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2 EDCAL November 5, 2018 Judge’s message kicks off Red Ribbon Week in CVESD News footage shows Enrique E. Camarena at 11 years of age, walking along- side his mother on an airport tarmac where his father’s flag-draped casket was being carried by Marines. Many grieved with Camarena in the aftermath of the murder of his father “Kiki.” The elder Camarena was working for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in Guadalajara, Mexico, when he was kid- napped in 1985 and executed by drug traf- fickers. His body was found a month later along with that of a Mexican pilot. The incident touched off an interna- tional furor. There would be years of pol- icy debates, crackdowns on Mexico’s drug cartels and escalation and examination of the “War on Drugs.” The kidnapping also began the tradition of displaying red rib- bons as a symbol of the fight against drugs. Red Ribbon Week, the National Family Partnership’s Anti-Drug Campaign, is held each Oct. 23-31. It is the oldest and larg- est drug prevention program in the nation, reaching millions of young people. This year’s theme is “Life is Your Journey. Travel Drug Free.” “Red Ribbon Week is extremely impor- tant to me because it was started, it was influenced, by my dad’s death,” Enrique E. Camarena said. “It is something very posi- tive that came out of something very nega- tive. It is celebrated by hundreds of millions of people across the world now.” In Chula Vista ESD, a school was named Enrique S. Camarena Elementary in the elder Camarena’s honor. A Chula Vista resi- The death of Judge Enrique Camarena's father in 1985 helped lead to the start of Red Ribbon Week and a school named in his honor in Chula Vista ESD. dent and local prosecutor, Camarena gave an impassioned speech to the district board in 2012 to name the school after his father. At times inspirational, at times solemn, his presentation drew tears as well. “Within weeks of my dad’s death, hun- dreds of school children here in California honored my father’s sacrifice by pledg- ing to lead drug-free lives. School groups, coalitions, parent-teacher groups started wearing red ribbons,” Camarena told the board. “The Red Ribbon Week campaign grew from these grass-roots campaigns. Red Ribbon Week is now the nation’s oldest and largest drug-prevention program. Every October, every school in this district – and I have spoken at many of them – celebrates Red Ribbon Week. They keep enlarging the footprint my dad leaves on this Earth.” Camarena was a deputy district attorney at the time. “When my father was a boy, he knew he wanted to be a police officer. My grandmother tried to talk him out of it.” His father responded, “I am only one person, but I can make a difference.” Camarena said that the board presen- tation is still the best “closing argument” he has given to date. Camarena is now a Superior Court Judge, a position that does not allow him to make as many school visits to speak about drug prevention as he would like. But, he continues to find ways to carry on his father’s legacy. This year, Camarena took part in a brief Red Ribbon Week promotional video to share with students. CVESD schools often plan a week’s worth of “spirit” activities with messaging that encourages students to live drug-free lives. Activities include “Turn Your Back on Drugs,” where students wear their shirts inside out, and “Stomp Out Drugs,” where students wear boots to school. “Red Ribbon Week provides an oppor- tunity for us to strengthen our communica- tion to families and kids about the impor- tance of living drug free lives,” said Melissa Minas, CVESD project manager and Red Ribbon Week coordinator. “There are so many fun activities that happen around our school district. One of my favorites is, Our Future is Too Bright For Drugs, where stu- dents wear sunglasses to school.” All schools are encouraged to share their school activities on social media with the following hashtag: #CVESDRedRibbon. For Camarena, the anti-drug campaign is as important today as during his father’s time with the DEA. “I think every student should know that whatever you put into your body has an effect on your body,” Camarena said. “There are a lot of things that have a bad effect on your body. Right now, we want all students to make healthy choices, good choices for their lives. Staying away from drugs, alcohol and tobacco at this stage of their lives is one of the most important things they can do.” Districts must be aware of family leave requirements This article was written by Lozano Smith Partner Dulcinea Grantham and Associate Jennifer Ulbrich. Starting Jan. 1, 2019, California school and community college districts will be required to pay certificated, classified, and academic employees eligible for parental leave under recently enacted laws at least 50 percent of their salaries once they exhaust their sick leave and begin taking differential leave. This requirement applies regardless of the rate districts pay substitute employees to fill in for the employees on parental leave. The new law is a result of Assembly Bill 2012, which was approved by Gov. Brown on Sept. 30, 2018, and is the latest in a series of bills which expanded protections for employees taking parental leave. Current law Prior to AB 2012, employees electing to take up to twelve weeks of parental leave under recently enacted additions to the California Education Code must first exhaust their paid sick leave, after which time they are compensated according to their districts’ established practices for dif- ferential leave. (See Lozano Smith Client News Brief No. 56 & Client News Brief No. 84.) Currently, there are two systems available for establishing the pay rate for employees on differential leave, whether the leave is due to parental leave, illness or accident. Under the first system, school and com- munity college districts pay certificated and academic employees the difference between their regular salaries and the amount the districts pay or would have paid a substitute hired to fill in for the employee during his or her absence. For classified employees, this system requires that districts actually hire a substitute employee in order to deduct a portion of the employee’s regular salary. This system allows employees to potentially receive only a small percentage of their sal- ary while on differential leave if the substi- tute’s rate of pay is close to the employee’s regular salary. Alternatively, some school and com- munity college districts have negotiated a system under which employees on extended sick are compensated at no less than 50 per- cent of their regular salary, regardless of the rate paid to a substitute. New law AB 2012 amends the law to require that, regardless of the type of pay system used by school and community college district to compensate employees on extended illness and accident leave, all certificated, academic and classified employees taking up to 12 weeks of parental leave must be paid no less than 50 percent of their regular salary. Employees will still be required to exhaust their fully paid sick leave before receiving differential pay for parental leave. Takeaways AB 2012 only affects the differential pay system for employees on parental leave. School and community college districts should maintain their current system for determining the pay rate of employees on differential leave due to illness or acci- dent. Furthermore, to the extent districts have a practice of providing employees on parental leave with more than 50 percent of their salary, districts should continue to maintain their current practice. AB 2012 is not intended to decrease the amount of compensation provided to employees on parental leave. For more on Lozano Smith, go to www. lozanosmith.com. 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Content Specialists Michael Kelly and Darcy Totten ACSA CareerConnect Coordinator Tracy Olmedo ACSA Board of Directors President Holly Edds President-elect Linda Kaminski Vice President Ron Williams VP for Legislative Action Terri Rufert Past President Lisa Gonzales Members: Charlie Hoffman, Christine McCormick, Daniel Hernandez, Tim Gill, Jay Spaulding, Parvin Ahmadi, Denise Wickham, Juan Cruz, Ana Boyenga, Barbara Martinez, Blanca Cavazos, Ted Alejandre, Craig Helmstedter, Victor Thompson, Sue Kaiser, Angel Barrett, Rafael Plascencia, Joe Austin, Mike McCormick, Linda Hutcherson, Lisa Ketchum, Daryl Camp, Derrick Chau Burlingame, [phone] • Sacramento, [phone] • Ontario, [phone] • toll-free (800) 608-ACSA Who: Elaine Cervantez Job: Educational Services Administrative Assistant Elaine helps coordinate ACSA conferences, holding down a wide variety of reponsibilities. Favorite hobbies: Elaine loves to dance, snowboard and wakeboard. ACSA. We work for you.