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2-26-06  from Nax Duran:  Bernie's Blog & Jim Connely's Guts . As a rule, most newspapers slant the news to benefit their side. By and large most newsworthy articles are presented as facts. The CJ slants her bias so much that it's a shame she even calls herself a newspaper.

12-26-07 My medical problems over the last year.
12-18-06 Even with the abysmal and dismal performance of the high school, the school board decided to go for a fourth bond issue

12-1-06 Paraclete High School in Lancaster just finished construction of a nearly 36,400-square-foot structure, At a total cost of $8.7 million
9-1-06 The Star Exams results for 2006
8-23-06 The academic staff led by Marty Young again failed the community at Vasquez High School
8-23-06 Apparently Cindi Oberhansley snuck out of the community like a thief in the night on August 10.
8-1-06 Mr. Steve Lorenze quits as principal of the Agua Dulce School.

7-26-06 New federal arsenic standards for drinking water will be discussed at a community forum
7-26-06 Marty Young quits as principal of Vasquez High.
7-12-06 Eleanor Braun died this morning of a recurrence of cancer.
6-25-06 As we approach the June 27 Board of Supervisors' hearing
5-19-06 There Is No Free Lunch
5-18-06 Los Angeles county claims residents' protected speech sign illegal
5-10-06 Fresh out of the AV Press. The Union wants the re-refi money
5-10-06 Is our AADUSD School Board on the right financial tract?
5-7-06 Distaso adding $1.3 million in non- voter approved debt
5-5-06 Clouds Over the Airpark LA Times Story
5-5-06 Here's an opinion piece by Larry Layton and Eleanor Braun
4-20-06 Doreetha Daniels celebrates at nearly 90.64-10-06 The failure of the master plan survey.
4-3-06 Master Planning Committee and Transparency, in the Acton-Agua Dulce Unified School District by Eleanor Braun
3-28-05 Superintendent and the Kathy's clowns school board agree to put a 4th bond on the November election
3-18-06 Failure of the hardship grant and the good news about Meadowlark
3-17-06 The good news about Meadowlark
2-21-06 Myspace.Com concerns! This website has been in the news lately on sexual criminal issues.
2-8-06 Acton and Agua Dulce have a 50+ history of living with animals and nature.
1-25-06 ADTC Meeting
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is dedicated to maintaining quality rural living and local control. A brief note from the editor. Acton and Agua Dulce are still great communities filled mostly with excellent people working their hardest to raise a family, live in harmony with nature, and their neighbors. We all care so much for our communities that we attack the small wrongs and injustices with a vengeance. People reading this site should understand we love our community but will fight those business and pro urban elements to keep it rural. See our privacy policy| Meetings | Events | Current Stories

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Here is another a failure of Vasquez High

6-29-08 The 2007 California State University system's Early Assessment Program is taken by the state's 11th-graders to determine their readiness for college-level work in English. The last results are from May 2007 informing students whether they meet the minimum standards for State Colleges.

The Los Angeles County average was 14% passing. A number of high schools such as Granada Hills High School, part of the failed LAUSD system, had 35% passing.
Vasquez had a dismal grade of only 9% passing the English exam. 80% of the its 11th-graders did take the exam.

The math exam is even worse. Only 20% of the students even took the exam and none passed it, but 5% were granted a "conditional" pass.

See state website http://eap2007.ets.org/Viewreport.asp select county as Los Angeles and District as Acton-Agua Dulce.

And now they want to add a  $25 to $30 million bond and new tax to pay for a failing school,  run by incompetent union leaders and  an equally incompetent staff and School Board, which the community will defeat again.

Not 1 cent to fix the run down Agua Dulce School or to add the legally required bathrooms to Meadowlark School, which are doing a good job. The District has spent $300,000 on failed bond elections and $500,000+ on failed studies to get the bonds that the community has rejected 4 out of 4 times, setting a state record for failure.

The Board raised the transportation fees to bring the kids to school but continued to provide sports transportation  for free.  Most of the  competitive sports system costs are paid out of the tax funds designed to pay for education, which Vasquez totally fails to provide.

Some of the  Competitive sports  costs are paid by well meaning residents but until the poor education results are fixed, no education tax dollars should be spent on competitive sports.

The API test results are out for 2007.

5-21-08 No surprise that Vasquez just continues its established pattern of failure. Of the state's selection of 100 similar schools in California, Vasquez is 100 out of 100. The growth target of the State was set at a very low 700, but its test results were only 695.

Of the 100 similar schools, it is the only school with the test result below 700. Only 421 students participated, which is five less than 2005 which had 426 students taking the test. This does not support the claim of growth and student acceptance made by Distaso and the Brighter group.

In 2006 insufficient students took the test to establish any test score, making Vasquez part of less than 1/10 of 1% schools failing to complete the exam.

