HBCSD Corruption

September 10, 2008 - Project Forward Proposal, S-09-08/09

RECOMMENDATION:

"It is recommended that the Board of Education discuss the proposal as presented by the City School Compact, and to take action or provide staff with direction as necessary."

BACKGROUND:

"The City Council-School Board Subcommittee ("Compact") is proposing the creation of a blue ribbon committee to identify a set of guiding principles for the future of the Hermosa Beach City School District."

September 10, 2008 - Discussion/action on the Interim Superintendent position.

"At the August 27, 2008, the Board of Education accepted Superintendent, Dr. Sharon McClain's resignation from the district. It is possible for a new superintendent search to take two - three months. An interim superintendent will provide for the immediate supervisory and leadership needs during this transition."

September 10, 2008 – Superintendent Search Firm Interviews. HBCSD interviews four superintendent search firms.

September 23, 2008 - All Call Public Forum for the Hermosa Beach City School District superintendent search. HBCSD hires superintendent search firm COSA to find a new superintendent for HBCSD. See also: October 2008 - HBCSD cancels the superintendent search with the COSA Group.

September 2008 - HBCSD hires supremely overqualified, expensive, 74-year-old formally retired superintendent Dr. Bruce Newlin as HBCSD’s interim superintendent. 

1.       Dr. Newlin was a formally retired superintendent with 30 years (1968 to 1997) of superintendent experience at six different school districts with enrollment up to 14,000 students.  He also taught for ten years from 1997 to 2006 as a professor at UCLA where he taught leadership at the School of Education and Information Studies.  Please see Dr. Bruce Newlin’s resume. 

2.       Going into the Great Recession 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. 

3.       Dr. Bruce Newlin would serve as HBCSD's interim superintendent from September 2008 until December 2011. Couldn’t school board members find a cheaper, younger, permanent superintendent for HBCSD in six months?  The September 10, 2008 Discussion/action on the Interim Superintendent position stated that a new superintendent could be found in two to three months. Why then did HBCSD school board members keep the formally retired and very expensive, 74-year-old Dr. Bruce Newlin in his position as interim superintendent for three years before hiring the unqualified Pat Escalante to be superintendent in April 2012? 

4.       Why did school board members stop the use of a superintendent search firm in October 2008 to find a qualified, younger and less expensive superintendent for small 1,300 student HBCSD?

5.       Was 74-year-old Dr. Bruce Newlin actually just a place holder until the cabal could find a superintendent who would be willing to put his or her reputation on the line to do the cabal’s bidding?  Was unemployed Pat Escalante willing to put her reputation on the line to do the cabal's bidding for money?  It is believed that the cabal’s motive was to pass a large bond to keep HBCSD out of the Community Center.   The HBCSD Superintendent would be needed to misinform the community about the issues surrounding the District's use of the Community Center and renovating North School cheaply and quickly to reduce overcrowding. The quid pro quo for the district NOT exercising their lease agreement to use classrooms, office and storage at the Community Center was a brand-new, now unneeded campus at North School.

Please see:

Lie #21: Claiming that Pat Escalante was qualified to be superintendent and that she had decided to apply for the superintendent position at HBCSD on her own.

6.       Between September 2008 and December 2011, school board members did not use Dr. Newlin’s extensive 30 years’ experience as a superintendent at school districts with up to 14,000 students to help HBCSD create a plan to deal with HBCSD’s growing overcrowding.

7.       School board members waited until Pat Escalante is hired in 2012 to tackle their obvious and now mounting overcrowding problems.   Pat Escalante had NO superintendent experience, nor did she have a doctorate in Education, nevertheless she was tasked by school board members to lead the school district and community to solve its temporary overcrowding problems.

Please also see:

Lie #20: Misleading the public that Pat Escalante was well qualified to be a superintendent.

Lie #21: Claiming that Pat Escalante was qualified to be superintendent and that she had decided to apply for the superintendent position at HBCSD on her own.

Lie #22: Claiming that hiring Pat Escalante saved HBCSD money.

NOTE: Even after school board members were given multiple examples of Pat Escalante misinforming the public or outright lying about facts, school board members continued to support her and even nominated her for Superintendent of the Year in 2019.

Please see:

Lie #9: Confusing the separate provisions for district use of the gymnasium changing rooms and auditorium in Exhibit K with the provisions for district use of classrooms, office and storage space that has NO expiration date contained in the Memorandum of Understanding in Exhibit G.

