Board of Education — November 28, 2016

I call to order to the special meeting of the Board of Education Monday November 2 2016 at 507 with Blair Fikes n Rosco and Cruz present leading the Pledge of Allegiance is Jenny bler will everybody please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one

nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for thank you speakers will be called in the order the request was received please listen for your name and be prepared to approach the podium any comments on the agenda items will be accepted during consideration of that item once the board has commence deliberations on a particular issue speaker cards will not

be accepted the board is very interested in your comments but please bear in mind that the board typically does not respond to comments during this time on the agenda as it is reserved specifically for po public comments individual members May respond during board comments at the end Miss vies can you please explain the light yes speakers you have three minutes in

which to make your comments please begin your comments at the green light the yellow light indicates you have 50 30 seconds in which to complete your comments and the red light indicates your time is over and before you begin your comments please adjust the microphone as necessary so you can be clearly heard and audience members please refrain from

making comments while speakers at the podium as it's disrespectful and disruptive speakers please please remember that in accordance with board bylaw 9323 bylaws of the board meeting conduct limit remarks to 3 minutes total for all remarks if a topic has been covered please limit remarks to new points the board would like to remind you that there is an existing policy 131

12.1 for anyone who wishes to file a complaint against a district employee please follow that procedure listen for your name and be prepared to approach the podium as your name is called no speaker shall exceed the thre minute limit additionally please refrain from applauding after each speaker as it interferes with those wishing to speak to hear their name being

called item 2a1 Oxford prepator Academy Charter School petition recommend the Board of Education to adopt resolution ition number 20162 2017-13 adopting the findings regarding the Oxford Preparatory Academy Charter School petition pers to Education Code section 47605 B are there any speakers we have speakers on item 282 um csca wanted to address the board on that item I believe

good evening on behalf of csca we do not support Opa based on the report submitted by the San beradino County Superintendent of Schools I cannot see how you the school board could support such an organization with all the allegations cited in the report thank you there are no speakers on this item may I have a motion so

Mo um Miss Blair second second Miss Fikes comments questions and Joseph in the board agenda before you tonight you have the findings related to Oxford's petition I to establish a new and additional Charter School at The District's former Los sanos campus as outlined in our findings there are a myriad of problems with the opal Lo sanos petition which should logically

and hopefully lead to your denial the OPA Lo sanos Charter petition fails to provide a reasonably comprehensive description of at least eight of the 13 required elements and the charter petition budget presents an unrealistic financial and operational plan for the new additional proposed Los sanos Charter School according to an independent CPA firms review and Analysis but even more flawed than the

petition itself board members is the thinking behind Oxford's submission of the OPA Lo sanos petition on March 17th I characterized Opa as a charter school that has engaged in arrogance overreach and greed with submitting this new additional petition as they did on September 23rd Opa has continued this objectionable Behavior I ask you board members how does any charter school with

the Sword of Damocles hovering over them in the form of a fmat is extraordinary fraud audit for their present Charter find the unmitigated tarity to submit another Charter in an attempt not only to expand but to displace CVUSD students employees and programs for Oxford to submit a petition to establish an additional school and expand operations while being investigated for fraud

misappropriation of funds and conflict of interest is the height of huus this is especially so because the November 22nd 2016 fmat report States and I quote this report finds evidence that Affiliated and or related party organizations were intentionally created to divert and launder funds from Oxford Preparatory Academy and conceal the use of these funds from the oversight agency

the Chino Valley Unified School District the independent auditor of Oxford Preparatory Academy and all others that relied on the financial statements and independent Financial audits suffice it to say arrogance thy name is Oxford I therefore ask you this evening to vote yes on my recommendation to deny Oxford's law serano's petition before you board members do I have any

consensus for a roll call Vote Yes yes thank you the roll call vote will be taken in alphabetical order with the president last if you're in favor resolution 20162 2017-13 please respond by saying yes if you're opposeed to the resolution answer answer by saying no the effect of a majority vote of yes denies the P petition now for roll call Miss Blair

yes Miss Fikes yes Mr n i Mr Rosco yes yes the motion passes with a vote of 5 next item item 282 Oxford prep Academy renewal Charter School petition recommend the Board of Education adopt resolution number 20162 2017-4 adopting the findings regarding the Oxford Preparatory renewal Academy Charter School petition persu to Education Code section 476 05b are there any speakers we have 11

