The Brief

The multipurpose room, or MPR, is a standard feature of California schools — a big, often drab room where you can stage a play or a science fair.

But the MPR at what used to be Bernardo Yorba Middle School in Yorba Linda was converted last fall into a high-tech gym. Brand new training equipment lines the walls — seven of the machines cost more than $10,000 each, according to invoices reviewed by LAist.

Next door, the "recovery center" has plush recliners equipped with red-light therapy. During a recent visit, a high school wrestler named Max kicked back in one of the chairs after a workout, wearing compression boots, retail price $800.

“ It makes your body feel, like, recovered,” he told me, adding that it’s “kinda like a massage.”

What's this place all about?

It's called the Universal Sports Institute. It's a free, public school program for students in grades three through 12 — part of the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District. Its students are homeschooled through the district's independent study program, which gets state funding for each student, and then go to the Universal Sports Institute, to work with professional trainers. The school facilities have been converted for use by the sports institute and an adjacent computer science charter school.

Superintendent Alex Cherniss was the brainchild behind the program, which started last fall.

“Like many districts in California, we've been struggling with enrollment,” Cherniss told me after I visited the sports institute in December. “And so I got to thinking, well, maybe this is a way to keep our kids, but also maybe to attract kids from all over.”

As California’s population ages, there are fewer students attending public school. That creates a big budget problem for some school districts — they get state funding based on the number of kids they serve.

Enrollment decline

Actual and projected changes in enrollment at Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District, all pointing to a continued decline.

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Over the past decade, Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified has enrolled around 400 fewer students each year on average — a loss of millions of dollars annually.

That might just be a demographic reality. But Cherniss thinks at least some of those kids are going to private or charter schools, or homeschooling, which gives them a more flexible schedule.

“Athletics, in general, right now is becoming much more specialized,” he said, “and so there are a lot of kids that train all day and do homeschool. So if you're going to do that, why not do it through us?”

But the sports institute, like many school issues in recent years, has divided this well-to-do O.C. community. And its future, in the face of a district budget deficit, is uncertain.

Photos: A look inside the Universal Sports Institute

The Universal Sports Institute is an educational and sports performance program within the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District.

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The sports institute is in the multipurpose room of a former middle school.

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Some of the equipment at the institute costs $10,000 per machine.

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Lorely Meza

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The institute opened in the fall, and about 100 children are enrolled.

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Critics have demanded more transparency about the contracts and services behind the institute.

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The institute was the brainchild of a school district superintendent who is now on indefinite leave pending an internal investigation.

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School district staffers estimate the sports program will end the year about $1 million in the hole.

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School leaders say they hope to double enrollment and make the institute's equipment available to more students in the school district.

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Lorely Meza

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Universal Sports Institute

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Students work out at the institute.

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Enrollment in Orange County K-12 schools has been declining since 2003.

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The idea behind the Universal Sports Institute was to try to boost enrollment in the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District.

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Lorely Meza

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A new controversy, on top of many

In recent years, the Placentia-Yorba Linda district has become a battleground in the culture wars and a focus of the so-called parental rights movement. The district was one of the first in California to ban the teaching of critical race theory, in 2022. They were also among the first to establish a parental notification policy, in 2023.

The sports institute is the latest target of the infighting. Critics have demanded more transparency about the contracts and services behind the project.

They say the sports institute was an overly expensive vanity project pushed by Cherniss and the former school board majority. That majority lost its dominance in the November election, and shortly afterwards, Cherniss was put on indefinite leave pending an internal investigation. Neither Cherniss nor district leaders responded to LAist’s questions about the leave.

Now, having lost its principal backer, the sports institute is facing tough questions.

Currently, there are only about a hundred kids enrolled, and district staff estimate the program will end this year about $1 million in the hole. School leaders hope to double the number of enrollees in the program next year, and they say they’re working to make the equipment and training opportunities available to more students in the district, beyond those enrolled in the sports institute.

In this December 2024 workout session, students at the Universal Sports Institute held a plank position while balancing wooden poles on their backs as trainers looked on, evaluating their progress.

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At a recent meeting, school board members argued over how they might get more bang for their buck out of the red light therapy chairs.

“ We can spread them out to all, one to each high school,” suggested board president Marilyn Anderson, who’s been critical of the sports institute’s rollout.

“You cannot move those; they're not portable,” shot back trustee Leandra Blades, one of the school’s chief cheerleaders.

“It was moved there in the first place. It can be moved to facilitate students,” Anderson started before being cut off by Blades’ board ally, Todd Frazier.

“So you’re trying to dismantle USI,” Frazier accused Anderson, referring to the school by its acronym.

