Subject: Capistrano Unified School District

• Friday's Headlines

  More meat on our story, please? There are dirty details to be had in the ongoing Great Park tale. But instead, the Register gives us stuff like this. And this. Tolls to rise: Starting July 2, they'll be taking a little more of your money at selected onramps on the Foothill/Eastern and San Joaquin toll roads. Butcher, baker, candlestick maker? Yesterday, reports revolved around the "goofy hat bandit." Before that, it was the "irreconcilable differences bandit." Now it's the "landscape bandit" t

  June 15, 2007

• Thursday's Headlines

  Long Beach Losers: In one local weight-loss challenge, participants have to pay $2 for every pound gained. Carona in the clear. Sort of: The Fair Political Practices Commission says there isn't enough evidence to prove Sheriff Michael Carona knew that a Newport Beach businessman (allegedly) funneled illegal donations to his 2002 campaign, reports the Times. But the OC official may have to pay $15,000 for other campaign violations. Another Daily Pilot 'top story': Burgers make the top headline t

  August 2, 2007

• Day In Court for Indicted Ex-Sup Delayed

  An Orange County judge granted a new pretrial hearing date for ex-superintendent of Capistrano Unified School District, James Fleming and ex-assistant superintendent, Susan McGill. The pretrial hearing was scheduled for this morning, with a jury trial set to begin Oct. 29, but lawyers for both McGill and Fleming requested the new date of Dec. 7. A new jury trial date will not be set until after the Dec. 7 pretrial. Both Fleming and McGill were indicted in late May for conspiring to commit act

  October 5, 2007

• Monday's Headlines. No Surprises: More Ex-Gay Action in Irvine

  More ex-gay Irvine action: Over the weekend, the devil snuck into Irvine and the mainstream media said nary a word. On Saturday, Focus on the Family's homosexuality-quashing Love Won Out conference came to Mariners Church (the event was interestingly categorized under "MarinerScare" on the church website). Soulforce, the group that came forward to counter ex-gay ministry Exodus International in Irvine last June, was strangely silent. Randy Thomas, executive vice president of Exodus, comments on

  October 15, 2007

• Showdown in South County School District

  News of a damning District Attorney report that found four current and three former trustees who served on the board of the 51,000-student Capistrano Unified School District repeatedly violated open meeting laws by holding illegal closed meetings (See, "Brown Act Blues," Oct. 18), culminated today with a break between newly elected trustees and the so-called "old guard." The district and the board have been tightlipped since the report was released last week. The board's silence was broken toda

  October 19, 2007

• No More Illegal Secret Meetings at CUSD

  Things didn't quite hit showdown tenor last night at a special Capistrano Unified School District board meeting meant to address findings by the OC DA that four of the board's current members had repeatedly violated open meeting laws by holding illegal closed meetings. The meeting was scheduled for closed session but pressure from three newly elected board members to have the meeting in public won out last night.

  October 23, 2007

• No Pretrial (Yet) for Indicted Ex-School Superintendent

  Indicted Capistrano Unified School District ex-superintendent James Fleming, and his old cohort, former assistant superintendent Susan McGill had the chance to breathe sighs of relief this morning. Lawyers for the two were granted a motion to reschedule a pretrial hearing which was scheduled for this morning at the Orange County District Court. The new date is now Feb. 8, 2008. Both Fleming and McGill were indicted in late May for conspiring to commit acts injurious to the public and misappropri

  December 7, 2007

• Holy Christmas! Embattled CUSD Trustees and Ex-Sup Join Santa!

  We couldn't believe it ourselves, but proof arrived in our offices today and it appears that embattled Capistrano Unified School District trustees Sheila Benecke and Marlene Draper have joined indicted ex-superintendent James Fleming in the North Pole! Although the two trustees -- who are the subject of a recall campaign -- have not formally resigned, it appears they will be skipping town over the holidays and putting in a little extra volunteer time with Santa. See the crew at work here!

  December 21, 2007

• Please Quit Now, Pretty Please!

