Part-Time Faculty United

Part-Time Faculty United-AFT at College of the Canyons
Building a better profession, a better institution and better student learning.

Media Page
This page contains articles related to Part-Time Faculty United-AFT concerning the adjunct faculty organizing drive.

The following quotes come from a story in the Santa Clarita Signal, published in an article by Judy O'Rourke about COC President Dianne Van Hook's 2005 pay raise (Santa Clarita Valley Signal, June 1, 2005):

“[Dianne Van Hook] makes more than any president in a single-college district,” said Michael Ward, president of the part-time faculty united AFT Local 6262.

“It’s questionable how students benefit from some of the highest paid administrative salaries in the community college system, when [COC's] (part-time) faculty are among the lowest,” Ward said.

The following story comes from the Los Angeles Daily News

College of the Canyons president gets $18,000 raise
By Daily News (2004 update: note that an additional 19% raise was granted to the college president in May 2004!) 

Tuesday, June 17, 2003 - 

VALENCIA -- College of the Canyons President Dianne Van Hook was granted an $18,000 raise as part of a newly approved four-year contract.

The amended agreement approved by the Santa Clarita Community College District board last week brings Van Hook's annual salary to $230,000. The term of the contract begins on July 1 and expires on June 30, 2007.

"A merit increase for Dianne is an investment in the future of College of the Canyons," board President Bruce Fortine said.

Van Hook's vision partly earned her the raise, Fortine said. Her aggressive fund raising with local businesses over the past year has brought some $7 million to the college, which has kept the institution financially sound despite impending budget cuts from state fiscal crisis, he said.

"With her foresight, we started planning for the budget shortfall probably three to four years ago," Fortine said. "We started making adjustments and doing things that would build our reserves."

Fortine also credits Van Hook with the concept of the University Center, which allows students to enroll in bachelor's degree programs on campus.

"Students can graduate from College of the Canyons and walk over to take university classes," he said. "(The raise) is a small amount. She covers that in one month alone in terms of new programs."

The following story comes from Page 1 of the Santa Clarita Valley Signal, May 16, 2003.

COC trustees deny part-timers’ request to drop appeal

By Cary Osborne
Signal Staff Writer

An I8-month battle over self-determination was prolonged Wednesday night when College of The Canyons trustees spur[n]ed a request to withdraw its appeal of an order involving its dealings with part-time instructors.

In March 2002, the Public Employment Relations Board ordered COC and the COC Faculty Association to cease and desist from recognizing the COCFA as the part-time faculty’s union.  Additionally, the court ordered the college and the association to stop encouraging part-time faculty to support one union over another.

Part-timers say the college has tried to get them to join COCFA, which is affiliated with the California Teachers Association, against their wishes.  The American Federation of Teachers informed COC in October 2001 it wanted to represent the adjunct faculty.  Instructors accuse the COCFA of being in “the pocket” of the college and say that by joining the full-timers’ union, their rights would be reduced.

COCFA President Dr. Brad Reynolds, said the allegations are untrue and said the perception stems from the fact that COCFA has maintained a good working relationship with the college administration.

Four part-timers urged the trustees Wednesday to drop the appeal so they could hold free elections and pick their union of preference.

“This is a matter of fairness, freedom of choice and democracy.  It’s that simple,” Ward said to the board.  “I would bet (the appeal) isn’t winnable,” said history instructor Michael Ward, president of Part Time Faculty United-AFT at COC—the group seeking AFT representation.

Part-timer Chuck Whitten said part-timers weren’t receiving the rights they’d have if they were represented by AFT.  For example, he said, with 20 part-time English teachers at the school, he didn’t understand how there was no room to promote some of the adjunct faculty to a full-time position.

Board member Ronald E. Gillis moved to withdraw the appeal, but the motion died for lack of a second.  Part-time English teacher Gordon Richiusa, said the move by Gillis was pre-planned, and all knew a second motion would not be made.

“They (the trustees) don’t want to present a non-unified front,” Richiusa said.  “They can’t show themselves to be against (COC President) Dianne Van Hook.”

AFT National Representative Linda Cushing said she thinks the appeal could be heard by September, but said any action will spill over into 2004.

Monday, July 22, 2002

http://chronicle.com/daily/2002/07/2002072203n.htm

American Federation of Teachers Approves Standards for Treatment of Adjuncts

By SCOTT SMALLWOOD

The American Federation of Teachers has approved a set of standards for the treatment of part-time faculty members that it hopes will improve working conditions for those at the bottom of the academic pecking order.