The problem of declining enrollment

California’s Department of Finance predicts that half a million fewer kids will be enrolled in K-12 schools across the state within a decade. That’s mostly because fertility rates have declined and more families with children move out of the state than move in.

In Orange County, K-12 enrollment peaked in 2003 and has been on a steady decline ever since, according to finance department data.

The pandemic also led many families to abandon public schools — some because of their disagreement with masking policies or their children’s difficulty with distance learning, others because of health reasons or family struggles.

Some Southern California districts have had to make tough budget choices in recent years to manage the declining state revenue that comes with each student — in 2023, Baldwin Park Unified closed two elementary schools, and Ocean View School District, which covers parts of Huntington Beach and surrounding cities, closed one middle school after initially considering closing an additional three elementary schools.

Against this backdrop, districts across the state have been expanding their offerings — dual language immersion programs, performing arts schools, coding academies — in an effort to keep the students they have and attract new ones.

Is it up to schools to boost enrollment?

UCLA education professor John Rogers is skeptical of the idea that school districts should be spending time and money developing and promoting new products, like an elite sports institute, to try and combat enrollment declines.

“School districts really were not created with the understanding that it was their responsibility to market to members of the community the same way that Walmart or other businesses do,” he said. (Placentia-Yorba Linda spent $7,500 to advertise the Universal Sports Institute at John Wayne Airport during a four-week period last year.)

“ Schools and school districts are in place because they're serving a public good,” Rogers said. “ I don't think that the state should put the onus on school districts for resolving all of these broader issues of demographic change.”

On the other hand, proponents of the so-called school choice movement, which includes promoting vouchers whereby families can use public funds to pay for private school, say the competition forces public schools to improve their offerings.

“ Education's changing. Let's create new programs that excite families,” said Cherniss, the former Placentia-Yorba Linda superintendent. “We could do nothing and not try new things and not invest in programs like this and, you know, there'd be no innovation. So there's some risk here.”

Max, a high school wrestler, recovers after training at the Universal Sports Institute with compression boots on his legs.

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The sports institute’s future

The Placentia-Yorba Linda school board is set to discuss budget cuts, including, potentially, to the Universal Sports Institute, at its next meeting on April 8. Already, the program has made preliminary staffing cuts, USI director Taylor Holloway told the board at their February meeting.

“We understand it’s our responsibility to operate more conservatively going forward,” Holloway said.

The uncertainty makes parent Heather Sargeant nervous. She said her two boys have thrived at the sports institute — one hopes to play volleyball at a Division 1 college, the other is a serious soccer player.

“As a former athlete myself, I would've absolutely died for an opportunity like this,” Sargeant said. “And I'm sure most families are in the same boat as us where we can't afford to send our children to a private sports institute. And so the fact that a public school was offering something like this … it was something we really wanted to try for our family.”

Sargeant said she’d like to see the sports institute be accessible to more families — she said the school has been especially convenient for them because they live nearby, her boys can ride their scooters to campus, and she’s a stay-at-home mom.

“ I think every parent's dream is to give their kids whatever they possibly can,” she said. “And so because of that, I would love for schools like this, whether it's for theater, whether it's for arts, for STEM, for sports, would be accessible to more kids.”

Other schools in Orange County are trying to cater to sports-focused families, but not necessarily at the same cost. Fullerton Unified School District also started an elite sports program last fall.

Student athletes take their core classes on campus and work with an outside trainer in the afternoon in lieu of PE and one of their electives.

The district lends its fields at Parks Junior High for training, and scholarships are available, but otherwise families are responsible for paying for the athletic part of their kids’ day.

As a result, that program costs the school district next to nothing.

Topline:

The case: In September, the city settled a lawsuit brought forward by two brothers in their 70s who said they suffered serious injuries after an LAPD officer crashed into their car. Days before the $18 million settlement was reached, lawyers for the brothers said Feldstein Soto called an expert witness testifying for the plaintiffs and “attempted to ingratiate herself with him and asked him to make a contribution to her political campaign,” according to a sworn declaration to the court by the plaintiffs’ attorney, Robert Glassman.

The response: Feldstein Soto did not respond to an interview request. Her spokesperson said the settlement “had nothing to do” with the expert witness. Her campaign manager told LAist the city attorney had been making a routine fundraising call and did not know the person had a role in the case, nor that there were pending requests for her office to pay him fees.

What Jurado says: In a statement to LAist, Jurado said she wants to “make sure that the city’s legal leadership is guided by integrity and accountability, especially when their choices affect public trust, civic rights and the city’s limited resources."

What’s next: The motion needs to go through a few committees before reaching the full City Council. If it passes, the motion calls for the city attorney to “report to council in closed session within 45 days regarding the ethics breach violation and give updates to the City Council."

