First delivered to the CEC meeting 6-8-04
Acton and Agua Dulce are old-fashioned communities where we expect to have a sizable say in how our communities are run. Unfortunately with LA County, it’s an ongoing battle, because we are just a fly in the ointment to them. But generally, we do have a considerable effect on actions with-in our communities.
Our only elected local government is the school board that runs the largest and most important entity in the community, the schools. We (meaning the community) elect our board of trustees at regular elections following the state election code and administered by the LA County Registrar of Voters, where only registered voters may vote. It is not an election staged by some self-designated group under rules they control, with ballot boxes and results under their control.
While we would like these self-designated groups to operate in public and follow the Brown Act and the Public Records Act, they tend to operate in private and without public access, while claiming to "represent the community".
The school board is required by law to conduct its business in public, follow the Brown Act, and their documents must be public as defined by the Public Records Act. Unfortunately, prior boards have ignored the law. Many people believe that this current board and its superintendent are continuing the practice of doing a lot of the board’s business in private, and passing off the decisions as administrative. We expect and demand that significant decisions concerning the schools be done in public, with all documents released to the three local media (the Acton-Agua Dulce News, the Country Journal, and the Vanguard News). We believe that all information that the board receives to base its decisions on should be made public at the same time it is given to the board, not just a few limited handouts released a few minutes before the board votes on a decision.
We further believe that the board meeting dates should be set on the same day of the week each month, such as the second and fourth Thursday of the month. We believe that all meetings, including committees, should be in the evening to allow community members that work to participate in the meetings.
Here are some of the problems I have observed.
7-11 Committee (Surplus Property Committee)– This committee’s meetings were held in the middle of the workday (starting at 3:30 PM). It was not allowed to elect its own chairperson, set its own agenda, create minutes, or hold a public hearing on what properties were surplus, if any. The committee members were not allowed to discuss the issues at their own public hearing. Dr. Wagner took control of the meetings and she cancelled further meetings unilaterally without a vote of the committee. Clearly this committee was not a community committee empowered to act on its own members’ views, but in fact a rubber stamp for Dr. Wagner.
While the board closed the Acton School based on defective financial information from Mr. Bandaras, Dr. Wagner continues to tell the Surplus Property Committee that this means the board declared the Acton School surplus, which the board cannot do under the education code, 17390a until the Surplus Property Committee brings their recommendations to the board.
The school board meeting set for 6-10-04 by a public vote at the last board meeting was summarily cancelled by Dr. Wagner without a vote of the board and rescheduled to a non-normal day without adequate public notice.
It also appears that Dr. Wagner intends to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on the "dance of the modulars" without a formal vote of the board of trustees. It appears that she is ignoring the environmental studies and certifications required to radically increase the enrollments at Meadowlark and Agua Dulce. She is ignoring the environmental effects of changing the school boundaries within the district and eliminating class size reductions (CSR) in grades K and 3. She just sprang on the community as an after thought the moving of the multi-purpose building and 4 modulars from Acton School to the already overcrowded Vasquez site, apparently wasting hundreds of thousands of dollars now and in the future without this issue ever going to the board.
I don’t doubt that Dr. Wagner is a good educator who seriously wants to improve the education process in our community. But, she and the school board must face the fact that we have elected our school board to run our schools, listening to our valued staff, but ultimately following the community’s desires.
If the school board wishes to abandon their authority of running the schools to staff acting behind the scenes, then we need to replace those school board members with members who understand our desires.
It’s a wake up call for this board now. Bring the decisions back in the open with significant community input (and a flexible time limit based on the importance of the information, which is allowed under the Brown Act) and you will be our respected leaders. But continuing to make decisions in secret or ignoring the communities’ input will result in your replacement.
I personally want you to step up to the plate and involve the community in the decision making process.