The action at Tuesday's regular Board meeting is not a dress code, according to Superintendent of Schools Edward Sussman, but rather a professional standard of dress to reinforce teachers' positions as role models for students.
The policy applies to all certificated and classified personnel unless their assignments provide for modified dress as approved by their supervisor.
* All clothes must be neat, clean, not frayed, in good repair and be appropriate size. "Distressed" clothing, such as faded blue jeans, are not acceptable.
* Footwear must be worn at all times.
* Clothes shall conceal undergarments at all times. See-through fabrics, halter-tops, tube-tops, off-the-shoulder, spaghetti straps, low-cut tops, short skirts, or bare midriffs are prohibited.
An accompanying staff report noted that the Board encourages staff during school hours to wear clothing that demonstrates their high regard for education and presents an image consistent with their job responsibilities. Clothes that may be appropriate for shop instructors, physical education teachers, or maintenance workers may not be appropriate for classroom teachers.
Sussman added that 99 percent of the teachers dress well without the need of the new standards.
Lisa Marroquin, president of the Downey Education Association, has said that the district's teachers do not oppose the new dress standards.
The Board also heard a presentation by the Sussman Middle School Advanced Chorus.
Sussman told the young singers, "You are fantastic! Your appearance brightens our whole week!"
During Board comments, Willie Gutierrez said he attended the recent Middle School Band Concert at the Downey Theater, which he described as "beautiful!" He added he also attended an appearance by New England Patriot running back J.R. Redmond, whose message to youngsters is stay in school.
Donald La Plante congratulated the District for winning a recent Spanish award.
Margo Hoffer revealed she must undergo back surgery Monday, and said she will be absent from public functions for a few months. And Hoffer thanked Dr. Mary Stauffer for her continued shower of gifts to the School District.
Betty Ferraro said she enjoyed a recent Little League Breakfast at Rio Hondo School.
Barbara Samperi said she would like to look into working to pass a new bond measure now that the State has failed to come through with the promised matching funds.
And Superintendent Ed Sussman urged all to attend the GOOD Luncheon Wednesday, March 27, at Rio Hondo Country Club. He added the next Board meeting will be April 16, when the Masons will honor the Teachers of the Year.
In other action, the School Board:
* Ratified and approved convention and conference attendance expenses.
* Approved revisions to AR 2460, concerning expulsions.
* Approved the 2001-02 certification of temporary athletic team coaches for submission to the State Department of Education.
* Ratified and approved per Board policy purchasing orders prepared by the Purchasing Department.
* Ratified the issuance of payroll orders for hourly, overtime, Civic Center work by classified personnel, restricted categorical programs, Adult School, and Food Services for the month of January, by Payroll Orders issued through February.
* Ratified B Warrants for payment of authorized purchases in the month of February.
* Approved the Community-Based English Tutoring (CBET) program for fiscal year 2002-03.
* Ratified an agreement with FrontRange Solutions for maintenance and support for HEAT software utilization through the District's Technology Department, effective March 1, 2002 through June 30, 2002.
* Approved the consultant agreement for telephone systems services with Kerr & Associates of Santa Clarita, in the amount of $65,930 to be charged to the General Fund.
* Accepted as complete Project 7, third year renewal, concrete work and repairs by 3D Concrete of Downey in the sum of $138,753 to be charged to the General and/or Bond funds.
* Accepted as complete roof repair and asbestos abatement work at the DUSD Administration Building by FC & Sons Roofing Co., of Bell Gardens in the final sum of $55,335 to be charged to Deferred Maintenance.
* Accepted as complete trade electrical work by Spike Electric of Whittier in the sum of $76,334 to be charged to the General and/or Bond Fund.
* Approved the extensions of the 2001-02 General Fund Budget to reflect increases in income for specified restricted programs.
* Approved the 2001-02 transfer of funds for the Governor's Performance, Academic Performance, Improving America's Schools, Health Start, School Improvement, instructional and administrative programs.
* Ratified and approved routine personnel items until subsequent action is taken by the Board.
* Approved changes to the duties of Lead Custodian effective March 19, 2002.
The next public meeting of the DUSD Board will be at 5 p.m. Tuesday, April 16, at the Administration Center, 11627 Brookshire Ave.
The drugs were found in the living room of the spacious two-story home, which neighbors said appeared to have TV and lights connected to a timer which turned them on automatically each night to make it seem the home was occupied.
FBI agents, aided by the Inland Regional Narcotics Enforcement Team and Downey police, also served a warrant on a home in the The raids were part of a sweep involving warrant searches in scores of homes. Authorities allege a huge narcotics ring with links to Mexico, and tentacles reaching to New York, Indianapolis, Nashville and Miami.
Federal indictment charges Jose Manuel Barraza Jr., known as "Junior," for being the key who used an Indianapolis-based shipping company to move large amounts of marijuana to other cities.
The federal indictment further accuses him of paying workers to operate "stash houses," where marijuana was stored and packaged. Couriers were allegedly used to pick up payment later.
FBI spokesmen said the ring is believed to be tied to Ismael Zambada, an alleged drug lord in Tijuana, who is ready to replace Ramon Arellano Felix, who was killed recently.