In 2005 it's growth goal was set to 649, but it achieved only 641 .

In the William S. Hart District every high school achieved spectacularly better test results than Vasquez, with most of him hitting near 800: Canyon High 769 -Golden Valley High School 705 -Hart (William S.) Senior High 779 -Saugus High 792 -Valencia High 797 -West Ranch High 811.

It is now time for the failed Brighter group led by Distaso to step down from the school board and be replaced by people who care about the kids and community. It is also time for the union leaders at the high school to quit, the teaching at Vasquez is poorly done.

There are only two possible conclusions. The first is the professionals and school board are incompetent or second that our children are below the quality of kids in Santa Clarita.

My guess for the problem is on the failed professionals trying to ruin the school and if they ever wanted to understand the reason for four failed Bond issues, just look at the test results of the school.

Only a fool would waste any more money here.

Here in the link to the state site for Vasquez

3-15-08 Looking at the test scores for Vasquez will you as it shows it is an unmitigated failure of the school board that does even match the scorers of some of the Antelope Valley high school District and not even approach the Hart District. the school board. In no way it's our kids fault but lays directly to poor management of the school district and Distaso's Brighter Group's To confirm their lies during the bond election you need to just look at the API test results and weep.

They need to quit now.

2-8-08 Here's the final election count.

It is still a failure for the Brighter Group, just as it was for the last three elections. Four failures out of four times certainly indicates their plans and proposals are a giant failure. When they conspired to throw all the people opposed to them off the so-called community committees, that was the end of this bond vote.

Revised vote count as of 3pm 2-8-08

Yes 2038 50.86%

No 1969 49.14%

The final count slightly decreases the percentage of the yes vote and shows clearly that the community was nearly split 50% pro and con. It is clear Distaso's Brighter Group's bond ideas are a total failure.

At the 8-7-08 school Board meeting a group of bond supporters submitted a petition demanding the Board submits this again to the voters in June. This shows teachers and administration wasted hours of educational time getting students to sign the petition.

Its clear the teachers and the administration are electioneering to support the bond in total violation of state law and of reasonable standards. The idea that we, the taxpayers, should pay another $100,000 for the cost of the same junk bond election in June, when they lost four in a row, is unacceptable.

We need to design a good school project with a financing method that would meet broad approval.

Distaso's Brighter Group on the school board, which is an oxymoron, need to resign now and let other community members run the school.

2-7-08 We are not against the kids having a decent educational facility. The lying leaders of Distaso's Brighter Group's dream of an $11 million gym has failed.

I have talked to a number of other people in the community that would support a $10-$15 million bond as quickly as November, to build weather protected classrooms, a media center with administrative facilities and permanent bathrooms for Vasquez.

At the same time, I would support building permanent bathrooms for Agua Dulce.

What the community will support is educational facilities for the kids. Many people voted no on V because the first building to be built was the $11 million gym. This is a nice plaything for those over age jocks, but it does nothing to improve the educational quality of the school.

Doing a small bond to support just educational facilities would generate enough support to pass in the community, but the continued failed dreams of Distaso and Kathy Howell have reached an end.

Can anyone explain why the Brighter Group pushed to have the library built miles away from high school, which the kids could have used except for the failed personal agenda of the Brighter Group?

2-4-08 Read what Mark Distaso said about the school district bond proposed in 2004. That time the bond was only $13 million rather than his $46 million disaster he is trying to sell now.

" If we proceed down this current path, using the current construction plan, this school district and this community risk the potential of outstripping it's ability to house high students before the next 5-10 years are up - leaving the district with an insufficient, thus dysfunctional high school, and a tremendous amount of anger, frustration, and debt that will rival if not exceed the anger and frustration that the community is experiencing now over it's school district. "

Now with the economy in the worst recession for home values in 25 years, Distaso wants to add a $40,000 lien against the average home for the next 40 years. All this for a school that is an abject failure and the Distaso's Brighter group, which is running the school board, is a complete group of incompetents.

Proposition V must be voted down with a resounding no vote and this group of people replaced with people who actually care about the kids and want to see the educational process improved rather than a $10 million gym.

Lets try a $10 million bond to build classrooms, administrative and library facilities. That might get a passed. What Mark does not tell you about the V bond is that as the state money runs out for matching funds, which is a near certainty, and home values decline they will have to reduce the first bond to about $10 million. Mark has already committed, with his two underlings, to spend the entire $10 million on a gym, which is his promise to the athletic people to get their support for bond.

Vote no on V until this board can show they can operate a high school that gets test results to match the Hart district instead of the disastrous AV district.

Here's a link to the county election results. on V and LA City S

Comments by Tana Lampton.

