ICEF Vista breaks rules and puts campus safety at risk

ICEF Vista uses unsecured canopy in violation of school safety rules

Little did I realized that the incident about ICEF Vista smuggling items on to the Stoner Avenue Elementary School campus would result in a second complaint.
  For quite a while now, ICEF Vista has been using a canopy shade all over campus.

   What's the problem with that?

    Well, last year, Stoner ES parents met with LAUSD officials to discuss shade options for the campus like trees, overhangs and canopies.  One of the things that parents were told was that due to safety reasons, canopies could not be used on campus. The structures were not secured and could easily blow over and hurt someone. It might sound ridiculous, but them's the rules and everyone on campus needs to abide by the rules for the safety of all.

    Yet, for quite sometime ICEF has been following its own rules and has used the canopy not only in the ICEF lunch area, as pictured, but also in the play yard where the danger of this unsecured structure blowing over and hurting someone was even greater.

ICEF Vista canopy since September

    A col-located charter school should not be able to put people on campus in danger to have a special advantage over the regular school.
      Even something as simple as shade is a resource that should be evenly distributed. The ICEF side of campus should not have special privileges to make their own rules.

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 bring concerns to ICEF SSC/ELAC

ICEF Vista SSC/ELAC less then 72 hours to meeting and no posted agenda

      In an unprecedented move, a community school is taking their grips to the SSC/ELAC of a charter school that wants to co-locate next year.
     This Thursday, April 9 at 5 PM, the Stoner community is taking their concerns about the proposed co-location to the ICEF School Site Council (SSC) and the ICEF Vista English Learner Advisory Committee (ELAC) monthly meeting in room 11 of ICEF Vista on the St. Gerard campus.

     Stoner parents and community are mad and are fighting back aginst the proposed co-location. Parents are saying that it amounts to "robbing Peter to pay to Paul" because resources would be shifted from Stoner students to give those same resources to ICEF students.
     The ICEF SSC/ELAC previously discussed the co-location at Stoner in their February meeting. When the Stoner community saw the meeting minutes in March, they were incensed and wanted to attend the next SSC/ELAC meeting to express their outrage to the proposed co-location.


_______
      However, there is concern if the meeting will actually happen. Here we are, less then 72 hours from the meeting, and reports are that no schedule has been posted physically or online. This could create a violation of the Brown Act for the ICEF SSC/ELAC meeting.

    If the meeting happens on Thursday, or whenever it happens, the Stoner community will be there.

ICEF's plan is to "steal from Peter to give to Paul"

Protesters asking ICEF to not covet their classrooms

Wow, I was just alerted to the ICEF Vista School Site Counsel's February 2015 meeting minutes where ICEF makes it very clear that their intent is to take away resources from Stoner ES to open up space on the ICEF Vista St. Gerard campus to provide those same resources to their own students.

In section e. Expansion Discussion v. We want parents to know all the benefits of the move 2. the minutes state "We get to use some of the facilities at Stoner and will now have open space at our school."  Subsection a goes on to state "Our open space can be used for:  Art room, computer lab, resource room, room for one more section of 6th graders."

Wow, wow, WOW! ICEF wants to take away resources from Stoner which would include the art room, computer lab, music room and other resource rooms so that they can create empty space on their campus to provide almost the exact same resources they are taking away from the Stoner ES students to their own students.
     This is unconscionable. ICEF, which many in the neighborhood refer to as "the school at the church", is "stealing from Peter to give to Paul." They want to take resources away from students at Stoner ES to give those same resources to ICEF students on the St. Gerard campus.

   One other thing I should point out is section e. viii. states "Stoner overall may not be very happy about this move" and in subsection 3 states "We need to clear up misconceptions that Stoner families may have."

     First off, Stoner is not just unhappy, the Stoner community is extremely mad and is fighting back against this co-location. 'Not be very happy' is an understatement. The Stoner community has already held a protest in front of the ICEF Vista campus at the church, and the co-location hasn't even happened yet.

