Ouick Facts About Lomitas Elementary School

Lomitas Elementary School of Victorville, California received the "California Distinguished School Award" during the 1997-1998 school year, just a few months after the United States Department of Education closed an investigation against both Lomitas Elementary School and the Victor Elementary School District on charges of racism and refusal to help children with severe special needs. With full knowledge of this, Delaine Eastin, California State Superintendent of Public Instruction nominated Lomitas for the 1999 "National Blue Ribbon School Award." Lomitas Elementary received (1999) this "award" from President Bill Clinton. Please review the facts, listed below, and decide whether or not you think this school deserves to be honored as one of our nation's "finest."

• Lomitas Elementary School, as part of the Victor Elementary School District, was reported to the United States Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights (OCR), on May 25, 1996 on charges of racial discrimination and refusal to assist students with SEVERE special needs. This turned into an investigation, of the ENTIRE school district, even though the complaint ONLY referred to Lomitas Elementary School.
• Children of Lomitas Elementary School and Victor Elementary School District employees were placed in essentially all-white elite classes.
• Lomitas Elementary School deliberately segregated students by ability, with some classes being created where the mean (average) score for all children in those classes were greater than the 80th percentile and other classes were formed where the class mean (average) scores were around the 20th percentile.
• The problems were so evident that OCR quickly turned the complaint into an investigation against the entire Victor Elementary School District.
• Both Lomitas Elementary School and the Victor Elementary School District were monitored for a period of two years by the US Department of Education; monitoring ended in January 1998.
• Someone from either Lomitas Elementary School or the Victor Elementary School District LIED to the OCR during the monitoring process.
• Someone from either Lomitas Elementary School or the Victor Elementary School District falsely reports standard test scores (or doesn't allow all children to be tested completely), in order to make the school "look better" to the public.
  Lomitas Elementary School has employed many teachers, over the years, who were NOT fully credentialed to teach in California schools. In at least one instance, a teacher was permitted to teach for more than TEN YEARS on an "Emergency Long Term Multiple Subject Teaching Permit." This teacher was never able to pass certain portions (after trying for TEN YEARS) of teacher competency examinations (i.e., the MSAT) that are REQUIRED, by the state, to obtain a valid credential.
• Other teachers, who were also on emergency credentials, were often terminated at the end of the school year because they could not obtain the "appropriate" credential. In at least one instance, this involved an African American. Nearly all teachers at this school are white. Male teachers were especially susceptible to termination - many of these were FINE educators.
• One male Lomitas Elementary School teacher, however, was "honored" by the school district as a "mentor teacher" and, while serving as such, eventually "disappeared" during the middle of the school year. He pleaded nolo contendere on charges of sexual child abuse. While the local newspaper, the Victor Valley Daily Press, was fully aware of this incident (they started sending reporters to question other teachers at the school), NOTHING was ever published about the incident. It appears as if the district was able to prevent all press coverage of this incident. The teacher eventually served limited jail time and had to perform community service. In addition, it is believed that this individual's teaching credential was permanently revoked by the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing.
• Classrooms at Lomitas Elementary School were subjected to a raid, during instructional time, by school district personnel searching for "contraband" such as teacher's scissors and staplers. Not only were cabinets searched but some were literally pulled off of the walls, while class instruction was taking place, to determine if they were "earthquake safe."
• Teachers were routinely harassed at the Lomitas Elementary School.
• This school has employed many teachers, over the years, who were not fully credentialed to teach in California cchools. Perhaps the worst case involved one (white) teacher, who taught for approximately TEN YEARS, on an "Emergency Long Term Multiple Subject Teaching Permit." This "teacher" was allowed to teach beyond that time limit due to "special requests" for waivers from the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing because this individual could NOT pass the teacher competency tests, required by California State Law, in order to obtain a non-emergency credential.
• Other teachers, who were also on emergency credentials, were often terminated at the end of the school year because they could not obtain the "appropriate" credential. In at least one instance, this involved an African American. Nearly all teachers at this school are white. Male teachers were especially susceptible to termination - many of these were FINE educators.