Every year in Santa Ana, Luis Cantabrana turns the front of his home into an elaborate altar in honor of La Virgen de Guadalupe that draws hundreds of visitors.

Along the front of the house, the multi-colored altar is filled with lights, flowers and a stained-glass tapestry behind a sculpture of the Lady of Guadalupe. Cantabrana’s roof also is lit up with the green, white and red lights that spell out “Virgen de Guadalupe” and a cross.

Visitors are welcomed with music and the smell of roses as they celebrate the saint, but this year’s gathering comes after a dark year for immigrant communities.

Luis Cantabrana stands in front of the stunning altar he built in front of his home in honor of La Virgen de Guadalupe. Every year, his display draws hundreds of visitors.

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Why do they celebrate? 

In 1513, the Virgin Mary appeared before St. Juan Diego between Dec. 9 and Dec. 12, asking him to build a church in her honor. Her image — a brown-skinned woman wearing a green veil with her hands together in prayer and an angel at her feet — miraculously appeared on his cloak.

To celebrate in Santa Ana, worshippers gathered late-night Wednesday and in the very early hours Dec. 12 to pray the rosary, sing hymns and celebrate the saint.

Cantabrana has hosted worshippers at his home for 27 years — 17 in Santa Ana.

The altar started out small, he said, and over the years, he added a fabric background, more lights and flowers (lots and lots of flowers).

“It started with me making a promise to la Virgen de Guadalupe that while I had life and a home to build an altar, that I would do it,” Cantabrana said. “Everything you see in photos and videos is pretty, but when you come and see it live, it's more than pretty. It's beautiful.”

The Santa Ana home's elaborate altar in honor of La Virgen de Guadalupe draws hundreds of visitors each year.

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Gathering in a time of turmoil 

Many also look to the Lady of Guadalupe for protection, especially at a time when federal enforcement has rattled immigrant communities.

“People don’t want to go to work, they don’t want to take their kids to school, but the love we have for our Virgen de Guadalupe,” Cantabrana said. “We see that la Virgen de Guadalupe has a lot of power, and so we know immigration [enforcement] won’t come here.”

Margarita Lopez of Garden Grove has been visiting the altar for three years with her husband. She’s been celebrating the Virgencita since she was a young girl. Honoring the saint is as important now as ever, she said.

“We ask, and she performs miracles,” Lopez said.

Claudia Tapia, a lifelong Santa Ana resident, said the Virgin Mary represents strength.

“Right now, with everything going on, a lot of our families [have] turned and prayed to the Virgen for strength during these times,” Tapia said. “She's a very strong symbol of Mexican culture, of unity, of faith and of resilience.”

See it for yourself

The shrine will stay up into the new year on the corner of Broadway and Camile Street.

California’s unemployment agency kept paying cellphone bills for 4 1/2 years without checking whether its workers actually were using the devices.

That’s how it racked up $4.6 million in fees for mobile devices its workers were not using, according to a new state audit detailing wasteful spending at several government agencies.

The Employment Development Department’s excessive cellphone bills date to the COVID-19 pandemic, when it shifted call center employees to remote work and faced pressure to release benefits to millions of suddenly unemployed Californians.

It acquired 7,224 cellphones and wireless hotspots by December 2020. State auditors analyzed 54 months of invoices since then and found half the devices were unused for at least two years, 25% were unused for three years and 99 of them were never used at all.

The investigation, which auditors opened after receiving a tip, identified 6,285 devices that were unused for at least four consecutive months, and said the department spent $4.6 million on monthly service fees for them.

From the beginning, the department had about 2,000 more cellphones than call center employees, according to the audit. The gap widened over time after the pandemic ended and the department’s staffing returned to its normal headcount.

As of April, the audit said the department had 1,787 unemployment call center employees, but was paying monthly service fees for 5,097 mobile devices.

“Although obtaining the mobile devices during COVID-19 may have been a good idea to serve the public, continuing to pay the monthly service fees for so many unused devices, especially post-COVID-19, was wasteful,” the audit said.

Department officials told auditors they were unaware of the spending, but auditors pointed to regular invoices from Verizon that showed which phones were not being used.

“We would have expected EDD management to have reconsidered the need to pay the monthly service fees for so many devices that had no voice, message, or data usage,” the audit said.

The unemployment department began acting on the auditors’ findings in April, when it canceled service plans for 2,825 devices. It has since implemented a policy to terminate service plans for devices that go unused for 90 days.

The California state auditor highlighted the mobile devices in its regular report on “improper activities by state agencies and employees.” The audit also showed that the California Air Resources Board overpaid an employee who was on extended leave as he prepared to retire by $171,000.

This article was originally published on CalMatters and was republished under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license.