  Guys, either you go or you're going to cost everyone a lot of money -- that's roughly the sentiment delivered to longstanding Capistrano Unified School District trustees Marlene Draper and Sheila Benecke Tuesday by three of the seven members on the tense and divided board. The three newest trustees -- Ellen Addonizio, Anna Bryson and Larry Christensen -- who were elected in late 2006 as part of a joint "reform" ticket following the indictment of the district's ex-superintendent James Fleming,

  January 9, 2008

• How to Avoid a Total Recall

  So, this has nothing to do with Heath Ledger's overdose, but it's news that broke today and we've been with this story for a while now, so what the hell. Last September we spent some time with the CUSD Recall Committee, a feisty, frustrated group of parents and South County residents who pledged to collect enough signatures (read: 60,000) to recall two long-serving trustees on the beleaguered Capistrano Unified School District board. They've done it, they announced today. But they're hoping

  January 22, 2008

• Out With the Old (Ladies)

  It was predictable that the turnout wouldn't be huge for a special recall election at the end of the month but nevertheless, two 20 year veterans of the Capistrano Unified School District board who have been clinging to their posts were effectively booted out last night after the night's tallies were in. Nearly 70 percent of the 24,000 votes cast favored recalling longtime trustees Sheila Benecke and Marlene Draper. Parents and residents have been trying to recall Benecke, Draper and two ot

  June 25, 2008

• Racist Reductio ad Absurdum: Ahistoric Minutemen

  **Originally posted August 6; moved up because of a funny update, which follows original post! Last week, the Campo Minutemen sent out a mass email railing about the mural shown to the left at Marco F. Foster Middle School in San Juan Capistrano. The message sent by one Cheryl Burns is so priceless it warrants a full excerpt: Please share this email with everyone on your email list. This is going on in more than San Juan Capistrano, California, a sanctuary city. One of the documents attache

  August 18, 2008

• Is The New Capistrano Unified Board As Creepy As The Old One?

  Even with June's final ousting of the remaining trustees who served under Nixon-wannabe superintendent James Fleming, the South-County shitshow that is Capistrano Unified School District hasn't been showing any less shit lately. In fact, the newly monolithic slate of "reform" trustees (the final two were elected in November) seems just as clueless as their hit-list-writing predecessors when it comes to not seeming like an anti-democratic cabal of soccer moms with secret agendas. Last

  January 7, 2009

• Capistrano Unified Says Mum-ness is Not by Choice

  When I wrote that the Capistrano Unified School District board of trustees had walked into a "public relations disaster" by not disclosing why they were suspending the district's superintendent, I may have been a little unfair to the board. Then again, following the law never guaranteed anyone good PR. Just ask, I dunno, Katherine Harris.I spoke with School Board President Ellen Addonizio last Thursday, two days after a closed-session meeting of the Trustees resulted in a 6-1 vote putting Superi

  January 12, 2009

• Letters From OC Weekly Readers

  September 18, 2008

• What Will Capistrano Unified's Rogue Trustee Say Tonight?

  As mentioned in last week's Weekly story about the Capistrano Unified School District, many of the loudest critics of the new "reform" board are concerned about the Education Alliance, a conservative group that helped get the board into power. Are the recall trustees hostile to public education? Do they want to destroy the unions? Implement prayer in schools? Replace subsidized lunches with communion wafers?!The trustees and their backers all say "no" to those questions, but the contentious Jan.

  February 2, 2009

• James Fleming Gets An Extension on His Homework

  FlemingTwo-and-a-half years since resigning as superintendent of the Capistrano Unified School District, 21 months since being first arraigned, and more than three hours after showing up for trial on the second floor of the Santa Ana courthouse this morning, James Fleming -- along with ex-assistant-superintendent Susan McGill and both of their attorneys -- got up in front of a judge and asked for more time.This would be the fourth time that Fleming and McGill's trial has been delayed since it wa

  February 10, 2009

• It's a Quick Read 2

  Orange County Register: Classes sizes will balloon, up to 254 teachers will lose their jobs and frogs will rain down from the sky if Capistrano Unified School District goes through with plans to slash $25 million from its budget. But deputy superintendent Ron Lebs seems more interested in giving school trustees dining advice. "The best way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time," Lebs said. "We will keep doing that all the way through June." Bragger. . . . Fear not, fans of

  February 26, 2009

• Woodrow Carter, In Your Facial

  The Temecula Creek Inn--with its views of miles of verdant, vine-covered hills, a golf course, sumptuous spa treatments and nearby wine tastings--is a splendid spot for a decadent weekend getaway. In late 2007, about a month after beginning his post as Capistrano Unified School District's newest superintendent, A. Woodrow Carter accepted an invitation to spend a weekend at the Inn for the "California Superintendent's Health and Wellness Institute." Carter didn't give many details about the retre

