Torrance City Council – A Town Hall Style Conversation About Local Politics

As part of a packed agenda, TUSD is set to approve a collective bargaining agreement with the Torrance Teacher’s Association (TTA) at its forthcoming meeting Monday evening. Required financial disclosures designed to notify the public of the impacts of the proposed agreement show a drastic reduction in the amount of reserves held by the District. The current reserve amount approved by the Board in the most recent budget is $24.1 Million. That figure is set to drop to $7.2 Million, which is the minimum amount allowed per state law, by the 2017-18 school year.

School Districts typically use their reserves to: (1) manage cash flow, (2) mitigate volatility in funding, (3) address unexpected costs, (4) save for large purchases, and (5) obtain higher credit ratings. Per state law, School Districts are required to maintain a minimum reserve of 3% of General Fund expenditures.

As a result of the agreement with TTA the reserve will immediately drop to $ 21.2 Million (9.37%). The reserve is sharply reduced in 2016-17 to $13.2 Million (5.37%). It then falls even further to the minimally required $7.2 Million (3.01%) by 2017-18.

The financial disclosures also reveal that the District is planning to run a $13.8 Million operating deficit in 2016-17, and a $7.7 Million operating deficit for 2017-18.

Some of the highlights of the negotiated agreement with TTA include:

• A 4% across the board increase for all employees effective July 01, 2016;
• A $2800 cash bonus to all TTA bargaining unit members to be in paid in July 2016; and
• A $500 increase to the health and welfare contribution bringing that total to $10,500 annually per employee.

At the meeting, TUSD will also approve the allocation of $14.7 Million in one-time funds. The recommended uses of those funds include:

1. Capital Projects ($1.7 Million):
   1. Repave West High parking lot
   2. Repave THS front student parking lot
   3. Repave Annex asphalt areas
   4. Provide heating North High School Building D
2. District Wide Telephone System ($1 Million)
3. Student Information and District Data Systems ($1.675 Million)
4. Furniture/Equipment ($950K)
5. Increase Sub Pay ($130K)
6. Upgrade Middle/High School Woodshop Equipment ($333K)
7. Hydration Stations ($40K)
8. Purchase Musical Instruments ($380K)
9. Upgrade Libraries ($470K)
10. Purchase Lunch Tables ($270K)

District staff is recommending that $7.75 Million of the $14.7 Million not be allocated for use at this time and that those funds instead be held for unidentified future needs.

In an article appearing in Rafu Shipo, recent candidate for Torrance City Council Leilani Kimmel-Dagastino ripped critics and cited racism and sexism as the causes of her campaign defeat.  Referring to the recent election she said, “I could not believe how nasty this campaign turned out to be … It just goes to show you that Torrance still does not want Asians on the City Council, let alone an Asian woman.”

Dagastino also sharply criticized the Daily Breeze. She claimed the newspaper published at least four articles containing inaccurate information about her and that the publication contributed to the alleged racism by including a racist photo of her in their stories.

Of that photo, she related that “several Japanese people who were imprisoned in camps during World War II said it reminded them of some of the caricatures that were done by the media to make fun of us. They said all that was needed in the photo was a set of buck teeth and a pair of round glasses to be a complete mockery.”

Dagastino said the Daily Breeze removed the photo after she complained, but that by then the damage was already done as people that saw the photo “would not cast their vote for someone who looked like the Wicked Witch of the East.”

Dagastino also attributed her defeat to  a “vicious hate campaign” waged against her by a “hater” who called her a liar in a paid Facebook advertising campaign, Republican clubs that she used to belong to, and an unidentified blog that raised questions about her fundraising.

The Rafu articled also referenced Mayor Furey’s endorsement as a possible cause for Dagastino’s defeat due to the mayor’s recent troubles with the FPPC. Like Dagastino, Mayor Furey has repeatedly attacked the Daily Breeze for inaccurate reporting.

Dagastino’s divisive comments are reminiscent of those recently made by the mayor’s son.  In a scathing letter he penned announcing his resignation from the Traffic Commission, Furey Jr. denounced “extreme elements” of the city, and people that make “vicious public attacks” and write “racist and homophobic blogs.” Two companies associated with Furey, Jr. were paid nearly $40,000 by the Dagastino campaign.

Dagastino indicated in the article that she will no longer be involved in Torrance politics. Her current term on the Commission on Aging ends next January.

In a lengthy post appearing on the groups FB page, the Torrance Teacher’s Association (TTA) issued a stern lecture to the School Board and the TUSD Administration. The statement came in response to calls from parents in the community to change the current school calendar.  In the statement, TTA referred to the issue as a “firestorm brewing” and blasted TUSD and the School Board for continuing to “blame TTA for their [TUSD’s] unwillingness to engage the public in dialogue on the issue.”

The statement also claimed that, “Dr. Mannon and the TUSD School Board is passing the buck and [is] not being totally transparent or correct with their continued response of “go talk to TTA.”

TTA asserts that the issue came up during negotiations three years ago and that they felt their membership was too divided (with 57% opposed to it in polling) to move forward with a change at that time.

In further defense of their position, the TTA cited a TUSD subcommittee finding that AP scores are not significantly impacted by the late start and raised the concern of how much it would cost to properly ventilate and cool classrooms without air conditioning during August.

The TTA statement concluded with the following comments:

TTA Leadership expects TUSD administrators to take ownership of the contract in which they are collaborative partners in negotiating rather than passing the buck. We expect them to be as accountable and responsive to their employees as we are to our members. Unfortunately, it is only now that this has become an issue with parents in the community that the issue has gained any traction. It further demonstrates just how much TUSD administrators and school board members discount the needs and working conditions of their employees and students when making decisions. Only when it becomes a “political” problem do they seek solutions. That is a sad commentary in and of itself.

Proponents of the calendar change recently started an online petition that as of this writing has garnered 216 signatures. Supporters of the petition claim the current calendar “does not align with the TUSD mission to support student academic achievement and maximize individual student potential,” and that it disadvantages Torrance students in several ways including:

• Students involved in extra-curricular activities like band or sports lose opportunities to participate in college recruiting tournaments and camps that begin the third week of June and are less competitive for summer internships;
• AP testing occurs in May leaving AP students with one less month of formal instruction leading up to the exams and causing instruction in AP courses to decline significantly once AP exams are administered;
• High School students wishing to enroll in summer sessions have fewer options as many summer courses begin before TUSD has finished the school year; and
• Students have difficulty getting final transcripts to colleges prior to the 01 July deadline thereby risking having their admissions rescinded.

In response to the petition, School Board Member Michael Wermers wrote that:

This is great! However, as I’ve told anyone who will listen to me, the move of the school calendar is a “negotiated item.”  This means both the school board and the TTA will need to agree to this during the negotiations next fall.  The School Board and the TTA have a very functional relationship and I have high hopes for how this will go…but it still requires agreement between both parties.

TTA indicated in their statement that they would not consider revisiting the issue until the close of the 2018 school year.