FLASHBACK - ICEF Amateur Hour preview: "Brown Act" violation

I should have known that I was in for a doozy of a co-location adventure when I first met ICEF CFO/CCO Greg Brendel in person.
   On February 18, 2015 a little before 5 PM, I was in the reception area of ICEF corporate headquarters waiting for the ICEF monthly board meeting to start. I wanted to use the public comment section of the meeting to alert the board to the Stoner and local communities' opposition to the co-location, and to ask them to please not co-locate at Stoner.
   As I was waiting, Mr. Brendel came out to greet me. He told me that, unfortunately, I would not be able to attend the meeting because I had not contacted the ICEF executive team with my concerns before the meeting.
   I was shocked!

   ...not attend the meeting?  Oh what a fool I was...Poor, poor me. ICEF has already won.
   ...none of those thoughts passed through my mind. I though "Is this guy serious?"  He must either be lying or very, very confused.

    ICEF board meetings pertain to the use of public funds and as such are subject to the Brown Act. The board meetings must be conducted as open public meetings.
   You don't need to announce that you will attend a public meeting.  Heck, anyone who just happened to walk by on the street and wanted to sit in the meeting for kicks would have every right to be in the meeting.
     So, trying to prevent me from attending a public meeting for any reason is a violation of the Brown Act.

     As for not contacting the executive team, well, a week before the meeting, I emailed all ICEF administration, including Mr Brendel, a complaint about the proposed co-location but never received a response.

     Regardless of his lame bluff, I told him I was attending the meeting and I would be speaking because it was an open public meeting subject to the Brown Act. I was allowed in the meeting and I spoke.
 

"...pinche metiche Oaxaca!" - ICEF parent hurls ethnic slur at Stoner Mom helping elderly neighbor

Back in 2012, Oxnard School District banned the used of the epithet "Oaxaquita," but three years later, it looks like that epithet is still used freely by some parents of an LAUSD charter school, ICEF Vista.

ICEF Vista parent hurls ethnic slur "Oaxaca" at local resident

    Yesterday morning, an elderly resident of Lindblade Place was upset and paniced that an ICEF Vista parent had parked their car blocking the  resident's driveway.  The resident needed to leave for an important doctor's appointment, but was blocked in. The resident saw her neighbor, who is a Stoner Elementary School mom, walking down the street and asked her for help.
   As they were talking, the ICEF parent returned holding a few ICEF uniforms in her arms. The Stoner mom reminded the ICEF parent to not park in front of the driveway. The ICEF parent responded "Whatever, pinche metiche Oaxaca!" before slamming her door and driving aggressively out of the cul de sac.
   This is not the first time a member of the ICEF Vista community has used this slur. At Monday's protest ICEF parents were also using this insult by mumbling under their breath or speaking out of the corner of their mouth. Yesterday was the first time this slur was aimed directly at someone.
 
"Oaxaca" as an ethnic slur
     Oaxaca is a Southern state in Mexico. A large portion of the population of the state are Native American, consisting of many differing tribes with a wide variety of dialects. Oaxacans are desendents of the Mixtec and Zapotec peoples.
     Using "Oaxaca" as an insult is essentially calling someone an "indio," a short, dark skin, stupid, uneducated, savage "Indian."   Both the Urban Dictionary and Yahoo! Answers have entries that explain how using "Oaxaca" as an insult is both a racial and ethnic slur.
 
    It's sad an disturbing that a member of the ICEF Vista community would use such a hateful slur against someone who was trying to help an elderly neighbor get to a doctor's appointment.
   We are asking ICEF Vista to speak to its community about not using hate language when interacting with the local neighborhood or Stoner ES community. Although, I fear that once this is brought up with the ICEF community, they might use this slur more once they hear how hurtful it is to the local community.

LA School Report - ICEF Charter greeted with protest at co-location

LA School Report ran a story on the Stoner Elementary School protest against the co-location of ICEF Vista Charter at Stoner.

   ICEF declined to comment on the story. However, a California Charter School Association representative did comment and pushed the idea of a co-location as a "collaboration."
    Unfortunately, Stoner parents have already lived through a co-location and know first hand that a co-location only takes and gives nothing to the home school.  Stoner parent have been firm on their stance that they will not "collaborate" in this "theft" of resources from their children.

    You can read the entire story here:
http://laschoolreport.com/icef-charter-kids-greeted-by-protesters-on-first-day-of-school/

Stoner community to protest ICEF co-location on first day of school

No ICEF Vista co-location at Stoner Elementary

    The Stoner Elementary School community and local neighborhood community are mad about the co-location of ICEF Vista Charter school on the Stoner ES campus.

   The communities will be holding a protest on the first day of school to let the ICEF community know that we are opposed to the co-location. We will be encouraging the ICEF parents to consider other education options including their local public community school or a non-co-located charter.

WHAT: Stoner Elementary Community is holding a:
      RALLY TO SUPPORT STONER ELEMENTARY AND OPPOSE THE CO-LOCATION

WHEN: Monday, August 17, 2015 at 7:30 – 8:30 AM

WHERE: on the corner of Stoner Avenue and Lindblade Street, 90230.