By Steven McIntosh
When I wrote about the Laguna Beach School District’s latest issue two weeks ago, it apparently struck a nerve because the district released its “attack dog,” board member Jim Kelly. It seemed like the district’s PR person wrote the statements and data cited in his letter to the editor and barely mentioned my article’s topic, special education.
It’s not the first time Kelly has been called on to go after community members and school board candidates. Emails from March 4 to 6, 2019, between board members Vickers, Normandin and Superintendent Viloria, obtained by the Public Records Act, reveal the plan to use Jim Kelly to defend the board, issue propaganda, and attack critics. Vickers writes, “Jim is in a good position to write the letter being new, whereas most of us know we will get a backlash….” Normandin wrote, “like the letter Jim wrote to the editor…” Viloria to Vickers, “Carol had some ideas that she shared…I meet with Jim at 3 p.m.…”
Here are images of the emails:
Jim, I am part of Sensible Laguna, who has never tried to curtail the “modernization” of the LBHS pool. On the contrary, we have been trying to convince the district and some community members who want no change that the pool needs to be upgraded and enlarged for our competitive aquatic teams. We have said that at a dozen board meetings or more.
In reality, Sensible Laguna has been fighting the $150 million Facilities Master Plan that the committee, headed by board president Jan Vickers and Viloria, developed. When we rallied the public, the outcry was loud against this egregious assault on the community. So, the board was forced to vote and approved a scaled-back plan of only $100 million of taxpayer money – which is still an obscene amount for a district that has lost nearly 700 kids.
With the pool scaled back to just one in the existing location, the board voted for an Olympic 50-meter pool at a separate, additional cost of $19 million in taxpayer money. We proposed a 35 to 38-meter pool that allows the current bathhouse to stay but get remodeled and enlarged. Taxpayers would save approximately $9 million; the district would have a fantastic state-of-the-art pool and have money left over for special education and other academic needs.
Now, the district has suddenly decided to change the pool size to 45 meters with only one shallow lane—not the “shallow end,” as Kelly referred to it. All for roughly the same cost, with no kiddie pool at all.
Believe me, there are many reasons to reshape the board, not just the pool size.
Attacking me is fine but attacking school board candidate Howard Hills is inappropriate. Questioning his whereabouts in an attempt to discredit him is another example of how the district operates.
Mr. Hills has indeed been in all those places you mentioned in your LTE. He was serving his country. Hills had been called on to help negotiate international treaties in the Pacific and to advise Congress, who voted unanimously to approve these important treaties. A true testimonial to his abilities to bring people with different views together – even Congress. Do you really think a guy with a “pulpit” in DC and internationally is looking for one on the school board? He is running for the kids and community, which all board members should prioritize.
What is the source of your data? Let’s set the record straight and look at the facts. According to the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress, the entire district math score is up only 3 points from 2015-16, not your claimed 15 points. The district’s administration likes to include all its schools as a whole when talking about scores and performance, omitting what is happening at the high school, the “pinnacle” in the Laguna Beach educational system.
Math scores for this year’s graduating class show that only 49.7% met or exceeded the standard in 2023. That means over 50% did not. That, Jim, is a fail.
The CA Science Test shows a slightly better performance at 61.5% passing. STEM could be better at LBHS. Odd, because when Viloria was hired, board members raved about his focus on STEM. Looks like another fail.
With a 49 out of 100 college readiness score (Source: US World News), how can you tout the strength of your programs and leadership?
Steve McIntosh is a 43-year resident and co-founder of Sensible Laguna, A Voice of Reason, SensibleLaguna.org.
