Orange Unified School District

Four candidates are running for one seat in Trustee Area 2 and two candidates for one seat in Trustee Area 6 on the Orange Unified School District Board of Education in the Nov. 5 election. Trustee Area 2 Maureen Aschoff Age: 46. Occupation: Librarian. Background: Bachelor's degree in English, master's degree in science, recipient of PTA Honorary Service Award.

A jury convicted former Orange school board trustee Steve Rocco of petty theft Thursday for stealing a 14-ounce bottle of Heinz ketchup last September from a dining area at Chapman University. Rocco, an eccentric 58-year-old Santa Ana recluse known for wearing dark glasses and espousing shadowy theories about a powerful cabal he calls the Partnership, won a seat on the school board in 2004. He spent his term largely refusing to speak with colleagues, and survived a recall attempt.

Eleanore Pleines, one of the four Orange Unified School District board members accused of "willful misconduct" by the Orange County Grand Jury, has resigned her position. She said Thursday one of her reasons for resigning is that she didn't want the district to use public funds to defend her.

A community college professor who lost a lawsuit accusing an Orange County school board of illegally censoring a dissident board member now owes the district nearly $80,000 in attorney fees, the professor said Friday. Richard McKee, who teaches chemistry at Pasadena City College, said he has had his wages garnished and had to borrow against his retirement as a result of his failed suit against the Orange Unified School District. He has delayed his retirement at least a year, he said.

Athletic directors and administrators of the Orange Unified School District met Thursday to discuss the 50% reduction in coaching stipends, and a second meeting is scheduled for today, Orange High School Athletic Director Dave Zirkle said. The two sides have been at odds since Aug. 12, when the Orange Unified Education Assn. voted to approve a collective bargaining agreement that included a reduction in all district stipends for extra-curricular activities.

Three conservatives endorsed by several well-known county Republicans swept aside two incumbents and other candidates to capture seats on the school board here Tuesday. In Area 1, incumbent John Hurley lost to Martin Jacobson, a 40-year-old accountant, and in Area 7, school board member Alan E. Irish lost his post to Rick Ledesma, a 31-year-old corporate cost analyst. Backed by former U.S. Rep. William E. Dannemeyer and state Sen. John R.

The State Board of Education postponed a decision Thursday on Orange Unified School District's effort to slash its bilingual education program in favor of immersing students in classrooms dominated by English. After hearing from backers and foes of the plan, the board delayed until today a vote on the district's pitch for a waiver from state rules. The delay will give state school trustees a chance to hear from their staff, which is staunchly opposed to the district's proposal.

Two high school students testified in federal court in Santa Ana on Monday that renaming a support group for gay teens a "tolerance club" would belittle its mission and that prohibiting club members from discussing sex or sexuality implies that homosexuals are more promiscuous than others.

The controversial use of a dog to search school buses for drugs will continue, Orange Unified School District trustees voted Thursday night. Although several parents expressed opposition to the program, trustees were united in support of the policy, which began in October. The parents were among a capacity audience for the meeting at district headquarters. "As a parent of two elementary-aged children, will I ever be comfortable allowing my children to use district buses?"

Daryl Lawrence barked out orders. "Stay in the tracks. Stay in the tracks." Canyon High School football players followed the instructions, weaving through a makeshift obstacle course made up of thermos bottles. Each high-stepped around the markers. Lawrence continued to shout encouragement. Then, he took the football. It was his turn. Lawrence, a senior at Canyon, spent the first day of fall practice directing workouts as well as participating in them.

Orange Unified trustee Steve Rocco and others who unsuccessfully sued the school district will have to pay $37,000 in legal fees, a judge ruled Friday. Rocco, Richard McKee and the nonprofit organization Californians Aware sued the district in November after Rocco's fellow trustees voted to censure him for disparaging a school principal during a public board meeting. Judge Clay M.

In an effort to silence school board member Steve Rocco, Orange Unified School District trustees voted Thursday to change how board members place discussion items on meeting agendas. The move was prompted by a March meeting at which Rocco attempted to make a speech about what he calls "the partnership," a cabal of powerful individuals he says runs the county and has tried to assassinate him. At the time, members could place an item on the agenda with the support of another trustee.

Fed up with eccentric Orange schools Trustee Steve Rocco, his fellow school board members will try to curtail his ability to place discussion items on the meeting agenda next week. District staff will present a proposal at the Thursday board meeting that calls for the board president to decide whether a trustee's discussion item ought to be placed on the agenda. If the president denies the item, the trustee can appeal the decision to the full board.

A lawsuit filed by an Orange Unified School District trustee accusing fellow board members of violating his rights by voting to censure him for disparaging a school principal during a board meeting was dismissed Thursday by an Orange County Superior Court judge. Judge Clay M. Smith wrote that just as Steve Rocco -- who filed the suit -- has a right to state his opinion, fellow trustees have a right to register their displeasure at his comments.

Orange Unified School District Trustee Steve Rocco has sued the district, alleging that his fellow trustees violated his rights by voting to censure him for disparaging a school principal during the public session of the board. The lawsuit, filed Nov. 21 by Rocco and the nonprofit organization Californians Aware, demands that the district rescind the censure, which was approved in October.

Eccentric Orange schools Trustee Steve Rocco has filed a complaint with state and county officials accusing fellow board members of meeting in secret and denying him official stationery. "Redress & Reform needed," he concluded in the Feb. 5 letter addressed to the Orange County Grand Jury and district attorney, the California attorney general, secretary of state and the Fair Political Practices Commission.

Wearing an indigo knit cap and sunglasses, Steve Rocco slipped into the last Orange school board meeting of the year. Over the next two hours, he abstained from several votes, uttered a few eyebrow-raising comments and ended the night with a ramble that touched on the anniversary of John Lennon's murder, the folly of allowing soda in schools and the completion of his first year in office. "The freshman year has ended," Rocco, 54, said. "That makes me a sophomore."

Orange Unified School District trustees have agreed to work with Santiago Charter School officials to better track and investigate complaints about staff members, thereby allowing the middle school to keep its charter for now. The agreement, reached Tuesday, came after the district chastised school officials in January for not responding to complaints about a teacher later arrested on suspicion of having sex with two of her students.