Gonella: Ravenswood spent too much money on attorneys Gonella: Ravenswood spent too much money on attorneys (March 12, 2003)

Superintendent says district could have saved millions on special-education lawsuit; fires legal team

by Francine Miller & Julie Patel

The Ravenswood School District has spent roughly $2.2 million each year in legal fees when it could have spent just $35,000 on county attorneys, Superintendent Floyd Gonella said last week.

The revelation has prompted Gonella to fire the Atlanta-based Weatherly Law Firm, which represented Ravenswood in a well-publicized special-education lawsuit. The district will now turn to the San Mateo County Counsel for legal services.

"I'm not going to pay them (the original attorneys) their last $150,000," said Gonella, who called their legal fees "exorbitant."

Three years ago, Ravenswood had 15 percent in surplus funds, but that figure has now dropped to less than .33 percent of their budget. According to Gonella, 60 percent of those expenditures were fees related to the lawsuit, which was brought against the district in 1996.

Lawyers were hired by the previous administration after parents of disabled students sued the school district and the state for failing to improve their special-education program.

When asked whether the district should have capped spending sooner, Gonella replied, "You would think so."

According to the state's education department, school districts are legally required to maintain 3 percent of their budget in reserves.

In an effort to cut spending, Ravenswood has started to issue provisional pink slips to teachers and administrators throughout the district.

"This is something every superintendent dreads doing," said Gonella, as he signed letters one after another, notifying teachers there may not be a job for them come September.

According to Gonella, Ravenswood teachers are the lowest paid in San Mateo County. They haven't received a raise in the past two years and won't be getting one this year, he said.

"We have good teachers, good programming but unfortunately no money," he said.

State officials will meet with the district next Saturday to discuss whether it can pay what Ravenswood owes for settlement of the special education suit.

The state may be forced to take over the district and issue a loan if Ravenswood can't find the money.

A version of this story was published Saturday on PaloAltoOnline.com