February 26, 2024
Torrey Pines High School
San Dieguito high school district earns enviable spot on national survey
January 29, 2024
Despite funding challenges, San Dieguito board says they intend to build a pool at Torrey Pines
By Karen Billing, Del Mar Times
https://www.delmartimes.net/news/story/2024-01-29/san-dieguito-to-explore-for-pool-at-torrey-pines?
“I have not seen community support in a positive way for anything like I’ve seen to build pools here,” Trustee Michael Allman said, noting in addition to the petition the board had received over 100 emails from families.
Peace on Earth - Letter to our community
As we approach the end of another year, I find myself reflecting with renewed significance on the timeless message of "peace on earth". As your school board trustee, I am committed to applying this global ideal at the local level to ensure we have supportive, safe, and inclusive learning environments in our schools.
I'm proud to share that over the past year, we’ve accomplished several significant initiatives to improve safety and inclusiveness.
New Ombudsman Office to Support Students and Parents
I sponsored the creation of an Ombudsman Office with a Director of Community Resolution and Outreach position. This position will provide a channel for students and parents to voice concerns and seek resolutions to disputes or issues and will further reinforce our commitment to creating a harmonious and inclusive learning environment for all students. See this article about the new position. San Dieguito Creates New Position
Resolution Against Discrimination
I sponsored a comprehensive resolution reinforcing our commitment against discrimination, including all forms of racism, antisemitism, Islamophobia, sexism, and gender discrimination. This resolution reaffirms our commitment to fostering a culture of respect and equality for every person on campus, and it empowers our educators and students to stand against all discrimination.
Campus Bathroom Safety
Safety extends beyond the classroom and into every corner of our campuses, including restrooms. We recently increased the number of campus supervisors at our schools, which allows for greater monitoring of all our facilities, so that no student should ever feel vulnerable or uncomfortable in these spaces.
Agreement with the National Conflict Resolution Center
I supported hiring the National Conflict Resolution Center to provide mediation and other support services to staff and students within our district. This partnership, called “One San Dieguito”, will help us address conflicts and disputes in a constructive and positive manner.
With these support systems in place, our schools can focus on their primary objective:
To provide the best education we can for all our students.
Goals for 2024
Swimming Pool Project at Torrey Pines High School
Not one of the ten schools in our school district has a swimming pool on campus. This puts our nearly 1,000 aquatic athletes in the difficult position of practicing and competing at rented pools at very early or very late times of day. They are the only school athletes without an on-campus facility where they practice and compete.
I have worked with the administration and the Parents Pool Committee for several years to support building at least one swimming pool. Funding is available, and the engineering and design work are complete for the Torrey Pines location. I expect this will be brought before our school board for final approval in early 2024, and I look forward to construction beginning soon after that.
Support for our New Superintendent
Dr. Anne Staffieri was hired this past spring from Escondido Union High School District and started her tenure in July. Her experience, compassion, and professionalism have already made huge positive differences. I could not be more pleased with the direction of the district under her leadership.
In closing, as your School Board Trustee, I want to assure you that I am committed to making our schools safe, inclusive, and harmonious places of learning. Peace on earth begins with each one of us, and it is our duty to instill these values in our students and communities. Together, we can create a brighter and more peaceful future for all.
Wishing you and your loved ones a peaceful and joyful holiday season.
Sincerely,
Michael Allman
School Board Trustee, San Dieguito Union High School District,
December 2023
December 17, 2023
San Dieguito creates new neutral position to investigate, resolve complaints
The position has been something Trustee Michael Allman has been working to establish since his November 2021 resolution affirming the protection of students against discrimination, harassment, intimidation and bullying. The resolution called for the creation of an ombudsman within 90 days.
Allman thanked Staffieri for bringing the position forward and his board colleagues for their support.
“This is a long time coming. I think it’s the right thing to do and I think it will dramatically help our district,” Allman said.
