Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
AUGUST 2007: SUP SUPS IN D.F.
| Date/Day of Week | Item | Expense |
| August 1/Wednesday 2007 | Hilton Hotels La Jolla _________ Horizons Bar | $297.25_____ $15.24 |
| August 2/Thursday | Hilton Horizons Bar, La Jolla ____________ Hilton Grill | $3.00_______ $20.32 |
| August 9/Thursday | Romescos Bonita | $122.07 |
| August 11/Saturday | Aeromexico | $287.76 |
| August 14/Tuesday | Café La Maze Nat’l City | $43.00 |
| August 16/ Thursday | King’s Fish House, Otay | $43.93 |
| August 19/Sunday | Transportation Tijuana, MX ___________ Aeromexico | $109.63_____ $199.49 |
| August 20/Monday | FI Centro Historico Cuidad, MX | $45.81 |
| August 21/Tuesday | Mexico Viejo MX | $45.36 |
| August 22/Wednesday | Transportation Tijuana ____________ Sanborn’s Ciudad, MX | $94.96 $44.09 |
| August 24/Friday | MangianiItaliano CV Butcher Shop Steak House, Jalisco Café | $34.46 $28.80 $46.86 |
| August 27/Monday | Karina’s Restaurant, CV | $37.67 |
| | | Total: $1,519.12 |
| | | |
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Seven Short Months Ago --This was NEWS 9/29/08 KPBS
Texas-Born School Leader Takes on Sweetwater
Monday, September 29, 2008
(Photo: Sweetwater’s Jesus Gandara came from humble beginnings to lead the country’s largest public high school district. Ana Tintocalis/KPBS )
The Sweetwater Union High School District reigns supreme in San Diego's South Bay. It serves 42,000 students from National City to San Ysidro. Its also the largest high school district in the country. The man in charge is a straight-talking, Texas-born native named Jesus Gandara . He's known for turning around border-city school districts with large numbers of poor, Spanish-speaking students. Now he's trying to do the same in Sweetwater. KPBS Education Reporter Ana Tintocalis this profile.
We meet Gandara on the campus of Chula Vista High Schoolas students rush to class. He has slicked-back black hair, round glasses and a grey-pinstriped suit.
Gandara came to Sweetwater shortly after an attempt to unify South Bay campuses under one school district failed. Gandara says the community was at war.
Gandara: Superintendents weren't talking to one another. People were upset. And when I arrived, I was immediately told, that I was walking into a very unfriendly territory.
But Gandara saw an opportunity. He met with everyone in the community in his first 90 days. People began to settle down and listen to his message of cooperation and independence.
More than 70 percent of Sweetwater are Latino, and more than 40 percent live in poverty.
Gandara says he identifies with his students because he grew up in a poor Mexican family in El Paso, Texas. His mom sold flowers. His grandfather -- who he was close to -- worked in the fields. Gandara says education was seen as a way to get out of poverty.
Gandara: My conservations with him (his grandfather) would be, 'Educate mijo, educate.' And I remember that. And then when I was helping my mom lower these one-gallon cans of flowers, she would say the same thing, 'Mijo educatse.' Educate yourself so you don't have to do this. So it was a constant message.
Gandara was the first in his family to graduate from college. He made a name for himself in Texas years later as superintendent of a school district on the U.S.-Mexico border filled with poor, Spanish-speaking families.
Gandara says in Mexico, teachers are held in extremely high regard. So parents tend not to interfere with their child's education
He worked hard to change that mindset by getting people to spread the word about 'chats with the superintendent' or 'platicas con el superintendente.'
Gandara: They would drive around in a car with a bullhorn saying, 'There is a meeting, with the superintendent.' Really grassroots. And we had one meeting in a garage. The place was packed. And we brought enough sweetbread, coffee and juice because that was religious. Its significance because we're breaking bread. Then I would tell them what I needed. And they would tell me what they needed.
Gandara say he uses his Catholic faith to connect with Latino families. Its also a source of strength for him -- when drugs, gangs and violence threaten his schools.
Gandara: I see my role as a superintendent sometimes fighting evil. And so I carry a blessed St. Micheals with me. And I also carry a Rosary with me. Having grown up in the barrio, and seeing the injustices of what we went through in schools, in the community, you have to have courage to take those on.
And that determination seems to helping Sweetwater move forward. Sweetwater High is one of only two high schools in the state taken off a federal list of failing schools because test scores have improved dramatically. Attendance is up, Advanced Placement courses are up, and the district is reviving its career tech program.
Gandara says his passion is to help poor, Latino families see education as the key to a better life. One way he does that is by showing parents how much he makes, and then asking the question:
Gandara: How would you this child to make that kind of money? Because I'm not any different than their children.
And so Gandara says it's a new day in the South Bay. In fact, he's predicting the district will satisfy all of the federal academic benchmarks as under the No Child Left Behind Actthis year. No large urban school district was able to do that last year.
Ana Tintocalis, KPBS News.
http://www.kpbs.org/news/2008/sep/29/texas-born-school-leader-takes-on-sweetwater/
Rita Writes Back & Jim Jots a Few Lines, Too.
Local letters: South Edition
2:00 a.m. May 9, 2009
Sweetwater responds on hiring issues
Regarding the letters to editor on May 2 (“Gender equality in Sweetwater District?”)
