HBCSD Corruption

The Misleading Information:

“In her new post, Escalante will earn $135,000.  By comparison, her comparable predecessor, Bruce Newlin – who retired on December 31 – made $176,000.  His salary schedule called for him to earn $185,000 next school year, meaning the district will actually save about $50,000 on her."  Hermosa Beach School District to cut superintendent's pay, by Bob Kuznia, Daily Breeze newspaper, April 19, 2012.

1. Dr. Bruce Newlin and Ms. Pat Escalante are NOT COMPARABLE.  Bruce Newlin has an extensive resume with 30 years of experience as superintendent at six different school districts, the last school district consisted of about 14,000 students and 20 schools.  (Hermosa Beach City School District had about 1,300 students and before he left, only two schools.) Bruce Newlin also had a Doctorate of Education degree. Pat Escalante had neither superintendent experience nor a Doctor of Education degree.

2. Why did school board members hire the overqualified and expensive Dr. Bruce Newlin for the exceedingly small Hermosa School District instead of looking for a less expensive, yet qualified superintendent from 2008-2012?

Please see the history of the superintendent position at HBCSD in Lie #21.

3. Dr. Bruce Newlin came to HBCSD at a sizeable cost for the small Hermosa school district.  As of January 2009, the Salary Schedule for Bruce Newlin was Step 1: $160,000.; Step 2: $168,000; Step 3: $176,400; Step 4: $185,220; Step 5: $194,481. 

4. Pat Escalante was an assistant principal for two years at Hoarce Mann Elementary School, a principal for five years at El Rodeo Elementary School. In 2009, Pat Escalante was removed from her position as principal at El Rodeo Elementary School.

5. After being removed as principal at El Rodeo School, Pat Escalante was “promoted” to director of Adult Education (at which time she took a $9,276/year pay cut) at Beverly Hills Unified School.  She was let go after only one year as director of Adult Education at Beverly Hills Unified School District in May 2011, one month before HBCSD hired her as principal. 

NOTE: It is believed that the spin HBCSD school board members put on Pat Escalante's hiring when talking to parents was that Pat Escalante was hired AWAY from BHUSD. The truth was that she was let go from BHUSD.

6. HBCSD hired Pat Escalante to be principal at Valley School in June 2010. At the time Pat Escalante had already been let go from BHUSD. She was a single, middle aged woman who was out of a job during the height of the Great Recession when HBCSD hired her.

7. After initially taking a pay cut as Valley School principal for one year, Pat Escalante was then given an approximately $30k/year salary increase when she was made superintendent at HBCSD with no superintendent training or experience.  The following year Pat Escalante’s superintendent salary was increased by another $3,372/year. 

8. HBCSD also paid approximately $40k for superintendent “lessons” for Pat Escalante from 2012 through 2014. 

9. Ms. Escalante’s final salary in June 2020 was $192,540/year (not including $32,131.08 in bonuses in her last two years at HBCSD).  Her June 2020 salary, after only eight years at HBCSD, was a 53% increase above what she had last been paid at Beverly Hills Unified School District ($125,686/year) and a whopping 79% increase over her salary as principal her first year at HBCSD.   

NOTE: According to Transparent California, Pat Escalante’s total pay had increased to $203,409.00 in 2020 (after only eight years) with $39,803.00 in benefits for total pay and benefits of $243,212.00.