Foothills Sentry February 2023

Page 3 Foothills Sentry February 2023 7540 E. Chapman Ave. Orange, CA 92869 (714) 639-9792 MEAT&DELI, PRODUCE, BAKERY, FRESH FISH, GIFT BASKETS, WINE MON-SAT: 8am - 9pmSUN: 8am - 8pm www.Pac i�i cRanchMarket.com $ OFF Excluding alcoholic beverages and tobacco products. With coupon only. May not be combined with any other offer or discount. Limit one coupon per customer. Valid only at P aci�ic Ranch Market. When You Spend $25 or More * EXPIRES: 2/28/23 5 OC’s Premier ProduceMarket OUSD Board majority ousts superintendent at surprise meeting By Tina Richards The new Orange Unified School District Board majority fired Superintendent Gunn Marie Hansen and put Assistant Super- intendent for Educational Ser- vices Cathleen Corella on admin- istrative leave “without cause” at a hastily called special meeting, Jan. 5. President Rick Ledesma’s sur- prise announcement at 4 p.m. on Jan. 4 met the 24-hour require- ment for public notice of special meetings, but the posted agenda’s reference to “public employee discipl ine/dismissal /release” caught at least three of his board colleagues off guard and threw OUSD constituents into shock. Despite the short notice and 4 p.m. start time, the meeting at- tracted a standing-room-only crowd of parents, community members and teachers. While the decision to terminate Hansen and Corella was to be made in closed session, the public was allowed to address the board first. Sixty people chose to do so. Bad form? The three hours of public com- ments had a common theme. Speakers stressed that “this meet- ing is a travesty, called during winter break when both Hansen and Corella are out of the coun- try.” Both superintendents “led the district through hard times and deserved accolades, not dis- missal.” “Neither deserved being fired when they are not here to defend themselves.” “Buying out their contracts and hiring place- holders would cost the district $1 million that could be spent on students and schools.” “The dis- ruption to the district will harm students, teachers, staff and the entire community.” Ledesma offered no explana- tion. He called the meeting be- cause he could, he said, and the board majority was within its legal right to dismiss Hansen and Corella for no reason, even though Hansen had received positive reviews by the board as recently as July. When asked if he had notified either of them of their impending fate, he said no. Some meeting attendees sur- mised that the new board majority was “flexing its muscle.” Madi- son Miner’s narrow win over Kathy Moffat in November gave Ledesma, John Ortega and Angie Rumsey the fourth voted needed to shift the board’s direction. More dark than light At the meeting’s onset, Trustee Kris Erickson make it clear that she had not received any informa- tion or documentation about the supervisor’s dismissal other than what appeared on the agenda, and didn’t know anything more than the audience. Trustee Andrea Yamasaki pressed Ledesma about the legal- ity of the meeting’s timing and subject matter. Despite Ledes- ma’s assurances that all was well, Yamasaki insisted on hear- ing from an OUSD attorney. She did not back down until Ledesma agreed to bring the attorney to the podium. “Yes,” attorney Mark Bresee said, the meeting was legal, as was the board’s intent to fire the superintendent without cause and without notice. Yamasaki asked that the meeting be postponed, but the four-vote majority chose to continue. Many public commenters not- ed the gap between what Trustees Ledesma and Miner said when they were candidates, and what they were doing now. “You ran on parental choice,” Ronna Weltman noted, “This isn’t it. This is the opposite of listening to parents and giving them a voice.” Walk the talk “I’m disappointed,” a father of two OUSD students said. “You campaigned on parents’ trust. Yet your first action is to call a spe- cial, little-noticed meeting, keep- ing parents in the dark.” “I’m so mad, I’m shaking,” teacher and parent Michelle Can- to fumed. “This is underhanded and sneaky. Just because you’re the majority, doesn’t mean you’re right. Public education will suf- fer, and that is your goal. This is detrimental to the district, but that is your goal.” Kris Erickson