The union is calling for an equitable pay scale, evaluation procedures for adjuncts, a seniority system for part-timers, and compensation for office hours.

Delegates at the union's biennial convention, in Las Vegas, approved the standards on Thursday. They will be released soon in a union publication titled Standards of Good Practice in the Employment of Part-Time/Adjunct Faculty and will be available online at http://www.aft.org/higher_ed. The AFT represents more than 50,000 adjunct professors around the country.

William E. Scheuerman, an AFT vice president, said the standards would serve as a "blueprint" in talks with legislatures, governors, and university administrators. "The overuse and abuse of adjuncts has changed higher education, and unions such as ours and the institutions where our full- and part-time members teach will have to change," he said in a statement.

According to the union, 43 percent of college and university faculty members in the United States are classified as adjuncts or part-timers, compared with 33 percent a decade ago.

The standards are divided into three areas: employment, professional support, and rights in the union. Following are highlights of the standards:

Employment

Part-time faculty members should be hired under the same procedures and with the same care as other faculty members.  A probationary period should be set for the evaluation of part-timers, after which they will achieve a form of job security.  Upon completion of probation, adjunct faculty members should be placed on a seniority schedule.  Once seniority has been achieved, part-time instructors should be subject to non-reappointment only if the courses taught are not being offered or for cause, using due-process protections.  All faculty members should have the right to order their own texts and design their own courses, unless those are departmental decisions. If book selection and course design are conducted by the department, adjuncts should be included in the decision-making process.

Professional Support

After their hiring, all faculty members should receive orientation on university services, expectations, curriculums, and governance structures.  Adjuncts should have the right to express preferences on course schedules and locations.  Part-time faculty members should be supplied with office space and should have paid office hours to meet with students.  Part-time faculty members who have achieved seniority should be invited to participate in departmental meetings and other committees, with voting privileges, and should be compensated for doing so.  Part-time faculty members should be provided with secretarial and technological support, as well as access to campus libraries and other privileges afforded to full-time faculty members.  Part-time faculty members should have opportunities and financial support to participate in conferences and workshops for their professional development and should be included in their institutions' tuition-assistance programs.

Rights in the Union

Adjuncts should be granted full voting rights in the union.  Part-timers should be encouraged to enter union leadership and serve on bargaining teams and union committees.  Local unions should create mechanisms for full- and part-time faculty members to settle disputes that arise over employment, compensation, and professional responsibilities.

Source: Tuesday, June 4, 2002 edition of the Victor Valley Daily Press "High Desert" section:

State labor board jumps into union fracas
Asks court to stop VVC from forcing professors into college union

By TERI FIGUEROA/ Staff Writer

VICTORVILLE — a state labor board has asked a court to stop Victor Valley Community College from forcing part-time professors into a union the professors never voted to join.

The Public Employee Relations Board, or PERB, wants VVC to hold off its recognition of the California Teacher’s Association as the formal representative of the school’s part-time, or adjunct, professors.

The PERB complaint, filed in the Victorville Superior Court, alleges VVC encouraged part-time employees to join the CTA over the American Federation of Teachers.

In February, the VVC board of trustees unanimously approved an agreement recognizing CTA as the union representing part-time faculty.  Part-time faculty members, however, never formally voted to join the CTA.

CTA has long represented the full-timers, and addition of the school’s more than 325 adjuncts more than triples the number of employees CTA represents on the campus.

The PERB request comes at the solicitations of the AFT.  PERB is a quasi-judicial agency that oversees public sector collective bargaining in California.  The complaint is a rare move for PERB, said PERB attorney Robert Thompson.  During the last 5½ years, some 61 similar requests were filed with PERB.  Of that number, PERB granted a total of three of the requests – this case among them.

Among the court documents is a statement from PERB’s Sacramento Regional Director Les Chisolm.  He said that prior to February, he told VVC attorney Brian Cooper that adding the part-timers to CTA representation would require proof of support by the part-timers.

VVC attorney Cooper said the “district has already prevailed” on AFT’s allegations that it was kept from distributing information on campus to adjunct professors.  That’s because AFT withdrew all of those allegations, he said.

Linda Cushing, and AFT representative, said Cooper gave “the wrong characterization” of what happened.