speakers the first speaker is Troy Stevens followed by Rachel tamura followed by Kyle Williams good evening board members superintendent Joseph president Cruz I stand before you today humbled and uh Mr Joseph referred to his findings March 17th and uh I think a lot of us were kind of blindsided by the findings that have come out recently and I and I stand

before you as a representative hopefully for the majority of these parents saying you know thank thank you for exposing the damaging things that were going on in our school and we're very thankful for that we also want to stand before you to tell you that we as a community of of opa and teachers that are there and the and the board that is the new

board that's in place and the parents are united united to find out how we can fix this how we can move forward with Chino Valley Unified School District we still want to work with you we want you guys to work with us we know there's a vote that's pending tonight in order for this renewal to happen we also know that

the power lies within the five people that are voting on this and to understand the power that you guys have in order to renew this Charter with conditions in place is a huge thing because we want those conditions to be fixed we want your help to fix those conditions we you guys have the power to put that in

place I I I refer back to uh someone told me earlier that they had they didn't have a school choice when they were growing up and they had to go to a school that was set for them and look back now at a young age and and they regret that they weren't able to go to that school there's not 1200 kids here

before you speaking but there's 1,200 kids here that are listening if they're not listening right now they'll be listening later as they grow up and my son is one of them and they get older and they look back and they see that five people made a decision on their future five people made that decision for them not to be able to experience

what they've experienced the last few years that higher education the model that they're getting none of you have questioned the academic program the program's impeccable it stands up above anything else but for five people and it only takes three of you to to do this renewal with conditions in place to be able to provide them a future that they

are so used to now and that they can get going forward and you guys would be able to look back or not look back and be the reason that they did not have that opportunity I know there's a bigger picture here and one person put us in this situation and that's very unfortunate but there's a lot more than

one person that are ready to move forward and fix the situation together we are stronger than one if we're United divided we've already seen what's happening we've been lied to many times and we're ready to fix this we need your help we want you guys to help us we want to fix this we want to move forward and we know that

together we can do it and I know that you guys know that no matter how bad things are things can be fixed fixed it's been done here before and it could be done at our school and we need you and I hope that you want us thank you so much and have a good evening Rachel Tamora followed by Kyle Williams

followed by marleene Lyall good evening my name is Rachel tamura and and I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you and above all apologize for doubting your findings in March we're thankful for your countless hours reviewing the reports and exposing the truth even though it's difficult for us to accept I would like to let you know that

the parents and staff are open to any recommendations you give us this evening we're seeking your guidance and support to save our school we have something amazing here please help us to salvage the good that is still here because it's worth saving thank you Kyle Williams followed by marleene Lyle followed by Jennifer dwarte good evening board members my name is

Kyle Williams uh I'm a lifelong resident of the district and a graduate of Don Lugo uh but most importantly my son is uh a kindergartener at uh opa my son and his classmates they don't understand the politics of what's Happening uh behind the renewal I'm not sure any of us fully understand all the politics behind it but what the kids do understand is that

the school the teachers and their friends all the things they love could be going away uh this is a tremendous burden for these children who have done nothing wrong one of the foundations of our legal system is that the guilty are held responsible for their own actions we don't punish people for the actions of others we don't punish children for the

crimes of their parents this is a moral and ethical concept that is deeply rooted in biblical principles Ezekiel 18: 19 and verses 19 and 20 tell us what you ask doesn't the child pay for the parent sins no for If the child does what is just and right and keeps my decrees that child will surely live the

person who sins is the one who will die the child will not be punished for the parent sins and the parent will not be punished for the child's sins righteous people will be rewarded for their own righteous behavior and wicked people will be punished for their own wickedness the children of opa have done what is just and right and they are

accomplishing amazing things both at OPA and Beyond Mr na you came to the candidate Forum at our school and you stated that you consider all the children in the district your adopted children and I truly believe you meant that are you going to let these children your children suffer are you going to punish them for the actions of another when they have

done nothing wrong please don't let that happen whatever issues remain at OPA are fixable and you have the moral obligation to protect the children please vote to approve the renewal thank you marleene Lyle followed by Jennifer dwy followed by Andrew Crow good evening board I didn't expect to speak I apologize I would have dressed for the occasion I come with