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.

Lie #39: Misinformation and misleading statements contained in the History of the Sale of Pier Avenue School to the City of Hermosa Beach by Superintendent Pat Escalante.

Lie #16: Rampant misinformation and misleading information told by HBCSD attorney Terry Tao with collusion by Superintendent Pat Escalante and School Board members in a videotaped and televised presentation one week before the district’s $59M bond vote.

Lie #17: Misinforming the public regarding HBCSD use of North School AS IS.

Lie #23: Claiming that Pat Escalante was honored by the Creative Coalition at the Sundance Festival in Park City, Utah.

October 2008 – HBCSD apparently cancels the superintendent search with the COSA Group.

2009 – The US government provides stimulus funds to school districts to help them weather the financial downturn.  HBCSD enrollment stands at 1,200 students following exactly the 5.6% annual enrollment increase predicted by the 2002 Facilities Master Plan.

June 30, 2009 - Project Forward is convened. Project Forward's mandate was to "examine matters relating to K-8 Education in the City of Hermosa Beach and to develop a set of Guiding Principles for use by the District and City.

FINDINGS and CONCLUSIONS: "Several themes were apparent and these themes permeated the Guiding Principles."

Transparency: "The community desires the City and School District be transparent in dealings to avoid misconceptions."

Communications: "Not only communicating the correct information, but ensuring it is done clearly in understandable, available formats."

Cooperation: "The community wants the City and District to work together to maximize taxpayer revenues and to promote harmony."

Accountability: "The Hermosa Community contributes much to our schools in the form [of] financial resources and time. As such, the community deserves a higher level of accountability."

Page 5:

IV. Accountability: The District and City are accountable for their actions.

A. "The District will institute an open evaluation process of its performance by administrators, staff, parents, students and the community, the results of which shall be publically available."

Page 7:

VIII: Efficiency: "The District will use all of its resources efficiently [including it's contractural lease of the Pier Avenue Community Center for students?], including facilities, human, financial, and operational. Additionally, the District will implement policies to reduce, reuse and conserve." [Did HBCSD reuse and conserve North School to save a muched loved, iconic community asset and save taxpayers the cost of building a brand new campus from 2019 to 2021?]

- "Initiate a feasibility study on upgrading North School to meet current State building standards by 6/20/10."

NOTE: A feasibility study for North School did not occur until 2013. What took so long? Were HBCSD School Board members waiting until they hired a superintendent who would be willing to lie to the community for money? Did they find that superintendent in Pat Escalante who was hired as HBCSD Superintendent in Spring 2012? Pat Escalante had no qualifications to be superintendent. She had been let-go from Beverly Hills Unifified School District in the Spring of 2011 after five years as principal at El Rodeo Elementary School and after one year as BHUSD Adult School administrator.

NOTE: North School was grandfathered-in as a District school and was therefore considered CDE code compliant as-is. As-is, it already met current State building standards.

June 30, 2009 - Minutes of the Adjourned Regular Meeting of the City Council of the City of Hermosa Beach, California, held on Tuesday, June 30, 2009, at the hour of 7:10 p.m.

Hermosa Beach City Council:

Present: DiVirgillio, Keegan, Tucker, Mayor Bobko

Absent: Reviczky

Hermosa Beach School District Board of Trustees:

Present: Greg Breen, Lisa Claypoole, Lance Widman, Barbara Zondiros

Absent: Dr. Linda Beck

PRESENTATION OF PROJECT FORWARD COMMITTEE FINAL REPORT.

"Project Forward Committee Chair John Sandoval discussed the mandate that the Committee was given and the process they used to complete their work, expressing his appreciation for the public input. He then discussed the guiding principles they formulated as follows:"

(1) Transparency - The District and the City will conduct their business in a clear, open and transparent manner;

(2) Communication - The District will establish and implement a clear and consistent communications policy;

(3) Cooperation - The District will endeavor to collaborate with the City, community, local community organizations, and nearby districts to share resources and programs;

(4) Accountability - The District and City will be accountable for their actions;

(A) The District will institute an open evaluation process of its performance by administrators, staff, parents, students and the community, the results which shall be publically available.

(B) The District will continue to ensure that labor agreements reflect the District's desire to hire and retain the best qualified* teachers, staff and administrators*.

