Recall Successful -

Quote from mymotherlode.com

"Sonora, CA -- The five members of the Big Oak Flat-Groveland Unified School Board have been recalled by the voters.

70 percent were in favor of recalling Mary Kelly, 71 percent for Bryan Berger, 73 percent for Lillian Cravens, 69 percent for Dave Gookin, 70 percent for Charles Day

The five residents voted in are Ian Morcott, Paul X. Spring, Lori West, Mike Malloy and Gloria Marler. Tuolumne County Clerk and Auditor-Controller Debi Russell says voter turnout was just over fifty percent for the Big Oak Flat-Groveland district. "

New York Times covers the recall success

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/21/education/21school.html?_r=2&partner=rss&emc=rss

LA Times - first coverage of recall success: Entire Groveland, Calif., school board recalled

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-school-board-recall20-2009may20,0,2406523.story - first coverage of the complete recall of the Groveland Big Oak Flat School Board.

"...But recall opponents, among them ousted board member Dave Gookin, argued that the student effort was a front for angry adults with designs on school board seats and reflected long-standing tensions between the growing Lake Don Pedro area and the town of Groveland."

Seems Dave forgot that the Teacher's Association voted No Confidence in the Superintendent, Mari Brabbin, and the School Board. The Classified Staff also voted to support the teachers in their slate of new candidates. Of course, no one from the Teachers Association or Classified Staff ran for the Board. The Civics teacher who helped the students discover laws and rules about boards and study lawful protest also did not run for the Board.

Top 11 Reasons for Recall - Short Version

(email us for the full version)

Top Eleven Recall Reasons: Fact Sheet – April/May 2009
Ballots will be mailed the week of April 20. THIS IS AN ALL-MAIL ELECTION.

1. “No Confidence” vote in the Board and Superintendent by Big Oak Flat-Groveland Teachers Association. Source: Wynette Hilton and Emily Hanchett, BOFG TA
2. BOFG Classified Staff voted to support the recall. Source: BOFG Classified Staff
3. Public support: approximately 1200 signatures were obtained to recall each Board member. Source: County Clerk, Debi Russell
4. Controversial renewal of the Superintendent’s contract for 3 years by board members facing a recall election. Source: Feb. 11 Board meeting video
5. Taxpayers foot the bill for excessive District legal fees (see #5 and #6). District budget increased to cover. Source: Tonya Midget, Chief Business Official, BOFGUSD.
6. Legal Action Example #1: Tioga HS Principal’s pay was lowered to “part-time Principal” when she volunteered to teach a few classes in addition to full-time Principal duties to save the District money. However, Superintendent Brabbin’s salary was not lowered to part-time Superintendent duties as Principal at DPHS. Source: Mrs. Bradley, records
7. Litigation Example #2: Ryan Dutton Case: The only charge made against Ryan Dutton was unequivocally rejected and he is fully exonerated by Cal State Fresno. Brabbin and the Board refuse to reinstate him. Mariposa County approved Mr. Dutton for the classroom. Source: Head Credential Analyst, Cal State Fresno; FSU hearing
8. Critical classes and other programs cut at Tioga and Tenaya. Source: Principals
9. Contrary to promises to voters, overspending of 1 to 2 million dollars of Measure M at Don Pedro, resulting in cut projects at Tioga and Tenaya. Source: Measure M Oversight Committee, Caldwell Flores Winter report deleted from BOFGUSD web site; Vavrinek, Trine and Day &Co. LLP report sent Feb. 3, 2009.
10. Hundreds of thousands of dollars lost for 71 interdistrict transfers due to a missed deadline for application to a program. Source: School of Choice rules
11. 38% of eligible Don Pedro High School students not tested on required California test. 100% of eligible Tioga students and 99% in County overall were tested. Source: California Department of Education

View the always interesting, sometimes shocking, Board meeting videos

Thanks to Frog for posting on youtube

View the board's hasty renewal of Superintendent's contract even though they had 3 months to do so, and the entire board is undergoing a recall election in May. Listen to the end when the board chairman is asked "for how long?" [the contract term].
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ym2Vu_bjBJs&feature=channel_page

Watch Mrs. Berger, the wife of a Board member, lambast Ryan Dutton, and demonstrate a complete misunderstanding of how credentialing works in California. Too bad she didn't check her facts first before raking the guy's reputation over the coals.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUp7GrzJp9k&feature=channel

Superintentendent to Students - "I can't respond unless it's agendized"

In the video below, protesting Tioga High School students, who made extensive public comments during a school board meeting about their dissatisfaction with recent actions by the Board and Superintendent, ask Superintendent Brabbin why she provided no comments. Seems that Superintendent Brabbin was misinformed or did not understand the law when she told students she could not respond unless the item were agendized.

Here is the law:

California Government Code
54954.2. (2) No action or discussion shall be undertaken on any item not appearing on the posted agenda, except that members of a legislative body or its staff may briefly respond to statements made or questions posed by persons exercising their public testimony rights under Section 54954.3. In addition, on their own initiative or in response to questions posed by the public, a member of a legislative body or its staff may ask a question for clarification, make a brief announcement, or make a brief report on his or her own activities.

What is the "Star Testing' incident?