great respect for this board and with great respect for this school that I am here to speak about I spent my days before becoming a mom in ministry as a Ministry leader I've spent spent my time on Capitol Hill I became a mom and wanted the best for my daughter and I'm speaking with my heart pounding um and with lots of

emotion here um about the situation that we find ourselves in I'm now Mom and I've chosen Opa for my daughter and I have to say that I stand in full Unity with the parents that changes must be made there's no question that the things that have been found out about our founder um must be fixed and everything uh that's

been associated with her must be fixed but our school is separate from that we're trying to make sure that the school is separate from the issues that have come up from the serious allegations that have come up and we're very we understand very much the allegations that have come up and so we are very we want to work with you to

help save our school as a charter school um I'm personally very excited that we are have a new um uh secretary board uh at um our national level that's going to start continuing to help get charter schools going around the nation they are uh powerful and um since we are already here in this District we are leaders in

this district and to be part of this District um is is an honor and so we just ask you that since you understand what it's like to be in a financial uh crisis as a district um and uh the county having to come in and save this District the state having to step in and save this District

um we understand that um these things I guess happen but we need to move forward and we need to um we need to do what's best for our children that's why we're all here it's for our children so please with all all due respect I do um I do pray that as board members um that have the power to vote uh that you vote for

our children um thank you very much Jennifer dwarte followed by Andrew Crow followed by Diana compana members of the board thank you very much for hearing us speak tonight it is with humbleness that we ask you to consider a great many things Guardian Opa this is my son's second year at OPA my daughter was recently enrolled in Opa

as well both under the independent study program my son as you are aware is diagnosed with autism and he has done incredibly well under the independent study program there was not a school district that had a mainstream class for him to go into and continue to rise to the level of success that he has so I humbly ask you to consider consider that

this is an option that works for some of the special needs children that are out there that cannot be serviced by districts also when I look at the situation and I understand please know that everyone here is not coming to you out of arrogance and that not everyone here is surprised and shocked by the findings of the F report that was

submitted but we are asking you to please consider that all the parties involved our individuals and getting great learning experiences and great programs out of the school however we don't always have to agree with the elected officials or the fors of the top administrators there are individuals that are willing to make sure that they do what they can to correct the matters

and as our nation tries to heal itself from the former elections what a great message of healing it would send from the board actually work with us and try and heal our school thank you very much for your time Andrew Crow followed by Dianna compana followed by fattima adami good evening president Cruz board members superintendent Joseph I stand

here on behalf of myself and our other side administrators Cindy Valenta and gar Bridges letting you know that we are in lockstep unison with our board members our parents our teachers and our staff and that we are willing and wanting to to do anything possible and to to listen to and take any condition that you set upon us for an approval

thank you Deanna compana followed by Fatima adami followed by Andrew vesty my name is Dianna comp rhymes with lasagna the the nice thing about this is I hope if I ever run into the market you'll come up to me and say hi Mrs CA rhymes with lasagna the last time I was here I gave the scenario of a bad divorce you know

papacino is really mad at Mama Opa because she did some really bad things we the innocent kids and teachers are stuck in the middle things are being said on both sides that are hurtful and damaging friendships are damaged forever I hope not but they are damaged trust is lost oh darn it I lost lost my trust is

lost do I believe for one minute that any of our current administrations stole money absolutely not do I believe that this is a grand plan of Mr Joseph to get the kids back absolutely not but really what I believe is not important what's important is trust has been lost we can go ahead and we can get the divorce and

break up our family or we can work together to find a solution go to counseling please keep our family together thank you FMA adami followed by Andrew vesty followed by Albert Diaz good evening superintendent board members and community members once again my name is Fatima CH adame representing the California Charter Schools Association in encouraging you to approve the

renewal of opino California law still mandates that academic performance be the number one factor when considering a renewal of a charter school opa continues to exceed the academic performance standards mandated by law the law makes no mention of financial implications or questions as the reasons to consideration during a time of renewal to be clear the school is

