Hello everyone – In this update I will be covering the following:
- Tuesday June 18th (at 6pm) Regular Board Meeting Details
- Important Items on the June 18th Agenda to Note (more details on each item at the end of the update)
- Agenda item F.1 - Climate Action Pathways for Schools (CAPS) Presentation
- Agenda item J.1.B – Ratify Contracts Executed (Pursuant to Board Policy 3312)
- Agenda item J.1.G - Approve Agreements for Legal Services for Fiscal Year 2024-25
- Agenda item J.2.C - Approve Special Education Contracts in the Sum of $664,387.20
- Agenda item J.3.A - Approve Personnel Action to Employ, Re-employ, Promote, Reassign, Accept Resignation, Accept Retirement, and Authorize Related Compensation
- Agenda item K.2 - Approve the 2024-2027 Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP)
- Agenda item K.3 - Approve Budget for 2024-25 School Year (Accordance with Education Code 42122-42127). And June 14th brief recap of budget discussion.
- Dr Garcia’s Career: A Closer Look Beyond SMUSD (more details below)
2 ) Important Items on the June 18th Agenda to Note
Agenda item F.1 - Climate Action Pathways for Schools (CAPS) Presentation
This presentation stems from a 10-week internship offered by Climate Action Pathways Schools, a non-profit organization that collaborates with under-resourced public school districts. Their mission is threefold: to lower operating costs, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and advance climate literacy.
The presentation was compiled and prepared by MHUSD selected high school students and submitted on the agenda by Estefanía Pihen, Program Director, Climate Action Pathways for Schools and Dr. Diana M. Jiménez, Assistant Superintendent, Educational Services (salary over $260,371 annually).
At its core, I fully support efforts to enhance our facilities’ energy efficiency and promote independence, aiming to reduce utility operating expenses (specifically, Category Other Operating Expenditures – Budget ID 5000-5999, which constitutes about 12% of MHUSD’s budget, although the utility portion within this category remains unclear).
However, my concern arises from slide 4, where multiple numerical typos exist. Additionally, some ballpark estimates of electricity consumption are significantly off. For instance, Live Oak High School’s reported total annual electricity consumption of ~69 MWh per year is a fraction of what it should be (especially when compared to Ann Sobrato’s rate). As a rule of thumb, K-12 schools in the United States typically use approximately 10 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity per square foot annually. Consequently, a school facility covering roughly 1 acre would consume around ~430 MWh per year.
In conclusion, if high-earning executives submit agenda items to the board and oversee students’ hard work, they should ensure accurate data without numerical typos, preventing misleading conclusions and potential costly actions.
Agenda item J.1.B – Ratify Contracts Executed (Pursuant to Board Policy 3312)
One observation with the submitted list of contract here a $52,154.00 annual contract with a supplier named, Informed K12. While I’m not intimately familiar with the platform, based on a brief review of their website, it appears to have similarities with existing tools such as DocuSign, Google Forms, and Microsoft Projects (I have seen contracts for them on previous contract lists). Given that this contract pertains to the HR department, it would be prudent to gain a deeper understanding of its purpose and necessity.
Additionally, I see an amount of $50k paid to Medical Billing Technologies from MediCal funds to simplify participation in Medi-Cal programs by providing guidance and support to MHUSD during enrollment. This was brought to the attention of the board on June 14 meeting as well. Ms. Timboe pointed out that while medical funds could enhance our budget, streamlining billing would incur additional costs and potentially necessitate staff expansion, leading to unsustainable operational expenses.
Agenda item J.1.G - Approve Agreements for Legal Services for Fiscal Year 2024-25
There has been an increase in the use of attorneys and outside counsel and an increase in the contracted amounts over the years. It would be interesting to know the actual expenses compared to the approved contracts and whether actual legal costs exceeded the initial contracts.
- 2024-25 Consent Item: $686,000
- 2023-24 Consent Item: $406,789
- 2022-23 Consent Item: $383,000
- 2021-22 Consent Item: $383,000
Agenda item J.2.C - Approve Special Education Contracts in the Sum of $664,387.20
Back in early March during one of the LCAP Advisory Meetings, one of the few participating parents asked a valid question of how does our SpEd individual placements compare to other California districts with the same size population? I captured the question along with many other clarifying questions and kept following up with Dr Jimenez. She responded a short answer on March 29 stating the district’s SpeEd percentage: 14.5% and state SpEd percentage: 13%. But it didn’t specifically address the comparison of individual placements. During the May 31st meeting, one of the SpEd parents expressed frustration, echoing the sentiments of many other SpEd parents in MHUSD. The district spends large amounts of money on SpEd and SpEd staff, yet the results have not been satisfactory. Perhaps it’s time to closely examine the department’s performance.