The school board is ignoring the fact that they've used school and taxpayer resources to promote the bond. They claim their local school journalism publication is just exercising free speech in its page after page support of the bond without a single statement of opposition

Dear Mr. Duran, I can not believe the utter disregard that Mr. Distaso and the School Board have displayed toward your opinion and good advice. This is untenable behavior toward a man of your impeccable credential, whose career was building schools for LAUSD. Maybe the District could have had the Gym opened long before now!

As we approach the 11th hour on this horrendous Bond Measure (V) the School Board continues to be non-transparent even to this very day. The very crucial Minutes of the public Meeting in which they were to decide and discuss the language of the Bond, before sending to the County for the Ballot, are MISSING!

The decision of Superintendent Dr. Halperin, as to not become involved in the issue of allowing Students to knowingly break the law, and proselytize the Bond on campus while using school facilities (citing very weakly that the Students had "freedom of speech" publishing the School Newspaper) is absolutely unbelievable! It's no wonder we have such a high number of "home-schooled" Kids in the District!

I'm so upset that I'm documenting my feelings with Supervisor Michael Antonovich and others.

Sincerely, Tana Lampton

Vinton and Tana Lampton wrote:

Thank Goodness for your internet page, Bern! I think it went far and away to helping defeat this Bond!

And, thanks, Jim for your name at the bottom of the last advert (Country Jo)!

They called me on my cell phone 11 am Friday morning, and wanted to know all the names of the people who contributed to the advert explaining the Language of the Bond. This was on the day the newspaper was being published! I had been asked if I would schlep the adv down to the newspaper office last Tuesday morning, and the guy who wrote the ad gave me the cash from various folks who gave their $10's-20's (most of them work in some kinda' governmental-type agency and want their name confidential).

I, in turn, wrote my personal check, and we wrote " Folks Watchdogging the Ballot" on the bottom. So, after 4 days the management of the C.J. decided to make their employees adhere to some inner company procedure, and when they called me I just told them to go ahead and use my name as paying for it!

What sticks in my craw...did 'ya notice how the publisher made an attempt to fairly present both sides? Failed miserably, however, 'cuz her bias was showing when she gave our side 1-2 sentences...and the other side whole paragraphs!!

Tana

My medical problems over the last year.

12-26-07 To say that I had medical problems in 2007 is somewhat of an understatement. After the heart surgery I had in November of 2006, which has been very successful, I've had to endure a year's worth of chemotherapy to deal with the reoccurrence of testicular cancer that I had in the mid-80s, which was discovered during the heart surgery.

According to my oncologist and other specialists dealing with my problems, I am the oldest surviving person with the reoccurrence of this type of cancer, which spreads to the lymphatic system. There isn't much history as the doctor who is the world's testicular expert, who cured Lance Armstrong, and my oncologist consider me to be the test case.

The good news is that both of these doctors feel, after the chemotherapy, that I am cancer free and although I am weak and extremely damaged by the chemo, I will survive and my kidneys, my strength, and my hair and beard will return.

To say it's been a tough year is somewhat of an understatement, but surviving and being cancer free is what' important

12-17-06 I feel sufficiently recovered from my surgery to start posting information back to the website. For those of you don't know on 11-8-06 I had heart bypass surgery along with fixing a blocked carotid artery.

My recovery time is even longer than I expected, but my doctors tell me 60 days is normal.

Do buildings make the difference in learning??

It is also interesting to note the extremely good performance of Meadowlark versus a disastrous performance by Vasquez. 90 percent of the buildings at Meadowlark are modular, yet the school's performance is spectacular.

The pro bond Clowns claim the failure at Vasquez is because there are modular buildings, and they want us to pass a $20-30 million bond so the school will be of "better quality".

The answer is firing the High School administrators and recalling the most of the school board. Start spending 100% of the state money on education and moving the sports program to a volunteer community funded program.

And here is what the students think about Vasquez hs from myspace.com

Date: May 5, 2006 10:04 PM

Vasquez sucks, ha ha I got out!! but my weird ass bro still goes there. My advice to y'all is to get out and home school, unless you want to be stupid and go there forever. He he - have fun kids.

The graffiti hotline number is (800) 675-4357. Residents can call 24 hours a day, seven days a week to report graffiti to a live operator. Town Council leaders are also asking residents to keep track of how long it takes the contractors to clean up the graffiti once it has been reported to see if the county is meeting its 48-hour goals

3-18-06 Some people may not have heard that I have been in the hospital with pneumonia. This accounts for the lack of any posting on the web site. I am better and will be getting back to more information for the community, particularly concerning the corrupt school board now controlled by Kathy Howald. It is interesting how she controls the school board and all the committees even though her name did not appear on the ballot. As a correction it was latger determined to be congestive hart failure leading to 7 way bypass on 11-6-06

Up coming meetings