stepped from the dais to address the board as a citi- Orange Unified School District Board of Education, from left, John Ortega, Kris Erickson, Angie Rumsey, Rick Ledesma, Andrea Yamasaki, Madison Miner and Ana Page. zen, not as a trustee. “Just because you can do something, doesn’t mean you should,” she advised. “221 votes gave you the majority. It was not a mandate. After two years of pandemic hell, we’re fi- nally back to a normal year. And you’re going to burn the district down. This is not about children’s education, it’s political.” Her reference to politics was what several speakers called “the elephant in the room.” That is, they said, that the board majority members were “bought and paid for” by Mark Bucher, Jeff Barke and the California Policy Center, all known for their opposition to public schools, teachers unions and inclusive curriculum. Pulling strings “You are bankrolled by the Policy Center and Mark Bucher,” a parent charged. “You four are a unique group, and it’s disgusting. Do you work for Bucher and the Policy Center, or we parents?” “I think people are getting the picture,” another speaker said. “You are being paid to do this. You are in Bucher’s and Barke’s pockets. “I feel like I’m living in the Soviet Union,” a parent lobbed at the board. “You fire people who don’t think like you.” As the public attempted to dis- suade the board majority from ousting the superintendent, Angie Rumsey and Madison Miner re- ceived special attention. Heather Colter told them she’d been praying for them during the meeting. “I know you claim to be women of faith, but I think you are being manipulated. Ask your- selves,” she suggested, “what would Jesus do?” New hands on deck After the 4-3 vote to terminate Hansen and Corella in closed ses- sion, the board majority named Edward Velasquez as interim superintendent. Kris Erickson reported afterwards that the first time she had heard of him was when his name came up in the motion to appoint him. When asked for information, she was told she could “google him after the meeting.” “Either the board violated the Brown Act by coordinating his appointment in advance,” she said, “or they voted to approve someone they knew nothing about. Either way is just wrong.” Ledesma, Ortega, Rumsey and Miner also named Craig Aber- crombie, Canyon High principle, as Interim Assistant Superinten- dent for Educational Services. Angry parents vowed to launch a recall campaign. Crescendo features "Behind the Scenes" of FBI Former FBI agent Kristen von KleinSmid will present “Behind the Scenes,” a look into the career of an FBI Agent, at the Celebrity Speakers Series on Thursday, March 9. She supervised Squad CT- 9, a Critical Incident Response Squad in the Los Angeles Field Office, and had oversight for the Evidence Response Teams, Rapid Deployment Team Weapons of Mass Destruction Program and Special Events Program, and the Boston Marathon Bombing in- vestigation. The program begins at 10 a.m. at the Bowers Museum, 2002 N. Main Street, Santa Ana. Tickets are $35. Bowers Museum mem- bers may buy one discounted ticket for $30. For ticket infor- mation, contact Maggie Hart at (714) 356-6720. Parking is $6. The Crescendo Chapter is part of the Guilds of Segerstrom Cen- ter for theArts, which raises funds to support the Center’s communi- ty engagement and arts education programs. The Celebrity Speak- ers Series is held monthly. Peggy Hall to address CPOC Peggy Hall, Healthy American, will speak at the Thursday, Feb. 16 meeting of the Conservative Patriots of Orange County. Hall sued the OC Board of Su- pervisors for failing to review the emergency health act at 30-day increments to continue/discon- tinue the COVID lockdown. The meeting will be held at the Santa Ana Elks Lodge, at 1751 S. Elk Lane, beginning at 5:30 p.m. A buffet dinner is $35 per person. Purchase tickets online at conser- vativepatriotsofoc.org or contact Peggy Baranyay, (714) 828-1289 or swtmthr@sbcglobal.net . At the group's Jan. 19 meeting, Steve Baric, chairman of the Re- publican Lawyer's Association, observed that party candidates were chosen based on donors, rather than grassroots constitu- ents. He suggested that needed to change if Republicans wanted to win future elections.