By Karen Billing, Del Mar Times
November 18, 2023
Education Matters: The need for conflict resolution in San Dieguito
By Marsha Sutton, North Coast Current
May 10, 2023
Longtime local educator top pick for San Dieguito schools superintendent
“I am very pleased that Dr. Anne Staffieri joined San Dieguito Union High School District as our new Superintendent on July 18, 2023. She has a distinguished career in public education, and we are very fortunate to have her as our new leader. Dr. Staffieri (a Torrey Pines High School graduate) is a proven leader with the experience to guide us in a direction of continuing academic excellence, collaboration with parents, transparency, and fiscal responsibility.” Michael Allman
August 2, 2022
San Dieguito probe finds school board trustee did not bully superintendent
By Kristen Taketa
July 29, 2022
Allman vindicated after investigation into misconduct claims
By Laura Place
https://thecoastnews.com/allman-vindicated-after-33k-investigation-into-misconduct-claims/
June 9, 2022
Opinion: Amid turmoil in San Dieguito Union schools, let’s remain focused on student success
By Michael Allman
December 27, 2021
Local school boards keep presidents in place
By Karen Billing, Del Mar Times
December 22, 2021
SDUHSD debates policies to handle violent threats on social media
https://thecoastnews.com/school-threats/
By Bill Slane, The Coast News
November 30, 2021
SDUHSD pilots program to put sensors in bathrooms to detect vaping
By Rachel Bianco, ABC 10 News, San Diego
November 29, 2021
San Dieguito district to pilot vape sensors in campus restrooms
By Karen Billing, Del Mar Times
November 23, 2021
San Dieguito board passes resolutions denouncing antisemitism, discrimination
By Karen Billing, Del Mar Times
November 10, 2021
Teachers union won’t obtain enough signatures to recall Allman
https://thecoastnews.com/teachers-union-wont-obtain-enough-signatures-to-recall-allman/
By Bill Slane, The Coast News
November 10, 2021
Recall effort for San Dieguito trustee Allman unsuccessful
By Karen Billing, Del Mar Times
EMPLOYEES OF UNION-HIRED FIRM MAKE UNFOUNDED CLAIMS IN ALLMAN RECALL EFFORT
by Bill Slane, The Coast News
November 5, 2021
ENCINITAS — From the outset, a union-led recall effort to unseat local school board member Michael Allman has been mired in conflict and controversy, spurring plenty of accusations between all parties involved.
But recently, third-party individuals hired by the San Dieguito Faculty Association to collect signatures have appeared to go off-script, claiming without evidence the San Dieguito Union High School District trustee is a closet racist and trying to put religion in schools, according to audio recordings provided to The Coast News.
Allman, who recently issued a cease and desist letter to union leadership over “falsehoods,” “misrepresentations” and “outright lies,” such as public accusations that Allman violated the Brown Act, steadfastly denies these new allegations and puts the responsibility on the union’s shoulders.
“It doesn’t matter if these people are part of a third-party firm or not, the union is responsible for the things they are saying,” Allman told The Coast News.
The San Dieguito Faculty Association, the union representing district teachers and faculty members, launched its campaign to collect signatures against Allman in August. Since then, the teachers’ union has spent $25,000 via its political action committee (PAC) to hire Burbank-based firm Method Campaign Services to aid in the collection of signatures.
Method Campaign Services in turn hired its own signature gatherers, many of whom are seemingly from outside the area and possess little knowledge of the school district or its leadership.
According to individuals who have relayed their first-hand interactions with Method’s workers to The Coast News, several of these workers have used rhetoric far outside the union’s language throughout its recall campaign.
In recordings given to The Coast News, employees can be heard claiming that Allman is a closet racist, working to bring religious teachings and taking money away from the school board.
Leilah Currah, a resident in the San Dieguito district, provided audio clips to The Coast News of her interaction with a young man outside of a grocery store in Allman’s trustee area who claimed he was paid to be there to collect signatures.
In the clips, a man says that Allman is “trying hard to put religion into schools”.
“These young men didn’t know what they were saying,” Currah said. “I just couldn’t believe what I was hearing. None of it made sense.”
