Latest / Laguna Talks / School Board Candidates Dee Perry and Liz Bates

Transcript

School Board Candidates Dee Perry and Liz Bates · Laguna Talks

• 0:08
  Speaker 1: He didn't mean to break your heart He didn't mean
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: to break your heart He didn't mean to make you
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: cry He didn't mean to break your heart Running, running, running,
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: running away. Oh, he's running, running away.
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: He's running, yes.
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: He is. He's running away. Running looking for answers. He
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: may never find. Oh.
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: Oh, he's running in.
• 1:33
  Speaker 3: You might think that I'm just an overgrown kid Carrying
• 1:42
  Speaker 3: on like I always.
• 1:47
  Speaker 4: Did I'll never change, yes I've been told.
• 1:57
  Speaker 3: Once you grow up.
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: There's nothing left to do but grow old.
• 2:05
  Speaker 3: Never be an old dog, baby, get your kid.
• 2:09
  Speaker 4: While you're out having fun, sometimes you've got.
• 2:16
  Speaker 3: To learn a few tricks. Puppy love is still a mystery.
• 2:30
  Speaker 4: I like you.
• 2:31
  Speaker 3: Baby, baby, do you like me?
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: I like you.
• 2:38
  Speaker 3: ¶ When I hear my name on Judgment Day.
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: ¶ ¶ Right or wrong, I know He'll save ¶ ¶.
• 3:27
  Speaker 3: Yes, I know I'm 67 ¶ Turn this child away
• 3:38
  Speaker 3: from heaven You might think that I'm just an overgrown
• 3:47
  Speaker 3: kid Carrying on like I always did I never change,
• 4:02
  Speaker 3: yes I've been told Once you grow up, there's nothing
• 4:10
  Speaker 3: left to do but grow old.
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: Guitar solo.
• 4:59
  Speaker 5: Well, hey now, Laguna Beach. It's a little past 2 o'clock,
• 5:03
  Speaker 5: which means on Tuesday, which means it's time for Laguna Talks.
• 5:07
  Speaker 5: I'm your host, Billy Freed, and I've been gone for
• 5:10
  Speaker 5: a few weeks, so I'm just getting back on the
• 5:12
  Speaker 5: knobs here and very excited that we have two candidates
• 5:16
  Speaker 5: for Laguna Beach School Board here today. Joining us, we have, well,
• 5:21
  Speaker 5: we have Dee Perry and Elizabeth Bates, but you go
• 5:27
  Speaker 5: by Liz.
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 5:29
  Speaker 5: I'm looking at your– the card you showed me, which
• 5:32
  Speaker 5: is a great way to start because this is your
• 5:35
  Speaker 5: campaign card. And I'm just going to show it to Rusty,
• 5:38
  Speaker 5: our videographer here, because that's Ms. Perry, the teacher on
• 5:43
  Speaker 5: the right, and that's her student, Liz, on the left.
• 5:46
  Speaker 5: First grade?
• 5:46
  Speaker 2: Third grade.
• 5:47
  Speaker 5: Third grade. Make sure those mics are– oh, that's my bad. Okay,
• 5:51
  Speaker 5: now you're good. Third grade, which is amazing because look
• 5:55
  Speaker 5: at these women today. And does Dee Perry look like
• 5:58
  Speaker 5: she's capable of actually being the teacher for a third grade?
• 6:03
  Speaker 5: No offense to Liz here. No problem. But amazing.
• 6:08
  Speaker 6: And I could have one like that with Rusty, too.
• 6:11
  Speaker 5: Oh, right. So Rusty, our videographer here, was also your student, huh? Yep.
• 6:15
  Speaker 5: How did he do in the videography class?
• 6:18
  Speaker 6: Oh, we didn't have that. I'm sure he would have
• 6:20
  Speaker 6: been fabulous.
• 6:21
  Speaker 5: Was he a good student?
• 6:22
  Speaker 6: He was a great student.
• 6:23
  Speaker 5: Okay.
• 6:23
  Speaker 3: Okay.
• 6:24
  Speaker 5: I believe you because he's a great guy and he's
• 6:27
  Speaker 5: doing all our social media. So anyway, let's jump in,
• 6:30
  Speaker 5: shall we? You guys are running sort of a dual campaign.
• 6:35
  Speaker 5: Is it fair to say you're running as a ticket
• 6:37
  Speaker 5: or how do you want to be perceived?
• 6:41
  Speaker 6: We're not running as a ticket. We're separate. We have
• 6:46
  Speaker 6: separate sites. We have separate funds. We're kind of doing
• 6:51
  Speaker 6: it to help each other. give each other emotional support.
• 6:54
  Speaker 6: And because Liz was my student, I am so proud
• 6:58
  Speaker 6: of her for wanting to do public service. And she
• 7:02
  Speaker 6: didn't want to do it by herself. And I really
• 7:05
  Speaker 6: didn't want to run again. So I said, I'll only
• 7:07
  Speaker 6: do it if you do it. And Liz said the
• 7:09
  Speaker 6: same thing. So we're agreeing to help each other. And
• 7:13
  Speaker 6: we have shared some costs like signs, but mostly we're individual.
• 7:16
  Speaker 3: Uh-huh.
• 7:17
  Speaker 5: And when you just said you were thinking of not
• 7:20
  Speaker 5: running again, so what pushed you over to decide to run?
• 7:24
  Speaker 6: I wanted people to have a choice. There were three
• 7:28
  Speaker 6: people that were signed up to run that are all
• 7:31
  Speaker 6: part of the same group, and they're fine women, but
• 7:37
  Speaker 6: I wanted people to have a choice. What I was
• 7:40
  Speaker 6: most concerned about was the way that all of the
• 7:48
  Speaker 6: infighting going on and all of the name calling and
• 7:52
  Speaker 6: a lot of nastiness at the board meetings. And then
• 7:56
  Speaker 6: when they had their protest and children holding signs and
• 8:01
  Speaker 6: yelling and, you know, signs that said, you know, I
• 8:05
  Speaker 6: hate Sherry, you know, Howard, this, you know, shouldn't take
• 8:09
  Speaker 6: pictures of children. They had signs saying, D, you're going down. Um,
• 8:15
  Speaker 6: From being a teacher all my life, I was just
• 8:17
  Speaker 6: so concerned what children were seeing their parents do and
• 8:24
  Speaker 6: that we work really hard to teach children not to bully,
• 8:29
  Speaker 6: to be kind. When kids come out, they don't know
• 8:33
  Speaker 6: anything about hate. But an example was being set for
• 8:38
  Speaker 6: hating and that if you don't agree with somebody, you know,
• 8:41
  Speaker 6: it's okay, just harass them.
• 8:44
  Speaker 5: Yeah, so part of your motivation then for running again
• 8:47
  Speaker 5: is to kind of counter that narrative and to stand
• 8:50
  Speaker 5: up for yourself and not sort of capitulate to the crime.
• 8:55
  Speaker 6: And if you disagree with somebody, to have a conversation
• 8:59
  Speaker 6: with them and be civil, not scream and yell at
• 9:02
  Speaker 6: them that they have no friends or they're horrible.
• 9:05
  Speaker 5: So here's where I need a little help understanding, because
• 9:08
  Speaker 5: as I said to you guys before we came on,
• 9:10
  Speaker 5: I don't have a dog in this fight. My child's
• 9:13
  Speaker 5: grown up. So I don't really– I hear all the noise,
• 9:18
  Speaker 5: but I kind of block it out because there's enough
• 9:20
  Speaker 5: other noise going on in town here. But from what
• 9:23
  Speaker 5: I could discern, in 2024, Sherry Morgan and Howard Hills
• 9:27
  Speaker 5: were elected, and then somehow you were perceived as part
• 9:33
  Speaker 5: of what they call the majority, that you guys sort
• 9:37
  Speaker 5: of voted in lockstep. Is that a fair– Somewhat fair.
• 9:44
  Speaker 6: Also, the other two board members, both Joan and Jim,
• 9:50
  Speaker 6: have voted with us most of the time. In fact,
• 9:52
  Speaker 6: I looked at the last statistics, and Joan voted with
• 9:56
  Speaker 6: Sherry 89.5%. of the time. So you could also say
• 10:02
  Speaker 6: that she's in lockstep with them. Most of our decisions,
• 10:10
  Speaker 6: everybody cares about our students. Everybody understands that that's a
• 10:15
  Speaker 6: good thing to do. So most of our decisions are
• 10:18
  Speaker 6: pretty much 5-0. The ones that weren't, we had our reasons.
• 10:24
  Speaker 5: Well, I don't want to get to that, but this
• 10:26
  Speaker 5: is where I kind of want to just say that
• 10:28
  Speaker 5: it's really hard to imagine factionalization at the school board
• 10:32
  Speaker 5: because you're not– you guys aren't like liberals versus conservatives.
• 10:39
  Speaker 5: You're not Democrats versus Republicans. It's not divided. You all
• 10:43
  Speaker 5: want the same thing. You want great education for our kids.
• 10:46
  Speaker 5: You want it to be a premier– school system. I've
• 10:50
  Speaker 5: heard it said that a lot of people move here
• 10:53
  Speaker 5: for a variety of reasons, but many of them move
• 10:55
  Speaker 5: here because of our public school system. And that can
• 10:57
  Speaker 5: actually offset the higher price of living here or acquiring
• 11:01
  Speaker 5: real estate is offset by a free education that is
• 11:05
  Speaker 5: as good as any private school education.
