“When Krysta Corona found out her cousin was teaching at Champion Gymnastics and Cheer in Santee, she knew she had to tell somebody,” Will Huntsberry and Tigist Layne report in their newest story.
Corona says her cousin, Derek May, sexually abused her when she was four or five years old, before he was teaching at Champion. Corona felt she needed to alert law enforcement and the gym’s ownership, in order to keep May away from children.
May declined to comment on the story.
Corona filed a police report. Next, she set up a meeting at Champion.
Corona told one of the gym’s owners, JJ Ross, what she says happened to her. She also offered to show him what she considered proof.
Ross — like many people who work with children — is a mandated reporter. Mandated reporters are required by law to report child abuse they “know” or “reasonably suspect” to have occurred.
Ross, however, didn’t make a report, because he said he didn’t reasonably suspect Corona’s allegations to be true.
Three officials said that not reporting a situation like that “violates the spirit — if not the letter — of mandated reporter laws,” Huntsberry and Layne wrote. “SafeSport can discipline coaches with less evidence than a criminal prosecution might require. Ross’s lack of reporting the allegation to SafeSport meant the organization didn’t have a chance to get involved.”
Learning Curve: Still Waiting on Safe Parking at Schools
A proposed collaboration between San Diego Unified and the city of San Diego to provide safe parking spots for homeless families is… still in the works.
More than a year ago, city staff proposed the collaboration, but so far not much has happened. San Diego Unified officials blame the city for the process moving so slowly, reports Jakob McWhinney in his newest Learning Curve.
San Diego Unified officials would like to get in on the housing game. Not only do they want to provide safe options for families experiencing homelessness, they would also like to build affordable housing units for teachers.
Currently, though, districts are not allowed to use the billions of construction bond dollars at their disposal for housing.
District officials have offered up the former Central Elementary site, free of charge, as a place the city can run a safe parking lot. City officials are still interested but there is no timeline.
Read the full Learning Curve here.
City Council Homeless Mega-Shelter Vote Coming Later This Month
The City Council is set to vote on the proposed mega-shelter lease on July 22.
Council President Sean Elo-Rivera announced Wednesday he agreed to docket the item after two city officials requested he bypass the usual City Council committee review.
Those officials argued the 1,000-bed shelter qualified for a fast-track hearing since homelessness is considered an “emergency public health related item.”
The planned meeting will follow four closed-door City Council briefings on the controversial lease.
In a Wednesday statement, Elo-Rivera acknowledged public frustration surrounding the repeated closed-session meetings.
“Transparency in real estate transactions is critical to protecting the City and avoiding the mistakes of the past,” Elo-Rivera wrote. “After several weeks of discussion in closed session, it is important for members of the Council to see the terms of the deal and address the proposal in a public setting.”
Still waiting on details: Voice has been pressing Mayor Todd Gloria’s office to release proposed lease rates and other deal points following the concern about earlier numbers. Gloria spokesperson Rachel Laing said early Wednesday the city is unable to release those details until the City Attorney’s Office finishes reviewing the proposed lease.
In Other News
- Novartis, the pharmaceutical company, plans to shut down a research facility in San Diego. (Union-Tribune)
- Border Patrol detention facilities in the San Diego region are at 150 percent capacity. (New York Post)
- Comic-Con organizers are sounding the alarm that they may consider moving the festival out of San Diego due to hotel prices. (Forbes)
- A second corpse flower is expected to bloom at the San Diego Botanic Garden within the coming days. Get there early. The infamous stink can significantly wear off after the initial bloom. (FOX 5 & KUSI)
The Morning Report was written by Will Huntsberry and Lisa Halverstadt. It was edited by Scott Lewis.