operating in the black and all bills are paid and no money is owed to creditors the school is in better Financial Health in the dist than this district and most of the surrounding districts in the county the elephant in the room is the fmat report paid for by San berino County Superintendent of Schools fmat is not a court it's not a judge and it

certainly isn't a jury the mission of fmat as stated on their website is to help local education agencies fulfill their financial and management responsibility by providing expedited F fiscal advice management assistant training and other related School businesses emphasis on the word help nowhere in my review of the fmat website or annual reports do they offer assistance in closing schools down the

reports are intended to provide assistance not to be used as a judicial review or decree as Chino Valley is aware of in 2004 fmac conducted a review of this school district and as a consequences and as a consequence changes and additions were made to enhance the Performing of this district and its functions zero students under the preview of Chino Valley had their

schools closed as a result of that fmat report according to fmat annual reports between 2014 and 2016 conducted a 125 investigations with 62 of those this year alone and it describes these reports as an opportunity for our team fmt's team to quickly respond to an augment urgent need of a district provide on-site assistance to assist with the need and and leave them in an

in improved condition so they're supposed to leave districts in an improved condition again zero district schools were closed as a consequence of the 125 fmat investigations however it should be of great concern to the district and to the public that few actual facts were cited uh in both the fmat and school reports and instead use language that stated

fraud mismanagement and misappropriation of the charter school funds and assets may have occurred a significant material weakness in the Charter School's internal control environment which increases the probability of Fraud and Abuse may have occurred you can't take M to court I also like to draw your attention to 2013 Infamous lunch lady in Rialto which stole $1.8 million from

school's children February 2016 school District Board member resigned for taking money uh 2016 this August of this year three sanino unified employees charged with theft of over $71,000 in iPads and this year August uh san bino county superintendent of students is sued for discriminating students in disabled students and I'm sorry you're out of time please give respect thank

you Andrew vesty followed by Albert Diaz followed by the final speaker Vanessa akamoto good evening president Cruz members of the board and superintendent Joseph I appreciate you guys listening to us today because this is a very very important um aspect in all of our Lives that's the reason why I am chose the position to be on the board and I'm

the vice chairman and also a parent it's come to our attention over the last couple days that there's a hope that we can approve this Charter with the list of conditions we ask you that you approve this school as a conditional Charter and list those conditions so we as a board can legal meet discuss and make it right

I know the CVUSD board would like to see change you know change in government does not come quickly one major change is a new board in the short time our new board has been in place we have been working diligently to make any changes we can in this short period of time like I said the last time I spoke people will be

held accountable we will continue to move forward in closing I once again request that the CVUSD board propose conditions you would like to see in place that would allow the outcome we all want and that's to keep our school open thank you Albert Diaz followed by Vanessa okamoto good evening president Cruz and members of the board and thank you for

the opportunity to speak with you tonight my name is Albert Diaz and I am the secretary of the Oxford Preparatory Academy board of directors but I am speaking on behalf of the entire board I'd like to open with three words that we've needed to say for a long time we are sorry we're coming to you tonight hat in

hand because the members of this governing board deserve a sincere apology and an explanation as you've heard uh as you saw in the fmat report our previous executive director is accused of serious improprieties as you've heard some of our administrators had concerns didn't feel they were able to blow the whistle others simply didn't realize what was happening regardless it's all

inexcusable I've um it never should have happened and on behalf of everyone at OPA we apologize members of the board I'm here tonight to ask no I'm here to beg uh for your mercy the children who attend Opa love this school the academic achievements the test scores the Statewide R wide rankings are just benchmarks bottom line these kids are flourishing our parents

love Opa and are so grateful for the opportunity to send their children to this incredible school we all want the same thing to ensure our kids receive the best education our community can provide I hope you too can see the significant value that we offer our students I'm here to tell you that we have taken real action and are continuing to take major

steps to ensure that this never happens again late Wednesday night we have we had after several hours of discussion another review of the entire situation our board decided to have a new executive director in place for the f 2017 we will conduct a national search for a new executive director to replace her um in addition earlier this month the

board amended policies regarding approval on checks cutting the minimum check amounts we've initiated major fiscal management policies and we're rewriting those that need updating we will also be addressing uh past concerns by directing our team to make Personnel changes where they're needed and more transparency and full accountability I'm running short on time so the bottom line is please don't let make the mistake