ICEF Vista: "Stealing from Peter to give to Paul"
ICEF Vista SSC Feb 2015 minutes show that ICEF plans to take
resources from Stoner, to provide those same resources to  ICEF

    Secondly, ICEF doesn't need to clear up misconceptions about a co-location, Stoner lived through a co-location last year and knows what it will be like. Stoner parents began asking for a protest when news of the co-location was announced.
     A co-location creates problems and competition for resources. A co-location creates segregation on campus and ICEF even acknowledges this in in the SSC minutes in section e. ii. stating "..., there will be a definite divide between Vista and Stoner students." In other words, there will be a divided campus with separate and unequal conditions for the different school's students.
      If you don't believe me, you can see the minutes on ICEF website at: http://icefivms.sharpschool.net/UserFiles/Servers/Server_31331/File/SchoolSiteCouncilMeeting-212.docx
    There is also a jpg of the minutes included with this post.

     I am going to repeat what I told the ICEF Board at their February meeting: "ICEF please don't steal from Peter to give to Paul."
   

PROTEST: ICEF Vista co-location at Stoner

Hoy, there fellow adventurers! You've probably wondering where I've been. Judging from the number of hits to the blog, people have been waiting for info on the protest, but I've been busy. I'm not a full time writer and sometimes life gets in the way, but I've got time now. So, here we go....

Tuesday, March 10, 2015 the Stoner Elementary School community held a protest against the proposed "ICEF Vista Elementary School co-location at Stoner Avenue" in front of the ICEF Vista Elementary/ICEF Vista Middle School location on the St. Gerard's campus.
   Over 30 parents plus Stoner students participated in the protest. A half a dozen ICEF parents joined the protest, by standing on the church grounds asking for help to make ICEF a better school.

   ICEF had four security guards stationed around campus and there were 3 cops cars on Inglewood. So, the Stoner protesters felt safe.
   There was even a military fly over. Stoner had air support!
   One odd-ball ICEF parent openly, immaturely, and sophomoricly mocked the Stoner protesters for their willingness to defy state law and ask for a better future for their children. The display was comical and sadly amusing.
    ICEF administration was present for the protest but stayed far away from the protesters behind a red barricade near the school classrooms.
   A reporter for the Argonaut showed up to the protest and interviewed parents for an article that is supposed to come out this week. We'll let you know when this is published.

   Finally, the Stoner community plans to continue the opposition to the co-location with more protests and stronger actions. This week, Friends of Stoner will be presenting the ICEF Board with over 100 letters and petitions signatures from the Stoner and ICEF community stating their opposition to the co-location.

Meetings about proposed ICEF co-location: Stoner ES "empty" classrooms explained

     This past week, LAUSD held two meetings in the Stoner Elementary School auditorium for parents and community members to inform them of the proposed co-location of ICEF Vista on the Stoner ES campus for 2015/16. Since these were open meetings, I invited ICEF administration, teachers, members of the board and community to attend the meetings so that they could hear first hand the concerns of the Stoner parents and the neighborhood community about any co-location. A few ICEF parents showed up, but no ICEF officials attended.
    Once again, the Stoner community was told that "empty" classrooms on campus would be given to a charter school. Principal Stapleton explained that according to the Prop. 39  co-location assessment, Stoner ES had 15 "empty" classrooms. Prop. 39 methodology only counts as full a classroom with a teacher and a roster of students. Any set-aside rooms or special program rooms are considered "empty." 
     In reality, of the 15 "empty" classrooms, only 1 room is truly not being used. The other 14 "empty" rooms are being used for:  a 60 instrument orchestral music program, a computer lab, art classes, the parents center, a theater program, LA’s Best (after school program), a Speech therapist, a virtual dental clinic; a counselor, a psychologist, a teaching & learning PD, an AP office and adult English education classes for the community.
     Removing any of these rooms and resources would be devastating to the students of Stoner Elementary and the local community it serves.
     Next year, Stoner will also be starting a Bilingual Spanish Maintenance program and building a STEM (Science, technology, engineering & math) laboratory. These programs were not taken into account by the Prop 39 assessment. The bilingual program currently has enough students signed up for 2 classes of K for Fall 2015/16.

     ICEF is asking for 9 rooms. Which of these nine programs would you have us give up or reduce to make space for a co-location? Which programs would you give up if your children and community were involved? The bilingual program? the STEM lab? Music? Arts? Counselor, psychologist, dental clinic? The after school program or theater?
      What do you think the atmosphere will be like on campus? How do you think the Stoner students will feel knowing that they won't have orchestra or art anymore because of the ICEF students are in those rooms? How will the ICEF student feel on campus?

