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

Last Monday, the TUSD School Board approved a restructuring of its Special Education Department. To justify the move, Chief Academic Officer Dr. Stowe, cited impacts due to increased litigation as more parents of special needs children have resorted to suing the District in order to obtain legally required services.

Board Member Don Lee lauded the restructuring saying via telephone, “I think it’s as good a thing as I’ve seen us do in awhile.” Lee also cautioned that, “If we don’t provide the right level of service for special needs kids, then it ends up costing more money in the long run.”

Lee might have been referring to a litany of special education lawsuits filed against the District as not providing that right level of service has cost the District hundreds of thousands of dollars in litigation costs and attorney fees over the last few years. Special Education law allows for parents to recover attorney fees if they prevail in a dispute. TUSD Board meeting records show that occurred in at least thirty-four instances over the past two years. As a result of this litigation, the District was forced to pay approximately $561,249 to the lawyers of the prevailing parents.

Board meeting notes also reference 41 instances over that same two year period where mediated settlements led to the parents obtaining increased services for their children such as tutoring, counseling, transportation, and evaluations. The total dollar amount provided for those services was approximately $376,887. How much the District has paid their attorney’s to fight the litigation and prevent the special needs children from obtaining the desired services was not included in the Board agenda items.

As a result of the restructure, the District will expand the Special Education Department by adding a Director position, four Coordinators, a Legal Administrative Assistant, and a Staff Secretary. The total costs for the increased staff is $867,000 a year.

Board Member Terry Ragins questioned the hiring of so many administrators versus working level employees by stating, “It looks like we have administrator, on top of administrator, on top of administator…” She would later comment:

“That’s a lot of Coordinators and Directors and not too many people with feet on the ground working directly with the students … For that same price we could get a bunch of teachers.”

To that Board Member Mark Steffen offered, “It is a lot of money. It looks very top heavy, but I’m with Mr. Lee. It should help us reduce the amount of litigation and keep people happy.”

Board Member Michael Wermers concluded the discussion by acknowledging the same concern when he said, “I agree with Ms. Ragins that we could use some more boots on the ground, but our budget precludes that so I think this is a very good move.”

Despite the expressed misgivings about the restructuring, the Board approved the motion by unanimous vote.

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.