• 11:07
  Speaker 6: Exactly.
• 11:08
  Speaker 5: So where did this all come unglued? And I'm going
• 11:13
  Speaker 5: to say, I guess, and I want you to correct
• 11:16
  Speaker 5: me if I'm wrong. So right after Those two new
• 11:20
  Speaker 5: members were elected. The then superintendent, Jason Valaria, departs.
• 11:26
  Speaker 3: Right.
• 11:26
  Speaker 5: And was he forced out? No. Oh, no.
• 11:31
  Speaker 6: He asked to leave.
• 11:32
  Speaker 5: He asked to leave. Was it, in your view, because
• 11:35
  Speaker 5: of the incoming board members? He didn't agree with them philosophically?
• 11:38
  Speaker 5: I see Liz nodding.
• 11:40
  Speaker 6: I think so.
• 11:41
  Speaker 5: Okay. So he had his reasons.
• 11:42
  Speaker 2: Yes. Nothing– Didn't they have an announcement where– I think
• 11:46
  Speaker 2: I heard something.
• 11:46
  Speaker 5: Liz, bring that mic closer.
• 11:47
  Speaker 3: I'm sorry.
• 11:48
  Speaker 2: I heard something about where he had said something about
• 11:50
  Speaker 2: the incoming– the two candidates that were elected and there
• 11:54
  Speaker 2: would be– there was something that I heard.
• 11:58
  Speaker 6: Well, we passed a law in California because we were
• 12:03
  Speaker 6: having trouble in the state with board members– ousting superintendents
• 12:08
  Speaker 6: as soon as they got in. So a law was
• 12:11
  Speaker 6: passed that a superintendent needs to stay at least six
• 12:15
  Speaker 6: months so you can see if you can work with
• 12:17
  Speaker 6: each other. And so that law was there, but he
• 12:21
  Speaker 6: didn't want to try.
• 12:21
  Speaker 5: But if he lives on his own, yeah. And then
• 12:24
  Speaker 5: you had an interim superintendent until July 25th, the hiring
• 12:28
  Speaker 5: of Jason Glass. Is that what occurred?
• 12:31
  Speaker 6: Jason Glass was hired... At the end of June, he
• 12:35
  Speaker 6: started July 1.
• 12:37
  Speaker 2: The interim was Jeff Dixon.
• 12:38
  Speaker 6: The interim was Jeff Dixon. Jeff Dixon. And then he
• 12:40
  Speaker 6: left to go to Newport Beach.
• 12:42
  Speaker 5: Okay. So it seems to me that this is where
• 12:46
  Speaker 5: the division began, somewhere in the hiring of Jason Glass,
• 12:52
  Speaker 5: who was– came from– I guess he ran the entire
• 12:57
  Speaker 5: state school system in Kentucky. He was well-regarded. He beat
• 13:00
  Speaker 5: out 40 other candidates.
• 13:01
  Speaker 6: Yes.
• 13:02
  Speaker 5: And you were all part of the decision to hire him.
• 13:04
  Speaker 3: True.
• 13:05
  Speaker 5: Was that a unanimous decision that you recall?
• 13:08
  Speaker 6: I think the problem came from Sherry and Howard getting elected,
• 13:14
  Speaker 6: that the people they wanted weren't elected. And at the
• 13:17
  Speaker 6: very first meeting that Sherry and Howard came to, there
• 13:22
  Speaker 6: was all kinds of problems. Some of the parents and
• 13:27
  Speaker 6: then Jim Kelly and Joan Malczewski.
• 13:31
  Speaker 5: Okay.
• 13:31
  Speaker 2: But they, do you want to be specific with they?
• 13:33
  Speaker 2: Who was the first meeting? Wasn't it the parents of
• 13:36
  Speaker 2: that later creative fuel?
• 13:37
  Speaker 6: That became fuel.
• 13:38
  Speaker 2: That became fuel.
• 13:39
  Speaker 6: And what they wanted to do was get rid of
• 13:42
  Speaker 6: the board members that are there now. So it started
• 13:44
  Speaker 6: back then.
• 13:45
  Speaker 5: That's unrealistic. They were just elected. They serve, what, four-year terms?
• 13:49
  Speaker 3: Right.
• 13:49
  Speaker 6: And it's part of our democracy that, you know, you
• 13:52
  Speaker 6: meet someone– that may not be your favorites elected, but
• 13:55
  Speaker 6: you do your best with them.
• 13:57
  Speaker 5: And then you vote them out. So then in January 2025,
• 14:01
  Speaker 5: before you hired Jason, I guess was the first shot
• 14:04
  Speaker 5: across the bow from what I could perceive in my research,
• 14:07
  Speaker 5: which was voice of Orange County, voice of OC alleging
• 14:11
  Speaker 5: that there was a Brown Act violation. What was that about?
• 14:14
  Speaker 6: I think it's people not understanding the Brown Act.
• 14:19
  Speaker 5: Brown Act means no more than two people can meet
• 14:23
  Speaker 5: On any subject, right? Because then there would be perceived collusion?
• 14:27
  Speaker 6: No, not on any subject. On any subject that the
• 14:29
  Speaker 6: board is going to vote on or will come before
• 14:32
  Speaker 6: the board. But, you know, you can be on a
• 14:34
  Speaker 6: board with two of your best friends and meet together and,
• 14:38
  Speaker 6: you know, go dancing or whatever.
• 14:40
  Speaker 2: Sure.
• 14:40
  Speaker 5: Good point. Good point. But there was an accusation of
• 14:43
  Speaker 5: a brown– was there any merit to that?
• 14:45
  Speaker 3: None.
• 14:46
  Speaker 5: Okay. Who floated that? Would that be something that the
• 14:49
  Speaker 5: opposition you think was– Trying to stir the pot? Yes. Okay.
• 14:54
  Speaker 5: So clearly there was some acrimony, not towards you, Dee,
• 14:57
  Speaker 5: but towards your colleagues. Yes. And, you know, they won
• 15:03
  Speaker 5: an affair in a Democratic election, but then spring of
• 15:08
  Speaker 5: 20—so we hired Jason Glass in 2025, you said end
• 15:11
  Speaker 5: of June, and then in the spring of 2026, there
• 15:15
  Speaker 5: is some kind of teacher dissatisfaction— of a 90% no-confidence vote.
• 15:22
  Speaker 5: Could you explain what that was?
• 15:24
  Speaker 6: I think that originated from doing, when Mr. Dixon left,
• 15:32
  Speaker 6: all of a sudden, and Dr. Glass came maybe a
• 15:35
  Speaker 6: day or two after he came, all of a sudden
• 15:37
  Speaker 6: the business office came to him and said, oh my gosh,
• 15:41
  Speaker 6: we have this $ 1. 4 million overpay, and what are we
• 15:46
  Speaker 6: going to do about it? And poor Dr. Glass had
• 15:49
  Speaker 6: no idea. He wasn't any part of it. So we
• 15:53
  Speaker 6: did an audit. Some board members didn't want to do
• 15:56
  Speaker 6: an audit. Some people just wanted to sweep it under
• 15:58
  Speaker 6: the carpet and pay for it and not let anybody
• 16:02
  Speaker 6: know anything had gone on.
• 16:05
  Speaker 5: Where was that $ 1. 4 million? How was that overpaid?
• 16:09
  Speaker 6: What happened was premiums for insurance had gone up starting
• 16:15
  Speaker 6: in 2021. And somehow they didn't realize they had gone up.
• 16:21
  Speaker 6: And then there was a contract signed. Teachers didn't know.
• 16:26
  Speaker 6: And all of a sudden they needed $ 300, 000 or maybe more.
• 16:31
  Speaker 6: And so the board didn't want to ask teachers to
• 16:35
  Speaker 6: come up with this. So the board agreed to do
• 16:37
  Speaker 6: an MOU and find that money, pay that money. But
• 16:42
  Speaker 6: we did ask for it to not happen again. that
• 16:45
  Speaker 6: we needed to figure this out during negotiations. And everybody
• 16:50
  Speaker 6: agreed that that would happen. And in 2022, we asked,
• 16:54
  Speaker 6: you know, how's that going? Have you guys talked about
• 16:57
  Speaker 6: it in negotiations? Maybe we need to renegotiate the cap
• 17:01
  Speaker 6: because there was a cap on how much the district
• 17:04
  Speaker 6: was allowed to pay. We were told, no, there's no problem.
• 17:07
  Speaker 6: There's no problem. And then all of a sudden in 2025,
• 17:09
  Speaker 6: here comes the big problem.
• 17:10
  Speaker 5: So, um, So that then caused this vote of no confidence.
• 17:17
  Speaker 6: Well, the teachers felt like we were going to try
• 17:22
  Speaker 6: to scratch that money back from them. But I know,
• 17:26
  Speaker 6: I don't think anybody wanted to do that. I know
• 17:29
  Speaker 6: I didn't. I know being a teacher, there's no way
• 17:31
  Speaker 6: I could come up with that kind of money, that
• 17:34
  Speaker 6: we would figure out a way to handle it. But
• 17:36
  Speaker 6: they were afraid we wouldn't. They didn't trust us. They
• 17:39
  Speaker 6: wished we hadn't. you know, uncovered it all. Anyway, that's
• 17:43
  Speaker 6: where things kind of went bad.