“We did withdraw the allegations at PERB’s request to make the case simpler,” Cushing said.  “That doesn’t mean they prevailed on them.  It’s not because they didn’t happen.  We just wanted to get to the most important thing – and that is that they (VVC) signed a contract illegally forcing them into the union.”

Both sides have a stake in representing the adjunct professors.  For AFT, it gets the group officially on campus here; for CTA, it triples the size of the union’s representation at VVC.

CTA also represents teachers at 13 of 14 school districts and are members of the CTA.

There may be a reason both unions are duking it out over the part-timers now.  This year the state gave money to colleges to boost the salaries of adjunct professors.  At VVC, that extra money is about $429,000 this year.

The union would not see any of that money, but it would have bargaining power with the college’s board of trustees – bargaining power both sides have said the adjuncts need with all that extra cash flow.

And whoever represents the adjuncts will also likely see many of them join the union – and that means unions dues.

Kevin Burne is a former dean at Long Beach City College, a retired professor from California State University, San Bernardino, and now a part-time professor at VVC.  He’s been with management, a full-time professor and a part-time[r].

He does not side with either CTA or AFT in the battle over the part-timers.

However, Burne does feel strongly about one thing: He believes it would be extremely difficult for one union to objectively represent the interests of both full- and part-time professors.

That, he said, is because there are major disparities between the two factions.  Part-timers don’t get benefits, don’t have office hours, and don’t have job security.

“It’s a divided interest,” Burne said.  “Each has its own issues and each wants to present its own issue to the group making the decision for them.”

Burne also believes the part-timers were disenfranchised by not getting a shot at voting for their union representation.

“I want to tell the part-timers they’ve got a right to vote,” he said.

One of the other cases in which PERB sought the identical action is a very similar case involving CTA, AFT and College of the Canyons in Santa Clarita.  In that still-on-going case, a Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge issued a preliminary injunction against the school.

Teri Figueroa can be reached at teri_figueroa@link.freedom.com or (661) 955-5358.

Daily Press article #2:

Thursday, April 11, 2002 edition of the Daily Press

Teachers union battle heating up
Part-time VVC faculty takes legal action to stay out of union

By LEIGH MUZSLAY/Staff Writer

VICTORVILLE — Part-time Victor Valley Community College faculty members opposed to being part of the full-time faculty’s union have gone to court to stop VVC from forcing them into the union.

On Friday, the American Federation of Teachers filed a request for injunctive relief with the Public Employment Relations Board to stop VVC from forcing part-time faculty members to be represented by the full-time faculty’s union, the California Teachers Association.

“We just couldn’t get this thing solved with the administration,” AFT national representative Linda Cushing said. “They were playing games with us.”

PERB is a quasi-judicial agency that oversees public sector collective bargaining in California. The agency is investigating AFT’s request and should come back with a decision within a week, PERB representatives said.

In February, the VVC board of trustees unanimously approved an agreement recognizing CTA as the union for part-time faculty. Part-time faculty members, however, never voted to join the CTA.

“This is not a battle of unions, this is a battle of choice,” part-time faculty member Arlene Iftiger said. “We should be the ones that choose. It shouldn’t be chosen for us. If the district had handled things properly there probably wouldn’t have been any fuss.”

Iftiger said she loves working at the college, but would like to see a union in place to bargain for higher pay and seniority rights for part-time faculty.

AFT initially filed an unfair practice charge against VVC on Nov. 29, alleging that the college tried to deny AFT access to faculty members. AFT updated that charge Wednesday to include the February events.

Both unions have accused the other of fighting to gain access to new state money aimed at raising part-time faculty pay. Unions wouldn’t see any of the money, but it would be a powerful bargaining chip.

Plus, union dues for up to 325 members would quickly add up.

PERB recently filed for a court injunction in similar case involving College of the Canyons in Santa Clarita. In both cases, CTA represented the full-time faculty, and the college district voted to modify the CTA contract to include part-time faculty. AFT filed for injunctive relief in both cases.

“There are differences,” PERB General Counsel Robert Thompson said.

The key, he said, will be figuring out whether the cases are similar enough to merit the same response from PERB.

Leigh Muzslay can be reached at leigh_muzslay@link.freedom.com or (661) 951-6234.

Abstract:

Despite felony charges of grand theft and misappropriation of funds, a former 
Hollywood school principal and her husband cannot legally be removed from 
their seats on respective Santa Clarita school boards unless convicted, 
authorities said Tuesday.

