Student Loses Round in Candy Sales Dispute

A Covina high school student who complained that she was dismissed as the school’s drum major because she did not sell enough candy in a fund-raising drive lost a bid for reinstatement Tuesday.

Pomona Superior Court Judge Burton Bach ruled that Lisa Ortiz’s request for an injunction against the Covina-Valley Unified School District was moot because the band won’t be needing a drum major for the rest of the school year.

Ortiz, 17, said she will go forward with her lawsuit, in which she alleges that Northview High School band director Rick England unfairly dismissed her as drum major after she sold only one box of 48 chocolate bars in the band’s annual candy sale.

At Tuesday’s court hearing, Ortiz sought an order that would permit her to lead the marching band while her suit wends its way through the courts.

Annual Christmas Parade

But with football season ended, the only event remaining on the schedule given band members was the 37th annual Covina Christmas Parade on Dec. 5. And school officials said that, although the band had marched in the parade in the past, England did not submit an application to parade officials this year.

“There’s no more functions for the school (marching band)--that takes care of that,” Bach said in rejecting Ortiz’s motion.

After the hearing, Ortiz’s attorney, Daniel N. Fox, argued that the decision not to have the Northview band march in the parade was a ploy to avoid having to reinstate Ortiz.

But Douglas Jenkins, the district’s superintendent of student services, said Ortiz’s suit had “no relationship whatsoever” to the decision not to have the band appear.

Bill Youngburg, entry chairman for the Christmas parade, said later that school officials “have elected not to be involved . . . because of the litigation.”

Although Ortiz asserted that her dismissal as drum major was a disciplinary action for not bringing in enough money in the candy sale, Jenkins said she was dismissed because of her poor leadership and that her failure to sell enough candy was only a minor contributing factor.