• 17:45
  Speaker 5: Got it. And even though it began in 2022, they
• 17:50
  Speaker 5: sort of, 2021, they kind of, you had to take
• 17:53
  Speaker 5: the responsibility because it happened on your watch. Right, right, right.
• 17:56
  Speaker 5: Got it. And then I guess the big, because I'm
• 18:00
  Speaker 5: trying to move along so I make time for you, Liz,
• 18:02
  Speaker 5: as well, but I'm trying to paint a picture. You
• 18:04
  Speaker 5: need a backstory, a little context. Backstory, thank you, yeah.
• 18:06
  Speaker 5: And then May 12th, Dr. Glass was removed. And I
• 18:13
  Speaker 5: guess that really set things in motion because the sense
• 18:18
  Speaker 5: of the community is you guys hired him. Why did
• 18:22
  Speaker 5: it go off the rails so quickly?
• 18:24
  Speaker 2: Right.
• 18:25
  Speaker 6: And I can understand that. And he had moved here
• 18:28
  Speaker 6: with his whole family. They were lovely.
• 18:30
  Speaker 5: Looked like a likable guy. Very, very. Wrote very articulate letters.
• 18:33
  Speaker 6: Very nice man.
• 18:34
  Speaker 3: A lot.
• 18:38
  Speaker 6: I can't say because it's confidential. But if you look back,
• 18:43
  Speaker 6: you would see that in January, we were reviewing his
• 18:49
  Speaker 6: performance and contract, which wasn't supposed to be done until August.
• 18:53
  Speaker 6: So that might signal something. And then that went on
• 18:58
  Speaker 6: board meeting after board meeting after board meeting. And when
• 19:02
  Speaker 6: it ended, it was mutual. If if the board had
• 19:08
  Speaker 6: actually fired him, he would have gotten his whole year's
• 19:13
  Speaker 6: salary compensation. And he was a smart guy. He wouldn't
• 19:17
  Speaker 6: have walked away from that if he didn't think it
• 19:20
  Speaker 6: was good for him and everybody. So he got compensation,
• 19:23
  Speaker 6: but not the whole thing. It really was mutual.
• 19:26
  Speaker 5: So there was, you know, very, very public, this one
• 19:30
  Speaker 5: video episode of Howard. I'm just going to say taunting.
• 19:35
  Speaker 5: It appeared when he said Who do you report to?
• 19:39
  Speaker 5: And he goes to the board and he goes, who?
• 19:41
  Speaker 5: I can't hear you. To the board. And maybe it
• 19:45
  Speaker 5: was all innocent. Howard claims he literally couldn't hear him.
• 19:50
  Speaker 5: But the optics that we saw looked like he was
• 19:53
  Speaker 5: taunting him. And it looked like there was an acrimonious
• 19:57
  Speaker 5: relationship already. And it didn't serve you guys well. I agree.
• 20:02
  Speaker 5: And I think that certainly, I mean, I looked at
• 20:05
  Speaker 5: that and I'm like, wow, this guy's getting beat up
• 20:08
  Speaker 5: on publicly.
• 20:08
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 20:09
  Speaker 5: He doesn't deserve that. So maybe sympathy for him and
• 20:13
  Speaker 5: also his demeanor. Everybody was like, why, why, why? And
• 20:17
  Speaker 5: you're telling me there was things that you can't disclose,
• 20:20
  Speaker 5: but there were signs early on that he might not
• 20:24
  Speaker 5: be the right fit for the job.
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 20:26
  Speaker 3: Okay.
• 20:27
  Speaker 6: Great guy, but maybe not the best fit.
• 20:29
  Speaker 5: And you were part of the group that, along with
• 20:31
  Speaker 5: Sherry and Howard, that the 3-2 vote to part ways,
• 20:36
  Speaker 5: even though he wasn't technically fired. but to find a
• 20:40
  Speaker 5: way to... Mutually separate. Mutually separate. Thank you.
• 20:43
  Speaker 3: Yes.
• 20:43
  Speaker 5: What do they call that in the conscious? Conscious uncoupling.
• 20:46
  Speaker 2: There you go.
• 20:47
  Speaker 5: That was a Gwyneth Paltrow.
• 20:48
  Speaker 6: Yes. I thought that if he wanted to go and
• 20:55
  Speaker 6: worked up this plan, that we should let him go. Okay.
• 20:58
  Speaker 5: But then that created.
• 20:59
  Speaker 6: I don't want somebody to stay that doesn't want to
• 21:01
  Speaker 6: be here.
• 21:01
  Speaker 5: And then your other two colleagues voted against... Right.
• 21:05
  Speaker 6: And they also voted against our new superintendents.
• 21:09
  Speaker 5: Okay, so there's where the party lines, I think, when
• 21:11
  Speaker 5: I'm trying to understand where people see you as part
• 21:14
  Speaker 5: of this majority right now. It's really not the votes
• 21:18
  Speaker 5: across the board. It was really about the superintendent.
• 21:22
  Speaker 6: A lot of it is about the superintendent.
• 21:24
  Speaker 5: Yeah. And the new superintendent, you guys hired him very quickly,
• 21:28
  Speaker 5: so there was a perception that there was already some
• 21:32
  Speaker 5: recruitment going on. I guess that's not out of the normal, right?
• 21:38
  Speaker 5: I mean, if you knew that he was going to depart,
• 21:39
  Speaker 5: you want to have a replacement very quickly. Right.
• 21:41
  Speaker 6: And I think they both started their new jobs on
• 21:45
  Speaker 6: July 1st.
• 21:47
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 21:47
  Speaker 6: So, I mean, it was very quick for Dr. Glass
• 21:50
  Speaker 6: to go to Palo Alto also, you could say.
• 21:52
  Speaker 5: So they just swapped seats.
• 21:54
  Speaker 6: They swapped places.
• 21:55
  Speaker 5: Yeah. And do we know how Dr. Glass is doing?
• 21:59
  Speaker 5: Do we have any communication with him?
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: I don't.
• 22:01
  Speaker 6: I hope he's doing well.
• 22:02
  Speaker 5: I mean, if he got a job right away, that
• 22:03
  Speaker 5: would somehow negate some of his severance anyway, right? I
• 22:07
  Speaker 5: don't know how that all works.
• 22:09
  Speaker 6: He still gets it.
• 22:10
  Speaker 5: He still gets it. So a good deal for him.
• 22:11
  Speaker 3: Yeah. Yeah.
• 22:12
  Speaker 5: And it's a bigger school system.
• 22:15
  Speaker 3: Yes.
• 22:15
  Speaker 5: Way bigger.
• 22:15
  Speaker 6: Yes, much bigger.
• 22:17
  Speaker 5: And imagine it's filled with very smart, capable people because
• 22:22
  Speaker 5: it's Palo Alto.
• 22:23
  Speaker 6: Very much so.
• 22:25
  Speaker 5: Okay. So he's doing all right.
• 22:27
  Speaker 3: He's fine.
• 22:28
  Speaker 5: No tears for Jason.
• 22:29
  Speaker 3: Yeah. Okay.
• 22:30
  Speaker 5: And how's it working out now with, what's his name?
• 22:34
  Speaker 3: Dr.
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: Austin.
• 22:35
  Speaker 5: Thank you, Dr. Austin.
• 22:37
  Speaker 6: I think it's great. I think he's going to be
• 22:39
  Speaker 6: really good for our students. I think he's what we need.
• 22:43
  Speaker 6: He actually took quite a pay cut to come here.
• 22:47
  Speaker 5: Is that right? Yeah. He has some history here.
• 22:49
  Speaker 6: But he has history here. He was principal at the
• 22:51
  Speaker 6: high school and loved it and then went on to
• 22:54
  Speaker 6: be superintendent in different places. But he also has a
• 22:57
  Speaker 6: home in San Clemente, and this is really kind of
• 22:59
  Speaker 6: home for him. So even if he didn't take this job,
• 23:03
  Speaker 6: he wanted to come back here and be here.
• 23:05
  Speaker 5: Got it, got it. Okay. And then there's one other
• 23:08
  Speaker 5: issue that I just want to understand in all of this,
• 23:11
  Speaker 5: which is, so yes, there's Fuel, who has come out
• 23:15
  Speaker 5: in support of the other three ladies.
• 23:18
  Speaker 6: And also in support of the city council incumbents.
• 23:23
  Speaker 5: Okay, right. But you guys have a group as well,
• 23:27
  Speaker 5: Sensible Laguna. Would you say they're an advocacy group for?
• 23:32
  Speaker 2: There are three guys.
• 23:34
  Speaker 5: That's what I'm trying to understand.
• 23:36
  Speaker 6: It's not a group.
• 23:36
  Speaker 2: They're not a political action committee.
• 23:39
  Speaker 6: They're not a 500 people.
• 23:40
  Speaker 5: They say somewhere they represent 2,000 residents or maybe.
• 23:44
  Speaker 2: I don't know anything about that.
• 23:45
  Speaker 5: Okay.
• 23:46
  Speaker 2: I just know them individually.
• 23:47
  Speaker 5: Yeah. And their big issue was the swimming pool.