Gloria E. Mercado, former principal at Le Conte Middle School, and her 
husband, business consultant Bruce D. Fortine, were each charged Friday by the Los 
Angeles County district attorney's office with one count of misappropriation of 
public funds by a public official and one count of grand theft embezzlement.
Mercado, 46, is a board member for the William S. Hart Union High School 
District, and Fortine, 61, is a trustee for the Santa Clarita Community College 
District.

Full Text: (Copyright, The Times Mirror Company; Los Angeles Times 1999 all Rights reserved)

Despite felony charges of grand theft and misappropriation of funds, a former Hollywood school principal and her husband cannot legally be removed from their seats on respective Santa Clarita school boards unless convicted, authorities said Tuesday. 

Gloria E. Mercado, former principal at Le Conte Middle School, and her husband, business consultant Bruce D. Fortine, were each charged Friday by the Los Angeles County district attorney's office with one count of misappropriation of public funds by a public official and one count of grand theft embezzlement. 

Mercado, 46, is a board member for the William S. Hart Union High School District, and Fortine, 61, is a trustee for the Santa Clarita Community College District. 

"We will continue conducting business," said Sue Bozman, a spokeswoman for the college district. "Our whole system of justice is 'innocent until proven guilty.' " The case, Bozman said, involves the Los Angeles Unified School District, and "does not involve us in any way." 

Ron Gillis, president of the five-member college district, concurred. 

"Mr. Fortine has been an exceptionally good board member," he said. "I do not see that changing." 

Fortine said Tuesday he and his wife have received "overwhelming support" 
from friends and colleagues. 

"Nobody's resigning," Fortine said, declining to discuss the case further. "We've had this hanging over our heads for a while, and it's been very wearing. But it will not affect our work [on the boards], which is the greatest work to do." 

In July, the L.A. Unified's auditor office forwarded the results of an investigation alleging a scheme in which Fortine was a "ghost employee" at Le Conte Middle School, receiving more than $10,000 for work never performed. 

Fortine and Mercado, whose pay was cut when she was recently reassigned to a district desk job downtown, have denied any wrongdoing. They said the accusations were part of a teachers' union effort to ruin Mercado's 23-year career, a claim union officials have denied. 

Mercado and Fortine are scheduled to be arraigned Jan. 6 in Los Angeles Municipal Court. They face four years in state prison if convicted. 

In the Hart school district, Supt. Robert Lee said the board sought legal counsel regarding the allegations against Mercado. 

"Obviously, when we first heard, we were surprised and shocked," Lee said. "But we will sit tight and wait and see." 

Mercado was named as the board's vice president Tuesday night during an induction ceremony. The charges against her were not discussed at the meeting. "I would like to talk with Gloria," new board President Dennis King said earlier Tuesday. "The concept of misappropriation of public funds is serious and it concerns me. But she has said [the allegations] are a result of enemies getting back at her. I really don't know." 

Former Hart school board President John Hassel said the charges have hurt Mercado, who once served as a board member for the Castaic Union School District. 

"All elements of credibility are gone," Hassel said. "All elements of public trust are gone." 

Abstract:

A former Hollywood school principal and her husband have been charged with grand theft and misappropriating funds, both felonies, in an alleged scheme to pay him as a "ghost employee" for work that was never done, the Los Angeles 
County district attorney's office confirmed Monday.  Gloria E. Mercado, former principal at Le Conte Middle School, and her husband, business consultant Bruce D. Fortine, were each charged on Friday with one count of misappropriation of public funds by a public official and one count of grand theft embezzlement, district attorney's spokeswoman Victoria Pipkin 
said.  Fortine is a trustee for the Santa Clarita Community College District, and Mercado, 46, sits on the William S. Hart Union High School District board.

Full Text: (Copyright, The Times Mirror Company; Los Angeles Times 1999 all Rights reserved)

A former Hollywood school principal and her husband have been charged with grand theft and misappropriating funds, both felonies, in an alleged scheme to pay him as a "ghost employee" for work that was never done, the Los Angeles County district attorney's office confirmed Monday. 

Gloria E. Mercado, former principal at Le Conte Middle School, and her husband, business consultant Bruce D. Fortine, were each charged on Friday with one count of misappropriation of public funds by a public official and one count of grand theft embezzlement, district attorney's spokeswoman Victoria Pipkin said. 

