Code, policy violations could have left district [Stockton Unified School District] open to legal risk, panel says
May 24, 2014
By Keith Reid
Staff Writer
The Record
STOCKTON - The Stockton Unified
School District "swiftly hired" two interim police chiefs without
completed background checks and without the proper support from its human
resources department, a San Joaquin County civil grand jury found.
In a report released Thursday,
the grand jury placed the blame on Superintendent Steve Lowder and stated the
district violated education code when it hired Eric Holman and later John Huber
to run the district's Police Department after former Chief Jim West retired in
August. It further stated that past hiring practices of employees did not go
through human resources properly.
"The purpose of this grand
jury report has been to shed light on what was a rushed and flawed process to
fill a vacancy at the top of the district Police Department," the report
said. "This action did not just violate the California Education Code and
the district board policy, it could have put the district at legal risk. The
grand jury expects that in the future the process of hiring all personnel will
be done thoughtfully and legally."
Lowder said the grand jury is
"technically correct" regarding the interim chief hires but that, in
this case, the district got caught in a technicality. He said the district was
poised to contract with the San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office to fill the
role after a deal with Stockton police fell through. Both Huber and Holman were
"retired active" officers in good standing in the Sheriff's Office
and had clean records. At Sheriff Steve Moore's request, the district hired
Holman outright to become interim chief instead of the contract.
Holman would have been the
interim chief in October under either scenario, so the background check and
fingerprint check was slightly delayed.
"We got ourselves hooked
up unintentionally," Lowder said. "We take board policy very
seriously, and this was inadvertent."
Huber said the process of
hiring a chief is a long one, and that the SUSD department had too many
problems with a lieutenant on administrative leave and couldn't stand pat
without proper leadership.
As to the involvement of human
resources, it was the past regime of West and Lt. Frank Gordo that made hires
without the district office involved, Huber said. That process has already
changed, Huber added, and all hires will go through human resources.
The report also acknowledged
that Stockton Unified has moved forward with other major changes in the Police
Department.
New Chief Bryon Gustafson was
sworn in in April after undergoing a complete background check. The department
was also subject to a 360-degree audit report performed by a consultant that
heavily criticized some of its past practices, particularly in handling
evidence and weapons and in interviewing witnesses and suspects in cases.
The grand jury recommended that
Stockton Unified human resources be more involved in the hiring of police
personnel, and that Lowder be given training on the requirements of the
education code and board policies outlining the process of hiring police
personnel.
Stockton Unified police
officers union President Mario Gates said via text message that he was not
aware of any poor hiring practices by the department.
Contact reporter Keith Reid at (209) 546-8257 or kreid@recordnet.com.
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