• 23:50
  Speaker 6: Right.
• 23:51
  Speaker 5: Because they all live nearby. That's what I know.
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 23:53
  Speaker 5: And they didn't want it disrupted. But somehow people have.
• 23:55
  Speaker 2: Now– Well, no, but you have to understand something about
• 23:57
  Speaker 2: the swimming pool project. A lot of people don't understand
• 24:00
  Speaker 2: this in our community where the original project was going
• 24:03
  Speaker 2: to be– what was it? Two pools, Dee? And then
• 24:07
  Speaker 2: in the high school parking lot where the district offices
• 24:10
  Speaker 2: are now, they were going to build a two-story parking
• 24:12
  Speaker 2: structure and have tennis courts on top. And if you
• 24:15
  Speaker 2: look and if you know that area, Blue Mont Street,
• 24:17
  Speaker 2: it's like there's village kind of homes in that area,
• 24:20
  Speaker 2: very small homes, very quaint. And so the neighbors are like, whoa, whoa, stop,
• 24:25
  Speaker 2: because the thing is that the school district doesn't have
• 24:28
  Speaker 2: to adhere to the same building standards as you would
• 24:33
  Speaker 2: if you wanted to build a house here in Laguna.
• 24:35
  Speaker 2: So you wouldn't have to go through design review, et cetera.
• 24:38
  Speaker 2: So that's why the residents in the surrounding communities got involved.
• 24:43
  Speaker 5: That's very helpful. Yeah. And then suddenly they modified the
• 24:46
  Speaker 5: plan because I understood that original plan could have cost
• 24:49
  Speaker 5: as much as $ 100 million, and now we have a–
• 24:52
  Speaker 5: greatly modified plan that might cost $ 25 or so for
• 24:55
  Speaker 5: the pool?
• 24:56
  Speaker 2: I believe the total cost is $ 25 million. But I
• 25:01
  Speaker 2: just want the community to understand that because that's something
• 25:03
  Speaker 2: I didn't know that the school district didn't have to
• 25:08
  Speaker 2: buy it by the same rules as a person wanting
• 25:11
  Speaker 2: to build a home in Laguna does. And so I
• 25:13
  Speaker 2: think it's really important for the community members to know
• 25:15
  Speaker 2: that because Most of our schools, like Top of the World, Thurston,
• 25:20
  Speaker 2: and the high school are all in neighborhoods.
• 25:24
  Speaker 5: But these three guys, these gentlemen, Sensible Laguna, have now
• 25:27
  Speaker 5: waded into the school board.
• 25:30
  Speaker 6: They got into it because of the pool, and that's
• 25:34
  Speaker 6: how they gained a lot of traction because there were
• 25:36
  Speaker 6: other people who cared about the pool project. Now that's done.
• 25:40
  Speaker 6: It's been built. We're getting the pool.
• 25:43
  Speaker 5: So they're no longer really a pack or.
• 25:45
  Speaker 3: An advocacy group.
• 25:45
  Speaker 6: No.
• 25:45
  Speaker 2: They've never been a pack, and they've never been like
• 25:48
  Speaker 2: a 501c4 like fuel is. Thank you so much.
• 25:53
  Speaker 6: Thanks.
• 25:53
  Speaker 5: Thanks, Rusty. Rusty Hunter. Thanks, Rusty.
• 25:55
  Speaker 6: Bye, Rusty.
• 25:56
  Speaker 5: There he goes.
• 25:58
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so there's just three retired dudes. And, you know,
• 26:02
  Speaker 2: Steve had his daughter went through the school district here.
• 26:05
  Speaker 2: So he's invested. They've all been in the community for
• 26:07
  Speaker 2: a while. They're very invested in the school district. They
• 26:09
  Speaker 2: want to see our kids do great.
• 26:10
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 26:10
  Speaker 2: They're very supportive. Yeah.
• 26:13
  Speaker 6: And they got into the school district because.
• 26:16
  Speaker 5: Of the pool. Got it. I understand.
• 26:18
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 26:19
  Speaker 5: Everybody, I know other people that would have been directly
• 26:22
  Speaker 5: affected by it that were very outspoken.
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: Mm-hmm.
• 26:26
  Speaker 5: What about this $ 83 million bond measure, though? This is
• 26:30
  Speaker 5: where I'm not clear on what's contentious about it. It
• 26:34
  Speaker 5: sounds like why wouldn't we say yes to that?
• 26:38
  Speaker 6: I'll go first, then Liz has some really good points.
• 26:43
  Speaker 6: We were, as a board member, we were advised by
• 26:47
  Speaker 6: legal counsel not to be for or against it, that Legally,
• 26:53
  Speaker 6: that could really mess things up.
• 26:55
  Speaker 5: What is it, by the way? Tell us what this
• 26:57
  Speaker 5: $ 83 million bond measure is.
• 27:00
  Speaker 6: It is to go for a facility plan that we have,
• 27:05
  Speaker 6: and there are different levels of what we need. Our
• 27:09
  Speaker 6: buildings are old. Our high school is turning 100 next
• 27:13
  Speaker 6: year or the year after.
• 27:14
  Speaker 5: Mm-hmm.
• 27:15
  Speaker 6: We've kept up with things the best we can, but
• 27:18
  Speaker 6: there are old pipes. There are things like that.
• 27:20
  Speaker 5: Sure.
• 27:21
  Speaker 6: Other things that we would like is the Thurston gym
• 27:26
  Speaker 6: expanded a little bit so seats can be out on
• 27:29
  Speaker 6: both sides. We have a fabulous sports program after school
• 27:33
  Speaker 6: now at Thurston, and that would really help them. Liz
• 27:37
  Speaker 6: can speak to that. She was on the facilities committee,
• 27:41
  Speaker 6: and she can also speak to some issues that she
• 27:44
  Speaker 6: has with the bond.
• 27:46
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, I'm naturally inclined to support a school bond.
• 27:52
  Speaker 2: I was on, and I am the only candidate that
• 27:54
  Speaker 2: was on the facilities master plan committee. So there's teachers, staff,
• 27:58
  Speaker 2: and community members that were on the committee. We went
• 28:01
  Speaker 2: through all the schools, and we had, how many meetings
• 28:05
  Speaker 2: did we have? Probably about 10 meetings total. But Basically,
• 28:10
  Speaker 2: what those meetings were designed for was to address what
• 28:14
  Speaker 2: needs to be done at the schools, right? If there's
• 28:15
  Speaker 2: Tier 1 items, Tier 2 items, or Tier 3 items.
• 28:19
  Speaker 2: Tier 1 is immediate need, i.e. gas leaks, asbestos, an
• 28:23
  Speaker 2: active leak, or something like that. Tier 2 would be
• 28:26
  Speaker 2: three- to five-year time frame, and then Tier 3 would
• 28:30
  Speaker 2: be beyond five years. And so we identified Tier 2
• 28:34
  Speaker 2: and Tier 3 items only, no immediate need. Um, and
• 28:38
  Speaker 2: you know, some of those tier two items, I was
• 28:40
  Speaker 2: excited about myself. Like I want the fire hardening for sure,
• 28:43
  Speaker 2: because I just think about the Palisades fire and that
• 28:46
  Speaker 2: scares me. And, um, so definitely that, um, and then
• 28:50
  Speaker 2: the kitchens, uh, scratch kitchens at top of the world
• 28:53
  Speaker 2: and El Morro, the kitchen space is very, very tight,
• 28:56
  Speaker 2: especially at top of the world elementary. Um, So they
• 29:00
  Speaker 2: can't do a lot of scratch meals up there just
• 29:02
  Speaker 2: because there isn't enough space. And our school district does
• 29:04
  Speaker 2: the best they can. I mean, they really have come
• 29:06
  Speaker 2: leaps and bounds over the past 10 years. But a
• 29:10
  Speaker 2: lot of it is prepackaged, you know, processed high sugar foods.
• 29:15
  Speaker 2: And they are getting better. So I'm not dissing or
• 29:18
  Speaker 2: anything like that. But I've had four kids go through
• 29:20
  Speaker 2: the district over almost three decades. So I've seen the changes,
• 29:24
  Speaker 2: you know, and they're And I started a petition in
• 29:26
  Speaker 2: 2016 to get organic food into our kitchens because my
• 29:29
  Speaker 2: kids wouldn't eat the meals. So I was busy packing
• 29:32
  Speaker 2: lunches all those years. So anyway, so we, you know,
• 29:37
  Speaker 2: tier two item was the kitchen. So I was excited
• 29:40
  Speaker 2: about that because we all, it was anonymous types of voting,
• 29:43
  Speaker 2: like where we put what we thought was most important
• 29:46
  Speaker 2: to us or, you know, and then it was like
• 29:49
  Speaker 2: a communal effort to come up with the numbers, what
• 29:51
  Speaker 2: tier two and what tier three would be. So that
• 29:53
  Speaker 2: was presented to the board. And I guess my issue
• 29:57
  Speaker 2: with Measure A is that they've been leading with asbestos
• 30:00
  Speaker 2: and gas leaks. And that's the part I don't understand
• 30:03
  Speaker 2: with their messaging. And I don't like that because I
• 30:06
  Speaker 2: don't think that that's honest.
• 30:08
  Speaker 5: Who is they?