(5) Excellence in Education - The District will offer a curriculum that will create well-rounded life-long learners;

(6) Performance - The District will go beyond the mandated methods to evaluate the students' performance during and after they leave the District;

(7) Revenue Development - The District will seek to develop new and stable revenue sources to complement revenue received from the State and Federal Governments, the Hermosa Beach Education Foundation, and annual appeal and parent-teacher organization; and

(8) Efficiency - The District will use ALL of its resources efficiently, including facilities**, human, financial, and operational. Additionally, the District will implement policies to reduce, reuse*** and conserve***. [including the Pier Avenue Community Center and North School?]

*NOTE: HBCSD school board members did NOT hire the best qualified candidate to be superintendent at HBCSD schools when they hired the unqualified Pat Escalante in March 2013 to be superintendent.

See also:

Lie #21: Misleading the public that Pat Escalante was well qualified to be a superintendent and that she had decided to apply for the superintendent position at HBCSD on her own.

**NOTE: Why didn't anyone from the school district (HBCSD Superintendents: Dr. Robert Duffy Clark (2000-2003) Dr. Sharon McClain (2003-2008), Dr. Bruce Newlin (2009-2012), Ms. Pat Escalante (2013-2020) or any school board member) look into the facts of HBCSD's contractural agreement for use of the Community Center for students? Why did it take a private member of the community in the summer of 2013 to travel to the LA County Clerks Office in Norwalk to obtain a complete copy of the 1978 Sale and Purchase Agreement for Pier Avenue School?

***NOTE: What policies did HBCSD implement to reuse either the Pier Avenue Community Center or North School for HBCSD students from 2010 to 2016? Did HBCSD actually try to conserve the iconic North School? In fact HBCSD school board members and Superintendent Pat Escalante actually lied about the facts in order to demolish North School in the Environmental Impact Report for North School.

See also:

Lie #17: Misinformating the public regarding HBCSD use of NS for students AS IS.

Lie #18: Misinforming the public as to the historical facts and value of the circa 1934 North School in Pam Daly's Historic Resources Assessment of North School.

Lie #47: HBCSD SPUN information and omitted relevant information regarding renovation of North School in Chapter 7, page 7-5 of the Environmental Impact Report for the reconstruction of North School.

Lie #51: HBCSD told a blatant lie and made misleading statements regarding the options proposed in the 2014 Facilities Master Plan in the Environmental Impact Report.

"School Board Member [Lance] Widman expessed frustruation that, despite the best efforts of the Project Forward Committee, there was still hostility between the City, the School Board and the residents because of the parcel tax and the gym."

January 12, 2010 – City Council members:

1.       Kit Bobko

2.       Michael DiVirgilio

3.       Peter C Tucker

4.       Jeff Duclos

5.       Howard Fishman

6.       Steve Burrell – City Manager

2010 – HBCSD eliminates one week of classroom time to save money. 

May 2010 – Pat Escalante is removed from her job as Principal at El Rodeo School in the Beverly Hills Unified School District. Comments about Pat Escalante's tenure as principal from RateMyTeacher.com. Pat Escalante is made director of the Adult Education program at BHUSD.  She takes a $10k salary decrease in her new position. One year later, in May 2011, BHUSD releases Pat Escalante from her position as director of Adult Education.

July 2010 – School Board members:

1.      Carleen Beste, term expires 2013

2.      Jack Burns, term expires 2013

3.      Ray Waters, term expires 2013

4.      Lisa Claypoole, term expires 2011

5.      Cathy McCurdy, term expires 2011

6.      Dr. Bruce Newlin – Superintendent

July 2010 - After having been released from her job as principal at BHUSD, Pat Escalante is made director of the BHUSD Adult School starting July 2010.  Pat Escalante worked as the director for BHUSD Adult School for one year and is released from her position as director in June 2011.  As principal of El Rodeo School, Ms. Escalante made $134,964.00/year.  After being made director of Adult Education at Beverly Hills Unified School District, she took a pay cut of $9,276/year  for a total salary of $125,686.00/year.  

September 2010 – HBCSD enrollment 1,303 students.

HBCSD enrollment surpasses 1,266 students thus triggering the district’s contractual agreement for use of classrooms, office and storage facilities at Pier Avenue School/Community Center.  School board members and city council members do not take advantage of this provision of the Sale and Purchase of Pier Avenue School (aka the Community Center) to relieve overcrowding at Valley and View schools.

