HBCSD Corruption

The Unverified Statements:

(1)      Pat Escalante, HBCSD Superintendent (2012-2020):  Hermosa Beach Joint City Council and School Board Meeting, May 28, 2014.  Time Stamp: 1:08:00

“Um, the other thing that we looked at was a conversation that evolved from our last compact meeting that was last year in September when we discussed, um, the Community Center as an option with regards to, um, housing temporarily school children.  And, what, um, the board, ah, Diane, ah, presented a report to you about the after-school program, and, um, some of the conclusions as to why the Community Center was not a viable option. And we had a discussion and then the council, ah, voted to approve and file that report.  And so, we have looked at, um, the Community Center, we have discussed with the City the Community Center options, and, I mean with the City the Community Center options, the board has discussed it, um, in numerous, um, board meetings.”

NOTE: It is assumed that the report that Pat Escalante is referring to is the Update on Proposed Expansion of P.A.R.K. After School Program from October 2013. 

NOTE: This is a misleading statement by HBCSD Superintendent Pat Escalante that no one at the Joint City Council and School Board meeting challenges. The discussion Pat Escalante is referring to is one regarding the City's after school program at the October 8, 2013 City Council Meeting.

NOTE: The P.A.R.K. after-school program was a discussion of a city-run program and was NOT a factual discussion of district use of the Community Center during the school day and the district's lease agreement with the city when enrollment exceeded 1,266 students.

NOTE: The Update on Proposed Expansion of P.A.R.K. After School Program from October 2013 contained many misleading statements/claims. Please see Lie #13: Misinformation and misleading information and misinformation regarding district use of the Community Center contained in the October 2023 update on Proposed Expansion of P.A.R.K. After School Program by the City of Hermosa Beach.

The Update on Proposed Expansion of P.A.R.K. was NOT a true discussion of district use of the Community Center to relieve overcrowding considering the provisions of the district's leasing agreement with the city. This document was referred to several times by Superintendent Escalante as to why HBCSD can not use the Community Center/Pier Avenue School for students.

Please also see:

Lie #14: Misinformation and misleading information in the Recommendations for the May 2014 Joint Meeting of the Governing Board of HBCSD and the HB City Council.

Lie #15: Misinformation and misleading information and misinformation regarding district use of the Community Center contained in the May 2014 School Board Highlights sent to school parents.

NOTE: The Update on Proposed Expansion of P.A.R.K. After School Program was released by the City shortly after a Facilities Planning and Advisory Committee member found the "missing" Memorandum of Understanding. at the Los Angeles County Registrar’s office in Norwalk, CA.  The MOU outlined the provisions for district use of classrooms, office and storage space at Pier Avenue School/Community Center when district enrollment surpasses 1,266 students.  Was the release of a Proposed Expansion of P.A.R.K. After School Program a way for the City of Hermosa Beach to distract from the school district's legal leasing provisions contained in the MOU?

COMPETING INFORMATION: HBCSD Facilities Planning Advisory Committee August 21, 2013 meeting minutes:

“Chairperson Ehsan asked for announcements.  Superintendent Escalante was asked to comment on the options of using the Community Center for overcrowding of the facilities at Valley School due to continued increase in student enrollment.  The Community Center is owned by the city and is not currently a designated school site.  The board has made the decision to place modular classrooms on both campuses to solve (NOTE: does placing more modular classrooms on both campuses “SOLVE” the overcrowding problem or does it just make things worse?)  the current overcrowding as a short-term solution." (NOTE: The school board members' decision to "SOLVE" the overcrowding problem with a "short-term" solution lasted from 2013 until March 2021 (7 years!) until North School and View School were rebuilt). 

"Committee member Bacallao requested that representatives from the state tour the community center to see if there are any Title 5 restrictions that would prevent the community center as being used by the district should additional classroom space be needed in the future.  Committee agreed that if we need or want to continue investigating the community center, the committee would need a directive from the board.” (NOTE: HBCSD school board members: Patti Ackerman, Jack Burns, Lisa Claypoole, Ray Waters, Carleen Beste, did NOT give the FPAC the directive to continue to investigate the Community Center for district use.)