     This co-location would have the local Del Rey community fighting over resources in their own community with their own neighbors. The few ICEF parents who attended the informational meeting expressed concern and distress at what the co-location would truly mean not only for Stoner, but for their own children.
     I hope that ICEF is able to understand that this proposed co-location is a bad idea and the request should be withdrawn immediately, but the Stoner community is not taking any chances and is going to make sure that they hear our concerns loud and clear.

     This coming week, the Stoner community will be conducting a letter writing/emailing campaign and collecting signatures for a petition opposing the colocation to present to the ICEF Board of Trustees at their monthly meeting this Thursday, February 19.
     Our hope is that ICEF will drop its bid for rooms and not continue the colocation process past the March 1 deadline to respond to the Feb 1 preliminary co-location proposal.
   

LAUSD Report card released, confirms colocation created safety concerns

   In January, we received the 2013/14 report card for Stoner Avenue Elementary School. The results were good and the school improved on many measures. However, there was one measure that went down significantly: campus safety.

     For the school years 2011/12 and 2012/13, 84% of Stoner ES parents responded "my child is safe on school grounds." Yet for 2013/14, the year of the co-location, only 67% of the parents agreed "School grounds are safe." Why the drastic drop?
     The report card has been discussed at various meetings of different school councils and committees and when the issue of safety came up, the majority opinion was that the co-location of CWC Mar Vista was the safety issue.
    During the co-location, parents were concerned about what was happening on the CWC side of campus: CWC students bullying Stoner special needs students in the bathroom, CWC parents and teachers in the students' only bathroom; CWC leaving their entrance gate open and unlocked so that CWC parents could enter campus freely, a special needs child escaping campus; and most disturbing of all that a CWC student was stripped naked and hosed down on campus.
    All of this created great concern for the parents about the safety on campus of the Stoner students. The consensus opinion of the Stoner ES parents was that the co-location made the campus less safe for our children.

¿Co-location? ICEF requests space at Stoner for 2015/16

    After last year's disastrous co-location of Citizens of the World Charter Mar Vista at Stoner Avenue Elementary School, we didn't expect a co-location request so soon, but today we received notice from LAUSD that ICEF Vista Elementary Charter Academy has requested a co-location at Stoner ES for 2015/16.
     I hope ICEF knows what they are asking for. The previous co-location united the school and local Del Rey community against co-locations and galvanized both communities' opposition to co-locations at our community schools. The communities' mettle was tested and this time they are experienced and organized.
      The previous co-location was met with petitions, protests (#1, #2, #3) and gang activity. The school year ended with the co-location being terminated and the charter's executive director resigning. If you don't believe it, peruse this blog. It's all documented here. Plus, the story was reported in print media (here, here, here and here), on Television (here and here), and radio (here.)

_________________
 ***Is this really happening again? or has Stoner become LAUSD's  joke non-offer like the Horce Mann offer to CWC last year? You know they aren't going to accept, but at least LAUSD could say they offered something. Either way, we aren't taking any chances and will be opposing this co-location full force. For all involved, I hope that ICEF declines this co-location sooner rather than later.

Flicked cigarette ignites the World, Citizens of

On Friday, May 2, we had a disturbing incident involving a car blocking a driveway and a flicked cigarette that has set off CWC.

   I spoke with the neighbor, who I'll refer to as G, and other witnesses about the incident to find out what happened.
   G lives in the a cul da sac right across from the CWC entrance, because of this he receives the brunt of the traffic and parking problem that residents have been complaining about for months. His trash cans have been moved and pick ups missed many times. His driveway is often time blocked.
   He lives with two elderly relatives and so it is a major problem for all of them to have the driveway blocked.
   G has to deal with this on a daily basis, sometimes multiple times a day. I can only image the level of frustration this would cause after many, many months of having to deal with the same issue day in day out.