January 11, 2011 – City Council members:

1.       Kit Bobko

2.       Michael DiVirgillio

3.       Peter C Tucker

4.       Jeff Duclos

5.       Howard Fishman

6.       Steve Burrell – City Manager

May 2011 - Before being hired by HBCSD, Pat Escalante is let go from Beverly Hills Unified School District along with 11 teachers and no other administrators.  The community raises thousands to rehire the teachers before the start of the school year.  Funds are not raised to rehire Pat Escalante.  Pat Escalante’s final salary at BHUSD is $125,686.00/year. Pat Escalante's salary at the end of her term at HBCSD is $192,540/year plus another $21,261.90 in bonuses and a robust retirement pension.

June 30, 2011 – Hermosa Beach City School District Governing Board

1.       Cathy McCurdy, president, term expires 2011

2.       Jack Burns, term expires 2013

3.       Carleen Beste, term expires 2013

4.       Lisa Claypoole, term expires 2011

5.       Raymond Waters, term expires 2013

6.       Dr. Bruce Newlin – Superintendent

June 2011 – HBCSD hires Pat Escalante to be principal at Valley School.

Her starting salary is $107,737.38/year, the normal middle school salary for a principal with five years of experience at HBCSD.  She takes a pay cut of $17,948.62 for ONE year from her salary as Director of Adult Education at Beverly Hills Unified School District.  When school board members hired her to be principal at Valley School she had already been let go from her position as Director of Adult Education at BHUSD.

In April 2012 Pat Escalante will be appointed as superintendent of HBCSD with absolutely no superintendent experience and no doctorate in Education.   Her salary is increased to $138,600/year.  An increase of $12,914 from her last salary at BHUSD.   HBCSD also pays for three years of superintendent “lessons” for Pat Escalante at the cost of approximately $40,000.  After only eight years Pat Escalante will achieve a 28% increase in salary to $192,540/year not including $36,310,62 in bonuses and a healthy retirement pension.   

July 15, 2011 – Hermosa Beach school superintendent retires by Robb Fulcher, Easy Reader. Interim, and formally retired, superintendent Dr. Bruce Newlin announces that his retirement from HBCSD will be December 31, 2011.  In his last year Dr. Bruce Newlin is reportedly paid $176,000. 

Please also see: Hermosa Beach School District to cut superintendents pay, by Rob Kuznia, April 19, 2012, Daily Breeze.

July 2011-December 2011 - School board members do not employ a superintendent search firm to find a replacement for retiring (again) Superintendent Bruce Newlin. School board members will not start a "superintendent search" for a new HBCSD superintendent until January 2012. In April 2012 school board members will hire the HBCSD superintendent from the exceedingly small (non-existent) qualified and interested candidates from the current HBCSD administrative staff. Why would it take three months (January-March) to find a superintendent candidate from two principals at HBCSD? Who else was interviewed to be superintendent at HBCSD in that period?

September 2011 -  HBCSD School Board decides to offer full day kindergarten and transitional kindergarten to attract additional students to HBCSD to increase income.  This move also increases overcrowding at district schools.  Enrollment stands at 1,330 students.  Pat Escalante starts as principal at Valley School.

December 2011 – School board members appoint another interim superintendent Alan Rassmusen for six months.  Was Alan Rasmussen hired for six months until Pat Escalante finishes her first year as principal at Valley School?  Please see: Former Hermosa Beach superintendent rehired as interim chief, December 23, 2011, Daily Breeze.

January 10, 2012 – City Council members:

1.       Kit Bobko

2.       Michael DiVirgilio

3.       Peter C Tucker

4.       Jeff Duclos

5.       Howard Fishman - Mayor

January 11, 2012 – Superintendent Search and Selection.

School board members “massage” public opinion by announcing the cost savings of hiring a new superintendent from within HBCSD exceeding small (zero) interested and qualified candidates to be superintendent. 

April 11, 2012 - HBCSD School Board meeting minutes.

Pat Escalante is promoted to Superintendent of HBCSD.  Pat Escalante had been a principal for five years at Beverly Hills Unified School District.  In Spring 2010, she was let go from her principal position made director of Adult Education.  Pat Escalante took a cut in salary when she became director of Adult Education in 2010.  Only one year later, BHUSD eliminated Pat Escalante’s position as Adult Education director.  She was out of job during the height of the Great Recession when HBCSD hired her to principal at Valley School in June 2011.

