Morning Report: A Teacher Finds Work Despite Years of Complaints

In 2011, the Oceanside Unified School District struck a deal with Scott Brady, a special education teacher. Over the previous five years, he’d racked up accusations of misconduct against students and sexual harassment against female employees.

In exchange for Brady’s resignation, the school district agreed not to disclose the misconduct to future employers. But officials did pass along their investigation to a state commission, and in 2013 Brady lost his teaching credential. He now teaches at a private elementary school in Clairemont and his new boss stands by him.

The superintendent at Coastal Christian Academy said he knew about Brady’s misconduct before hiring him. He also said he’s comfortable with Brady’s ongoing employment because the former teacher had never been charged with a crime.

Kayla Jimenez’s report is part of a year-long investigation at VOSD into sexual misconduct within San Diego County public schools.

Prosecutors Charged a U.S. Citizen for Entering the Country

It appears federal authorities arrested and accused a U.S. citizen of illegally entering the country. The case was dismissed last week after Ricardo Hernandez-Contreras’ attorney presented his birth certificate to the court.

But as Maya Srikrishnan reports, even after the case was tossed, court officials said they couldn’t guarantee Hernandez-Contreras wouldn’t be handed over to ICE for deportation proceedings.

This would not be the first time a U.S. citizen had been inappropriately caught up in immigration enforcement. In September, the Los Angeles Times uncovered that in more than 1,400 cases since 2012, a citizen had ended up in immigration custody and had to prove their citizenship to be released.

More from the border:

• The New York Times profiled Tijuana residents whose residences are right next to the border fence. “The wall is always present, but not a preoccupation.”
• To keep chicken pox and other diseases from moving into the general population, Mexican health officials say they’ve provided more than 5,000 medical consultations to migrants in Tijuana and Mexicali, ranging from dental work to vaccination. Even as the caravan commanded international attention, unaccompanied minors have remained low-key, mistrustful of authorities and fearful that they could be sent home. (Union-Tribune)

Sweetwater’s Financial Outlook Darkens

Sweetwater Union High School District officials have learned their budget is $10 million worse off than initially expected. After making tens of millions in mid-year budget cuts – which were designed to make up for massive overspending in the previous year – the district had hoped to end the current school year just barely in the black.

Now they acknowledge that will be impossible and expect to run a roughly $10 million deficit.

The board of trustees will meet tonight to hear a report that will self-certify the district’s budget as “negative,” meaning it will not be able to meet its financial obligations in the current school year. That negative rating could trigger the County Office of Education to assert the power to overturn some of the local board’s decisions.

As part of its spending reduction plan, the district will also vote on a proposal to layoff 34 “temporary” teachers. Many work in the district’s adult education program.

The additional $10 million shortfall comes as the result of overinflated attendance (which determines how much money districts get from the state) and a recent audit that found previously undiscovered losses in last year’s books.

San Diego Is Getting New Leadership Today

Newly elected Council members will be inaugurated Monday, followed by a vote for the new Council president. The key person to watch is Councilwoman Georgette Gomez, who has been campaigning for the role.

Gomez would have control over committee appointments and the Council’s docket, as well as the chance to set a progressive agenda for a Council with a newfound Democratic supermajority.

In a new op-ed, Sophie Wolfram of the Climate Action Campaign urges the new Council to follow through on its past commitments to reduce emissions. The city, she writes, must “embrace a future in which communities are knitted together by convenient bike and pedestrian networks, as well as frequent, fast and affordable transit.”

She proposes the creation of a new department within the mayor’s office that makes sure biking, walking and transit are competitive with driving.

Report Sheds Light on Domestic Violence in San Diego

The Washington Post published a major analysis of domestic violence cases around the country this weekend, including a close look at disturbing trends in San Diego.

The report drives home how in so many cases, violence against women by their partners is predictable.

“In San Diego, 51 percent of women killed in the city during the past decade were murdered by an intimate partner, the highest of 47 major cities in a Washington Post analysis of solved murder cases. The analysis also found that in five of those cities, including San Diego, one-third of all men who killed a current or former intimate partner were publicly known to be a potential threat to their loved one ahead of the attack,” the Post reports.

Politics Roundup

• In this week’s Politics Report: San Diego’s major political parties are re-evaluating their leadership and chair votes approach. On the right, Tony Krvaric is seeking re-election and the Republican Party may start paying him for his service. On the left, Will Rodriguez-Kennedy and Craig Roberts offer their visions for growing the base and settling the beefs of the last year.
• San Diego is on the verge of creating a publicly run energy program that’ll rival the region’s long-time energy monopoly. On the podcast, Ry Rivard explained how the new agency would work and how SDG&E is looking for ways to reduce its role in the power business.
• In this week’s Sacramento Report: San Diego’s state lawmakers have begun filing bills for the next session, many dealing with housing and homelessness. In the meantime, the City Council voted to accept $14.1 million in state funds meant to bolster the city’s homelessness response, thanks to an influx of cash in the budget made available by Senate President Pro Tempore Toni Atkins and others.
• The San Diego mayor’s maneuvering for a special election on the convention center expansion is like working a Rubik’s Cube of politics and election law, writes Michael Smolens. (Union-Tribune)
• The U-T also profiled San Diego’s newest City Council members — Monica Montgomery, Vivian Moreno and Jen Campbell — all women, all Democrats. Before the election, we took a closer look at their respective races in District 2, District 4 and District 8 on the podcast.

In Other News

• San Diego has the highest occurrence of whooping cough in the state. (NBC 7)
• In an op-ed, City Attorney Mara Elliott describes her office’s use of gun violence restraining orders, a relatively new tool to keep guns out of the hands of those who are potentially dangerous to themselves or others. (San Diego Community News Group)
• A bicycling and pedestrian advocate in Encinitas was hit and seriously injured by a driver in Encinitas. Roberta Walker is executive director of the Cardiff 101 Main Street Association. She was hit on Saturday.
• Following her father’s lead, a woman has forgiven the man who murdered her brother and embraced the power of restorative justice. She’s now advocating for his release from prison. (Union-Tribune)
• A search warrant and affidavit accompanying the charges filed against a La Jolla art gallery accused of illegally selling ivory sheds more light on the probe. (Union-Tribune)

Correction: An earlier version of this post misstated the timing of an accident involving Roberta Walker. It happened Saturday.

The Morning Report was written by Jesse Marx, and edited by Sara Libby.