LAUSD Candidate Karla Griego on PROP-39 Co-Locations

“Students with disabilities, one of our most vulnerable populations, need spaces that accommodate their needs and provide access to a full and equitable learning environment.”

– BD5 Candidate Karla Griego

Karla Griego is running for the seat currently held by the retiring Jackie Goldberg in LAUSD’s Board District 5. As part of my ongoing Candidate Forum series, Griego was asked five questions about PROP-39 co-locations. For the introduction to this subject along with answers from other candidates, please see the article LAUSD Candidate Forum: PROP-39 Co-Locations.

The following are the candidate's responses, printed exactly how she provided them with the exception of some minor formatting edits:

• Question 1: Do you support the "Creating a Charter Schools Co-Location Policy to Mitigate Impacts Caused by Proposition 39" authored by Board President Jackie Goldberg and Dr. Rocio Rivas? Yes

Yes I do support the resolution authored by Board President Jackie Goldberg and Dr. Rocìo Rivas. It is important that we keep oversight of how Prop 39 is implemented; that there are accountability processes and procedures in place before an LAUSD school is forced into a co-location and that this is maintained during the co-location, if it happens.

Question 2: Under The way that PROP-39 is currently implemented, rooms used to provide Special Education Services are considered to be "empty" and must be turned over to a charter school to satisfy its demand for space. As a Board member would you work to end this discriminatory practice? Yes

I will work to ensure that accountability processes and procedures are followed before any co-location. This includes visits to the LAUSD school sites that will be impacted by a co-location and holding listening sessions with interest holders about the impacts of the co-location. I believe that all children need to have a safe, clean and enriching learning environment. Students with disabilities, one of our most vulnerable populations, need spaces that accommodate their needs and provide access to a full and equitable learning environment. This access includes classroom spaces that support their learning- be it learning centers; classrooms for designated services like speech; occupational therapy; counseling, services for deaf and hard of hearing and rooms for IEP meetings. Furthermore, other classroom spaces are important for the whole community. These may include rooms for restorative justice circles, wellness rooms, auditoriums and multipurpose rooms for student performances and activities.

Question 3: The text of PROP-39 specifies that charter schools that base their space requests on inflated enrollment must pay an over-allocation fee. Currently, charter schools have a past-due balance of $3,708,006. As a Board Member would you revoke the charter of any school that refused to pay these fees when a bill is presented? YES

Our students deserve every dollar toward programs and services that support their education. If a charter school refuses to pay the fees they owe, even after given opportunities to pay their debt to our students, then I do support revoking the charter from the school. I will support accountability of any entity that owes money to LAUSD. I will further support that any money paid back to the affected school is used to directly support students- either by hiring more custodians to keep our schools clean; campus aides to keep our students safe; counselors and psychiatric social workers to support our students’ mental health and socio-emotional needs; provide an enriching learning curriculum that includes Ethnic Studies. I will support accountability practices that ensure that monies are not lost or wasted- because when that happens our students lose. And that is not acceptable anywhere- but especially in the second largest school district in the nation and in the fifth largest economy in the world.

Question 4: In April of last year $7,678,022 of over-allocation debt was suddenly wiped off of the balance sheet without any explanation to the public. As a Board Member would you demand an investigation to determine whether this write-off was legal and proper? Yes

Money being lost is unacceptable. Yes I will support an investigation as to the legality of this or any write-off. This money should be used to directly support our students’ educational experience. In a time when mental health services were cut at the end of last year, how can LAUSD write off anyone’s debt? Practices like these, makes having more oversight and accountability more pressing. It is LAUSD’s duty to ensure that our students receive all that they deserve: fully staffed and fully funded schools. Giving away money by writing off debt to charter companies is a tremendous disservice to our students.

Question 5: The North Valley Military Institute (NVMI) was co-located on the campus of Sun Valley High School / Valley Oaks Center For Enriched Studies (VOCES) when one of its administrators was accused of “abhorrent child sex abuse” against a student. It does not appear that parents of students on the public school campus were ever notified about these accusations. As a Board Member would you terminate the PROP-39 lease agreement for any charter school that put LAUSD students at a district campus in danger? Yes

The NVMI closure happened for multiple types of violations, including malfeasance. I support its closure for the multiple violations and lack of various disclosures. In regards to student safety, I believe that our students’ safety is our number one concern. Children cannot learn if they feel unsafe. The adults on our campus are the people our students rely on and look for to keep them safe. It is important that as the LAUSD Board, they ensure that anyone who has access to our campuses is safe for our students. We cannot allow anyone or any entity who breaks this to continue being around our students.

Do you have any other thoughts that you would like to express about this subject?

For years, parents, students and educators have been calling for more oversight and accountability of the co-location process and existence. I am glad that their years of activism have led to this resolution co-authored by Board President Goldberg and Board member Dr. Rivas.

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Carl Petersen is a parent advocate for public education, particularly for students with special education needs, who serves as the Education Chair for the Northridge East Neighborhood Council. As a Green Party candidate in LAUSD’s District 2 School Board race, he was endorsed by Network for Public Education (NPE) Action. Dr. Diane Ravitch has called him “a valiant fighter for public schools in Los Angeles.” For links to his blogs, please visit www.ChangeTheLAUSD.com. Opinions are his own.