In April 2012, when school board members promoted Pat Escalante to the superintendent position at HBCSD, she had no superintendent experience nor did she have a doctorate in Education.  All other HBCSD superintendents have had a doctorate in Education.   HBCSD school board members also purchased approximately $40,000 of superintendent “lessons” for Pat Escalante from acting superintendent Dr. Alan Rasmussen.

April 2012 – Principal takes helm of HBCSD, by Robb Fulcher, Easy Reader News.   

1.       “She’s well qualified” – Interim superintendent Dr. Alan Rasmussen Ed.D

2.       “We are so lucky to have such a qualified, passionate educator to step into this role” – School Board member Patti Ackerman

3.       “We are moving in the right direction at the district.  We are doing good work on all levels.”  - School Board President Jack Burns

July 31, 2012 – School Board members:

1.      Carleen Beste, term expires 2013

2.      Jack Burns, term expires 2013

3.      Ray Waters, term expires 2013

4.      Lisa Claypoole, term expires 2015

5.      Patti Ackerman, term expires 2015

6.      Dr. Bruce Newlin – Superintendent

May 2012 - LAUSD Projected Public K-12 Graded Enrollment from Enrollment Decline and K-12 Education: Trends and Implications for Southern California, LAUSD Master Planning and Demographic Unit, of May 21, 2012.  As early as May 2012, the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) was projecting a significant decline in the birth rate in Los Angeles County starting from 2008 and continuing forward through 2023-2024. 

July 2012 – Council Hires Bakaly as New Hermosa Beach City Manager, by Eric Farrell (Open Post), July 25, 2012.  

“Despite misgivings from some councilmen over compensation, the city council voted 3-2 to hire Thomas Bakaly as the new Hermosa Beach city manager.

“Tempers flared before the Hermosa Beach City Council voted 3-2 to hire Thomas Bakaly as the city’s new city manager at Tuesday night’s meeting.”

“Bakaly – the current city manager of Park City, Utah – received kind words about his resume, but not for his employment contract.”

“”First, let me say that I think without question that Tom was an impressive dude, and I think that he provides a lot of earned and demonstrated skills that meet our needs and that match quite nicely with our uniqueness,” said Councilman Michael DiVirgilio.”

“The kind words stopped there, as DiVirgilio stated that he thought the city would be overpaying for this new city manager, no matter who it is.  Bakaly’s base salary – which was ultimately approved in a 3-2 vote is $185,000, however, he may also get up to a 7 percent performance-based bonus, deferred compensation of $8,000 per year, six months’ salary and medical benefits for a “no-cause” termination should it happen, and $25,000 to pay for Bakaly to relocate to Hermosa Beach, according to a city staff report.”

“Mayor Pro Tem Kit Bobko added his own biting comments as he agreed with DiVirgillio”

NOTE: Tom Bakaly is hired about the same time that Pat Escalante is made Superintendent of HBCSD.

NOTE: Did Tom Bakaly ask for such a high salary because he was willing to do special favors for the cabal?

 NOTE: Tom Bakaly will leave as Hermosa Beach City Manager in August 2016, after the school district’s $59M facilities bond is passed in June 2016 to become CEO of the Beach Cities Health District.  His new salary at Beach Cities Health District will be $235,000 with no limit on raises.  Please see: Hermosa Beach City Manager will step down, become CEO at Beach Cities Health District, by Kelcie Pegher and Megan Barnes, August 23, 2016, Daily Breeze.

September 2012 – Transitional Kindergarten (TK) and Kindergarten enrollment for September 2012 is 164 students.  Total HBCSD enrollment is 1,401.  Valley and View schools are severely overcrowded.

NOTE: No attempt is made to reopen North School despite it being a grand-fathered-in campus which is considered to be code-compliant as is by the CDE and safe for students as is.

NOTE: The trigger for HBCSD contractual use of classrooms, office and storage facilities at the Pier Avenue School Community Center is 1,266 students.  There is no expiration to the district’s usage of classrooms at Pier Avenue School.  District usage is dependent only on enrollment above 1,266 students. 

NOTE:  See also: September 2011 - HBCSD School Board decided to offer full day kindergarten and transitional kindergarten to attract additional students to increase income.  (Or to add to the overcrowding crises to compel the community to pass another bond?)