HBCSD Corruption

Proof of the lie:

(1)        Despite Superintendent Pat Escalante’s assurance at the February 11th meeting that the district had planned on taking steps to accommodate more students whether or not the district’s November 2014 Measure Q $54 million dollar bond passed, the district’s actions to move 150 more students to View School seemed to help convince parents and the public that HBCSD needed to pass a $54-$59-million-dollar facilities bond.

(2)         Did school board members and Superintendent Pat Escalante recognize that moving 150 more students to an already severely overcrowded View School might panic the staff and parents of View School students?  Wouldn’t panicked View School’s parents be more motivated to work to pass a bond that their children might benefit from than the parents of older children at Valley School who would soon be graduating out of the district?   Therefore, if one was to overcrowd a campus it made more sense to overcrowd View School in order to garner more support for their $59M facilities bond than to leave the 3rd grade students at Valley School.

(3)         View School classroom usage went from 21 classrooms in 2014-2015 to 24 classrooms in the 2015-2016 school year after HBCSD spent $721,476.00 on three more temporary classrooms at View School.  (Exhibit DI-13)  From 2015 to 2018 HBCSD continued to use all 24 classrooms at View School and overcrowd the campus despite continued declining enrollment at Valley School.

(4)         Valley School classroom usage went from 35 classrooms in 2014-2015 school year to only 29 classrooms used at Valley School in the 2015-2016 school year after 150 3rd grade students were moved to View School.  Therefore, there were a total of six (6) underused/unused classrooms at Valley School that could have been used to relieve overcrowding at View School.  (DI-39)

(5)         By 2016-2017 school year, only one year after school board members moved 150 third grade students to View School from Valley School, classroom usage at Valley School dropped to 28 classrooms from the original 35 classrooms used in 2014-2015 school year.  An additional decrease of one more classroom for a total of seven (7) classrooms at Valley School that weren’t used to relieve overcrowding at View School.

(6)         By 2017-2018, only two years after the district’s February 11, 2015 decision to move 150 students to an already overcrowded View School, classroom usage at Valley School dropped to 27 classrooms.  All together eight (8) classrooms at Valley School that weren’t used to reduce overcrowding at View School.  (DI-39)

(7)         By 2018-2019 school year total HBCSD enrollment had dropped by 128 students from the 2014-2015 school year.  However, Valley School enrollment had dropped by 209 students from the 2014-2015 school year while View School’s enrollment had risen by 81 students since 2014-2015 SY.  HBCSD’s third grade now only required six classrooms instead of the original seven classrooms needed in the 2014-2015 school year.  Instead of moving the third grade back to Valley School to better distribute students between the campuses and lessen the burden on View School, school board members kept View School severely overcrowded.  (Exhibit DI-39b)

(8)         In July 2019, when the plans for a brand new $29M campus at North School were slated to be approved by the Coastal Commission, HBCSD School Board members were able to take advantage of the concerned parents whose children had spent years in artificially overcrowded conditions.   Superintendent Pat Escalante and HBCSD attorney Terry Tao were able to get 103 parents to send emails to the Coastal Commission advocating for an unneeded, brand-new $29M dollar campus.

NOTE: Normally the Coastal Commission is supposed to look at alternatives to creating significant, potentially negative changes to the environment within the Coastal Zone. Please see information regarding the district's Environmental Impact Report. However, HBCSD with the help of district consultants, HBCSD attorney Terry Tao, HBCSD superintendent Pat Escalante and Hermosa Beach City misinformation about the Community Center AND the 103 parents who wrote emails to the Coastal Commission on behalf of the district's plan to build a now unneeded 510 student campus at North School acted to mislead the Coastal Commission regarding the true facts of less impactful alternatives.