Parents: School District Panel Violated Brown Act

A Saddleback Valley Unified School District committee violated the Brown Act, the state’s open meeting law, by failing to adequately notify the public about its proceedings, parents alleged Thursday night.

Several parents whose children attend Aliso and Trabuco Elementary schools testified at a public hearing of the district’s 7/11 Committee Thursday that the district failed to post an agenda at least 72 hours before the meeting.

The allegations came during a public comment period which followed a unanimous vote by the committee to name Aliso, Trabuco and Linda Vista Elementary schools among six “surplus” properties that the district could close and lease out.

“It was not posted until Tuesday afternoon, and a copy was not posted until after a parent asked for one,” Tammy Palos, a parent of two children at Aliso Elementary, said during public testimony. “This 7/11 Committee seems to be rushing through the process.”

District officials said they had properly given notice about the meeting, including publishing a notice of public hearing on April 22 in a local newspaper.

Hearing notices were also posted Monday at the district office, El Toro library, and several SVUSD schools, said Kimberly Seiver, executive assistant in the district’s business services office.

Seiver said she posted the agenda on the district’s website on Tuesday under the Business Services section.

“I think we did everything that was required in good faith,” said Jeff Starr, SVUSD’s business director.

But notices were not posted at Aliso or Trabuco Elementary schools, both of which were being discussed at the hearing, parents said.

The nine-member committee unanimously approved a priority list for six surplus properties owned by the district. The list is:

1. A warehouse at 23602 Via Fabricante
   in Mission Viejo
2. O’Neill Elementary (closed
   in 2009)
3. Trabuco Elementary
4. La Tierra Elementary (closed in
   2009)
5. Aliso Elementary
6. Linda Vista Elementary.

The committee, which does not consider whether schools should actually be closed, found that the district had an excess capacity of 2,925 spots for its elementary school students in 2010. It voted that the priority use for all the sites should be to lease the properties, rather than sell them.

The 7/11 Committee did not consider whether the schools should actually be closed. That can only be decided by the district’s elected school board.

SVUSD is considering closing schools due to budget cuts and declining enrollment. It has the highest rate of declining enrollment in the county, which is costing it $3.8 million a year, officials say. Closing an elementary school saves an average of $500,000 a year, according to the district.

Most of the speakers testifying during the 40-minute hearing were parents at Aliso Elementary in Lake Forest. Some raised questions about whether the district has followed the spirit and letter of the law governing school closures in California.

“This committee was chosen behind closed doors, giving the impression that you were hand-picked” to follow a predetermined agenda, said Allyson Shimasaki, an Aliso parent. She said that other districts solicited applications from the public when forming their required 7/11 Committees, a process which did not happen at SVUSD.

Rob Lange, another Aliso parent, said the committee never discussed the appraised value of the properties nor the income potential they could generate. He said public records show the assessed value of the surplus warehouse is $1.9 million and suggested the sale of that property alone could eliminate the need to close other schools.

At the committee’s first meeting April 14, two members voted to recommend selling the warehouse, while six members voted to recommend leasing it.

“Unfortunately, funds from sales do not go into the general fund, and we’re limited in what the funds could go to,” Starr said.

After several parents complained that the period for public comments came after the committee had already voted on its final report, committee chair Joe Homs asked members of the committee if any of them wanted to change their vote. None did.

“I was offended by some of the speakers categorizing us as political appointees,” Homs said. “I was really offended that you thought this committee was just thrown together. We reviewed each property. It’s not brain surgery."

“I wish they would have had more hearings instead of rushing through the process,” said Alan Schumann, whose two children attend Trabuco Elementary. “The intent of that regulation is to get the community to be a part of that process.”