Parent Control

Talega parent calls ABC committee members' experience "tragic" and "an injustice"; process criticized as unproductive and mismanaged by district

Jessica Blischke, Sun Post News “It came down to the fact that these poor people had to sit there for hours and listen to these irate citizens. It was tragic to realize this poor committee did not want to be there. It was truly an injustice, not only to the people who had to sit on the committee, but to everyone who sat there until the bitter end.”

The committee is down to 17 members (from 24) , and the members who resigned said the process was unproductive and being poorly managed by the district. Former committee members say they are frustrated by the way their hands are tied. Given the district’s framework and deadline for finding a solution, there is no way to make a recommendation without upsetting parents, they say. Committee members and parents reported that the contentious six-hour meeting dissolved into personal attacks, name-calling and a lack of order, with one father refusing to yield the podium after his three-minute maximum time and one committee member quitting on the spot. Blischke, 34, of Talega, has a 3-year-old who would be affected by a boundary change.

Former ABC committee member exposes flawed boundary assessment process and district's failure to take responsibility

Ron Frantz, The Orange County Register, "The whole process is flawed. The school district doesn't take responsibility. When the heat comes, they put parents in front to deflect the heat of something that is truly their responsibility."

Like the parent-on-parent brawl set up by Marlene Draper and her Fleming-era trustee colleagues on December 6th over the SJHHS stadium bid issue, the trustees and their administration once again avoid responsibility by placing inexperienced parents in untenable positions, pitting parent against parent, while staying out of the line of fire. Frantz, 50, is a parent and former Attendance Boundary Committee member and parent of Mission Viejo, who resigned from the committee during last month's public hearing.