   On that Friday, he saw that his neighbor's driveway was blocked and the neighbor had parked in one of the other neighbor's driveways (per an agreement between the neighbor's in the a cul de sac to help them deal with the parking/traffic problems.) As, the car blocking the driveway was leaving, he reminded the person to be careful when parking. No sooner had that car left then another car came to take that spot and continue to block the neighbor's driveway.
    G waved to the new car to alert them that they were blocking the driveway.  The driver rolled down the window and told G "F--k, you!". Things escalated with f-bombs going back on forth.
    G was so upset that he flicked the cigarette he was smoking towards the car, and the cigarette flew into the open window and into the backseat where a toddler was sitting. Per one witness, G was visibly distressed that the cigarette went in the car. G described it as a total accident, a one in a million fluke.
   The driver jumped out and pulled the child in the back seat out of the car.

    The police were called and G was cited for littering. 

    Now, CWC is using this incident as a rallying point for their community and claiming that there is an "organized hostile opposition" in the community, when really all there is are a bunch of neighbors who are upset by the traffic cause by the co-location of CWC.

    The only difference between this incident and every other day, is that there was a cigarette involved. If there was no cigarette, the traffic/parking/safety problems would just continued as they always have.

[Flashback] CWC makes Stoner parent a target, parent received threats from CWC/CxC, CWC gets tagged

In my dealings with the CWC Mar Vista community, I have found that they have been less willing to talk about real issues and more inclined to engage in personal attacks and scapegoating, and as such make targets out of people who voice any concerns about the charter school. This post is about how the CWC community made a target of my family for raising concerns about the co-location, and how CWC end up raising the ire of the local gang.

   On Friday, February 7, three members (shown in the pictures above) of the Citizens of the World Charter School Mar Vista community were seen in front of Stoner ES handing out out fliers containing a CWC logo that responded to the petition and 187 letters sent to CWC and LAUSD from the Stoner ES community. As you can see in highlighted section of the flier, CWC minimizes the complaints of the entire community and places the blame for all the problems on "the neighbor...who is a the preschool parent organizing the Stoner parents against CWC because he doesn't want traffic on his street.. "

   After handing out their fliers, the three CWC members were seen at the CWC entrance on Lindblade fraternizing with the CWC principal and other CWC community members. In an email response to questions about this flier, the executive director denied that these people were affiliated with CWC.
    Unless there is another neighbor that I am not aware of who has a daughter who is in pre-k and who lives on Stoner, Lindblade or Wagner, then they could only be talking about your humble blogger here. Why was it necessary to mention that my daughter was in pre-K and thus making her a target. After that CWC flier went out is when we started receiving anonymous threats from the CWC community.

  A few days after the CWC flier was circulated, I received an email threat from someone representing themselves as from the CWC community and part of the Culver City gang (we'll have more on this in an upcoming FLASHBACK), basically, saying that if we didn't cut out what I was doing, they were going to organize "los del jarin" (Mar Vista Gardens) against us. There is only one way that I know of that gangs organize and that's not for a petition signing, protest or cupcake sale.
   I was scared. I have lived in this neighborhood my whole life. I know these people don't joke around. I took this threat very seriously. We took the threat to the police, but they said they couldn't do anything because there was no direct threat. Yes, there was an implied threat, kind of like if the mafia showed up at your house and said "That's very nice family you have there. It'd be a shame if anything happened to them." There is no direct threat to your family, but you know what was meant.
   We installed security cameras and upgraded all our locks, but we still did not feel safe with this threat hanging over our head. For the next month, we tried to stay out of our house as much as possible. When we were home, we stayed in doors with all doors and windows locked or in the backyard. I even considered pulling my child out of school and moving my family out of Del Rey.
   Scared and not knowing where to turn, we reached out to the local community and let them know about the threat. These gangstas are people in our neighborhood. They are brothers, cousins, neighbors, former classmates, and people we go to church with, and while we do not love the sin, we still love the sinner. These people are part of our community. So, people who know people who know people who know people asked around about the threat. We eventually heard back that no, this threat was not from the gang. However, now, the gang was aware that the CWC community was using their reputation to menace and intimidate local residents and community activist who are working for the good of their neighborhood.

