A new San Diego County Grand Jury report accuses board trustees at the Grossmont Union High School District of potentially harming students by cancelling a mental health services contract.
The board cancelled the contract because of incendiary claims from a board trustee at another school district, Anthony Carnevale of Cajon Valley Union. Carnevale claimed that organizations such as nonprofit San Diego Youth Services are part of what he called a “groomer cartel” because they provide services to LGBTQ youth.
The only problem: That’s not even the type of program that San Diego Youth Services was providing at Grossmont.
The scathing report is the latest controversy at the district, which in recent years has faced discrimination lawsuits, staff turnover and protests against layoffs, as our education reporter Jakob McWhinney explains.
The report called trustees’ rationale for canceling the contract a “misrepresentation” of the facts and listed nearly a dozen corrective recommendations.
A district spokesperson downplayed the report, saying it found no actual wrongdoing.
Read the full story in The Learning Curve here.
Controversy Continues at Einstein
Grossmont wasn’t the only school organization in the hotseat this week.
A former principal on Tuesday sued Albert Einstein Academies for alleged retaliation and wrongful termination.
The principal, Margaretta Bouterse, said in the lawsuit that former Einstein Superintendent David Sciarretta fired her last year because she was unwilling to go along with Sciarretta’s efforts to sabotage the school’s teachers union.
Sciarretta resigned last week following a series of controversies, including accusations he misused school funds.
The full story on Einstein is also in The Learning Curve.
Robbing the Convention Center to Pay for… the Convention Center?
Our Scott Lewis found a strange detail in the budget San Diego City Councilmembers approved this week.
The budget will use money that had been explicitly promised to pay for expanding the Convention Center to instead pay for old debt related to older Convention Center improvements.
Measure C was a 2020 ballot measure that increased the hotel room tax. The city has been collecting that tax for just two years now. It promised voters an expansion to the current Convention Center as well as improved homelessness services and road repair.
The Council did this budget move in the service of restoring arts funding that Mayor Todd Gloria had proposed cutting.
Gloria did not use his line-item veto to nix the fund shift. In fact, he’ll sign the budget as it is, he announced Wednesday. But he didn’t appear to like it much. Such moves, he said in a statement Wednesday, “set us up for the same budget challenges next year.”
About Tuesday’s City Council Protest Song
As you may have seen in yesterday’s Morning Report, we brought attention to a man who stepped up to the microphone during the City Council’s public comment period, guitar in hand, and belted out a one-minute protest ditty. He mostly repeated the lyrics, “Get the Flock out,” in reference to the city’s contract with Flock for surveillance cameras placed around the city.
That reminded us: Back in 1980, legendary CBS 8 reporter Larry Himmel had the gas company blues — so much so that he wrote a song about it. Himmel’s parody, called “SDG&E Blues,” still hits as hard now as it did 46 years ago. In the lyrics, he describes himself as being held hostage by the energy giant. Damn, remember when reporters used to be funny!
Quotable
“For me, this is personal.” That’s former San Diego state legislator Lorena Gonzalez, who now leads the California Federation of Labor Unions, announcing her impassioned personal endorsement of her Xavier Becerra. The Federation, notably, did not endorse Becerra. It gave the nod to three separate candidates in the governor’s race and Becerra wasn’t one of them. But Gonzalez now wants you to know that was the wrong choice. She presented Becerra as a longtime political BFF in an emotional Instagram post Wednesday. She posted photos of herself with him over the years and told of Becerra’s personal support when Gonzalez battled breast cancer.
Brews & News Is Tonight
Join us for our Brews & News Live Podcast at 6:30pm at Soda Bar and get an election debrief with Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera. Get your tickets here. Attendees will be automatically entered for a chance to win two tickets to a Padres game.* Winners will be announced at the event.
Plus – It’s hyper-local bumper sticker battle time: While zoning out in traffic, do you ever stare at the sticker-laden bumper of the car in front of you and think “I could do better”? Well, now’s your chance to prove it.
We’re accepting submissions for our hyper-local bumper sticker contest. This can be a funny, clever, deadly serious or just plain absurd San Diego-centric saying you think would look good on the back of our education reporter’s 2003 Honda CR-V.
Examples include: “I’d rather be on the UCSD Blue Line Trolley Extension,” “Paradise Hills is for lovers <3,” “Make Coronado ferry again” and “I saw a ghost at Fam Mart and I am frightened.”
There’s just one catch: you’ve gotta come to the live pod to take part! We’ll select our favorites and then the room will vote on the inaugural bumper sticker battle champ. We’ll even print a copy for the winner 🙂
*Obligatory note: No purchase or payment of any kind is necessary to enter or win the Brews and News Live Podcast Giveaway. A ticket purchase or donation will not increase chances of winning. All applicable federal, state, local and municipal laws, rules, and regulations apply. Void where prohibited by law.
In Other News
- It’s official: The AP has called it. Steve Hilton, the Republican FOX News commentator, has secured his spot against Xavier Becerra in the November race for California Governor. Billionaire Tom Steyer came in third and will not advance to the runoff. (Associated Press)
- Black San Diegans are nine times more likely to be cited for resisting a police officer, even in the absence of any other crime, according to a KPBS investigation. Advocates say such charges indicate an abuse of police power. A police spokesperson said officers cite people only when there is probable cause of a crime.
- A brush fire in Camp Pendleton prompted evacuation orders in parts of Oceanside. Earlier this week, firefighters contained a blaze in Sorrento Valley. (Union-Tribune)
- The Imperial Beach City Council voted to authorize installation of six law enforcement cameras in the city, including four license plate readers and two cameras for unspecified “law enforcement use.” The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department, which provides law enforcement services in the city, will install and monitor the cameras. (inewsource)
- Transit officials this week briefed North County riders on an upcoming proposed fare increase that could raise the cost of bus and trolley rides from $2.50 to $3 later this year. Officials say the increase is needed to plug a $500 million budget gap. (KPBS)
- A controversial border fence in the Jacumba Wilderness claimed its first wildlife victim earlier this month. A biologist found a dead peninsula bighorn sheep entangled in concertina wire installed as part of Trump Administration efforts to seal off the U.S.-Mexico border. Environmentalists say the fence blocks critical migration routes and risks injuring or killing endangered species. (KPBS)
- More wilderness news: A grizzly recently attacked a 32-year-old San Carlos hiker in Glacier National Park. The hiker, Daniel Crago, survived the attack but suffered two broken bones after the bear bit him and dragged him dozens of feet. (Union-Tribune)
- Why we love San Diego: A cohort of girls at a Chula Vista high school on Monday graduated from a special program that teaches kids how to build their own custom lowrider bicycles. The program, conducted by the non-profit United Lowrider Youth Leadership Bike Club, provides students with bike frames and teaches them how to trick out their rides in style. (KPBS)
The Morning Report was written by Jim Hinch, Will Huntsberry and Jakob McWhinney. It was edited by Will Huntsberry.