• 30:09
  Speaker 2: They is whomever is campaigning for Measure A. And I
• 30:13
  Speaker 2: think they've raised about $ 115, 000. Is that the latest number?
• 30:17
  Speaker 6: I'm not sure.
• 30:18
  Speaker 2: I mean, we'll have to fact check that. But I
• 30:20
  Speaker 2: think about $ 115, 000 in favor of passing the bond measure.
• 30:25
  Speaker 2: And I just, like I said before, is that Laguna
• 30:28
  Speaker 2: Beach voters are intelligent people. And I believe that they
• 30:32
  Speaker 2: should be given all of the information about the bond.
• 30:36
  Speaker 2: It's not an extension. It would be new money borrowed.
• 30:40
  Speaker 2: It would be another $ 83 million.
• 30:41
  Speaker 5: So we're not funded yet. I thought there was money
• 30:43
  Speaker 5: sitting somewhere. For this kind of– no.
• 30:46
  Speaker 2: Well, I mean there's a rainy day fund, but the
• 30:49
  Speaker 2: pool project, which– We used up a lot of it
• 30:51
  Speaker 2: for the pool. So they tapped in– it's $ 25 million.
• 30:54
  Speaker 2: So the way I look at it is this, is
• 30:58
  Speaker 2: that why– they tapped in the rainy day fund for
• 31:01
  Speaker 2: the $ 25 million for the pool. The reserve fund is
• 31:04
  Speaker 2: lower now because of the pool expense. But it doesn't
• 31:08
  Speaker 2: serve all the children in our district. I mean, my
• 31:11
  Speaker 2: children have never even gone in that pool once, all
• 31:14
  Speaker 2: four of them, over almost three decades. So I just
• 31:17
  Speaker 2: look at it this way. If you're going to spend
• 31:19
  Speaker 2: $ 25 million on a project, it needs to benefit every
• 31:22
  Speaker 2: single student in the student body and future students. And
• 31:27
  Speaker 2: it shouldn't just be for a group of students. So
• 31:30
  Speaker 2: I feel like it's like a teenager went out and
• 31:33
  Speaker 2: just blew all their money over one weekend. And said, hey,
• 31:36
  Speaker 2: mom and dad, I want more now because we have
• 31:38
  Speaker 2: leaky gas pipes and asbestos. And that's not going on
• 31:42
  Speaker 2: because I was on the facility master plan committee. And
• 31:45
  Speaker 2: there are no, that I know of, gas leaks or asbestos.
• 31:48
  Speaker 2: Or else we would have addressed those and told the
• 31:50
  Speaker 2: board we need to act now.
• 31:52
  Speaker 5: So you're saying it's an overreach and Laguna taxpayers are
• 31:55
  Speaker 5: going to be asking... To be spent money, pay taxes on.
• 32:00
  Speaker 2: For additional 30 years where it would drop off in 2028.
• 32:03
  Speaker 2: So they're saying no new taxes. Well, that's not entirely
• 32:06
  Speaker 2: true either. So like, tell it to us straight. That's
• 32:09
  Speaker 2: the thing. That's the problem I have is that it's, it's,
• 32:12
  Speaker 2: it's like a, it's, it's a story. And, and I
• 32:15
  Speaker 2: don't appreciate that for voters. I think that you just
• 32:18
  Speaker 2: trust people with the truth. Tell them this is what's
• 32:20
  Speaker 2: going on. It's going to be an additional tax. It's
• 32:22
  Speaker 2: going to be an additional $ 83 million tax. which in
• 32:25
  Speaker 2: turn will cost us $ 157 million with interest. It's another
• 32:30
  Speaker 2: 30 years of debt that you're asking the community of
• 32:33
  Speaker 2: Laguna Beach to cover. And is it for the kids? Yes,
• 32:36
  Speaker 2: that's amazing. Again, I would love to have that money
• 32:40
  Speaker 2: to fire harden, to do the kitchens, to do the
• 32:43
  Speaker 2: things we need to do, but I feel it was
• 32:45
  Speaker 2: irresponsible the way that they handled the money before. And
• 32:48
  Speaker 2: we have to trust the people that are elected into
• 32:50
  Speaker 2: office this time around to actually, if that bond passes-
• 32:54
  Speaker 2: We need to trust the people at the helm. And
• 32:57
  Speaker 2: the fuel slate has three people, and that's a board majority,
• 33:00
  Speaker 2: and people will be voting them in. And so whatever
• 33:02
  Speaker 2: they believe that money should go to, if it passes,
• 33:05
  Speaker 2: they're going to get. They don't have to go with
• 33:08
  Speaker 2: what the facility master plan committee said. They can just
• 33:11
  Speaker 2: toss it out and say, we want to acquire more
• 33:14
  Speaker 2: land or property in Laguna. We want to build another
• 33:16
  Speaker 2: sports field. We want to do this. I'm not saying
• 33:19
  Speaker 2: they're going to do that, but there is a checks
• 33:21
  Speaker 2: and balance, especially when you're voting in a board majority.
• 33:24
  Speaker 3: Mm-hmm.
• 33:25
  Speaker 5: So I guess I'm still trying to understand who floats
• 33:27
  Speaker 5: this measure. I mean, somehow I thought it was the
• 33:31
  Speaker 5: school board.
• 33:32
  Speaker 6: The school board agreed to it. We wanted the people
• 33:35
  Speaker 6: to decide. We wanted to put it on the ballot.
• 33:37
  Speaker 6: But it's a separate ballot committee that has raised funds
• 33:41
  Speaker 6: and bought the signs.
• 33:42
  Speaker 5: And is– And this is a citizen-led committee. And really
• 33:46
  Speaker 5: has no affiliation with the school board itself. It doesn't
• 33:50
  Speaker 5: have a role.
• 33:50
  Speaker 6: Not with the school board itself.
• 33:52
  Speaker 3: Got it.
• 33:53
  Speaker 2: They put it on the ballot. They voted to put
• 33:55
  Speaker 2: it on the ballot to put it to the voters,
• 33:56
  Speaker 2: which I agree 100%. I think that the city of
• 33:59
  Speaker 2: Laguna Beach should decide. The voters should decide if that's
• 34:01
  Speaker 2: what they want to do. And if they do, fantastic.
• 34:04
  Speaker 2: If they don't, we'll figure out another way to fund
• 34:06
  Speaker 2: the projects that we need to have funded.
• 34:08
  Speaker 5: I guess from a political standpoint, the liability for you
• 34:11
  Speaker 5: guys if you're against it is it's a zero-sum game.
• 34:14
  Speaker 5: It's like either you're for the improvements or you're not.
• 34:17
  Speaker 5: There's no middle ground. There's like, oh, is there another way?
• 34:20
  Speaker 5: Is there less money? I mean, what you're suggesting, you know.
• 34:24
  Speaker 2: Well, there is another way. Like, for example, the kitchens.
• 34:26
  Speaker 2: I mean, again, I keep talking about the kitchens.
• 34:28
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 34:29
  Speaker 2: But, you know, there are other ways that are less
• 34:32
  Speaker 2: expensive where the kids can get whole scratch meals. And
• 34:35
  Speaker 2: our high school has a huge kitchen. They can make
• 34:39
  Speaker 2: the meals there and then they can deliver them up
• 34:42
  Speaker 2: to top of the world into El Morro. So there's
• 34:44
  Speaker 2: ways around it that are cost effective.
• 34:46
  Speaker 5: But these are tough messages to get out in a
• 34:48
  Speaker 5: quick sound bite to the public. Yeah. But you're really
• 34:51
  Speaker 5: advocating for the entire community of Laguna here. You're saying
• 34:54
  Speaker 5: you guys are going to be paying too much money
• 34:56
  Speaker 5: for something that we don't really think merits that amount
• 35:00
  Speaker 5: at the present moment. It's not clear. But you're giving
• 35:03
  Speaker 5: a lot of money to whatever school board to make
• 35:07
  Speaker 5: unilateral decisions that may or may not be in the
• 35:09
  Speaker 5: best interest of our students or community.
• 35:12
  Speaker 2: Well, exactly, and every single student. So it's really important
• 35:16
  Speaker 2: because a lot of people, they think, well, you know,
• 35:19
  Speaker 2: they don't really– they don't even vote for school board.
• 35:21
  Speaker 2: They're like, well, why does it matter to me? I
• 35:22
  Speaker 2: don't have kids in the district, but it does matter
• 35:24
  Speaker 2: to you because it's, it's what I just told you
• 35:25
  Speaker 2: is that these schools are in, they're in neighborhoods and
• 35:28
  Speaker 2: they're surrounded by homes and a hundred year old homes,
• 35:31
  Speaker 2: you know? And so if, if, if the district doesn't
• 35:33
  Speaker 2: have to abide by the, the, the rules that like
• 35:35
  Speaker 2: design review, um, like other residents do, then they could
• 35:40
  Speaker 2: put up a two story building with tennis courts on top.
• 35:42
  Speaker 2: So people need to At least ask the candidates, if
• 35:46
  Speaker 2: the school bond were passed, what would you advocate for?
• 35:50
  Speaker 2: What would you put at the top of the list?
• 35:52
  Speaker 2: Would you follow what the facility master plan committee said,
• 35:56
  Speaker 2: the tier two and the tier three items? What would
• 35:58
  Speaker 2: you do? Or do you have something else in mind?