  March 3, 2009

• CUSD Chief Canned

  The Capistrano Unified School District board of trustees voted unanimously to fire superintendent Woodrow Carter late Monday night, after emerging from a fifty minute closed session meeting at 11:45 p.m. The board voted to terminate the embattled superintendent for "material breach of contract," according to a press release issued by the district at around midnight. Trustees didn't elaborate further at the board meeting, according to reports, explaining only that the district's legal counsel wou

  March 10, 2009

• Former Capo Unified Superintendent Didn't Report Swanky Spa Getaway

  March 12, 2009

• Letters From OC Weekly Readers

  January 29, 2009

• Santa Ana Unified School District Offers a Lesson in How to Upgrade and Downsize at the Same Time

  December 4, 2008

• In San Juan Capistrano's Schools, White Kids Are Painted Into One Corner, Latino Kids Into Another

  September 4, 2008

• Letters From OC Weekly Readers

  May 29, 2008

• [Web Exclusive!] Teachable Moments: A Q&A With James Corbett

  April 10, 2008

• Capo Valley High's James Corbett Isn't the First Local Educator to Face OC's Cultural Conservatives

  April 10, 2008

• How the Minutemen Drove Mobile Mexican Consulates Out of the Capistrano Unified School District

  March 6, 2008

• Letters

  'Normally, writers of your muckracking calibur would drop the context out of a quote, but you actually left it in. Thanks for doing half the job for me'

  January 17, 2008

• The Real Portables of South County

  2007: A year to remember

  December 27, 2007

• OC's Scariest People

  Our Congressional delegation tops this year’s list of 33 villains (31 for October, plus two more to get to the Dia de los Muertos, ese)

  October 25, 2007

• Brown Act Blues

  The DA doesn’t file criminal charges against CAPO Unified School trustees, but their violations of the state open-meeting law will go on their permanent records

  October 18, 2007

• Letters

  OC Weekly is a stupid tabloid for journalists/writers who could never make it to a real newspaper!
  

  October 11, 2007

• Caught in Violation of the Act

  WEB EXCLUSIVE! DAs report finds Capistrano Unified held illegal closed meetings

  October 11, 2007

• Hard Knocks

  October 4, 2007

• Letters

  Add in a completely substandard produce section and meat that I could find cheaper elsewhere, and you have the perfect storm of crap

  September 27, 2007

• Surreal Estate

  A short, strange trip up the winding road to the brand-new, landfill-adjacent San Juan Hills High

  September 13, 2007

• Diary of a Mad County

  July 27, 2006

• Diary of a Mad County

  July 13, 2006

• Kid Jocks

  September 18, 2003

• Diary of a Mad County

  October 3, 2002

• Sex and the Single Gun

  April 22, 1999

• Prescription for Disaster

  February 4, 1999

• Spa Getaway Bites Ex-Superintendent in the Butt

  Late yesterday the Capistrano Unified School District released a 54-page termination report detailing the charges that led to ex-superintendent Woodrow Carter's firing on Monday March 9. Carter's spa getaway weekend-- paid for partially by the district and by an architectural firm which was later awarded a lucrative district contract --and reported by the Weekly on March 3, was among the charges that were "sustained" by the board after consulting with attorneys. The lengthy report also finds tha

  March 20, 2009

• Saturday's Headlines

  Bus Stop: Orange County Transportation bus drivers voted to strike this morning. KCBS/Channel 2 is reporting that 50 of 80 routes will lose service. You know what this means? Rich Newport Beach folks could be forced to retrieve their domestic help. Capo School Scamsters: The LA Times reported today that prosecutors plan civil charges against Capistrano Unified School District officials who, among other things, violated state law by giving a construction company a $3.8 million bonus in secret. I

  July 7, 2007

• Capo Unified's Fleming Delays His Day in Court, Again

  Anna, James, Maya: All reminders of a simpler time.​Remember 2007? M.I.A. released a really good album, the surge in Iraq was all the talk, Anna Nicole Smith laid to rest her gentle head and everyone assumed Hillary Clinton was going to be the next President.It was also the year in which James Fleming, the former superintendent of Capistrano Unified School District, was indicted for allegedly creating an "enemies" list of parents and students and then lying about it.He still hasn't stood trial

  October 30, 2009