| Dear Kevin and Cheryl-Thank you for thanking me. Unfortunately, even though I signed up online to speak to Item D1 (see attachment), I was denied the opportunity to speak because I “had already spoke before the closed session and in the public comment of the open session} on 6/24/14 and that “The removal of Principal Mitzi Lizarraga is not on the agenda”.Being a veteran of Board tactics to obfuscate the truth, I anticipated that the Superintendent and Board were going to be secretive in letting the SCPA stakeholders in on the decision so the comment I was GOING to make (including a petition} PRIOR to the Superintendent Report D1 but was DENIED, copied directly from the original draft, are as follows:————————————————————————————————————————————————
San Diego Unified Board of Education- Open Session Item D.1 Public Testimony – 6/24/14
Frank Engle – Parent & SSC Chair at SCPA
Superintendent and Board-
In closed session you have already determined the assignment of SCPA Principal Mitzi Lizarraga and the educational fate of all the students, teachers, and families at SCPA for next year. Her leadership has been spectacular and our school is on an upward path so if your decision is based on performance, her reassignment to SCPA is a done deal.
I presented this petition before closed session with almost 300 stakeholder’s signatures and over 100 comments from the SCPA community supporting only 1 choice…that is to keep Mitzi Lizarragaas Principal at SCPA.
I hope that this overwhelmingly strong support of Teachers, Parents, Students, and alumni has convinced you to do the right thing for the SCPA Community.
If you have reassigned her to SCPA, I will come back next week to personally thank you for your decision and bring as many of our community as possible to do the same.
If you have decided to go against the wishes and needs of virtually the complete SCPA community I will be a motivated and relentless campaigner to continue our resistance against your decision.
I believe that all of you really do care about the continued success of our kids and teachers and parents at SCPA…I am hoping that you prove me right with your decision.
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Unfortunately Mr. Beiser, Superintendent Martin and your Colleagues – Foster, Evans, Barrera and Barnett (although Mr. Barnett may not have been present based on other closed session votes) chose option 2 – “go against the wishes and needs of virtually the complete SCPA community” in a secretive and inappropriate manipulation of the closed session process and removed Principal Lizarraga from SCPA. This is even more deplorable since our very own Board Member Foster from Sub-District E, who already betrayed the Lincoln Educational Community, sat by and let it happen to the school she so proudly claims she graduated from…the ultimate betrayal by an alumni.
The Superintendent and Board sat impassively, lying by omission, already knowing that they had approved the decision to remove Principal Lizarraga and let Students, Teachers, Parents, a former Board member and Community Members make a plea to keep her as Principal.
Your lying was to:
- A student who actually sat next to you on your board as a Student Representative
- A parent who WON the SDUSD 2013 “Volunteer of the Year” award
- A Teacher with a Doctorate that only came to SCPA with his extensive credentials because of Principal Lizarraga
- And one of your own – a former Board Member that served 8 YEARS as recently as 2004 in the very position you now hold.
Based on that decision, your consensus lie and your complete disregard for the wishes of the SCPA Educational Community and other schools treated in essentially the same way, I have decided to “be a motivated and relentless campaigner to continue our resistance against your decision”. I would have given these options to your face in the June 24th Open Session meeting for item D1 if I would have been allowed to speak.
You can find evidence of my resolve on my newly created entities:
I also have decided to weigh in via the comment section on the Voice of San Diego and other news entities whenever I see the Superintendent or a Board Member put an inaccurate “talking point” spin out to the press.
As you witnessed though my 13 years of dedicated effort in numerous SDUSD Committees, Councils, Tiger Teams, Selection Committees and uncounted other meetings to support the SDUSD in making the best situation possible for ALL students, I will be taking a different approach to achieving the same end and redirecting my efforts to shed as much light on the secretive and deceptive methods used by this Superintendent and Board until I and my community colleagues see substantial positive change toward true transparency and real (not Phantom) engagement and collaboration by the existing SDUSD Superintendent and Board.
I have always tried to work with you and your colleagues in a more positive fashion, but your cumulative actions have left me no choice.
Thanks again for giving me this opportunity to share…I will be posting this response on my blog shortly.
Best-
Frank Engle |
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