    When the first tag went up, I freaked. Sometimes gangs will tag to show what is their turf. Was the message that CxC stood with CWC? Should I leave with my family and never return?
     The next set of tags went up and I still didn't know what to make of it. When the third and worst set of tags went up, I thought oh no, but at the same time, I breathed a sigh of relief to see the messages "F--- you" with a tag of "CxC MVG" (Mar Vista Gardens). This, hopefully, meant that the threat against my family was not real, but sadly and unfortunately, this also meant that danger the CWC created was real, and that is not good for either school or the local community.
     After having experienced over a month of insecurity, fear and doubt in my own home, I would not wish this upon anyone.  My sympathies go out to the CWC students and families who have had to face this.

[Flashback] CWC student escapes campus, police return student to parents

Looking at this blog right now, you might think this whole madness with the CWC Mar Vista co-location started with a cup of coffee. So, I wanted to provide some flashbacks to put the situation in context so that you can see how we arrived at the current state of affairs.
_______
FLASHBACK - FLASHBACK - FLASHBACK

   Early in the school year, Citizens of the World Charter Mar Vista began leaving its entrance gate unlocked and opened for the convenience of the CWC community. Parents could enter and leave campus as they pleased.* Deliveries could be made without checking who or what was coming on campus. This also meant that CWC students and Stoner ES students could just walk off campus. Which is exactly what happened.

   A special needs CWC student did escape campus.  CWC was unaware that the child had even left campus. Fortunately, the child was found down the street by conscientious citizen of our neighborhood.  The neighbor found the child in her yard babbling incoherently. The neighbor looked around, waited and didn't see anyone with the child. So, the good citizen called the police and the CWC student was reunited with their family. CWC would later learn about the incident.

  CWC's poor campus security decision to leave its gate open and unlocked had to be addressed. Their solution to the problem was to put a combination lock on the gate and give the combination to all the parents. We saw how well that turned out.

and, that's today's FLASHBACK.

______
*Considering the CWC parents have been seen entering the students only bathroom, it's very disturbing that CWC parents had such free and unfettered access to the campus.

[special snark edition] CWC does not take safety concerns seriously. How can we take them seriously?

[Advisory] Generally, I take the situation caused by the CWC co-location very seriously. However, I'm well aware of the absurdity and comedy of the situation. Stoners vs Citizens, a mainly minority school vs a mostly white school, poor working vs well off...sometimes it sounds like a bad joke and you just have to laugh. And so today, I'm presenting a extra special snarky edition of the blog.Yes, there will be rudeness. Yes, there will be mockery and condescension in today's post, but today is a chance to step back and laugh at the comedy of errors that is this co-location. Please, be advised.
____________


Considering the graffiti this month and that my family was almost run over by a CWC parent, I wanted to see what CWC was telling their community about the gang and traffic safety issues. I made a California Public Records Act request and was , frankly, not surprised to see that CWC was minimizing the gang problems and placing blame for traffic/safety problems on  "A neighbor" and not on the actual unsafe driving by the CWC community, but we'll get to all that in a second.

   This letter was sent out to the CWC community by the CWC Executive Director on April 8, 2014. A JPG of the document is below if you'd like to see the original released document. Here on the blog, we are going to go through this document line by line and adding some annotations in red.
______

Hi all,

Hope you are doing well! Writing with a quick update about the graffiti on the fence banner and with some traffic safety reminders. (I hate to start off being picky, but this is a fragment sentence and this communication is very informal. Is this really an official communication from a professional educator?) Wanted to let you all know that, thanks to amazing parent volunteers, we're painting over the graffiti right now. I know it's troubling to see. We reached out to LAPD and they came by this morning (What took CWC so long? We contacted LAPD on 4/7 in the morning. In the evening on 4/7, LAPD told us CWC had not yet returned their calls and were not available when they went by campus twice that day.) and said they'd be having additional evening patrols to try and deter this in the future (When I spoke with LAPD, they strongly recommended removing the fence covering. Why no mention of that option, considering it is the option CWC ultimately chose?). We have seen this at other locations and LAPD definitely mentioned there's tagging in the neighborhood generally. (Yes, there is definitely tagging in the neighborhood, but in my four decades in the area, I've never seen a direct "F--- You!!!" written in a tag. The graffiti does not look like your general run-of the mill tagging. This was definitely a message to the people behind the fence. I would not take this message as a general message.) We will be looking at other measures we can take from installing cameras to moving the banner to the interior of the fence (Really? Why because spray paint won't go through a chain link fence?). More to come on all of that.