please don't let mistakes of the past uh impact our future Mrs roach is gone Enlighten learning Solutions is gone a number of the administrators and board members are gone so again please accept our sincerest apology and put this terrible situation behind us and look at the new Opa thank you Vanessa okamoto good evening president Cruz superintendent Joseph and fellow board

members my name is Vanessa okamoto and I have been and continue to be a proud Opa parent yet these past few months and especially these past few weeks have been very humbling to say the least I understand and I'm well aware of the fmat audit findings and I have seen Mr Joseph's recommendation for a renewal and I completely support holding those

accountable that are responsible for any wrongdoing although tonight I am asking once more that the hundreds not be punished for the one to me the hundreds I refer to represent the heart of opa they are the amazing teachers and staff the dedicated parents and of course our beloved students our children This Heart of opa continues to beat and to me I

believe we will come through this only stronger like a Refiner's Fire the challenges that attempt to break us apart pour the heat upon us and possibly destroy us can easily become the source to only pure ify and strengthen strengthen us and help us become something even better than what we began with tonight I am asking you for your

help to make this happen please know that this Opa Community is one of the most dedicated committed and hardworking groups I have known and we want to work with you we want to hear what it will take to keep our doors open for our children please tell us so we can do it so many eyes have been open the sense

for greater accountability is so hidden that you have to belief what has happened in the past is a history lesson that simply will not be repeated again I humbly and sincerely ask you to please not take away our school please give us a chance to show you what this community is capable of upon our new Awakening Abraham Lincoln once said the best way

to predict your future is to create it I ask that we work together to create an even brighter future for Opa we already know the Excellence our children and teachers are capable to accomplish together now it's time to unite and support not punish those that matter most I know considering to renew our Charter may not be an easy decision but

I promise you it will be so well worth it for so many people in the future thank you for your time speaker let's um give five minute break and let's reflect on the community comments so five minute break may I have a motion so move Miss fik second motion for a second Oh I thought you said Miss Fike second oh no no

motion Miss fik second I I'll second Miss Blair comments questions and discussion the lights on all Rosco I had some notes that I was going to read but I'm not going to read them was going to speak from my heart so um this is a very difficult very difficult um decision for me op is a good school there's no

denying that no one has denied that no one has questioned that but there are some things that we just can't dismiss we have been elected to be responsible overseers of the entire district and we I simply as a board member can't simply just dismiss what's presented in front of hopeful that something good will come out of this

I don't know what but I'm hopeful that something good will come out of it um I'm struggling I'm struggling because I know it's a good school but I'm struggling because I know what my duty is as a board member Mr n you know I have heard all the parents and and and um I'm am also a parent so I know exactly what you are

going through and and what I'm going through um and I have I do have my commitment that I would treat all of students as my own the problems that we're facing are not from the children these are not from the we need to continue to have the best program available for our students on the same site as one of our

parent asked and my prayers and my commitment is to keep everything intact um whatever the outcome of these votes might be something that um difficult to take for myself but it will be better because this one brought all of us so close together the teachers who have served appreciate you I see that um I have seen a

student uh well actually she introduced herself at Ayala football game how proud she was in your school so it is my commitment to have school um intact and there's my commitment and you have my number phone numbers and I would not mind meeting every weekly basis to give whatever support that we can can forish to you aftermath thank

you Miss Blair several years ago uh prior to being elected to the board I sat in those chairs and I watched as parent after parent played when three schools were being closed in our district it wasn't the parents fault it wasn't the students fault it was based on a Lie by a prior superintendent so I know what it

feels like to endure my child wasn't affected but I remember every parent who was advocating for their child so it is ultimately the only ones affected are the children but as an elected official who has been accused by many Opa parents as not doing my research as not being pro-charter School here are all my tabs and my weekend

readings since we received the petitions I do my homework this was never about me not agreeing with the charter school it was about me not agreeing with a lot of the things that were going on at OPA not just the financial for me it was more about the service that wasn't being provided to students socioeconomically disadvantaged students were not being served at

