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LBUSD Timeline

Editorial standards

This timeline aims to document factual events in LBUSD governance with full source attribution. Every contributor is expected to follow these rules.

The four rules

  1. Every event must cite at least one source. No event enters the timeline without a verifiable source. If you can't cite it, it's a rumor — file an issue instead.

  2. Event descriptions are neutral facts. Describe what happened, when, where, and who voted how. Do not characterize motives, assign blame, or interpret meaning. If a vote was 4-1, say "voted 4-1." Do not say "narrowly passed despite minority opposition" or "rubber-stamped."

  3. Opinion and editorial framing live in attributed quotes. If a source called something a "power grab," "manufactured outrage," or "accountability," capture the exact phrase in a citation quote with the source clearly attributed. The event itself stays neutral; what each party said about the event is preserved as data.

  4. Sources are categorized by type, not by credibility. A source is primary-doc, news, op-ed, advocacy, or social. The reader judges credibility from those tags plus the source name. Do not annotate sources with editorial commentary ("biased," "unreliable," "well-researched") in their metadata.

Examples

Good event description

Board voted 4-1 to revise the ad hoc governance committee per a document brought forward by Trustee Hills. Trustee Malczewski voted no.

Bad event description (rewrite needed)

Board majority pushed through controversial committee restructuring over minority objections, continuing the pattern of governance changes outside public view.

The bad version contains five interpretations ("pushed through," "controversial," "minority objections," "continuing the pattern," "outside public view") none of which are part of the factual record of the vote. Each of those framings, if you want to preserve them, belongs in a citation quote attributed to whichever source said it.

Source quality

When multiple sources cover the same event, prefer in this order:

  1. Primary documents (audit reports, board minutes, signed MOUs, press releases)
  2. News coverage (LBI, OCDE Newsroom, Spotlight Schools)
  3. Op-eds and community advocacy (clearly tagged)

A single op-ed or advocacy source is sufficient to add an event, but the event description must remain neutral, and the source's framing belongs in a citation quote, not the event itself. When opposing sources frame an event differently, cite both — that's the point of the model.

Quotes

  • Keep quotes under 100 words.
  • Use verbatim text only. Do not paraphrase inside quote marks.
  • Attribute clearly (the source_id link carries the attribution; the context field can add specificity like "video timestamp 2:37" or "page 4 of audit report").

Disputes

If you and another contributor disagree about whether a description is neutral, the test is: would both sides of the dispute accept this wording as accurate? If no, rewrite it. If yes, ship it.

What this timeline is not

  • It is not journalism. It does not analyze, conclude, or recommend.
  • It is not advocacy. It does not endorse any candidate, board member, or position.
  • It is not complete. It captures what contributors have surfaced and sourced. Missing events are an invitation to contribute, not a statement that they did not occur.