• 36:01
  Speaker 2: And at least get it on record. So if they
• 36:03
  Speaker 2: do get voted in, then at least we can hold
• 36:05
  Speaker 2: them to it.
• 36:05
  Speaker 5: Fair enough. Right.
• 36:07
  Speaker 6: And we would do a lot of great things with
• 36:11
  Speaker 6: that bond money that need to be done.
• 36:14
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 36:14
  Speaker 5: I mean, obviously, safety is job one.
• 36:17
  Speaker 2: But you can also– look, this district has over $ 90
• 36:20
  Speaker 2: million a year in a school. I mean, that is
• 36:23
  Speaker 2: crazy money. That's a lot of money. And our enrollment
• 36:26
  Speaker 2: is just declining.
• 36:27
  Speaker 5: And I want to get into that.
• 36:29
  Speaker 2: Yeah. So it's like we have a lot of money here.
• 36:32
  Speaker 2: And a lot of residents are like, wait a minute.
• 36:35
  Speaker 2: There's already so much money. Why can't you guys budget
• 36:39
  Speaker 2: and just work within our budget?
• 36:42
  Speaker 5: So let me ask you on that one, Liz. Because
• 36:44
  Speaker 5: we hear the numbers, this dwindling enrollment. And of course,
• 36:50
  Speaker 5: one notion would be, well, real estate, it's so expensive
• 36:53
  Speaker 5: to live here, less young families can afford it. That
• 36:56
  Speaker 5: would be the obvious one. But then I read something
• 36:59
  Speaker 5: on the website of Sensible Laguna suggesting that people are
• 37:03
  Speaker 5: voluntarily pulling their kids out of public school, sending them
• 37:07
  Speaker 5: to private schools, because why?
• 37:10
  Speaker 2: Well, I mean... Look, again, Sensible Laguna is a group
• 37:14
  Speaker 2: of guys that I happen to like a lot, and
• 37:16
  Speaker 2: they're advocates for our kids in this town. As far
• 37:19
  Speaker 2: as their website, I've actually never been on it, so
• 37:21
  Speaker 2: full disclosure here. But, yeah, I don't know what the
• 37:25
  Speaker 2: number is. I've heard the number of 500 kids floated deep,
• 37:27
  Speaker 2: but I don't know.
• 37:28
  Speaker 6: I heard 700. And why? That's probably high.
• 37:31
  Speaker 2: But they're not going to our public schools here.
• 37:33
  Speaker 6: Well, part of the reason is from this– I have
• 37:36
  Speaker 6: quite a few in my neighborhood– They have been upset
• 37:40
  Speaker 6: about how much time students have spent on screens. A
• 37:45
  Speaker 6: lot of people left during and after the pandemic because
• 37:50
  Speaker 6: we did not go back to school when other districts
• 37:53
  Speaker 6: in Orange County did. In fact, I was the lone
• 37:55
  Speaker 6: vote to go back to school, and then one other
• 37:58
  Speaker 6: board member did join me. Also, the lack of rigor
• 38:07
  Speaker 6: people complain about that We have great programs for really
• 38:11
  Speaker 6: high children. Like AP classes. AP classes and for special education.
• 38:18
  Speaker 6: But our middle kids, we kind of took away the
• 38:22
  Speaker 6: honors classes that we had. And there isn't as much
• 38:27
  Speaker 6: rigor and stimulation for kids.
• 38:30
  Speaker 1: In the middle.
• 38:31
  Speaker 5: Do we have any statistics on, I know they were
• 38:34
  Speaker 5: always proud to say how many kids went to elite
• 38:37
  Speaker 5: colleges and get into Ivy League schools or the equivalent
• 38:40
  Speaker 5: on the West Coast. Has that fallen off? Do we
• 38:43
  Speaker 5: have any data?
• 38:45
  Speaker 2: I don't know specifically about those numbers. I mean, Dee,
• 38:47
  Speaker 2: you may have that. But I have a concern that
• 38:50
  Speaker 2: I want to voice, and the community has actually asked me,
• 38:53
  Speaker 2: because I was doing some research on the CASP results,
• 38:57
  Speaker 2: and this is 2025 CASP results. 2026 is coming out
• 39:00
  Speaker 2: at the end of the month, I believe.
• 39:02
  Speaker 5: I'm sorry, what results?
• 39:02
  Speaker 6: CASP.
• 39:03
  Speaker 5: What does that stand for?
• 39:05
  Speaker 2: It's C-A-S-P.
• 39:07
  Speaker 6: It's a state testing program.
• 39:09
  Speaker 2: Okay. Thank you, Dee. And I'm still learning. I haven't
• 39:12
  Speaker 2: been a board member yet. But basically, what was alarming
• 39:16
  Speaker 2: to me, and my family has been affected by this personally,
• 39:19
  Speaker 2: so it speaks to my heart. It's kind of my
• 39:21
  Speaker 2: mama bear story and where I lead from in the
• 39:23
  Speaker 2: sense that our mathematics score, so our 11th graders, 40%
• 39:28
  Speaker 2: of our 11th graders are not meeting state standards, math standards.
• 39:33
  Speaker 2: And I mean, that's hard to deal with, I guess,
• 39:39
  Speaker 2: because it's like we have so much money in this
• 39:41
  Speaker 2: district and 40% of our kids are not meeting state
• 39:44
  Speaker 2: math standards, then what are we doing wrong? And And
• 39:48
  Speaker 2: I feel like we're— What.
• 39:49
  Speaker 6: Could we be doing better with the money we have?
• 39:53
  Speaker 6: And I did bring some charts here about that, about
• 39:58
  Speaker 6: the money. Here we are, where here's our other districts
• 40:06
  Speaker 6: that are similar to us are up here, and here's Laguna.
• 40:10
  Speaker 6: We really took a dive in 22, 23.
• 40:11
  Speaker 5: Dee is showing me a timeline of math over time statewide,
• 40:16
  Speaker 5: and it looks like we are— Dropping off. That's because
• 40:19
  Speaker 5: we're artists here.
• 40:20
  Speaker 6: And that's okay. I love the arts. But I also
• 40:24
  Speaker 6: wanted to show spending. So here we are. We're spending $ 40, 000
• 40:31
  Speaker 6: per student more than all of these others. Here's with
• 40:36
  Speaker 6: higher scores.
• 40:37
  Speaker 5: And where, why?
• 40:38
  Speaker 6: South Pasadena, Northwood, Del Norte, Oak Park.
• 40:42
  Speaker 5: Why are we, where is that extra surplus being spent
• 40:46
  Speaker 5: that we're not getting the return on?
• 40:48
  Speaker 6: Well, it's not going to be popular, but what statistic is?
• 40:53
  Speaker 2: I think 75% of that $ 40, 000 per student goes to salaries, right?
• 40:58
  Speaker 6: Yeah, more than that.
• 40:59
  Speaker 5: And is that outside of the norm?
• 41:02
  Speaker 3: No.
• 41:03
  Speaker 2: Well, I think our staff is better paid than most
• 41:06
  Speaker 2: teachers in California.
• 41:07
  Speaker 6: Our staff is well paid, but also in the last
• 41:12
  Speaker 6: 10 years, we've lost about 23% of our population. During
• 41:16
  Speaker 6: that time, we've gained students. A student population.
• 41:20
  Speaker 5: I'm sorry.
• 41:21
  Speaker 6: And during that time, we gained 25% more administrators. We
• 41:26
  Speaker 6: also gained only 7% more teachers. But you might think,
• 41:31
  Speaker 6: why would you be gaining teachers when you're losing a
• 41:34
  Speaker 6: quarter of your population? And about 11% more classified. Classified staff.
• 41:39
  Speaker 5: So is that on the school board?
• 41:41
  Speaker 6: Yes, that's in the school district.
• 41:43
  Speaker 5: But I mean, the responsibility of that kind of budgeting,
• 41:46
  Speaker 5: is that school board or is that administrators?
• 41:49
  Speaker 6: Yes, that is school board, which the recommendations, though, come
• 41:55
  Speaker 6: from the superintendent and the business office and the administrators
• 42:00
  Speaker 6: as far as what's needed. And then the school board
• 42:05
  Speaker 6: wants to think that they're doing their job, and they've
• 42:08
  Speaker 6: really figured this out, and then votes for that.
• 42:10
  Speaker 5: And it's hard to say, in all fairness to Sherry
• 42:13
  Speaker 5: and Howard, in two years' time, that it's their fault.
• 42:17
  Speaker 6: And the scores are pretty flat. It isn't that they've
• 42:22
  Speaker 6: gone down since Sherry and Howard have gone.
• 42:26
  Speaker 5: But is it fair to say that boys are getting dumber?
• 42:28
  Speaker 6: No.
• 42:31
  Speaker 5: I'm telling you, they are– it's the year– women are
• 42:35
  Speaker 5: just stomping all– they're more going to graduate school.
• 42:38
  Speaker 6: They're just– I mean– More in law school, more in
• 42:41
  Speaker 6: med school.
• 42:41
  Speaker 5: I mean there's something happening with their brains.
• 42:43
  Speaker 6: Well, I think maybe we're not– That's a whole discussion. Yeah,
• 42:46
  Speaker 6: that's a whole discussion. But I think we're not approaching
• 42:49
  Speaker 6: a lot of the boys education-wise correctly, like doing away
• 42:55
  Speaker 6: with shops. wood shop, metal shop.