Twelve arrests were made in the series of raids Tuesday. They include Barraza, 27, of Lynwood; Tigran Madzharyan, 23, of North Hollywood; Javier Bobadilla-Tovar, 42, South Gate; Luis Eduardo Valdez-Venegas, 26, Lynwood; Manuel Rodriguez Barraza, 61, Lynwood; Maria Del-Refugio Barraza, 57, Lynwood; Edna Cardenas, 23, Indianapolis; Eduardo Ramirez-Gonzalez, 37, Nashville, Tennessee; Guadalupe Sosa-Carranza, 35, Palmdale; Gabriela Rios, 30, Fontana; and Maria Rodriguez, 32, of Lynwood.
Two men, Sergio Osuna Guzman, 36, of San Gabriel, and Franklin Cardenas, 23, of Indianapolis, were already in custody on drug charges.
Three others are still sought. They are Richard Barraza, 20, of Lynwood; Aminta Basurto, 30, of Los Angeles; and Roberto Davila, 35, of El Paso, Texas.
A total of 10 tons of marijuana, 4 kilos of cocaine and more than $1 million in cash and proceeds were taken in the raids.
The Barlin home was built in 2000, and sold for $330,000 to a couple not listed in the indictment.
There were people living in the home for the first two months, but they avoided speaking with the neighbors.
Founded in 1942 by Hollywood mogul Samuel Goldwyn, with assists from friends like Humphrey Bogart and James Cagney, EIF was created to encourage charitable giving throughout the industry in the belief that they were in a unique position to really help others in the Greater Los Angeles area community.
In this spirit, EIF over the years has addressed and funded such issues and concerns as children's health, HIV/AIDS, family health and welfare, literacy and education, seniors' issues, substance abuse prevention, the environment, youth welfare and so on. Examples are Whale Rescue Team, Shoes That Fit, Tuesday's Child, Shakespeare Festival/L.A., HOPE, Easter Seals, and so on. They have funded a few national charitable initiatives as well, such as Katie Curic's Colorectal Cancer Network efforts.
Last Saturday, March 16, EIF's long reach took some of its members to Downey. It was, according to EIF volunteer coordinator Lyn Patterson, their first project of the first quarter of 2002. Their chosen project: a collaboration with Free Arts for Abused Children, one of 300 non-profits they fund, to inject some gaiety and brightness into the halls and courts of Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall which sits in rather bucolic surroundings at 7285 Quill Drive, just across from the Los Amigos Golf and Country Club.
Thus from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., the volunteers painted scenes of birds perched on tree branches, mountain vistas, pictures of gondolas, the sun, geese flying, and stylized paintings of smiling faces, and others-with one purpose in mind: to tell the dispirited minors and their parents waiting for their hearing to start, or as they enter a sometimes forbidding courtroom, that their court experience might not be such a desperate one after all, that perhaps, in such rejuvenated surroundings, one could hope for leniency.
Los Padrinos, through whose halls 100 minors, along with their worried parents, pass daily to face either abatement or bitter gall, is one of 10 Juvenile Hall facilities spread around Los Angeles County. Besides Downey, there are facilities in Lancaster, Sylmar, Pasadena, Pomona, Eastlake, Kenyon Center, Compton, Inglewood and Long Beach. Los Padrinos, with its three courts, is considered a major holding center. Some facilities have only a single court.
If there are additional aggravating circumstances, say, in the commission of a major crime like murder, he gets tried as an adult, though still a minor.
In all this, the paramount role of the Probation Department in the process becomes clear and vital.
Thus, with the efforts of the Free Arts for Abused Children and the EIF volunteers, which included such celebrities as Dorian Gregory of WB's "Charmed" and Soleil Moon Frye of WB's "Sabrina the Teenage Witch," attempts at lightening up the juvenile experience at Los Padrinos have been made and point to better things. Along with other community projects such as high-profile local projects as GOOD, SCARB, KIDSDAY, Downey's After School programs, the many youth sports activities and the like, the event last Saturday was nothing else than an emphatic assertion that the community, if they act solidly as one, can strike at the roots of the aberrations in society if addressed aggressively and with vigor.
The completion of the plan will provide an ongoing supply of revenue for upkeep of the grounds of the old cemetery.
The cemetery operates publicly with revenue generated by property taxes. No perpetual care fund now exists. The district suffered a loss of revenue through the passage of Prop. 218, and coupled with the fact there are no additional burial plots available, has operated in dire financial straits for some time.
The District has worked with an architect to create a reasonable design to honor the veterans buried here.
The columbarium will provide services in the future to residents of Bellflower, Downey, Paramount and South Gate.
It is the final resting place for pioneers of the Southeast region, as well as several historical figures. The latter include Matson Duke Crawford, co-founder of the City of Downey; Indian Joe, a colorful community member until 1895, and a representative of the Native California population; Black pioneer Matt Brown; early Hispanic matriarch Dorothea DeLura (said to have been 126 years old); and Chinese Wong Fook.
The cemetery is located at the corner of Lakewood Boulevard and Gardendale Street. Its Board, appointed by the County Board of Supervisors, includes Gary McCaughan, MD, Kenneth Becker and Diane Boggs.
Contributions to the cemetery project may be sent to P.O. Box For information, call 904-7236.
The Board Tuesday, also voted to transfer some patient services from High Desert Hospital in Lancaster to Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center in Downey.
The cuts are estimated to save the county $972,000 a year, with more than half the savings coming from the patient services transfer.
The clinics, which serve an average total of 2,738 patients a month, will shut down on May 1.
The cuts are the seen as the first step in an effort to deal with a growing deficit in the county Department of Health budget, which it is estimated will grow from $365 million to $688 million in the next 18 months.
$2.2 million in federal bail-out money is almost all gone.