OPA in addition there are findings in here where the ethnic diversity has continuously declined at OPA so it's not just about the money for me there is a lot more that was going on at OPA that troubled me and concerned me so I do hope that there will be a time where everybody can come back together and

that we truly serve every child of this District if parents want School of Choice then so be it but let's accept every child every child if you are truly about a school of choice thank [Music] you okay go ahead I just want to read you this email I received a lot of emails but I want to read this

one I'm a fifth grader who goes to Oxford Preparatory Academy I'm begging you to renew my school it is a wonderful School filled with many amazing activities like band science lab PE track cheer chess club mileage club Lego Club and more but I'm afraid I might lose it all if it doesn't get renewed with your help I can keep my school I'm

not ready to give it up please don't make me homeschool whenever I even think about the renewal I become meoly I am pleading that you renew my school I'm losing hope I've done everything I can think of to keep my school please help me you know so why did I read this cuz I want you all know that I've

heard your pleads we as a board member have an obligation a legal obligation to do what is legally correct to protect taxpayer dollars but as a board member members I have a more obligation to do whatever is in my power to help and support families to keep their School of Choice intact and um that's what really bothers

me that whatever outcome if it gets denied or it gets supported these are very special parents and special children and the school has to remain intact and um and I mean that that's so so critical because that's what that's what the parents are concerned and when you see their emotional state that's what they want they're thinking about their

children they want their children to go where they're happy and they could blossom in their educational and in their enr experiences and it bothers me too it bothers me because we're all like-minded people and and and um and we always have to take into account that part where you see so much love for their children and to do what's best for their kids and

that is so critical so Mr Rosco I just want to share that uh we did receive many emails and quite a few of them I didn't get a chance to reply to and I just want to say that I did read them I apologize for not being able to get back with you um however as Mr NW stated I am at your disposal you

have your my your my phone number my website on the Chino website um and so you can contact me and I I'll help as much as I can yeah Al lastly you know it's important that the school's Choice exists and that's what's making this country great that's why the change that the change that we saw to bring up the independence of people let

them decide what's good for their children and um I don't want to move away from that at all I agree forward to that direction of keeping pre pro-choice because you know parents choosing what's best for their children Mr n and I will also Advocate to our staffs and Mr Joseph of importance of parental choice of Education thank you and and one more

thing I I cannot allow the school to it needs to be autonomization this evening board members you have the findings related to Oxford Preparatory Academy's petition for renewal of opa's current petition that ends on June 30th 2017 as you are aware you voted unanimously to deny Oxford's last petition on March 17th of this year at the meeting I attempted to illuminate

the avarice and Corruption that has been pervasive at Oxford since immediately after the board voted to renew the school in December of 2011 when Oxford then Creed at light and learning Solutions in 2012 when I turned on the lights in the O Oxford Kitchen on March 17th I expected the roaches to Run for Cover as they most assuredly

did but what I did not expect was the level of duplicity Oxford has displayed since that date in March after the March 17th meeting Oxford had the opportunity to ask themselves the question why is superintendent who had gone to his board twice in the past during the worst economic recession our nation had experienced he went for approval and

renewal of their Charter would suddenly ask for denial without be there being some serious issues and problems Oxford could have approached my Express concerns with total transparency instead for the past eight months they have engaged in behavior that has been marked by deceit offic isation and mendacity during which time Oxford has continued to purposely mislead their parents and staff this

consistent pervasive misrepresentations that the Oxford board and administration have posted on Oxford's website has clearly shown Oxford's efforts to deceive immediately after March 17 Oxford went on the attack and began their smear and spin campaign blaming others and attempting to absolve Oxford of any responsibility in March and April their administrators questioned the competence and understanding of the

district by the District of opa's relationship with atlon they told their parents and the press all about the benefits at lighton provided in fact they even misled their own Chancellor because their Chancellor in the March 26 choe Champion is quoted as saying quote Mr M Mr Joseph Miss understood the role of it light unquote and yet in spite of

my so-called misunderstanding on April 11th Oxford's board of directors voted to terminate the sole statutory membership of the school's founder and on May 24th Opa ostensibly cuts it its ties with edlon but it explained that it did so not because there was anything wrong with edlon according to opa's Administration but to avoid any confusion because of the district's fail

faure to understand what role at lighton played in Opa there was no misunderstanding at lighton was a tool to you to extract millions of dollars of taxpayer money from Oxford to the gain of private individuals Opa continued to tell their parents and staff how valuable it lighton was and how the district had a political agenda and of course most Opa

