Inyo County Superintendent of
Schools Terry McAteer, under fire in recent weeks for insensitive remarks
toward minorities and low-income residents as well as possible abuse of
taxpayer money, is now under investigation by the Inyo County grand jury.
McAteer was the superintendent
of schools for Nevada County, serving four terms before abruptly stepping down
in 2008 and later accepting the position in Inyo County.
The Inyo Register was able to
independently confirm that the grand jury had launched an investigation into
McAteer’s use of what he calls “discretionary” dollars that the Inyo County Office
of Education earns by providing business services to charter schools in Los
Angeles. The grand jury is also looking into the purchase of an automobile with
ICOE funding that appears to be driven almost exclusively by McAteer’s wife.
The grand jury’s investigation
was started in response to complaints from local taxpayers. “There are a number
of citizens who have concerns and we are looking into those concerns,” our
source said, noting that the investigation has primarily entailed “following
the money.”
That money originates at
Youthbuild charter schools in Los Angeles, which pay the ICOE a fee in exchange
for business services, such as payroll and accounting.
During a telephone interview in
early January, McAteer explained that he charges these schools a 7 percent fee
even though it doesn’t cost the ICOE that much to provide the services. There
are no strings attached to this money and it is not earmarked for any specific
project or expense, meaning it can be spent on anything the ICOE wants to spend
it on. McAteer said he stores the proceeds in a discretionary account and he
and the Board of Education decide how to use it.
The board
During an open meeting with the
Board of Education on Feb. 12, the Inyo Register discussed reports of nepotism,
cronyism and extravagant spending by McAteer, as well as reports of ageism –
replacing women nearing retirement age with much younger women – and
retaliatory firings.
The board stressed that, unlike
other boards of education, it had no authority over hiring and firing at the
ICOE or other personnel issues. The board emphasized its job was strictly
providing financial oversight.
Yet the board acknowledged
never taking a formal vote of approval on any of McAteer’s proposals before he
spends money on them. It was explained that he offers up a list of initiatives,
projects and trips at the start of the year, and the board gives him the
go-ahead to proceed with them.
The board does take a vote once
a month when it does a review of financial activities, sources of revenue and
any budget transfers that need to be made. The ICOE also undergoes an annual
audit, which it passes with flying colors.
Year to year, there’s roughly
$700,000 available in discretionary funds — a point of pride for McAteer, who
noted during the January interview that his critics are not accustomed to
seeing an Office of Education operated with an entrepreneurial spirit.
With those funds, McAteer has
been able to sponsor the One-to-One initiative in local schools, an effort to
arm every student in grades 1-12 with a personal computer of some sort, whether
an iPad or a laptop.
He was also able to contribute
$75,000 towards the downtown Bishop Wi-Fi project initiated by the Bishop
Chamber of Commerce, and has invested in county library makeovers in exchange
for them staying open later to better accommodate students.
However, it’s other uses of
those funds that have drawn criticism and raised suspicions, such as catered
receptions, flying a dozen or so local VIPs to L.A. for a tour of the charter
schools, an annual and spendy retreat at Furnace Creek in Death Valley, a
recent 18-person technology research trip to the Bay Area and an upcoming trip
to Italy for an estimated 12 educators with Child Care Connection – many of the
same educators who signed a letter of support of McAteer that was published in
the Jan. 31 edition of The Inyo Register.
One reason given for the
overseas trip is that it’s a rare opportunity to get the best training
available in the Reggio Emilia Approach – a method of teaching that begins with
preschool.
The teachers will be visiting
the school where Reggio Emilia originated. But as a learning opportunity, it
doesn’t appear to be rare. At least a dozen preschools in San Francisco are
exclusively based on Reggio Emilia learning and Lesley University in Cambridge,
Mass. offers an annual, comprehensive course in Reggio Emilia.
The exact cost of the trip to
Italy is not known, as Assistant Superintendent Tom Snyder was out of town this
week and his assistant was not authorized to release the information.
Familiar story
While these teachers visit
Italy in May, Youthbuild Charter School of California educators will be leading
classrooms each of about 35 students. The students themselves are anywhere from
16 to 24 years old, high school drop-outs and sometimes juvenile delinquents
looking at their last chance at an education. Ninety-six percent of the study
body is minority enrollment, with the majority of the students identifying as
Hispanic.
Youthbuild first contracted
with McAteer when he was the superintendent of schools for Nevada County in the
mid-2000s.
McAteer’s tenure there was not
without controversy either. Complaints of nepotism made it to The Union, in
2007 when McAteer hired his wife, Liz, as a long-term substitute teacher at
Nevada Union High School that January.
She reportedly did not go
through a competitive interview process and there were other candidates said to
be just as, if not more, qualified than she.
Five months later, McAteer told
The Union he was stepping down as superintendent, with time still left on his
term, to return to the classroom “with a genuine excitement … to relive the
magic that takes place every day in the most important job in society.”
Then, in March 2008, while
still teaching, he agreed to take the superintendent of schools job in Inyo
County and finish out the unexpired term of retiring George Lozito. When
McAteer left Nevada County, he brought the Youthbuild Charter School of
California with him.
In the six and a half years
McAteer has served as Superintendent of Schools in Inyo County, he’s increased
the ICOE’s budget from $2.8 million to $6.4 million.
He said he accomplished this in
part by making the ICOE less “top-heavy” through not filling positions when
someone retires and moving employees into other positions.
Another Driving Concern
The bountiful budget is another
point of pride for McAteer and for the Board of Education, which gave McAteer
permission to use funds from the discretionary account in 2013 to purchase a
vehicle for the travel he does for his work with the charter schools.
The problem with that,
according to the Grand jury and several inside sources, is that the board
appears to have unwittingly bought Liz McAteer a car instead.
Seen driving the vehicle to and
from work and other locations around Bishop, Liz was the one who picked out,
signed for and drove the car off the lot, according to a former employee of the
dealership where the vehicle was purchased, Eastern Sierra Motors.
The employee said Liz arrived
solo at the dealership with a list of specs and initially requested a Ford Edge
Ltd. Edition, the top-of-the-line model that comes with heated leather seats.
This raised the employee’s
suspicions and he asked to speak to someone from the ICOE directly, to which
Liz gave the impression she was an authorized representative.
Liz eventually settled on an
Escape Titanium, again with leather seats, a moon-roof, navigation and other
extra features. When it arrived at the dealership, it was Liz who came to pick
it up on Aug. 28.
A new 2013 Ford Escape starts
at the base price of $23,295. The dealership sold that particular Escape to the
ICOE for more than $34,000.
February 24, 2015
The
Union of Grass Valley
By Darcy Ellis, managing editor of the Inyo Register
No comments:
Post a Comment