The Adolescents' Lead Singer Fights For His Kid

By Lina Lecaro Thu., Aug. 30 2012 at 9:01 AM

Tony Brandenburg speaks at the Pasadena School District's public board meeting Tuesday night

For the past two years, Tony Brandenburg -- lead singer of seminal Fullerton punk band The Adolescents -- and his wife have been caught in a struggle with their community school board and parents from Sierra Madre School in Sierra Madre (part of Pasadena Unified School District), whom they claim discriminated against their Autistic son.

On Tuesday night the Brandenburgs rallied several dozen friends and supporters together at the Pasadena School District's public board meeting, many holding signs and some in ski masks. They called for a censure of Board of Education Vice President Edward Honowitz, who they believe violated policy and conspired with other parents at their son's school, resulting in his removal from his first grade classroom last year, and again this term for second grade. Their son suffers from sensory processing disorder, a neurological problem associated with Autism, that results in confusion and distress in those afflicted when overstimulated.

Earlier this year the couple called, in vain, for an investigation of Honowitz, whom they also believe held secret meetings with parents of their son's classmates. They say he has also altered and withheld documents relating to their son's education, including a petition signed by other parents citing him as a classroom distraction and requesting his removal. The Brandenburgs allege that no one worked with them to learn about his disorder or how to deal with it, and that their son has been bullied by other kids at the urging of their parents and with the approval of Honowitz.

Honowitz maintains that he has not violated protocol; as he told the Sierra Madre Patch in January:

Every action that I took was certainly in accordance with ensuring the confidentially that all parents are accorded under law and was appropriate in relation to the issues that were at the school site.

Though it remains to be seen what the board will do next, the Brandenbergs' protest has helped publicize some complex issues pertaining to special needs kids. Autism websites have been covering the story closely and the family has garnered a great deal of support on Facebook. Kelly's Army, the protest group that sprang up after the Fullerton Police beat and killed homeless Fullerton man Kelly Thomas, were at yesterday's protest and have pledged to help the family's cause.

Meanwhile Mary Brandenburg says her son, now 8, continues to be ostracized. "Because of these parents and the pressure they've exerted, my son was isolated in the special classroom all of last year. He couldn't go to recess with his age peers, nor was he ever mainstreamed into the general classes," she says. She adds that she plans to work with the school's principal to get him back into a general ed class.

The other parents involved in this conflict have voiced their concerns about the situation -- using words like "mainstreaming" and "meltdowns" -- on the Sierra Madre Patch, where the Brendenburgs blog regularly. The back and forth...

Tags:

Edward Honowitz, Pasadena Unified School District, Sierra Madre School, The Adolescents, Tony Brandenburg, Tony Cadena

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flopflip138

that's some pretty heady stuff for an eavesdropper in this thread.

flopflip138

lollipoptheif

eyeonthings

I was conducting research 3 years ago at the Los Angeles City Clerk's office when I noticed an odd phenomenon.

While studying photocopies of motions passed by the Council Subommittee on Housing, I became perplexed at the placement of Councilmember Herb Wesson's signature.

The final page of a council motion will usually consist of a partial page of text (the last paragraph or sentences of the motion) followed by signature lines with a councilmembers name typed in below.

Garcetti, Huizar or whoever signed their name in the designated space.

But Wesson might sign over the signature line or completely below it or below and oriented 45 deg. or 90 deg to the signature line or even above the signature line and into the body of the text.

Why was it so difficult for Councilmember Wesson to sign a motion in the designated space??

Does he refuse to look at the signature page even just to find the correct spot to place the the point of his pen and begin signing?

Maybe that is the explanation.

I developed my own unsubstantiated hypothesis to account for randomness in the Wesson signature placement.

I think Wesson took a stack of blank council stationary and wrote his signature once on each sheet but varied the placement on the page. I believe the sheets of paper (empty except for the signature) were then kept by Council President Garcetti.

In the interest of efficiency, a motion could be passed out of subcommittee without delay if Herb Wesson wasn't available when the signature page was ready for signing.

The subcommittee secretary could select from the Wesson signed blanks estimating the one which could land Wesson's signature as close as possible to the designated signature line. This sheet could then be used to type up the original copy of the final page of text and signature lines.

lollipoptheif

philipmershon abramsrl

sorry to break the bad news so belatedly but -

6 months after President Obama took office he submitted a statutory 30 day notification to Congress that the Inspector General for the Sacramento region would be removed from his position.

Inpector General positions are usually not subject to involvement by the administration. They are not prosecutors. Their reports and recommendations are advisory in nature.

It seems that President Obama himself was issuing a strong advisory concerning the I.G.'s desire to report an Mayor Johnson's foundations and funding.

The bigger picture:

during the Obama Presidency, apple carts operated by Democrat crooks shall remain untouched, unfettered and escorted directly to the express lane.

lollipoptheif

WarrenSoCal

You may want to reconsider your criticism of the L.A. City Council.

Why not show a little gratitude even if nobody was listening to your input, the council had the nobility to afford you the opportunity to present your input before them.

The City Council could have chosen to forego wasting any of their time not listening to you.

A councilmember may submit a Rule 23 motion for vote when in session. If the Rule 23 passes, the council permits itself to take final vote on the underlying motion even though it was not on the days agenda at the start of the session.

If you just happen to be in Council chambers during an open session when a Rule 23 is proposed and passed, then you have the fortuitous opportrunity to offer your 60 or 120 seconds of input.

Otherwise, you are out of luck. The council must be able to act quickly on urgent items brought to their attention after the agenda was set.

The Rule 23 Motion certifies the validity of those circumstances. The explanation provided by the Rule 23 Motion need not be rational or verifiable or correct. All it needs is the votes to pass.

Councilmember Huizar used a Rule 23 motion for the City Council to give $495,000 to GTWT in order to purchase the real estate parcel adjoined to the south of the city owned property containing the former LAPD Hollenbeck Station.

Councilmember Huizar may call it a loan and may direct the Controller to draw up a payment schedule; however a non-recourse note unsecured to any underlying collateral is subject to repayment at the discretion of the borrower.

According to the payment schedule for the GTWT note of $495,000. all principal and interest payments are now completed and past. Ask Jose Huizar and Eric Garcetti where we can find the first dime.

flopflip138

1 Like

you are a funny guy lollibob thief. tell me, what interest does a guy who is primarily concerned with law enforcement as it pertains to property law have in a situation about a little boy forced out of his neighborhood school by a group of parent bullies and a meeting they had with ED HONOWITZ three months after the boy last attended class? do tell.

lollipoptheif

How do they expect their kid to grow up when his parents are still acting like adolescents?

injunctioneer

@lollipoptheif , I'd rather see the kid's parents maintain the freedom of thought of youth, rather than the mob mentality of hate, bias and bigotry those parents showed when they targeted their son. Perchance are you married to Edugreat/Louis?

honesty3

1 Like

As Mary and Tony are aware I had similar and in some ways worse experiences with PUSD and it's Board of Education. I never returned my son to school and had to endure several nasty legal battles with PUSD ultimately resulting in the PUSD settling with me and my son schooled outside of the District. I continue to help other parents the horror stories continue. Until the PUSD changes its ways Parents must advocate as the Brandenburgs have done. Our children are worth fighting for and deserve all that is available to all of the other students.