(2)      Lance Widman, former Hermosa Beach City Council member (1975-1981) and signer on the Sale and Purchase Agreement for Pier Avenue School and HBCSD School Board member (2002-2009):

“Shortly after the passage of the bond measure in 2002, the School Board hired a well-respected land use consultant to assess possible land purchases, commercial and residential, bordering Hermosa Valley School.  After lengthy discussions and numerous meetings, the Board determined that a land purchase was not economically feasible.”  To my old friend by Lance Widman, Letters to the Editor 11/24/2005, Easy Reader News. 

NOTE: There is no transcript, video-tape or formal report evidence for the ”lengthy” discussion and "numerous" meetings held with the “well-respected land use consultant” that Lance Widman is referring to in this passage. Who was the "well-respected land use consultant" Lance Widman is referring to? No additional information was supplied by HBCSD to the public to verify these statements despite requests from residents.

NOTE: After this statement from Lance Widman, a former Hermosa resident, Cathy Osborn, who was a real-estate agent, reported that she had spoken personally to the manager of the Adelphia location and he had no knowledge of anyone from the school district approaching Adelphia regarding purchasing the Adelphia site to expand Valley School.

NOTE: The first attempt at Measure J bond language did not include purchasing land to expand Valley School. Before the language was added to the final ballot, Superintendent Duffy Clark had reported that Adelphia (now Spectrum) was unwilling to sell their property to the school district.

Please see: April 9, 2002 – Minutes from the HBCSD Citizens Meeting held at View School: 

“Superintendent Duffy Clark spoke to Adelphia (now Spectrum) about selling their site.  But Adelphia said that they do not have any intention of selling because they just invested over one million dollars upgrading their cables/equipment.”

NOTE: This statement by former Superintendent Duffy Clark was made seven months BEFORE the November 2002 Measure J bond vote AND before school board members ADDED “acquiring land” to the ballot wording.

See also:  June 2002 – Survey of voter attitudes toward the district’s planned facilities bond by Evans/McDonough Company, Inc. In June 2002, AFTER the April 9, 2002 Citizen's meeting at which Superintendent Clark said Adelphia was NOT willing to sell their site, School board members had NOT included the purchasing the Adelphia site to their bond wording. However, wording that the Measure J bond funds would be used to purchase land to expand Valley School was added to the the Measure J bond description even though it seemed unlikely that this would occur. At the same time mention of building a new gymnasium, apparently the school district's highest priority, WAS left off the bond description. Doesn't it seem like there was intentional deception of voters taking place by HBCSD on their bond description in 2002?

(3)      Lance Widman, former Hermosa Beach City Council member (1975-1981) and signer on the Sale and Purchase Agreement for Pier Avenue School and HBCSD School Board member (2002-2009):

”It is indeed a charming notion that the Community Center

could again be used as a junior high school.  That possibility was

carefully considered more than once.  Unfortunately, wishing very

hard and very long does not change the District’s current new

construction realities.”  Letters to the Editor by Lance Widman,

12/22/2005, Easy Reader News

NOTE: There is no transcript, video-tape or formal report evidence for the conversations/meetings that Lance Widman is referring to in this statement.

(4)      Lance Widman, former Hermosa Beach City Council member (1975-1981) and signer on the Sale and Purchase Agreement for Pier Avenue School and HBCSD School Board member (2002-2008):   School district finalizes construction plans by David Rosenfeld, June 17, 2004, Easy Reader News.

“School board trustee Lance Widman, who was mayor at the

time of the 1978 sale, said it’s an idea that’s time has passed.”

“…the idea to buy and remodel the Community Center was

considered fully and found not to be economically sound.”

NOTE: There is no transcript, video-tape or formal report evidence for the conversations/meetings that Lance Widman is referring to in this statement.

(5)      Lance Widman, former Hermosa Beach City Council member (1975-1981) and signer on the Sale and Purchase Agreement for Pier Avenue School and HBCSD School Board member (2002-2008): School district finalizes construction plans by David Rosenfeld, June 17, 2004, Easy Reader News.

“No formal study has been done, though Dougherty said he

looked at the possibility closely*.  Dougherty said classrooms would

have to be enlarged according to code, asbestos removed, an

elevator installed, and a handicap ramp created in the back.”

