Hernandez:

“I am here tonight to remind you of the memory and legacy of my wife. Sara Cazares was a Harvard graduate who returned to Stockton and served this school district with intelligence, distinction, integrity and dedication. But she is no longer here with us. In honor of her, though, I am also here tonight out of concern regarding two of the applicants for the vacant trustee seat. In particular, I am speaking specifically of Bill Ross and Naveed Ahmed. These two applicants make a mockery of my wife’s legacy.

“In 2010, voters in Area 6 spoke loud and clear when they rejected Bill Ross during the election. My wife slaughtered Ross by a 15-percent margin, thus invalidating the second-place finisher appointment argument. Voters soundly rejected his controversial term regarding his lack of intelligent approach and behavior as a board member, bullying antics, name calling, and his lack of professionalism at school sites and during board meetings. Oh, yes, did we forget his racist comment to former board Trustee Colleen Boardman when he stated that there were already too many Mexicans on the school board. And when he was running for school board back in 2006, he lied when he told our neighbors he lived across the street from Rio Calaveras. The reality is that he lives next to August School. Do we really want a return to this kind of legacy? His letters of recommendation forget to mention he created and fostered turbulence during his term and brought no intelligent approach to student achievement, an issue he claims to care so much about. In his own neighborhood, August Elementary was totally neglected. After my wife was elected, she went out to August School and came to notice that the school had repeated break-ins, had no library nor a computer lab. Now there are no more break-ins. She helped to get their library reopened and donated books for it, but she also helped to get them laptops for a much-needed computer lab. I can only guess that Ross was too busy being the district watchdog.

“Regarding Naveed Ahmed, he claims he is applying for the board position as a tribute to my wife. Really? He never gave me the courtesy to ask if he could do this as a tribute to her. Maybe he knew what the answer would be: Absolutely no. That’s because the last conversation Sara had with him, he told her he was helping on (Anthony) Silva’s (mayoral) campaign. She reminded him of Silva’s controversial term as a board member that was marred with investigation on him and people he allied with. Naveed rejected her argument. So she told Naveed she didn’t want anything to do with him. So Naveed chooses to align himself with Silva, the same Silva who can’t even work with the City Council but who sure wants to control the SUSD board. But more importantly, Naveed does not have a history of responsible behavior. Two years ago I heard that his supervisor was notified of his inappropriate comments toward STEP-UP staff women while subbing as a STEP-UP assistant. It also appears he likes to make inappropriate male-chauvinist comments about women’s bodies. Is this the kind of individual we want to unleash onto our school campuses?

“For these reasons, I am asking you as the board to reject these two controversial applicants. Board Trustees Allen, Ramirez, Varela and Garcia: You told me after my wife passed away to not hesitate to ask you for anything. Well, I’m here to ask you to honor my wife’s legacy and memory by rejecting Ross and Ahmed, and to instead narrow your selection to the other … (applicant). Thank you.”

Ross said, “I feel very deeply saddened by his loss, but he doesn’t know me. He’s never spent any time with me and if he did, he would know none of those things are true.”

Ahmed denied the allegation of sexual harassment. He said Silva’s campaign is just one of those he has worked on and added, “I wish the best for Larry Hernandez. He’ll still be a role model and mentor to me.”

Businessman David Midura was chosen on a 5-1 vote. The only vote against him was from Sal Ramirez. Midura’s service will begin at Tuesday night’s board meeting.

The other speaker during comment was Marilyn Brown of CSEA who asked the board to look at who the supporters of the candidates are. Ross’ supporters include former Mayor Ann Johnston. Ahmed was a supporter of Mayor Anthony Silva during last year’s campaign against Johnston.

Included in the board packet sent out by the district Tuesday was the first page of a letter of support for Bill Ross from former Stagg Principal Jessica Anderson. A sharp-eyed reader noticed that the second page of the letter was missing from the district’s packet. Here’s Anderson’s entire letter. 

Anderson explains in her letter how she came to be identified as “Chocolate” during the chaotic 14-month reign of Superintendent Tony Amato in 2008-09. Here’s a little more for SUSD nostalgia buffs.

In her letter, Anderson refers to this recent editorial regarding Ross that appeared on the Record’s opinion page.

One other note:

SUSD board policy allows trustees to use one of several methods for filling a midterm vacancy. One option is to interview candidates at a public meeting and select one, as is planned tonight. Another is to give the position to the second-place finisher from the previous election.

Cazares’ death last month created SUSD’s third midterm vacancy since 2007.

In 2007 when Ed Garcia resigned, the board used the same method it will use tonight. Six candidates interviewed; Dillon Delvo was selected by the board.

In 2010, SUSD utilized the second-place-finisher method, appointing 2008 electoral runner-up Angel Jimenez after the resignation of Colleen Boardman. In that 2008 election, Boardman scored a narrow win over Jimenez, getting 35.31 percent of the votes to Jimenez’s 34.31 percent in a three-way race. Boardman’s winning margin was 83 votes.