parents and teachers wanted to believe their board of directors and their administrators where their children attended school I understand that there were a few of appearance like Brian Haider who saw through Oxford smok spring from the beginning but he and parents like him like will Kobo were immediately ostracized and became Paras and their voices were drowned out and

shouted down by the duplicitous pronouncements of the OPA Administration Opa then appealed to the county which chose not to take action and once again Opa applied the same tactic with this their parents and staff as they had applied to the district by telling them that the county was mistaken this time in their decision not to overturn the district's

denial but Mr Ted alandre san bergino county super superintendent of schools saw what some of us have seen concerning opa's operations and sent Opa notice on August 5th that he had asked as only he can do for an extraordinary fraud audit by the fiscal crisis management assistance assistance team also known as fmat one would hope that at this point

Oxford would self-reflect and question whether there was some Merit to the district and County superintendent's concerns but instead with a new found typical Oxford arrogance on August 9th Oxford's executive director announced on opa's website and I quote we believe that audit is yet another tactic by those intent on shutting Opa down for their own political and economic reasons

we will not be deterred for from pursuing our Charter appeal to the California Board of Education unquote on September 23rd as you know Oxford was informed by the state that they like the county would not rule on Oxford's petition Oxford had compromised their appeal by modifying their governance after their petition was submitted for review what did Opa do they went into spin mode

again suddenly Ed lighton was not okay now the founder became the focus of all the blame for any inappropriate conduct by Opa on November 22nd 2016 fmat posted their findings it is a sobering document that clearly industr illustrates that there has been continuous wrongdoing perpetuated at OPA over a a period of several years it is a document that

reeks of Oxford's fraud the pungent smell of corruption emanates from each of its 44 Pages upon reading it I was reminded of a Nolla I read as a literature major in college by Joseph Conrad called The Heart of Darkness this is what the forensic Auditors at fmat did they looked into the Heart of Darkness that was and is

opa's Administration and like CTS the main character in the story they have shouted out throughout the fmat findings the horror the horror so one would think after the publication of the fmat report Oxford would take responsibility for Oxford's wrongdoing and ask their parents for forgiveness and Direction on how to correct their faults and improve but no true to form the chairman

of the opah board of directors released a statement just last week purposely designed again to mislead their parents and staff in the letter he States and I quote please know that the current board and administration had no knowledge of the founders inappropriate expenditures and zero authority over the way in which Enlighten spent its funds while Opa did Place some three new

members on their board this gentleman is not new and neither is the current Administration which was repeatedly called out for misconduct in the fmat report case in point on page 38 of the report the current Opa executive director who is being paid by Oxford whose board of directors approved at Lion's contract told fmat that she had been paid $10,000 by it lighten for her

Services I find this particularly interesting because she has written to me on numerous occasions that she cannot give me at Lion's Financial records because atlon is a private company another striking fact and maybe the most striking fact of all is that on page 25 of the fmat report there's a quote that from January 1st 2013 to June 2016 Opa schools paid

management fees of 4,253 46 to Enlighten that's 4,253 46 to Enlighten how could these management fees be paid without the recommendation of the executive director and the approval of the Oxford board of directors looking back it is ironic that in the April 16th chimo Chino Champion the Oxford executive director is quoted as saying quote it's pretty clear that

Chino Valley Unified School District has an agenda that is more concerned with money than school choice unquote if there is any agenda about money it is at Lion's agenda managed by the former Oxford founder and aided and eded by the executive director and board which fmat found to be a related organization of Oxford board members this is truly a

tragedy of Shakespearean proportions how Opa lost its way is a very sad cautionary tale for all of us how human greed and avarice can pollute an enter prize that began with the purest of intentions for so many but please be clear neither you nor I nor the county nor the state are to blame for Oxford's woes Oxford has only Oxford to blame all

of their wounds are self-inflicted on March 17th I commented that the beneficiaries as a result of the Damage Done by Oxford's corruption would be the students the parents and the employees of Oxford because I could see even back then where these noxious and pernicious acts would lead and so this is where it has led on page 43 of the fmat document it states