As the assistant superintendent for human resources for the Sweetwater Union High School District, I can attest to the outcomes of the district's process for hiring and promoting management employees. Since Jesus Gandara joined the Sweetwater district as superintendent in September, 2006 there have been 55 people hired or promoted to management positions by the Board of Trustees.
Selecting and hiring management employees are among the most important duties the Board of Trustees and a superintendent have. These employees are those entrusted with the leadership to provide a world-class education for our students. The facts show it has been an equitable process.
RITA SIERRA BEYERS Chula Vista
http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/may/09/mz1sz9lets223712-local-letters/
2:00 a.m. May 9, 2009LOCAL PERSPECTIVE
As a community, these tough economic times have been extraordinarily difficult. Uncertainty in the economy and budget cuts at the Sweetwater Union High School District and school districts throughout California have impacted us all.
As school board members, we are accustomed to having people attend meetings to express their concerns. It can be one of the most rewarding aspects of our jobs because it allows us the opportunity to be part of a solution that satisfies the greatest number of people.
On the flip side, we can be just as frustrated as those sitting in our audience when there are issues presented to us over which we have no control. The economy is a prime example. We didn't create this economic situation, yet we have had to find ways to balance our budget – with funding that is determined by the state. Complicating matters was the state Education Code requirement to notify our teachers and counselors by March 15 if there was a possibility they might lose their jobs at the end of this school year.
In one of the most difficult votes during my tenure as a school board member, we recently issued 109 layoff notices to counselors and teachers in the following academic areas: art, English, physical education, social science and Spanish. It was our intention to continue looking for ways to save money and to save jobs.
One month later we have done just that. I am pleased and gratified to report that we have rescinded 72 layoff notices to teachers and counselors – leaving us with 37 we still hope to rescind. This is the result of many people working together to find cost savings at a time when we know we will have to trim $11.6 million from our budget for the 2009-10 school year.
I want to take this opportunity to compliment staff, Superintendent Dr. Jesus Gandara, Chief Financial Officer Dianne Russo, the district financial team and others in district administration who have been doing their utmost to help us as board members uphold our promise to employees.
This is a momentous occasion for the employees in the Sweetwater Union High School District. Although some fellow educators have criticized our decision, saying that rescinding notices is premature, we couldn't disagree more. We have put in place several initiatives that allow us to preserve jobs and make the deep budget cuts. One initiative responsible for layoff rescission is the Early Retirement Incentive we offered to employees. This had a direct impact on the number of jobs we were able to preserve.
We still hope we will find additional savings within our budget to rescind the remaining 37 layoff notices. That will take the cooperation of all our district stakeholders. We have several proposals on the negotiation table with our bargaining units – including pay reductions – that we hope union leadership will seriously consider. Other school district employees and public entities already have agreed to pay cuts. We know these are difficult decisions to make, but no more difficult than having to lose some of our best and brightest employees.
If we can preserve jobs, we preserve our educational program. If we can find ways to close the budget gap without more layoffs, we create our own stimulus package in the South Bay. If we can hold on to all our employees, we create stability within our district.
On behalf of my fellow board members, Arlie N. Ricasa, Bertha J. Lopez, Pearl Quinones and Greg R. Sandoval, please know that we think of our students and staff in every decision we make.
Cartmill is the president of the Board of Trustees for the Sweetwater Union High School District.
http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/may/09/mz1mc9words011615/
LeadershipHero // May 14, 2009 at 6:17 p.m.
Thank you KPBS for publishing this story. I think it is important that the parents and students who attend schools in the Sweetwater district know that the frustrations of the teachers, custodians, bus drivers, secretaries, counselors, and nurses are aimed at the Board of Trustees and district leadership....not at them. Teaching and learnng will continue in Sweetwater because that is the right thing to do.
It is also important that parents and students know that the elected officials are not being held accountable for the job they were elected to fulfill.
Mr. Cartmill, Ms. Ricassa, Mr. Sandoval, Ms. Quinones, and Ms. Lopez are quickly loosing the confidence of the voters in the South Bay. The last time the voters lost confidence in the elected officials and district leadership- the elementary school districts began forming committees to look at spliting the Sweetwater district up and unifying the middle, junior and high schools with the elementary school district.
Has that time come again?
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havetospeakup // May 15, 2009 at 2:10 p.m.
Actually, Leadership Hero, I hadn't thought about that, but if it came to it, I would be much less inclined to fight against unification than I was before, and I don't think I'm the only one who would feel that way.
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Heyitme // May 18, 2009 at 6:34 a.m.
Why so many management employees at the district in the years that Dr. Gandara has been there have either resigned or retired because of him and usually with the minimum of notice. He uses intimation on his management it is either his way or the high way. Most of Sweetwater’s management team walks in fear of him. Why does he pick on classified employees? He even picks on classified employees. I bet you will find that these are white employees too. He doesn’t even follow district policies that are in place to protect the employees. The school unions keeps calling him on the carpet with his tactics. Sweetwater employee morale is at an all time low. Why can Dr. Gandara break his contract by seeking employment and interviewing for it in Texas and not be accountable for it. Why does he hire consultants to audit the books when they have in house auditors? Why does he hire consultants then allow them to write up their job description and then turn around and hire them? Why is he so proud that they rescinded all the layoff but the Adult School teachers who do not have their tenure have to end work a week early (so they don’t reach it) and then have been told they will not be rehired in the fall? Isn’t this a layoff too?
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