Agenda item J.3.A - Approve Personnel Action to Employ, Re-employ, Promote, Reassign, Accept Resignation, Accept Retirement, and Authorize Related Compensation
The mass exodus continues with many resigning all the way from Assistant Superintendent (a more complete update on this here), to teachers and classified staff.
Agenda item K.2 - Approve the 2024-2027 Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP)
A deeper analysis of LCAP redflags here. Link to 370 pages of LCAP. During a public hearing, a parent raised a valid question about why our district’s LCAP needs to be lengthy and complex when neighboring districts achieve similar results with shorter plans. Unfortunately, despite public comments and concerns, none of the LCAP actions have changed as a result of the hearings on June 4. Additionally, there have been numerous allocations for professional development, but their impact remains unclear. Transparency is lacking regarding my request for a root cause analysis of chronic absenteeism, which led to actions like professional development to address the issue.
Agenda item K.3 - Approve Budget for 2024-25 School Year (Accordance with Education Code 42122-42127)
During the June 14th meeting, the board engaged in a substantial discussion. I was pleased to hear Ms. Timboe emphasize the staggering structural deficit we face through 2026-2027. However, I was taken aback when Dr. Garcia posed two critical questions to the board:
- What is the board’s comfort level with deficit spending?
- What is the board’s comfort level with reducing the district’s reserves?
Dr. Garcia’s inquiry left me genuinely perplexed. The notion of a “comfort level” regarding an imbalanced budget seems immature. Financial decisions should not be guided by subjective comfort; instead, they require objective analysis. The county has already highlighted concerns about MHUSD’s financial stability, yet Dr. Garcia focuses on a comfortable level of deficit spending.
As Ms. Timboe promptly emphasized, a savings account is a one-time resource. Once it’s depleted, it’s gone. Rather than seeking comfort in gradually consuming savings, we should prioritize building and preserving them.
Additionally, Ms. Timboe underscored the importance of revisiting our core priorities—peeling back the layers like an onion—to determine what is essential for our students.
Given this context, I would say that the agenda item should prompt an immediate reinstatement of the Budget Advisory Committee. Ms. Timboe also advocated for community input and participation. Achieving financial stability requires collaboration, and we must draw a firm line at zero comfort level when it comes to deficit spending.
3 ) Dr Garcia’s Career: A Closer Look Beyond SMUSD
I had previously shared an update regarding Dr Garcia’s previous experience in SMUSD as a superintendent. However her questions on June 14th regarding the board comfort level with deficit spending and tapping into reserves as the head of our district, prompted me to look closer into her experience beyond SMUSD.
Dr. Garcia was born in Mexico, and grew up in Southern California (10 siblings). She earned a Master’s Degree and teaching credential, starting her teaching career in the Long Beach Unified School District. Dr Garcia earned her Doctorate from the University of Southern California.
In 2010, Dr Garcia becomes the superintendent of Borrego Springs Unified School District at age 34 with a salary of $120,000 annually. BSUSD is a small school district in small desert town of Borrego Springs east of San Diego. She came to Borrego from San Diego where she had been principal of a Roosevelt Middle School and the youngest principal in that district. Despite serving as superintendent in Borrego for approximately two years, Dr. Garcia did not reside there long. She lived mainly in Escondido and commuted daily 70 miles each way. BSUSD has a large Hispanic population and faces many challenges such as academic performance and financial stability. It remains unclear to me whether Dr. Garcia’s brief two-year tenure resolved or exacerbated the issues. However, many parents of Latino students responded well to Dr Garcia and became more active in their children’s education during that time. Dr. Garcia advocated for solar contracts at BSUSD. However, the ultimate impact and cost to the district remain unclear to me.
In 2012, she steps down for SD High School principal post (a more prestigious role), which served as a stepping stone toward her eventual appointment as the SMUSD superintendent in 2018.
Considering Dr. Garcia’s track record, it becomes evident that she is a highly accomplished individual. She has meticulously crafted her personal brand, strategically positioning herself to propel her career forward relentlessly. She is careful with her every move, manages her image carefully and remains in close contact with influential people (2024 endorsements of board candidates or renowned contracted speakers and coaches in the field).
Under different circumstances, I would have genuinely admired her ambition. However, considering that the price of her ambition directly impacts my children’s education and future, I no longer view her as an influential leader. Instead, she appears to be a mere opportunist better suited for politics or a private higher education setting rather than public school leadership.