In other news, wanted to let you know that in addition to Alison and Jim (Principal of Stoner) (This took me aback. "Jim?" Again, is this really an official communication from an education professional? Or maybe "Jim" is just cool with all the CWC community like that...)  meeting regularly, the liaison groups established with Stoner (small groups of teachers and parents from both schools) are meeting and collaborating as well (except that the CWC parents have cancelled the last two meetings and the group has not meet in close to two month, which is very upsetting since there are serious safety issues that need to be addressed. See: link). We're also working closely with the neighborhood council and their education committee that created an ad hoc committee specifically devoted to resolving the co-location/ community tension (The local community is boycotting the ad hoc meetings since the DRNC is not representing its concerns on this issue.).

I also wanted to remind everyone to please drive safely at all times around the school. A neighbor is repeatedly photographing and taking videos (Yes, that's the problem "A neighbor" is taking photos & video, not the actually unsafe driving by the CWC community. Also, I wonder how they concluded it is only "a neighbor" since many neighbors are upset and are taking pictures and video. As a community, we are only starting to get organized about collecting this evidence. Also, why is CWC placing the blame on one person and thus making them a target? We have seen the CWC community make targets out of our community members before. Instead of dealing with issue, they blame the people who bring attention to the problems.) of cars running stop signs, backing up into intersections, blocking driveways, parking in red zones or in front of hydrants (It's sad that she doesn't even mention the incident that sparked this reminder, that my family was almost run over in a crosswalk by a CWC parent driving backwards down the street) . Mornings in particular are harried times, please take care to drive extra safely especially when running late. While we definitely aim to start on time, it's better for folks to be tardy than to risk an accident (and run over a whole family). Thanks for your help with this. 

Thank you, as always, for your patience and steadfast support in the face of what is

definitely a frustrating situation. We do know from other charters that they have

faced this too and in time it has passed (It's upsetting to see how the CWC administration minimizes the problem and says that it is a passing thing.  The local community and Stoner ES community are not a passing things.  This is where we live and we aren't going anywhere.) Definitely come grab me in the office or shoot me an email if you have any questions or specifics you want to connect about.

CWC parents throw spikes in the street around Stoner ES

CWC parent removing graffiti filled fence cover

   This last week was Spring break and school was out, but this doesn't mean CWC stopped creating safety issues in our community. Based on the orders of CWC administration, a group of CWC parents threw spikes on the sidewalk and street around the Stoner Elementary School campus**. If this sounds too crazy to be true, then please read on.

    On Tuesday, April 22 around 6 pm, a crew of 3 Citizens of the World Mar Vista parents (and two children) were seen removing the tagged up CWC fence covering. An hour later, the fence covering was down, but the removal started a multiple day safety issue in our neighborhood.

CWC spikes picked up on April 15

   That evening, I went to check out the removed fence covering and began to notice some of the metal brackets that were used to secure the fence were lying all along the sidewalk and in street. There were scores of brackets all over the place. This was a very dangerous situation.  These brackets created a serious safety issue in that they could pop a car or bike tire, topple a scooter or skateboard, or even puncture through a shoe.
   My wife, a neighbor and I spent an hour cleaning up the spikes. We picked up all that we could find on the sidewalk and street, but could see many more spikes inside campus that we could not reach.
   I alerted CWC (and cc'd LAUSD) to the danger and asked that CWC come an clean up the dangerous situation that they created. I received no response.

More CWC spikes April 18

    On Friday, my wife was walking past the CWC entrance when she heard a "clink, clink" at her feet.  She looked down and found that there were still spikes around the school. She picked up all the spikes she could find.
   On Saturday morning, I emailed CWC to follow up and demanded that they clean up this safety issue immediately.  These spikes should have never been in the street in the first place and should have been immediately removed when CWC was notifed of the danger on Wednesday morning.
    The CWC principle responded that she would deal with problem in a day or two. A concerned LAUSD administrator immediately responded to the principle's email saying that if CWC could not be there that day, she would go herself.
    An hour later, I get an email from the CWC principle saying that she inspected the area and didn't see any problem. She also thanked me for alerting her to the problem (but not for cleaning up their dangerous mess that CWC created, but just for alerting her to the problem; a problem that she did not see as serious and thought could be addressed in a few days.) An hour after that, I received an email from CWC director stating that she had just been to the area and there was "not much to speak of" and that she cleaned up a few remaining brackets.