and I quote based on the evidence presented to fmat there is sufficient documentation to demonstrate that fraud mismanagement and misappropriation of the charter of school funds and assets may have occurred now these fmac findings are on their way to the district attorney's office but this Reg regrettably is not the end there are still many unresolved questions to be

answered since both our school district and fmat have asked Opa for the enlightened records to no avail the office of the district attorney will have to use its subpoena powers to uptain all of at Lion's Financial records then there are three questions that come to mind one will at Lion's records show that there are any other past or current Opa employees or board

members who are complicit in Oxford's corruption two will at Lion's records indicate that there are people out outside of opa who are involved in Oxford's wrongdoing if you read the fmat report and I urge you all of you to read it carefully many other individuals were involved the fmat report States on page seven that quote the lack of internal

controls at Oxford Preparatory Academy Charter School and relationships between the founder relative and Close Associates and her other nonprofit public and private corporations created an environment made it possible for the Essential Elements of fraud to occur including motivation and opportunity and my third question is will there be criminal indictments resulting from the District Attorney's investigation sadly board members as a

result of all of this opino cannot be saved and should not be saved it is forever tainted because is is it is suffused with corruption therefore as a result of the findings before you coupled with the fmat report opa's egregious behavior and many many questions yet to be answered and resolved I must ask you this e evening to vote Yes to my recommendation

to deny Oxford's Charter petition and yet the students remain at the school and Thrive do I have a consensus for a roll call vote again yes yes we'll follow the established roll call vote procedure if you're in favor of the resolution 2016 2017-4 please respond by saying yes if you are opposed to the resolution answer by saying no the

effect of the majority vote of yes denies the renewal petition roll call Miss Blair yes I Mr Rosco sadly yes motion pass with a vote of 50 oh comments Please Mr Joseph I I have some final comments to make um and these are comments to the O Oxford parents and the Oxford staff back on March 17th I spoke about about the corruption

that was going on and as a result of that there have been 51 students after March 17th that I have personally place from Oxford here in our district we currently have 68 students who have asked for a transfer to Chino Valley next year I know it's little consolation tonight but I will let you know that anyone who asked for a transfer I will

do my best personally to accommodate let me tell you this is a tale that really we need to look at the moral of this story because it's a time now to self-reflect and be introspective of what this tale about Opa really tells us you know back in 2011 I started to see the first signs of problems the founder and I were talking about

renewal and the district happened to send out a number of questions for Opa to answer all of a sudden there was Panic across the opal Land There were newspaper articles the district doesn't want to approve us and I said to the founder why would we send questions if we don't want to approve you but you see at OPA there's been

fear paranoia that has been pervasive the founder said to me well you you know I had to get the troops riled up I had to get people riled up thinking you weren't going to going to approve it that's when I saw the first crack then I started to hear stories good and de people like Adam Bailey and

Kyle Schuler being run out I said something's wrong what kind of what kind of culture is there here we knew and we've always known you have motivated students teachers and parents at OPA that's why it's successful we all knew that from the beginning but there's been a pervasive element of fear and we us against the world it's us against the world so if

somebody ask a question or criticizes they're shut down they're kicked out you have parents at OPA who have been scared to question that's the culture that led to this corruption that's the culture that has to go when a Brian Haider and a will kobal are run out on a rail because they saw the fraud there's something endemic at OPA

that's wrong now having said that what do we do after today we need to look at the surrounding El Rancho Community the parents at OPA the staff and I'm talking about teachers I'm not interested in administrators okay because I don't know how many of them are going to show up with the district attorney have no idea okay but we need

to sit down and other members and figure out what could possibly happen with Oxford Preparatory Academy's people because July 1st if Oxford decides to appeal to the county if they decide to appeal to the state and they are not successful we have to reopen that school the Oxford parents and the Oxford teachers and the people in the El Rancho

Community should be players at the table to talk with with us about what that looks like I committing to you as a superintendent the fact that we're willing to sit down and talk to you because we might have to open reopen that school July 1 and we need to be ready to do that in the next seven

months I know the parents and the students and the teachers are blameless and innocent in this tale I know it but maybe just maybe after the torrential Reigns of impropriety maybe there will be a rainbow eventually after all thank you thank you and just to say one thing and that is when we really think about the parents we think about

Opa so it's going to be very