*NOTE: Why didn’t Dougherty and Dougherty make a formal report on the Community Center issues so that they could be further investigated and considered along with the district’s other plans? As we have learned from fact checking other consultants HBCSD has hired, it seems that district hired consultants will often tailor their reports and information to conform to what the district wants, not to the actual facts of the matter.  See Lie #18: Misinforming the public as to the historical facts and value of the circa 1934 North School in Pam Daly’s Historic Resource Assessment of North School.

Architects may not be impartial purveyors of information. Architects who would most likely rather be paid to design and build new structures at Valley School instead of saving Hermosa Beach taxpayers’ money by using existing facilities.

COMPETING INFORMATION:

A.      Classrooms can be enlarged by removing interior walls installed

by the city, but they do not have to be sized according to “code”.

Title 5 Code of Regulations apply to new construction only.

Otherwise, taxpayers would be on the hook to update countless

older school buildings throughout California to conform to

current Title 5 codes. This "issue" should not prevent HBCSD

from using the Community Center classrooms for students.

B.      Title 5 standards were adopted in 1993. The CDE does not require

that school districts make all existing schools meet relatively

new Title 5 standards. Requiring that all school districts be

responsible for bringing all their schools up to current Title 5

standards would cost taxpayers BILLIONS of dollars.

C.  Title 5 standards recommend that new classrooms be 960 sq ft.

The classrooms in the community center that are smaller than

Title 5 standards are only 900 sq ft to 930 sq ft: the equivalent

of a 30’X30’ or 30’X31’ classroom versus 31’X31’ classroom.  Should

a difference of 30 or 60 square feet be the reason for the district

to reject the Community Center to temporarily relieve

overcrowding? Why not just put less students in each of the

smaller classrooms?

a. According to the Existing Space Inventory on page 43 of

the 2014 Facilities Master Plan, there are six classrooms

at Valley School that fall below the Title 5 standard of

960 square feet for students grades 1st – 8th.  Rooms #12

and #13 are listed as being 949 sq ft each.  Room #14 is

listed as being 931 sq ft. Rooms #22, #23, #24 are listed

as being only 900 sq ft each.  The fact that these six

classrooms are less than the CDE Title 5 recommended 960

sq ft has not diminish or prevented their use for students

at Valley School. 

b. According to the View School - Existing Space Inventory on

page 53 of the 2014 Facilities Master Plan, there are four

kindergarten classes that are held in classrooms that are

less than the Title 5 recommendation of 1,350 sq ft for

transitional kindergarten and kindergarten. The four

kindergarten classes are held in classrooms that are 960

sq ft each.

c. Any standard can be exempted, see Item u. in Section

14010 Standards for School Site Selection states:  “At

the request of the governing board of a school district,

the State Superintendent of Public Instruction may grant

exemptions to any of the standards in this section if

the district can demonstrate that mitigation of specific

circumstances overrides a standard without compromising

a safe and supportive school environment.”

D.      HBCSD has no problem ignoring CDE Title 5 standards for

classroom size and campus size when in suits them:

a.     HBCSD put 5-6 classes of pre-kindergarten and

kindergarten students in classrooms designed for 3rd

& 4th grade students at Vista School (aka North

School) in 2021–2022.  Classrooms designed for

kindergarten students are supposed to be larger

(1,350 square feet) and with attached bathrooms and

easy access and supervision to a connected outdoor

play space. Classrooms for 3rd & 4th grade students

are designated to be 960 square feet.  This decision

by HBCSD violated Title 5 standards.

b.      Vista School campus is only 27% of the recommended

size for 425 students, even as the campus was built

for 510 students.  This decision by HBCSD violated

Title 5 standards, but was okayed by the CDE.

c.      Keeping students in overcrowded conditions for years

violates Title 5 standards.  Putting two classrooms of

students in the Multipurpose room at Valley and View

schools should also violate Title 5 standards.  Greg

Breen ignores these violations of Title 5 standards

and only mentions the fact that some of the classrooms

at the Community Center are smaller than what is

recommended by the CDE.

