HBCSD Corruption

The Misleading Information:

(1)      Email from Miyo Prassas (community member and neighbor to Valley School) to Kevin Cody publisher of the Easy Reader on October 28, 2014: 

A.      Statement from Miyo Prassas to Kevin Cody publisher of the Easy Reader:  “I want to bring to your attention what I am sure is a typo in your article on Measure Q this week.”

a.      Statement in the Easy Reader News article: “Parents and Valley

School neighbors sued to prevent Prop J money from being spent to build a gym.  They thought the money should have gone to more classrooms.  The suit failed, but cost the district over $500,000 in legal fees.”

b.       Question from Miyo Prassas to Kevin Cody: “Did the district provide any documentation to support their claim that there were $500,000 in legal fees? 

B.      Kevin Cody, publisher of The Easy Reader newspaper, October 28, 2014:

“$500,000 is a number I’ve heard on many occasions, but I can’t document it.  I’ll check with the district.  I’ll work on it now.”

(2)       From Miyo Prassas, community member and neighbor to Valley School, November 13, 2014: 

“I am still interested in understanding how the district arrived at their statement that the Prop J lawsuit cost them $500,000 in legal fees.  During last night’s school board meeting discussion on the aftermath of Measure Q, Carleen Beste [school board member]is now threatening that the district should start proceedings to recoup the alleged $500,000 that is owed the district.  My worry is that after reading your article and now after hearing it from a school board member, the community at large will start believing something that has not been substantiated.”

A.      From Kevin Cody, publisher of The Easy Reader newspaper, November 13, 2014: 

“I haven’t gotten an answer, but will pursue it.”

B.      No response was ever given to Miyo Prassas after the November 13, 2014 email from Kevin Cody.  It is assumed that the school district never responded to his inquiry for proof of the $500,000 legal fee claim.

NOTE:  None of the former school board members involved with Measure J spending and the lawsuit (Cathy McCurdy, Greg Breen, Lance Widman, Linda Beck) wrote a letter to the Editor for publication disputing the incorrect information provided by HBCSD to the Easy Reader Newspaper regarding $500,000 in legal fees.

NOTE: Although HBCSD spent $148,000 from the district general fund to pay for attorney’s fees for the lawsuit brought by Jerry Compton in 2005-2006, School board members (Cathy McCurdy, Greg Breen, Lance Widman and Linda Beck) spent more than $1M of district funds to finish building the gymnasium.  If the lawsuit had won, HBCSD/taxpayers would have saved $1M of district funds meant for teachers, students, plant operations, etc. that was taken from the school district (bond funds had been exhausted) to finish building a low-priority gymnasium.

NOTE: HBCSD School Board members spent approximately $1.1M on temporary overcrowding solutions from 2012 to 2015 because they did NOT provide the 14 additional classrooms by 2012 as was recommended in the 2002 Facilities Master Plan. Instead school board members spent approximately $11M and only replaced two classrooms that had been torn down to make way for the gymnasium at Valley School. No new net classrooms were supplied by the district's $13.9M Measure J bond from 2002 to 2008.

The $1.1M on temporary overcrowding solutions did NOTHING to relieve overcrowding at Valley and View School and were district (and community) funds NOT spent to create a lasting asset for the district (and community).

(2) HBCSD calls for support of upcoming bond measure, despite opponent's concerns about the 2002 bond spending, by Alana Garrigues, September 7, 2014, The Beach Reporter.

"Measure J had the standard stated school improvements listed on the bond, and an extensive to-do list written into the voter pamphlet", said concerned citizen Miyo Prassas. "Yet here we are, eight years later, with two schools that are extremely impacted, an angry electorate and panicked parents."

"Superintendent Pat Escalante said more classrooms could have been built, if it hadn't been for the cost of litigation surrounding the measure."

Please see:

Lie #41:  Claiming that the lawsuit brought against HBCSD in April 2005 was the cause for school board members’ decision NOT to accept the May 2005 construction bids and thus caused the delay, cost increases and the elimination of two classrooms when bids were accepted in February 2006.