Method Campaign Services was unable to immediately identify the individual.
In another clip, the same man claims that Allman is taking money away from the school district for “his own personal gain.”
The San Dieguito Faculty Association has been relatively open with the major issues they have taken with Allman, but none of these new claims made by Method’s employees are featured on the union’s website or have been publicly shared by anyone directly associated with the teachers’ union.
Both the San Dieguito Faculty Association and Method Campaign Services were unable to comment prior to publication.
Allman was elected to the seat in Trustee Area 4 of the school district last November. Since then, he has attracted the ire of some teachers, faculty and parents unhappy with how the board has operated over the past two years.
In response to Allman’s cease and desist letter, SDFA President Duncan Brown denied the notion the teachers’ union is working out of malice.
“We don’t believe his claims are true,” Brown said. “He claims we are acting out of malice, I really believe that the only one acting out of malice in this instance is him.”
The union has publicly claimed Allman violated the Brown Act, a state law limiting how the debate in school boards and city councils should take place.
However, recently a lawyer from the school district wrote a five-page opinion in response to an email received by the district making the same claims. According to the district’s lawyer, Kendall C. Swanson, of the firm Currier & Hudson, says there is no legal basis to those claims, and “at all relevant times the Board strictly adhered to and exceeded open meeting laws.”
Based on SDFA’s total number of signatures provided to The Coast News, it appears unlikely the teachers’ union will gather enough signatures to force a recall election, as it is currently well below the 5,000 verified signatures required.
October 19, 2021
SAN DIEGUITO TRUSTEE FILES CEASE AND DESIST AGAINST TEACHERS UNION, RECALL PETITIONERS
By Karen Billing, Del Mar Times
October 8, 2021
ALLMAN ISSUES CEASE AND DESIST LETTER TO TEACHERS UNION PRESIDENT
By Bill Slane
September 29, 2021
““The SDFA is bringing unnecessary and damaging conflict to our district with their attempt to recall Trustee Allman.....the SDFA is promoting abject falsehoods to achieve their political objectives.””
COMMENTARY: SUPPORT FOR TEACHERS AND ALLMAN
By District Parent Leila Currah
The Coast News
https://thecoastnews.com/commentary-support-for-teachers-and-allman/
July 14, 2021
Allman ‘ready to move forward’ with San Dieguito teachers union
Bill Slane, The Coast News
July 13, 2021
School Boards Are Losing it
Voice of San Diego
July 8, 2021
Union working to oust trustees in San Dieguito Union High School District
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufYKPNOBAGM
KUSI News
July 8, 2021
Unions Are Trying To Control San Diego Schools
https://www.sandiegonewsdesk.com/2021/07/unions-are-trying-to-control-san-diego-schools/
Will Seykora, San Diego News Desk
July 6, 2021
San Dieguito Board Members Accuse Union of Targeting Trustees
July 6, 2021
Tensions embroil San Dieguito school board, teachers union
By Bill Slane, The Coast News
July 4, 2021
Why is a San Diego Teachers Union Trying to Get Rid of Half a School Board?
Kristen Taketa, SD Union Tribune Education Reporter
June 24, 2021
Polarization in SDUHSD Reaches New Level with Investigation into Board Member
Rory Devine, NBC 7
June 11, 2021
““These people have no shame,” she (Dede Alpert) said. “Recalls are supposed to be used for a representative not performing his or her duties, not because the person won the election and your side lost.””