Cazares won a three-way race with the incumbent Ross in 2010, 45.86 percent to 30.23 percent — 632 votes. SUSD’s board voted a few weeks ago not to use the second-place method to replace Ross, choosing instead to conduct the interviews, in which Ross will be a participant.

Board members Kathy Garcia and Sal Ramirez voted to use the second-place method. The other four board members voted in favor of the process that will be used tonight. The meeting begins at 5:30.

The public meeting to choose a replacement for the late Sara Cazares is at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at the district office.

Saturday’s “faire” is at Barnes & Noble.

The event is tomorrow (May 17) so if you’re interested, sign up your young Boris Spassky.

As for board comments:

Steve Smith: He said Item 7.4 is a sign the board is being proactive.

Sal Ramirez: No comment.

Kathy Garcia: She spoke of various events she attended and praised the HOPE organization.

Colleen Keenan praised organizers of recent volunteer and retiree events.

David Varela thanked the district for last week’s memorial event for Sara Cazares. He also reminded everyone there are only a few days left to vote for this. 

Gloria Allen spoke about the recent Kennedy Games. Allen also rued the lack of coverage of the event by yours truly.

Retired Principal Eugene Jackson spoke about principal notices/releases and asked why the board has approved personnel moves. He said principal contracts basically are worthless. “You owe these unit members an explanation as to how their employment conditions are being manipulated outside of the contract.” He said the district should let principals who might be affected know now so they can pursue other jobs elsewhere. To not do so, Jackson said, would put into question whether the district lacks “a modicum of decency.”

Merlo students, including junior Cecilia Magana and senior Domingo Soto, spoke of the benefits of the school’s SkillsUSA program. The students are asking  the district to approve a trip for 12 of them to the SkillsUSA national championships  in late June (Item 8.6).  The students are raising funds and also asking for some financial support from the district.

Mark Palmer, parent of a top SECA student: He said he agrees with this letter by Superintendent Steve Lowder:

 March 28, 2013

Colleagues:

Since my arrival in SUSD, I have spoken about the fact that I require my administrators be “Instructional Leaders”. By this I mean all the District staff who have oversight of school and school programs as well as all the administrators at our sites, must behave in a specific manner and have a specific set of skills. The one thing that I find to be consistent at all of our schools is that our students are pleasant and interested in learning.

There are some that have asked about the difference between a good manager and an “Instructional Leader”. I have had numerous teachers tell me how they like their principal, how nice they are, or that they are friendly. While these are critical skills, they are not sufficient if our main goal is to prepare our students for the future. “Instructional Leaders” are those who are able to create a culture of learning, an excitement about learning that is palpable. I will try in this report to provide you a glimpse of what I mean when I use the term, “Instructional Leadership.”

Let me start by describing what a good manager does. That person ensures that the building is clean, the students behave or are disciplined, they follow district directives, and they stay within their budgets. Many would say that this is all that needs to be done. I, however, strongly disagree. An instructional leader is a person who knows what good instruction looks like. They are able to show their skills to the staff and they have the ability to inspire staff to propel student achievement. They are excited and dedicated to student achievement and they know that it is not only a National imperative, but a moral obligation.

“Instructional Leaders” spend their time looking in classrooms watching instruction and monitoring student engagement. Their staff conversations are dominated by actions and activities that drive student learning. They develop and lead professional learning communities that focus on student data. Data about what students know and need to know to be successful. They lead staff meetings in discussions about what instructional plans are working or not and develop collegial plans to change things so that our students can achieve at high levels of success. They create an atmosphere that allows staff to plan, work the plan, and measure the success of the plan. There is no penalty for failing, but there is for doing the same things over and over and hoping for different outcomes.

I will tell you that as I visit school sites and look into classrooms, it is quite evident which sites are engaged in “Instructional Leadership” and which are not. We are all here for our students and we must believe that our students can and will perform at higher levels. This isn’t magic or rocket science. There are lots of districts around the country and around the State that are doing a better job with children that are just like ours.

Three years ago I had an opportunity to visit China’s schools. Large classrooms and schools are not a problem for them. One of many sites I visited was an elementary school of 5,000! Classrooms routinely had 45 or more students. Those students were working hard and learning at high levels. You might know that India is the largest English speaking democracy in the world and that China has more “gifted” children than the US has children.

If America is to have a bright future, we cannot afford to lose one child. We cannot allow them to have a mediocre education. Not only does their future depend on a high quality education, our future does as well! “Instructional Leadership” is critical to our work. I am committed to public education, our students, and our community. I hope that I have provided you some insight into my goals and why I am making the changes that you might hear about or read about in the paper. I hope that you agree with me and will support these critical endeavors.

Yours truly,
Steve Lowder Ed.D.
Superintendent