"Essentially, we are alleging that Gloria Mercado hired her husband . . . and that he did not perform the work for which he was paid," Pipkin said. 

"If convicted, they are both facing four years in state prison." 

Fortine, 61, said the charges were not unexpected because "the district advised us they were taking it forward" to the district attorney for review. 

"We weren't surprised, but we've been advised by the district and the attorneys not to make any comment." 

Fortine also said the charges would not prevent the couple from continuing to serve on their respective suburban school boards in the fast-growing Santa Clarita area, where they live. 

Fortine is a trustee for the Santa Clarita Community College District, and Mercado, 46, sits on the William S. Hart Union High School District board. 

"Innocent until proven guilty," Fortine said. 

In July, when the Los Angeles Unified School District's auditor forwarded the results of his investigation to the district attorney's office, Mercado was removed from daily operations at Nimitz Middle School in Huntington Park, where she had become principal. 

She was demoted to the status of secondary school teacher, though she was reassigned to a desk job in a downtown office. 

Her pay was cut more than 40%, to $57,956. 

In earlier interviews with The Times, Mercado and Fortine denied any wrongdoing and said the allegations were part of a teachers union effort to ruin Mercado's 23-year career. 

Specifically, Mercado and Fortine characterized the assertions as retribution against Mercado for helping to prosecute a former union representative at Le Conte for child molestation. That person pleaded guilty to four counts of molestation in 1997 and was sentenced to prison. 

Mercado also said that district policy at the time discouraged but did not prohibit administrators from hiring relatives. 

"We have no interest in ruining her career," said Day Higuchi, president of the 40,000-member United Teachers-Los Angeles union. 

Mercado and Fortine are scheduled to be arraigned in Los Angeles Municipal Court on Jan. 6. 

Mercado was Le Conte's principal from Aug. 16, 1993, to June 30, 1998. 

Records show that during that time, Fortine received $10,600 for serving as an "integration helper" and later as a "school supervision aide." 

The records also show that Fortine received a $1,100 check for helping with overflow parking at Le Conte created by a series of shows by entertainer RuPaul at nearby KTLA-TV studios. 

Mercado signed the check, which was drawn on student body funds and dated May 27, 1998, only days before Fortine resigned from his job with the district and the couple got married. 

Mercado said she had no discretion with regard to issuing that check because the money was donated by KTLA's corporate owner for the parking services, which were provided in part after school hours. 

Her attorney, Stephen Fleishman, said Monday that he had not seen the charges but was "stunned that there could possibly be any basis for a criminal filing at all, particularly when you take into consideration the fact that these alleged acts of wrongdoing were communicated on Dec. 18 of 1998 to the D.A.'s office." 

D.A. Inquiry Targets Former L.A. Unified Principal 
The Los Angeles Times; Los Angeles, Calif.; Aug 27, 1999; RALPH FRAMMOLINO

Abstract:

The Los Angeles County district attorney's special investigations division is looking into financial transactions involving Gloria E. Mercado, former principal at Le Conte Middle School, and her husband, business consultant Bruce D. Fortine, the district attorney's office confirmed Thursday.  Meanwhile, the district has removed Mercado from daily operations at Nimitz Middle School in Huntington Park, where she had become principal. She was demoted July 1 to the status of secondary school teacher, although she is currently working at a desk job in a downtown office. The demotion cut her pay more than 40%, to $57,956.

Both deny any wrongdoing and say the allegations have been part of a teachers union campaign to wreck Mercado's 23-year career. Mercado said Thursday that she was unaware of any criminal probe.

Full Text: (Copyright, The Times Mirror Company; Los Angeles Times 1999 all Rights reserved)

A Los Angeles Unified principal, who was demoted last month, is under criminal investigation for hiring her now-husband and another relative at her Hollywood middle school, records and interviews show. 

The Los Angeles County district attorney's special investigations division is looking into financial transactions involving Gloria E. Mercado, former principal at Le Conte Middle School, and her husband, business consultant Bruce D. Fortine, the district attorney's office confirmed Thursday. 

"We have it under review, but we're not going to discuss the details at this time," said spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons. "We do anticipate an announcement soon." 

Meanwhile, the district has removed Mercado from daily operations at Nimitz Middle School in Huntington Park, where she had become principal. She was demoted July 1 to the status of secondary school teacher, although she is currently working at a desk job in a downtown office. The demotion cut her pay more than 40%, to $57,956. 