• 42:58
  Speaker 5: Did we do away with that?
• 42:59
  Speaker 6: Oh, yeah.
• 43:00
  Speaker 5: That's a terrible idea.
• 43:02
  Speaker 2: I took wood shop in high school here.
• 43:03
  Speaker 6: It's much harder for them to, many of them, not
• 43:09
  Speaker 6: all of them, but to sit in a seat and
• 43:10
  Speaker 6: concentrate all day. I mean, they need those breaks.
• 43:14
  Speaker 5: No, I know we're generalizing. It's screens.
• 43:17
  Speaker 6: It's nuts. Yeah, I think we need to approach education
• 43:21
  Speaker 6: in a different way. I think limiting screen time will
• 43:24
  Speaker 6: be helpful. But there's a lot more things we can do.
• 43:28
  Speaker 6: And I really believe in learning about careers early on
• 43:33
  Speaker 6: and trying different things and see what you like, see
• 43:36
  Speaker 6: what you might be good at.
• 43:37
  Speaker 5: Especially in the age of AI. Yes.
• 43:38
  Speaker 2: And a lot of kids aren't going directly off to college.
• 43:41
  Speaker 2: They want to be an artist or they want to
• 43:45
  Speaker 2: do another type of trade.
• 43:46
  Speaker 5: And let me ask you this. Are you guys familiar
• 43:49
  Speaker 5: with the documentary Waiting for Superman? It was made about,
• 43:54
  Speaker 5: you've heard of it? 15 years ago. It was about
• 43:57
  Speaker 5: the public school system, but in what they call dropout factories.
• 44:01
  Speaker 5: It's more in the inner city. Was it in D.C.?
• 44:04
  Speaker 5: I think so. And the star of the film was
• 44:06
  Speaker 5: this teacher named Jeffrey Canada. And he said something that
• 44:09
  Speaker 5: really stuck with me. He says, there's just nothing quite
• 44:14
  Speaker 5: like a great teacher. And he's standing in the window
• 44:18
  Speaker 5: in the hallway of a classroom, and he's looking at
• 44:20
  Speaker 5: this teacher, and he goes something like, they combine the
• 44:26
  Speaker 5: skills of an actor, of an intellectual, whatever, but they
• 44:32
  Speaker 5: make learning inspiring. And so many people I know can
• 44:38
  Speaker 5: speak to one or two teachers that changed the course
• 44:40
  Speaker 5: of their life, myself included. And so for me, it
• 44:44
  Speaker 5: always comes down to, okay, you can have the best facility,
• 44:47
  Speaker 5: but really you got to invest in teachers. And my
• 44:50
  Speaker 5: thought is, Just like it's difficult for City Hall to
• 44:54
  Speaker 5: attract quality people to work there, it must be difficult here.
• 44:58
  Speaker 5: As alluring as it is to stand in a classroom
• 45:00
  Speaker 5: and look over the Pacific Ocean, they can't afford to
• 45:03
  Speaker 5: live here. They've got to commute from 30 miles away.
• 45:06
  Speaker 5: So there's a lot of forces against attracting great teachers.
• 45:11
  Speaker 5: It's a lot easier to go to Irvine from Riverside,
• 45:15
  Speaker 5: let's say, than it is to go all the way
• 45:16
  Speaker 5: to Laguna. Do you find that to be a valid?
• 45:20
  Speaker 5: Liz is nodding no.
• 45:22
  Speaker 6: I think we have amazing teachers here.
• 45:24
  Speaker 5: So that's not the problem.
• 45:25
  Speaker 6: And some do commute quite a ways, and that's too bad.
• 45:31
  Speaker 6: We are looking at different ways to maybe manage some
• 45:35
  Speaker 6: staff housing issues. But we don't have anything in place.
• 45:38
  Speaker 3: Okay.
• 45:38
  Speaker 5: I was just curious if you felt there was an
• 45:40
  Speaker 5: issue attracting the best and the brightest teachers.
• 45:43
  Speaker 2: No, I don't think so. I think that teachers, I mean,
• 45:45
  Speaker 2: any teacher or staff member I've ever spoken to about it,
• 45:47
  Speaker 2: they are so excited to work in Laguna Beach. The
• 45:51
  Speaker 2: pay is great. And the time in the classroom, I mean,
• 45:56
  Speaker 2: is ideal.
• 45:57
  Speaker 6: The benefits are great.
• 45:58
  Speaker 2: Dee can speak to this. The benefits are great. And so, yeah,
• 46:02
  Speaker 2: I am... From every teacher I've ever heard from or
• 46:06
  Speaker 2: staff member, they've been overjoyed to work in Laguna. I mean,
• 46:08
  Speaker 2: it was like their goal to come work in Laguna
• 46:10
  Speaker 2: to get a job here.
• 46:11
  Speaker 3: Okay.
• 46:12
  Speaker 5: Well, you did mention something about, I guess, the level
• 46:17
  Speaker 5: of work that the kids are doing, that there's some
• 46:20
  Speaker 5: concern there.
• 46:21
  Speaker 6: Concern from parents.
• 46:23
  Speaker 5: Yeah. So I knew this couple who had twin daughters,
• 46:28
  Speaker 5: and one of them, can't remember what the circumstances were,
• 46:33
  Speaker 5: but she left and went to Santa Margarita and the
• 46:35
  Speaker 5: other sister stayed here. And they said the contrast between
• 46:39
  Speaker 5: the workload was unbelievable. The Santa Margarita student, five hours
• 46:44
  Speaker 5: of homework every day. The Laguna student didn't seem to
• 46:48
  Speaker 5: have any homework. I guess did it at school or
• 46:50
  Speaker 5: something like that. What's going on there? I'm not saying
• 46:55
  Speaker 5: one's better than the other because some are teaching different
• 46:58
  Speaker 5: types of study skills, but There is that perception that
• 47:01
  Speaker 5: somehow Laguna is easier.
• 47:06
  Speaker 6: And we want kids to have a balanced life. We
• 47:09
  Speaker 6: don't want them to just.
• 47:11
  Speaker 5: Be all steady. A lot to be said for that.
• 47:13
  Speaker 6: So there's a lot to be said for that, yes.
• 47:15
  Speaker 6: But we put, in my opinion... we could be more rigorous.
• 47:22
  Speaker 5: Okay.
• 47:23
  Speaker 2: I mean, so just speaking as a parent of kids
• 47:25
  Speaker 2: that are in high school, I have a child that's
• 47:27
  Speaker 2: in high school right now. My youngest.
• 47:28
  Speaker 5: What grade?
• 47:29
  Speaker 2: Well, she's a senior, she's graduating. So this is my youngest.
• 47:32
  Speaker 2: And so I've had, like I said, four go through.
• 47:34
  Speaker 2: My son just graduated last year. We've got about 10 minutes. And, um,
• 47:38
  Speaker 2: and so what this is, the block schedule is just
• 47:42
  Speaker 2: what drives me insane. And it's been in high school
• 47:44
  Speaker 2: and it's like, Two days a week my kids have math,
• 47:47
  Speaker 2: and then they have math for like 80 minutes one day,
• 47:49
  Speaker 2: and then the next day they don't have it. And
• 47:51
  Speaker 2: that's where I feel like maybe we're having this disconnect
• 47:53
  Speaker 2: with mathematics is because I think it should be every
• 47:56
  Speaker 2: single day because it's technical. You have to build upon
• 48:00
  Speaker 2: the skill of mathematics, and when you're putting it down
• 48:03
  Speaker 2: for half the week, I think that you're losing out
• 48:06
  Speaker 2: on learning time. And same with English. And so with
• 48:09
  Speaker 2: this block schedule, the teachers, Dee, you can speak to
• 48:12
  Speaker 2: this because you know this better than I do, But
• 48:14
  Speaker 2: where the teachers have two periods a day where they
• 48:17
  Speaker 2: can grade papers or they can prepare for their class.
• 48:20
  Speaker 6: High school teachers.
• 48:21
  Speaker 2: High school teachers. And what happens is that they have
• 48:24
  Speaker 2: these periods that they have off from teaching. And they're
• 48:27
  Speaker 2: preparing or doing whatever it is that they're doing as teachers.
• 48:29
  Speaker 2: But then that minimizes the amount of classes that our
• 48:33
  Speaker 2: kids are able to take.
• 48:34
  Speaker 5: I see.
• 48:35
  Speaker 6: Scheduling gets tough.
• 48:36
  Speaker 1: Scheduling.
• 48:36
  Speaker 2: So the thing is I have a feeling, and I
• 48:38
  Speaker 2: could be wrong, but definitely something I want to look
• 48:42
  Speaker 2: into is, Did we drop the honors classes, those in-between classes,
• 48:46
  Speaker 2: because teachers are in the classroom less time teaching and
• 48:50
  Speaker 2: more in those off periods where they're grading or they're
• 48:53
  Speaker 2: doing other things? You see what I'm saying? And so
• 48:56
  Speaker 2: the block schedule, any person I have spoken to in
• 48:58
  Speaker 2: this district, like parents and kids and my children, it's like,
• 49:04
  Speaker 2: what time are you off today? What time are you
• 49:06
  Speaker 2: going there today? What classes do you have today? It's
• 49:10
  Speaker 2: never been beneficial for my family. And then my two
• 49:15
  Speaker 2: older children, I have a 32-year-old and I have a 25-year-old,
• 49:18
  Speaker 2: and it was totally different.