At the September 10, 2009 Board meeting, the BOFG School District Superintendent, also Principal of Don Pedro HS, stated, re recent STAR testing results, "Tioga went up 32 points. Don Pedro increased by 80 points." The Superintendent stated an in-depth report of test score results would be provided in an upcoming Board meeting. As of February, that report has not been given. Requests from the public to add an in-depth report of Star Testing results to future Board agendas have not been honored.

Note in the chart below, the 2008 row for Don Pedro and "Brabbin", Superintendent/Principal for that year, and the number "29" representing the number of test submitted to the State of California.

Title 5, Education, Division 1, Chapter 2. Pupils, Subchapter 3.75. Standardized Testing and Reporting Program, Article 1 General (re STAR testing) states:
§ 851. Pupil Testing.
(a) School districts shall administer the designated achievement test, and standards-based achievement tests ... to each eligible pupil, enrolled in a school district on the date testing begins in the pupil´s school or school district.
(b) School districts shall make whatever arrangements are necessary to test all eligible pupils in alternative education programs or programs conducted off campus, including, but not limited to, continuation schools, independent study, community day schools, county community schools, or nonpublic schools.

The shortfall seemed to stem from not testing independent study students and several others. Lynda Martinez, a teacher at Don Pedro, claims that Brabbin was not at the school during the testing but knew that all eligible students needed to be tested.

Really ... Who Should Be Ashamed?

Recently a family member of someone who resigned from the BOFG board wrote to the Union Democrat suggesting that an unnamed person had trespassed or knocked on the board member's door at night and that people should be "ashamed" of the tone of the recall effort. The students, parents and community members involved in recalling this board are hard-working people who have jobs and kids and have done everything possible to show the highest level of professionalism.

Any of them would call out and condemn one who would do such a thing.

However, let’s talk about who really should be ashamed of themselves in this recall event.

Who should be ashamed?

a) The people who investigated and discovered that the Superintendent/Principal of Don Pedro only turned in only 62% of eligible students' scores for STAR testing to the State of California (compare to 100% for Tioga and 99% for the County)

b) The board who took at face value the excuse received that the discrepancy was due to “independent study” students; the superintendent/Principal of Don Pedro HS who claimed her test scores were greatly improved compared to last year (when the former Principal turned in 97% of tests taken including those for Special Education and Independent Study students)

Who should be ashamed?

a) The students, parents and community members who rallied support for a teacher whose cause for dismissal they knew to be false and unethical, and who knew that the supposed cause was then documented by a California State agency to be false

b) The board members who took at face value everything they were told by the Superintendent, (yes, the same person under-testing students) and listened to nothing they were told repeatedly by the community; the board members who did nothing to investigate the incident themselves; the board members who refused to reinstate the teacher

Who should be ashamed?

a) The community members trying to get real facts on district spending from the school district office

b) The secretary of the Superintendent who made them stand outside for 1 ½ hours and then produced a document said to be board policy saying they must make appointments first, which was proven to be a false document. (The real board policy said the public can come by any time.)

Who should be ashamed?

a) The students, parents and community members outraged when the school board lowers the pay of the Tioga principal after she is told to teach a class in addition to her Principal duties to help the budget, and then outraged further when that board begins deducting money from every lowered paycheck saying that over the summer she was therefore a part-time teacher and as such was overpaid as a Principal over the summer

b) The school board members (including the one who resigned) who claim they knew nothing of these events and once they did know, did nothing; the attorney working for the superintendent who offers the Principal an insulting sum to resign

Who should be ashamed?

a) The community members upset at the cancellation of the very valuable Fire Science program at Tioga

b) The school board who sat in the front of the community just weeks ago and said they had no idea what happened to the Fire Science program

There are many more incidents that could be listed here, pertaining to the lack of understanding of school financing leading to the loss of hundreds of thousands of dollars for the district, refusal to put requested items on the board agendas, talking to newspapers about events in closed sessions, and much more.

Really, who should be ashamed?

School Board refuses to set Recall on a date potentially less expensive to the district

Image: Students for a Better School District, Tioga High School, Groveland, CA

On January 23, 2009 the Big Oak Flat Groveland Unified School District Board held a Special Board Meeting to set a date for the Recall Election. The Tuolumne County Auditor, a professional in the election process, provided a very informative briefing, as to whether the Recall Election should be held on May 5, 2009 or May 28, 2009. It became very obvious that the most feasible date for the Recall Election and the best possibility for the least expensive election is May 5, 2009. However, immediately subsequent to the presentation, obviously with little or no consideration for the facts presented by the Auditor, the School Board voted to hold the Recall Election on May 28, 2009. The Board did completely the opposite of what was the most logical and potentially the most cost effective. This decision by the School Board to select May 28, 2009, instead of May 5, 2009, was certainly not in the best interest of the School District, or, especially, the taxpayers of the Big Oak Flat Groveland Unified School District. It is unknown if the selection of May 28, 2009, instead of May 5, 2009, has anything to do with the Superintendent's contract being up for renewal in 2009.

This one might leave you astounded...

A board member is confronted with a witness and signed documents that the board member spoke about a teacher issue (discussed in a closed board session) with strangers in a restaurant/bar.