E.    According to the Arbitration Agreement Exhibit D of the

Agreement, Article 4.d:

“It is the intent of the parties that Hermosa Beach

residents and property owners shall be given priority in the

use of the facilities.” 

a.      Most of the current occupants using the Community Center

classrooms during school hours are NOT from Hermosa

Beach. 

b.     There are four classrooms in the south wing that are leased

out to adults with disabilities that are 920 square feet

each. There are six classrooms in the north wing: four of

the rooms are 900 square feet each. There are four other

rooms that appear to be at least 900 square feet each or

more.  Any non-structural partitions that have been erected

in existing classrooms could be removed and reinstalled

after the district could move students to North School.

c. Did it make sense for the school district to forego using the

Community Center and instead purchase/lease $1.14M in

temporary facility “solutions” which are not long-term

improvements to a community asset and do nothing to stop

overcrowding on district campuses? The Community

Center classrooms could temporarily accommodate any

grade of middle school (5th grade through 8th grade)

students to relieve overcrowding on Valley or View

campuses.  See Pier Avenue School South Wing floor

plan and North Wing floor plan classroom sizes.

F.   Where is the study that confirms asbestos at the Community

Center? Why hasn’t it already been removed by the city if its

a problem?  Asbestos is only a problem if it is released into

the air.

NOTE:  The North School asbestos study contained in the 2017-2019 Environmental Impact Report recommended that the district NOT tear down North School. According to David Lucero an Environmental Assessor for Terra Petra Environmental Engineering, anything that appeared to have asbestos could be removed during renovations.  All the additions of asbestos were added in the late 50’s which are easy to remove.  Nothing about the North School buildings themselves have any issues. The same architects and engineers who built North School also built the Community Center, therefore it is likely that asbestos is not a problem at the Community Center either.

G. An elevator was planned for the new construction at Valley

School in 2006 that would only service TWO classrooms.  An

elevator installed at the Community Center would service

six classrooms. Why would installation of an elevator be a

problem at the Community Center?  All public buildings are

required by law to be ADA accessible, the same is true for

the Community Center.  The City of Hermosa Beach has

already made many ADA improvements to the Community

Center over the years at minimal cost.

(6)      Greg Breen, former HBCSD School Board member (2002 to 2008):

“The building itself would have to undergo substantial

reconstruction.”  “Architects* have advised the board that it’d be

cheaper to bulldoze the Community Center than to rehabilitate it.”

“None of this is new information.  The district has had this

information available for anyone to review since I was on the board

a decade ago.“   Pier into the Past? by Greg Breen, Easy Reader News,

Letters to the Editor, July 30, 2015.

*NOTE: Dougherty and Dougherty are NOT engineers and are NOT qualified to make statements about the structural integrity of Pier Avenue School.

*NOTE: Why didn’t Dougherty and Dougherty make a formal report on the Community Center issues so that they could be shown to the public, investigated and considered along with the district’s other plans?  As we have learned from fact checking other consultants HBCSD has hired, it seems that the district's hired consultants will often tailor their reports and information to conform to what the district wants, not to the actual facts of the matter.  See information regarding Decision Insite enrollment consultant’s reports, Pam Daly’s North School historical assessment, Richard Garland’s traffic study.

NOTE: There is No AVAILABLE information to confirm this public statement by former Hermosa Beach School Board member Greg Breen. However there is plenty of information that would disprove this statement by Greg Breen.

Please see: Lie #6: Misleading the public as to the condition and safety of the Community Center for students.

NOTE: Please also see: Email response from HBCSD Superintendent Pat Escalante to community member Miyo Prassas request for information email dated August 4, 2015 .  

“… the district is unable to provide the information that

you are requesting [copy of any documentation from architects that

would validate Greg Breen’s statement.].  Mr. Breen need[s] to

provide the reference to you.  The content of a letter written to the

opinion section of a local newspaper by a resident [former HBCSD

School Board member 2001-2008], is in the view of the district,

his opinion.”

(7) Pat Escalante, HBCSD Superintendent (2012-2020): 

Please see: Hermosa Beach City School District Measure S Informational Meeting, May 25, 2016, time stamp: 01:05:21  http://hermosabeach.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=6&clip_id=4167 

“It [North School] is set up as a school from 1987, that’s

remained as 1987, with $15,000 year put into it to maintain it.”

COMPETING INFORMATION:  The claim of $15,000/year to maintain North School has not been verified by district documents.  According to Purchase Orders Over $500.00 information posted to school board meeting minutes, over nine years (2008 – 2016) HBCSD spent an average of $4,070.98/year to maintain North School NOT $15,000/year.  Rebuilding North School cost taxpayers $29M.