Mercado, 46, and Fortine, 61, are a prominent couple in Santa Clarita. She sits on the William S. Hart Union High School District board, and he is a trustee for the Santa Clarita Community College District. 

Both deny any wrongdoing and say the allegations have been part of a teachers union campaign to wreck Mercado's 23-year career. Mercado said Thursday that she was unaware of any criminal probe. 

"I have no idea about any investigation," she said. "I have not been contacted" by the district attorney's office. Mercado and her husband say they are fighting the district over her demotion and will have an arbitration hearing on the subject in January. 

L.A. Unified spokesman Erik Nasarenko confirmed Thursday that the district attorney is investigating Mercado but declined to say if the allegations prompted her demotion. 

"The school district will fully cooperate with the district attorney's office and provide any assistance it will require," he said. 

Mercado served as Le Conte's principal from Aug. 16, 1993, through June 30, 1998. During that time, records show, her sister was hired as a clerk in the front office, and more than $17,000 was paid to the sister's husband and Fortine for work as part-time aides. 

In all, Fortine received $10,600 for being an "integration helper" and later a "school supervision aide," district records show. 

Among the payments: a $1,100 check Fortine received for helping with overflow parking at Le Conte created by a series of entertainer Ru Paul's shows at nearby KTLA Studios. Records show that Mercado signed the check, which was drawn on student body funds and dated May 27, 1998--days before Fortine resigned from the district and the couple married. 

The investigation began after some Le Conte teachers and employees came forward with accusations that Fortine and Mercado's brother-in-law, Richard Garcia, rarely worked as supervision aides during school hours. The employees also raised questions about thousands of dollars in computer equipment Mercado bought through Garcia's company, Genos Computers. 

"Different people at our school began to see pieces of what she was doing," said Charles Toots, Le Conte's math department chairman and United Teachers-Los Angeles representative on campus. 

"For instance, the school financial officer saw the computer transactions, and for some reason that triggered a red flag to him. The office manager was aware of the time-reporting anomalies, so she provided that piece," he said Thursday. "It was very clear that something was going on." 

Toots said he reported the suspicions to district officials in late June 1998, triggering an internal investigation. Records show that on July 1, 1998, the district made Mercado principal at Nimitz, a promotion that paid her $103,635 a year. 

When the internal probe appeared to stall earlier this year, union attorney Jesus Quinonez said, he met with the district attorney's staff. Mercado was transferred from Nimitz on Feb. 19 to a desk job at the instructional technology division. 

In a previous interview with The Times, Mercado and Fortine characterized the allegations as baseless and as part of a union campaign to retaliate against Mercado for helping prosecute a former union representative at Le Conte for child molestation. The person pleaded guilty to four counts of molestation in 1997 and was sentenced to prison. 

"The situation with the child molester was big news. The union was very unhappy . . . because one of their players got nailed. And nailed big," Fortine said. 

Mercado also said district policy at the time discouraged but didn't bar administrators from hiring relatives. Furthermore, she said, hiring talented relatives has been a common practice at the district. 

She said Fortine, in particular, was instrumental in setting up a computer lab, forging partnerships with KTLA and Paramount Studios, managing various cleanup projects, building a school Web site and helping arrange for a show to celebrate Le Conte's 75th anniversary. 

The $8 an hour that Fortine and Garcia, who also worked on computers, received was far less than they were worth, she added. "These people were making peanuts," she said. "They were doing me a favor." 

A source familiar with the district attorney's inquiry said the office is not probing the purchase of the computers from Garcia's firm. 

Garcia said Thursday that he has shut down the firm and now works full time for an insurance company. He confirmed that he worked at Le Conte part time but said he was unaware that the district classified him as a supervision aide. 

"My intention was to provide repair work on the computers, setup, software installation, and to work on their tech lab that was being built at the time," he said. He put in the hours he was paid for, he said, and "the work I did was well worth the $8 an hour." 

As for the $1,100 check, Mercado said she had no discretion in the matter because the money was donated specifically by KTLA's corporate owner for the parking services, which were provided in part after school hours. 

"They gave that check to the student body {fund}," she said. "They said, 'This is how much we're giving in donations for your use, and then this is how much for the person doing supervising for the parking.' " 
 

Additional articles will be posted here in the coming weeks.