More CWC spikes found April 19 using magnet

   Ten minutes after receiving the directors email, I went to inspect the area myself. I took a magnet on a string and went "fishing" for brackets with my daughters. We found another two dozen brackets in the street and on the sidewalk.

    These brackets left on the ground are basically spikes that could cause serious injury. These brackets were left on the ground by the CWC parents who removed the fence covering. These spikes in the community are an example of the problems that occur when volunteer parents are performing the functions and duties of paid professionals. As such, these "helpful" parents end up creating more problems for all involved.
 
    This is another disturbing example of the safety issues CWC is bringing to our campus and neighborhood. It's troubling that even when a safety issue is pointed out to CWC administration, they either do not see a problem (principle) or try to minimize the extent of the problem (director). These spikes should have never been left on the street and sidewalk in the first place, and should have been addressed and cleaned up when CWC was first alerted to the danger, not days later after multiple complaints.

**Just so I am clear, I'm not saying that CWC directly ordered parents to throw spikes in the street, but CWC's reckless order to have volunteer parents remove the fence covering resulted in the spikes being thrown in the street. Therefore, based on the orders of CWC admin, CWC parents were throwing spikes in the streets.

CWC fence covering removed

Today our neighborhood looks more open, inviting, and welcoming, all because the CWC fence covering has been removed.  We hope this is permanent change.

    Just like many of the other issues with the co-location of CWC on the Stoner ES campus, what is a source of pride for CWC, is a sore point for everyone else. To CWC, the fence covering gave a "A feeling of cocoon-like safety by being surrounded by a beautiful and private fence." and was "Helping the space to feel 'kinder and gentler...'" To the Stoner and local community the covering represented separation and segregation, entitlement and elitism, and a lack of respect for the local community.

    The fence covering has been a sore point since it was first put up. One day, the neighborhood was an open and inviting place, then without warning, there was separation and the claim that fence covering was for a "true community."

     The fence covering was one of the most blatant examples of the segregation that CWC is bringing to the Stoner ES campus. The separation and inequality was even written directly on the fence covering: "A true community of learners." This phrase was written in two places on the fence covering.  Could they not realize how insulting this message would be to the home school and surrounding community? "A true community" What does that say to the people in the community who live in the area? Are we not a real community?  Was CWC even aware that the Stoner motto is "a learning community?" If CWC is a "true" community and "true" learners, what does that say to the Stoner students? Are they a false community? Are they untrue learners?
     Everyday local residents and Stoner students had to pass by this backhanded insult to our community and school. Residents and Stoner parents complained about the fence covering, but their pleas fell on deaf ears and so resentment in community began to simmer.

    On Friday March 7, a red "CxC" appeared on the fence covering over the CWC logo. The tag was quickly covered over in white, but was still visible.

The following Monday, March 10, two new CxC tags showed up.

 Then on April 6 the fence covering tagged all over. This time with a stronger profanity filled message.

    Since the fence covering is now attracting gang activity, local residents and Stoner parents have urged CWC to remove the fence covering.

    The covering is down now. For the safety of the neighborhood and school, let's hope the covering stays down.

CWC Mar Vista disrespects local charter, church and community all on the same morning

