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Commentary: State of the schools address should be free

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President Obama delivers the State of the Union for free. Gov. Jerry Brown delivers the State of the State for free too.

But if you live in Costa Mesa or Newport Beach, you will have to pay $32 for the privilege of hearing the first State of the Schools speech by Newport-Mesa Unified School District Supt. Fred Navarro on Sept. 24.

The idea is well-intentioned. It is an event designed to raise money for the worthwhile Newport-Mesa Schools Foundation, which is a tremendous asset to our schools, but the execution is poor.

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First, the event is a breakfast scheduled for a weekday morning, when many parents are hustling to get their kids off to school and then go to work. An evening hour would have been better.

Second, the parents who need to hear this presentation the most, those on the Westside of Costa Mesa, are the ones who can least afford a $32 breakfast.

But that’s how it goes when school district complacency and indifference are standard operating procedure.

The breakfast won’t be held for a little while, so there is plenty of time for the school district to make the following adjustments:

• Create tables without breakfast so that those who don’t have $32 to spend can still attend the presentation.

• Broadcast it live on the district website.

• Tape the speech and post it on the district website within 72 hours.

This cavalier attitude toward money was also evident at the last school board meeting, on Aug. 26. The board approved a budget that will require borrowing from reserves to make ends meet.

In her personal comments, board member Katrina Foley, an attorney, broached the subject of a review of the district’s legal fees, claiming that there is money to be saved. How much money? Foley’s answer: $2 million.

Ignoring Foley’s plea last month would not have been so bad, but her first request for a review of legal fees was made when she took office four years ago.

Three reasons for not reviewing the legal fees come to mind:

• Foley made the request. Having established herself early as the one board member who consistently dares to ask probing questions and challenge staff recommendations, this could be an attempt by her colleagues at a final rebuff before she leaves office in November.

• What’s the point? It’s a lot of work, and besides, there are more taxpayer dollars growing on the tree in the backyard of district headquarters.

• The other six school board members are afraid that Foley may be right, in which case, they would have a lot of explaining to do.

The fact is that there is no rational reason for not reviewing the legal fees, particularly at a time when the district needs the money to cover the funds taken from reserves.

Perhaps in lieu of a review of the legal fees to recoup lost revenue, the board can host another breakfast.

Former Daily Pilot columnist STEVE SMITH, a member of the Fairview Park Citizens Advisory Committee, is a candidate for the school board seat in Area 1 in Costa Mesa.

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