Education Matters: Humes ousted — wasting taxpayer money the union way
By Marsha Sutton
June 3, 2021
Letters to the Editor, Rancho Santa Fe Review
“Response to SDFA teachers union petition to recall” and “It’s time to put our students over politics”
https://www.ranchosantafereview.com/opinion/story/2021-06-04/opinion-letters-to-the-editor-june-2021
June 1, 2021
San Dieguito Union High School Board Trustee faces potential recall
https://www.kusi.com/san-dieguito-union-high-school-board-trustee-faces-potential-recall-2/
June 1, 2021
June & Joe Show: Episode 18: June & Joe's interview with San Dieguito Union High School District Trustee Michael Allman
June 1, 2021
Michael Allman Discusses the Teacher’s Union abuse of power
May 27, 2021
Michael Allman talks about the recall on KUSI
May 27, 2021
Commentary: Allman recall effort is a ‘disturbing use of power’
May 20, 2021
CCA Foundation Presents Annual Gala
May 18, 2021
CA School Board Dispute a Test Case for Teacher Union Clout
real clear politics
May 4, 2021
education matters: stop the madness
THE del mar times
By Marsha Sutton
https://www.delmartimes.net/our-columns/story/2021-05-04/education-mattersstop-the-madness
March 16, 2021
JUDGE RULES IN FAVOR OF NORTH COUNTY PARENTS SUING OVER SCHOOL REOPENING RULES
THE COAST NEWS
October 13, 2020
Amy Caterina Endorses Michael Allman for School Board
San Dieguito Union High School District Board of Trustees, Area 4
San Diego, California, October 13, 2020. Amy Caterina, Democratic candidate for the San Dieguito Union High School District, has ended her campaign and endorsed Michael Allman for School Board Trustee for Area 4.
“Today I am ending my campaign and endorsing Michael Allman for the SDUHSD Board of Trustees”, said Caterina. “The parents and students of our school district need a strong and independent voice on the Board, and Michael has the strength and experience to be that voice.”
“I look forward to working with Amy to achieve great things in our school district”, said Allman. “Amy has a wealth of experience with our district and and has earned the trust of many parents. I thank her for her endorsement, and I am proud to have her on our team.”
Education Matters: The candidate scramble at san dieguito
Marsha Sutton, October 7, 2020
In an article published in the North Coast Current, journalist Marsha Sutton highlights the interference by the teachers union in the election for SDUHSD school board trustees.
Union interference
“The San Dieguito Faculty Association (the teachers union) works hard to ensure that school board members are aligned with the union’s interests. The thought of losing two of its foremost supporters — [Area 4 Trustee] Dalessandro and Area 2 Trustee Beth Hergesheimer, who is also retiring — must be concerning for union reps.
Both longtime board members have apparently selected their replacements. Dalessandro and Hergesheimer have thrown their weight behind their choices — Jane Lea Smith for Area 4 and Katrina Young for Area 2.
Both Smith and Young have been endorsed by the teachers union, which is telling. The San Diego County Democratic Party has also endorsed both union-backed candidates. So has the usual list of suspects, many of whom simply follow recommendations from the unions and the Democratic Party.
Is it the last act of sitting board members to recruit and select their replacements? The idea of retiring and letting anyone run who wants to is apparently not something San Dieguito board members do.
Controlling one’s legacy by picking one’s own replacement just doesn’t sit well. Neither does union interference in voters’ choice of candidates.
The union likes control over the board — why wouldn’t it?
Both Dalessandro and Hergesheimer supported the 12.5% raise given under then Superintendent Rick Schmitt several years ago, a decision that was trashed by the San Diego County Taxpayers Association and one that continues to cost the district millions of general fund dollars.
They also voted to give current district Superintendent Robert Haley a raise, the day after Gov. Gavin Newsom shut down the state in March because of the coronavirus. This awkward timing meant that no members of the public were able to attend that board meeting to voice their opinions.
And with so many people losing their jobs because of the pandemic, giving a raise at that time was not just bad policy but bad optics.
The many examples of the lack of transparency and possible Brown Act violations that have occurred in the last few years under Haley’s watch and a rubber-stamp board are too numerous to list.
A teachers union that controls the school board, rather than the other way around, is an upside-down approach to just governance and does not ensure that student rights are the priority.
Furthermore, a union endorsement doesn’t give candidates the benefits it once did. People are beginning to understand that the unions represent adult interests and do not necessarily speak for all teachers — and certainly don’t speak for students.
More and more people say they will vote for whoever the union is not endorsing, so a union mailer or lawn sign could become more of a curse than a blessing.”