cannot be turned away. CUSD changed the boundary a decade or so ago for Talega from SJHHS to SCHS. Due to the large amounts ($20M at each high school) of Talega special taxes (Mello Roos) that CUSD spent on SJHHS and SCHS --this includes $10M in surplus Talega special taxes (the amount over collected that was never "refunded" back to the taxpayers (despite CUSD declaring years ago that Talega taxpayers had already met their funding obligations for facilities per the Mitigation and Formation Agreements) being used now for the new two-story, 24 classroom buildings being built each at SJHHS and SCHS, Talega students have choice. A couple years ago when members of our Talega Residents for Fair Taxation citizens advoacy group met with Supe Vital, she shared how she believed once the road opened that about half of Talega kids would want probably choose SJHHS and the other half SCHS. Both great schools to choose from; however, if you choose SJHHS you have to go through School of Choice and there is no way around it at this time. My comment pertains to the $20M Talega Mello Roos spent on SJHHS for construction as well as another $20M Talega Mello Roos spent on SCHS.

CUSD does not want Talega kids going to SJHHS, it’s been obvious for years. RMV was not required to build a high school. Those kids will attend SJHHS and Tessoro without paying any special taxes to mitigate their impact on CUSD schools. Ladera kids received correspondence from the district for their kids to have choice to attend SJHHS or Tessoro. Talega was not afforded the same courtesy.

San Clemente families with no notice from CUSD will not have a choice in schools UNLESS they apply through School of Choice – as last priority if the Board Policy Changes on January 25, 2017.San Clemente families appear to have 2 choices:

1. Apply via school of choice window. Get in the school. They cannot be denied. Talega generates only 600 kids and by law can attend either high school in which their mello roos was used to fund the school facilities. Plus they also pay the ad valorem tax every homeowner pays, so pay twice as much.

2. If they miss the window (which it appears many will because CUSD is not properly informing parents, nor are many parents aware of the law), sue the district to gain access

Learn more: http://cusdwatch.com/index.php/restricted/agenda-item-31-first-reading-board-policy-school-of-choice

School Board Agenda Items That Should be of Concern to the City of Dana Point:

Watch Lobo’s Presentation to the Board at the December 14, 2016 meeting Agenda Item 30https://animoto.com/play/AC6IM6Eap8nN2S11y76bcAFuture Steam Workshop – Engineering Book Camp Cheer – Create Art (parent paid/run art)

On May 11, 2016 the Board was asked to revise district policy regarding renaming under enrolled schools to potentially add the word “academy”. However, trustees determined that a new policy was unnecessary due to the board’s current ability to rename schools.

The presentation is Agenda Item #37 Exhibit 37 on page 401 http://capousd.ca.schoolloop.com/file/1218998819331/1455438848279/8577739424863111788.pdf

Board Audio at 114:19 http://cusd.capousd.org/cusdweb/audio2015-16/CUSDBoardMeeting.April.27.2016.mp3Trustee discussions regarding changing the names of schools to “Academy” is it just a “marketing” scam?

Note: Lobo Elementary School does not receive District funded Art taught by a credentialed teacher as required by law. See my presentation to the Board Jan 2015 http://www.slideshare.net/DawnUrbanek/fundraising-for-core-educational-programs

Fundraising for Visual And Performing Arts

By law, every school district in the State of California is mandated to offer and fund a visual and performing arts curriculum for every student in grades K-12. In grades 1 - 6, the law requires a district to offer two visual and performing arts classes at each elementary school site. The Capistrano Unified School District is no longer funding a K-3 Primary Music Program for all students in grades 1-6. The Capistrano Unified School District is no longer funding an art program for every student in grades 1-6. The District has cut art and music programs, and is relying on fundraising and donations to pay for art and music. Those schools that are unable to fundraise have no art and/or music. This creates inequities in the quality of education a student receives within the District and is a violation of many governing laws:http://www.peopleforstudentrights.com/index.php/complaint/count-16Lawsuit and supporting documentation for City Attorney Review is in Count 16 above.

ELEMENTARY ARTThe District is relying on fundraising and donations to pay for art grades K-5. Those schools that cannot raise sufficient funds offer no music and/or art. Depriving any student of a visual and performing arts curriculum is a violation of their fundamental right to a quality education.

http://cles.capousd.ca.schoolloop.com/cre8

There is nothing new about this parent run program – there is nothing STEAM or innovative at Lobo. San Clemente kids deserve District funded art and music.

Parents are now fundraising for Music Teacher Salary Increases. Many schools cannot continue to increase fundraising to keep pace with compensation increases and have had to cut parent funded classes.

CITIES MUST FOLLOW SCHOOL DISTRICT PLANNING AND SPENDING TO ENSURE THAT RESIDENTS PAYING THE TAX WILL RECEIVE A BENEFIT.

The Mandarin Immersion program started in San Clemente. The Board just voted on a Matriculation pathway that will effectively make it impossible for San Clemente families with multiple children unable to attend. http://cusdwatch.com/index.php/restricted/agenda-item-28-matriculation-pathways-spanish-and-mandarin-immersion-and-ib

In 2013 the State of California implemented the Local Control Funding Law. Under "Local Control" the California Department of Education has eliminated most categorical programs, and is allowing individual school districts to decide how to spend their education dollars. see: http://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/gt/gt/

District Staff; without Board of Trustee approval; has, since 2012-13 let CUSD's GATE program die. Concerned parents are now appealing to the Board to provide funding and special programming for CUSD's high achieving students. Superintendent Vitals Statement:http://cusdwatch.com/index.php/paid-services/cusd-watch-november-16-2016-capistrano-unified-school-district-board-of-trustees-meeting/agenda-item-31-gate-program

KRISTIN VITAL’s statement about the lack of programming for high Achieving students:Board Audio at 190.24 (3 hours 10 minutes and 24 seconds) http://cusd.capousd.org/cusdweb/audio2016-17/CUSDBoardMeeting.Nov.16.2016.mp3

"I think that one of the outcomes of tonight is because this was something that was happening at the Staff level without the Board, having a conversation with the Board, and getting your values is really important. And so, I think what I have heard is that the majority of you very much want to see a GATE like program with some level of humm - separation... I don't know another word. Some way of meeting the needs of kids in that way and that we need to build some programming and potentially bring that conversation back along with some evidence and research about what this means or doesn't mean for all kids. Frankly this helps us to be able start this conversation because before what was happening is that in isolation, not now, a year or two ago making some plans without the Board. So I do think this is important and we are happy as a staff to be able to given that value to build something and bring that back. Does that make sense?"

THE ELIMINATION OF GATE

In California, education is a fundamental right that belongs to all — not some — of our students.

Depriving a student of their fundamental right to achieve equality of educational opportunity; simply because of where they happen to live, and irrespective of their individual wealth, race or ethnicity, constitutes invidious discrimination.

All students are entitled to the Equal Protection of our Laws.

The continued lack of adequate funding has resulted in a notable decline in the academic performance of students across all demographics. Our children are no longer receiving the minimum education that the State is mandated to provide.

Local municipalities can not raise enough local taxes to meet the needs of students.

Cities MUST help taxpayers advocate for our fair share of Education Funding.