Lack of respect is one of the major problems that the community has been having with CWC. Citizens of the World Charter Mar Vista has culture of entitlement and acts as if the rules don't apply to them. This was on full display on Saturday, March 15.
    On Saturday morning, I noticed the CWC principal and parents gather on campus. Later that morning, my family walked to the local swap meet that is held at the St. Gerard Majella Church parking lot. St. Gerard's is also the campus of a local charter, ICEF Vista.
   When we entered the swap meet, we saw a group of CWC representatives, who were earlier on CWC campus) wearing CWC corporate logo t shirts, handing out fliers and collecting signatures. They were even talking to ICEF families who were on campus after a school sporting event whose children were dressed in ICEF uniform.
    What gall!!! CWC sends its people onto a church's private property which is also the campus of local charter to recruit students from the school. Why would the church or charter want CWC stealing students and hurting their community? Vendors at the swap meet have to pay for their spots, but CWC felt that it had every right to be there conduct their business, recruit, handout propaganda and bother people shopping . Who does CWC think they are?
    I was shocked to see this and I was not the only one. Other community members and swap meet patrons were loudly complaining about CWC's presence, but no one was coming forward to say anything to the CWC people.
     Finally, some community members went up to engage the CWC people and things started getting heated. "We aren't like you people!" yelled someone from CWC to a Hispanic mother who was questioning the group. Not like you people...really, how classy and inclusive CWC, and yet you want to invade and take over our neighborhood, steal students from other schools and then pretend like you are part of the community and here to serve it?
     Things were getting bad and I saw this needed to end right away before things got worse. I stepped in and asked the CWC people if they had permission to be on campus. To which the CWC group quickly and unequivocally responded "Yes." I asked who gave them permission. Suddenly, they did not have a confident answer. I told them they were on private property and that ICEF would probably not be happy that they were recruiting students on their campus.I told them they could stand outside on the public sidewalk. The group reluctantly slinked off  as parents walked them out of the church lot.

CWC teacher found in Students ONLY bathroom while students inside

     On Monday, February 24, 2014, a CWC teacher was seen using the STUDENTS" ONLY bathroom while students were in the bathroom.
      This is just unbelievable! Stoner parents have been worried and complaining for months about CWC parents entering the students' only bathroom. I didn't realize we also had to be worried about CWC teachers entering the student's bathroom.

      Why do these "citizens of the world" behave so un-citizen-like? There are large signs in English and Spanish stating that the bathroom is for students only and adults are not allowed in. Yet, CWC parents and teachers choose to ignore these signs and place our students in danger for their own convenience. Stoner parents have complained many times, and CWC administration has told us many times that they have communicated our concerns and the importance of following the campus rules to their community, but obviously, the CWC community is not listening and does not care about our concerns.

      How can we feel safe about our children being on campus when CWC continues to recklessly create unsafe situations?

      This latest and most ergregious incident again exemplifies CWC'S lack of respect for our community, failure to provide a secure environment for our children and a continuing pattern of worsening behavior.
      How long do our children need to suffer through unsafe conditions on campus created by CWC? Do we have to suffer this indignity for the rest of the school year and expect this to continue next year?

Another week, another threat from the CWC community

   Last week it was an email threat from some representing themselves as part of the CWC community and part of the Culver City street gang, this week it came from a "neighbor" with a hushmail.com account.

    The menacing emails began at 4:38 pm Monday, Feb 17 and continued until 4:20 am the following day. The emails talked about my family, listed our assets, listed my parents and brothers addresses, and even said they were going to tell my parents on me. (...no, really they were going to tell on me...) They were basically trying to intimidate me so that I would not speak at the Del Rey Neighborhood Council Education Committee meeting on Feb 18.

   
 
    In the second to last email, the writer even threatens to air my "dirty laundry" at the meeting  as a way to scare me in to silence.
    On the morning of Feb 18, a letter was thrown into my parents yard containing a print out of the emails. (So, they did tell on me!) Maybe they would humiliate me me at the meeting with some dark, long forgotten secret. Or, this was just another attempt to scare and silence me.


    This is just sad.  Is this how citizens of the world behave themselves? Anonymous menacing email threats? As "citizens" wouldn't they want to engage in our democratic process and encourage discussion, such as at a neighborhood council meeting, not silence opposing voices with threats of public humiliation?

Stoner community conducts letter writing campaign to complain about Cwc co-location

     The Stoner Elementary community is mad about the conditions that the co-location of Citizens of the world Mar Vista is bringing to the Stoner campus.
   Last week, the Stoner Parents Academy organized a letter writing campaign to make sure all involved were aware of the issues concerning parents and the community. In two days, the group gathered 155 signed letters.  About one third of the letter contained handwritten,  heartfelt notes that described people's concerns about segregation and safety on campus. This refrain was repeated over and over again. Is LAUSD listening?

     Stoner parents are asking for a better, safer school for their children. Is anyone listening?

Letters