”Legal fees climb at West Covina
Unified’s charter school.” San Gabriel
Valley Tribune (CA), 10/24/2010
WEST COVINA - Murky contract language and poor communication with its charter school's management company is costing West Covina Unified tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees, according to district documents.
Edison Learning, Inc. manages the operations at San Jose-Edison Academy, the district's charter school. WCUSD oversees those operations to ensure it is in compliance with contract agreements and state law, according to Superintendent Liliam Castillo.
Rather than dealing with problems with a quick phone call, the district and the charter school have been using attorneys for correspondence, officials said…
West Covina Unified spent about $76,000 on legal fees related to San Jose- Edison Academy between the 2007-08 school year and the 2009-10 school year. District-wide, it spent about $812,000 in legal fees during the same time frame. Most of the fees were for union negotiations, construction issues, employee complaints and other matters unrelated to the day-to-day operation of schools.
No other schools have comparable legal costs, Castillo said.
For example, the district spent less than $200 on issues related to Edgewood Middle School between January 2008 and September 2010, Castillo said.
"Legal fees for a school are rare unless it's a settlement," she said.
The contract with Edison Learning, Inc. has become increasingly complicated as board members and the management company's personnel change…
Board member Jessica Shewmaker said she agrees that attorney fees are costly, but it's a last resort when the district doesn't get answers to varying concerns.
"We have an obligation to oversee that school," she said. "If they're breaking the law, the district as a whole can be sued.
"I think what's happening is there are certain board members who have a conflict and who would rather Edison be left alone. When it comes to Edison, there's a blindness to the need to oversee the school."
Both Spence and board member Eileen Miranda Jimenez have children who attend the school, Shewmaker said…
6 comments:
San Jose is the yongest school in the West Covina School dist. in that short amount of time it has been rated a 5 star school, blue ribbon school and some of the highest charter school awards nation wide. It is the highest socreing school in the District and in the San Gabriel Valley, it ranks in the top 50 schools in CA and among the top 100 in the nation. Great schools.com rated it 10 out of 10. As of mid 2011 the school board of west covina fired Castillo that was making $300,000 yearly. Thank GOD!!
yeah I just want to know where did the 600,000 dollars went to? Some say that the board members steve and spence splitted the money with mike s., dawn boslin,grace garner. And why can't people get along in this district? lillian should be back to her job. There is no honesty whatsoever and Strvr cox is a sexual person because I know little does his wife know what he does after work? Tell her steve.
Also why are so many people leaving the district? People do talk behind the upper peoples back. Terry garcia talks about everybody in the yard so do not trust her. What does the recent superintindent do away from work? Only we know. There is dirt on every person in this district. Ask terry she knows. Plus most of the maintanance do not drive that well ask brian he has had more then 3 accidents and has to have behavior classes because he has a bad temper. Should he be around our children. Rhonda is suing the district because of dawn boslin, and grace is suing mike seaman. Who are the crooks here? The people of west covina should know what is going on.
Also mikw Seaman knew about what Mr.White did. He is just keeping quiet because of his job. he is just as guilty. Remember big shots people are watching you with a camera. All will leak out sooner or later.
This school principal Dr. Denise Patton is corrupt! The school would not have any issues if it was for the dictator they have as their leader. It is so evident she is very disliked by not only her own staff, but by the community and by many, many parents. I pity the staff who have stated they are petrified of losing their jobs. If it wasn't for my son's last year there I would not be having him return. I chose not to enroll my younger child, I do not think I could take another year with this woman in power. The West Covina Board needs to get rid of her before the school takes a turn for the worse. There are a lot of corrupt things happening and I think it is only a matter of time that the school will lose its luster all because of this horrible woman and everything she does behind closed doors.
Whether you like or don’t like the school or principle, the bottom line is Edison Academy is getting results. In fact it has been getting results since it opened in 1998; this is amazing when you think about it since all the schools in the district have been around since 1955 or 58. It is and continues to be a high performing school, most Edison students are high performers due to the challenging curriculum the school teaches. Up until a few years ago most of the Edison students entering high school, would go to private schools like Bishop Amat or St. Lucy’s or just leave the district. So much so that the district or should I say Castillo and the board saw allot of $$ leaving, so Edgewood High School was resurrected from the dead. Not just as any common high school but as an International Baccalaureate (IB) which means after you graduate from Edgewood you could earn up to two diplomas, and have a good shot at colleges not just in the US but globally. So what does this mean, well one thing for sure. The district keeps $$ in the district by giving high performing students specifically Edison students, a school that meets their academic needs. Edison is not liked by the school district, because it reveals to the city of West Covina and other districts that its schools were failing. It also prompted the district and board to finally relieve West Covina High (the only high school in the district before Edgewood) of a minimum 50 to 60 students per class. I actually knew a biology teacher that had 1,000 students at West Covina high, imagine correcting all those tests. Had Edison not existed or succeeded it would have been business as usual, but at the cost of our children.
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