• 49:19
  Speaker 6: It was like geeky.
• 49:20
  Speaker 2: To school one time, you're off at the same time.
• 49:22
  Speaker 2: They have math and English and science every single day.
• 49:24
  Speaker 2: And I'm like, what happened to that? And so I
• 49:27
  Speaker 2: have a suspicion that it has something to do with
• 49:31
  Speaker 2: the scheduling in high school and why our math scores
• 49:33
  Speaker 2: are so low. And I know it's like people get
• 49:37
  Speaker 2: kind of upset when you– question. Like I've had some
• 49:40
  Speaker 2: feedback from people like, well, no, 40% of our students
• 49:44
  Speaker 2: in 11th grade, they're doing fine. It's like, if you
• 49:46
  Speaker 2: ask a question, then you're attacking the teachers. And that's
• 49:50
  Speaker 2: not what's happening here. I'm not saying they're bad teachers.
• 49:53
  Speaker 2: I think they're amazing teachers.
• 49:54
  Speaker 5: Like I can, Oh my God, these.
• 49:56
  Speaker 2: People are amazing. It's just that, um, we have to
• 49:59
  Speaker 2: be able to look at ourselves constructively. We have to
• 50:02
  Speaker 2: ask these questions and, and, and to not get angry
• 50:05
  Speaker 2: with people who point things out that like, Hey, There's
• 50:08
  Speaker 2: a disconnect here, and we should expect 100% of our
• 50:11
  Speaker 2: kids to be at state-level meeting standards. But okay, let's
• 50:16
  Speaker 2: work from there. At least recognize there's an issue because
• 50:19
  Speaker 2: then when you recognize it, you can build and you
• 50:21
  Speaker 2: can fix it. But if you're not recognizing it, if
• 50:23
  Speaker 2: you put your head in the sand, then you're not
• 50:25
  Speaker 2: going to do anything for it. And that's the problem
• 50:27
  Speaker 2: I have right now is those field candidates, God bless them,
• 50:30
  Speaker 2: they're great women, but they're not talking about this. And
• 50:33
  Speaker 2: even at the PTA forum, I said 40% and Joan said, no,
• 50:37
  Speaker 2: we don't have that. I'm like, I'll give you the paperwork.
• 50:39
  Speaker 2: And she's like, I got it. I'm like, no, you don't.
• 50:41
  Speaker 2: And it's like, because they're afraid to speak up against,
• 50:44
  Speaker 2: they think it's against the teachers and then the unions
• 50:46
  Speaker 2: won't endorse them. Well, I'm saying to you, we need
• 50:49
  Speaker 2: to ask these questions.
• 50:50
  Speaker 3: Oh, wow.
• 50:51
  Speaker 2: We need to.
• 50:51
  Speaker 5: So you certainly have the passion for the job.
• 50:55
  Speaker 2: Because I have two kids that have just lived this
• 50:59
  Speaker 2: and it upsets me when my 16 year old says
• 51:01
  Speaker 2: to me last year, mom, I love my teachers. I'm
• 51:05
  Speaker 2: not dissing them, but I feel like they're teaching me
• 51:08
  Speaker 2: to pass, not learn. And I did not bust my
• 51:11
  Speaker 2: butt to live in the town I grew up in
• 51:12
  Speaker 2: to spend $ 5, 000 a month in rent every single month
• 51:16
  Speaker 2: thinking that my kids were going to have an education
• 51:18
  Speaker 2: like I did, and they're not getting it. And I'm
• 51:22
  Speaker 2: not blaming the teachers. I'm not doing that, but we're
• 51:24
  Speaker 2: doing something wrong, and we have to correct it.
• 51:26
  Speaker 5: I think you just made your closing statement, actually.
• 51:29
  Speaker 6: I think that was great, Liz.
• 51:31
  Speaker 5: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I get a clear idea why you're running.
• 51:34
  Speaker 5: I don't even have to ask. I get it.
• 51:36
  Speaker 6: And I think, like Liz said, we've had a culture
• 51:39
  Speaker 6: for a long time that everything is wonderful. And you're
• 51:42
  Speaker 6: bad if you bring up anything that might not be good.
• 51:46
  Speaker 5: And the statistics say otherwise. We have declining performance in
• 51:50
  Speaker 5: our schools. So, Dee, give us a little closing statement.
• 51:53
  Speaker 5: I want to respect your time. The reason why I
• 51:55
  Speaker 5: try to land the plane on time is because we automatically,
• 51:59
  Speaker 5: in the way we save these podcasts, it cuts off
• 52:01
  Speaker 5: at the end of the hour.
• 52:02
  Speaker 1: Okay.
• 52:03
  Speaker 5: So why are you doing it, Dee, and why should
• 52:05
  Speaker 5: people vote for you?
• 52:06
  Speaker 1: Okay.
• 52:07
  Speaker 6: I'm doing it because I love this town. I've been
• 52:11
  Speaker 6: invested in it for almost 50 years. I love my
• 52:16
  Speaker 6: former students and upcoming students. I want the best for everyone.
• 52:20
  Speaker 6: And I really want students to have an example of
• 52:24
  Speaker 6: civility and caring and kindness. That's why.
• 52:28
  Speaker 5: Bingo.
• 52:29
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 52:29
  Speaker 5: How about you, Liz? Anything to say in the close?
• 52:31
  Speaker 2: Well, like I've said before, my North Star are the students,
• 52:36
  Speaker 2: and every single decision I would make as a board
• 52:38
  Speaker 2: member would be them, about them 100%. And then secondly,
• 52:42
  Speaker 2: it would be accountability and checks and balances. The people
• 52:45
  Speaker 2: that vote us in are constituents in this community. We
• 52:48
  Speaker 2: answer to them. We will be public servants to the community,
• 52:52
  Speaker 2: and our North Star are the students, always, every decision
• 52:55
  Speaker 2: we make.
• 52:55
  Speaker 5: So when you say accountable to the community, because I
• 52:58
  Speaker 5: hear the city council candidates all say transparency, listening to
• 53:02
  Speaker 5: the community, and how do you actually do that tangibly?
• 53:04
  Speaker 5: I mean, do you have any ideas?
• 53:06
  Speaker 6: Well, I have an example about city council that was
• 53:11
  Speaker 6: personally upsetting to me. Every year city council and the
• 53:15
  Speaker 6: school board have a joint meeting because, of course, we're
• 53:19
  Speaker 6: all serving our community and wanting the best for our community.
• 53:22
  Speaker 1: Sure.
• 53:23
  Speaker 6: This year they canceled a meeting in the middle of May,
• 53:27
  Speaker 6: a meeting at the end of May, the meeting in June,
• 53:30
  Speaker 6: and then just said we are not going to meet
• 53:32
  Speaker 6: with them this year. We don't have time. And that
• 53:35
  Speaker 6: was really, really, really bothered me. It was like saying,
• 53:41
  Speaker 6: you know, I'm not going to talk to you because
• 53:43
  Speaker 6: of your ethnicity or your religion or, you know, because
• 53:48
  Speaker 6: you have special needs. I mean, I just think about
• 53:50
  Speaker 6: it as a teacher.
• 53:51
  Speaker 5: You think it was political?
• 53:53
  Speaker 6: Absolutely. Absolutely political.
• 53:55
  Speaker 5: And if.
• 53:57
  Speaker 6: You're an elected official, you need to work with everyone.
• 54:00
  Speaker 6: Just like as a teacher, everyone who name is on
• 54:03
  Speaker 6: your role, you've got to do your best to work
• 54:05
  Speaker 6: with them. And I was very, very disappointed. I think
• 54:09
  Speaker 6: we need an example in our community of working together
• 54:13
  Speaker 6: with everyone, whether they're on our page or not. And
• 54:16
  Speaker 6: I was very disappointed.
• 54:18
  Speaker 5: Thank you for sharing that. I think that we all
• 54:21
  Speaker 5: have to remind ourselves We all want the same thing, right?
• 54:24
  Speaker 6: Right. We all do. We want the best for our town,
• 54:27
  Speaker 6: our students.
• 54:28
  Speaker 5: We want our students to shine. They're the next generation.
• 54:31
  Speaker 5: We want them to be successful so they can afford
• 54:33
  Speaker 5: to come back here.
• 54:34
  Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly.
• 54:35
  Speaker 5: Anyway, lovely to meet both of.
• 54:37
  Speaker 1: You and talk.
• 54:37
  Speaker 5: Thank you so much for having us on. Yeah, Liz
• 54:39
  Speaker 5: Bates and Dee Perry, good luck to you. November 3rd
• 54:42
  Speaker 5: is the date, right? Three more weeks.
• 54:44
  Speaker 3: Correct.
• 54:45
  Speaker 5: Three more weeks and then the signs come down and
• 54:47
  Speaker 5: we all take a break.
• 54:48
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 54:49
  Speaker 5: We'll be back in a moment with more music here
• 54:52
  Speaker 5: on KXFM. Thank you.
• 55:19
  Speaker 3: Thank you.