Grand jury examines trustee’s meddling in son’s school
San Diego — After investigating
claims that a San Diego school board member forced personnel changes and
meddled in staff decisions at the campus attended by the trustee’s child last
year, the county grand jury has called on the district to strengthen ethics and
conduct rules.
In a report issued last week, the grand jury
found the San Diego Unified School District’s conduct code,
conflict-of-interest policy, and governance manual are “not sufficient to
prevent trustees from exerting undue influence in matters involving a
particular school within their district.”
The grand jury did not identify
any trustee or campus, but the findings match a San Diego Union-Tribune report
from August 2014 that details accusations that trustee Marne Foster used her
political influence to resolve a personal matter at the School of Creative and
Performing Arts, where her son graduated last year.
The principal was put on leave
and others were reassigned or disciplined before a $250,000 legal claim was
filed against the district (by the father of Foster’s son) over a negative
assessment of the Foster boy that was included in his college applications. The
legal claim alleged that a counselor’s “willfully damaging” review of the boy
resulted in lost financial aid and rejections from top universities.
Now board president, Foster did
not return phone calls for comment on Friday.
Superintendent Cindy Marten
said the district would respond to the report but did not anticipate any need
for changes because policies already call for campus personnel decisions to be
made by the administration, not the school board.
“We have clear board governance
policies,” Marten said. “I’ve been very clear with the board. The board is clear
that it sets policies and the superintendent carries out policies. We are very
consistent.”
The grand jury launched an
investigation after receiving a complaint that “certain staff at a school may
have been adversely impacted by the conduct of a trustee, which raised concern
of undue influence concerning a particular student at the school.” The
investigation included interviews with current and former trustees,
administrators, teachers, counselors and other employees, as well as the review
of documents and emails.
The jurors, who serve a civic
accountability function, recommended the board and superintendent adopt a
series of new policies and workshops to address any breaches — real or
perceived — by establishing: a code of conduct and conflict-of-interest
statement for trustees; annual ethics training for trustees; workshops for
school employees addressing appropriate conduct when a trustee or administrator
is also the parent of a student; and an independent ethics panel to monitor
board actions.
“The district leadership needs
to set higher standards for trustees,” the jurors said in the report. “Trustees
must be held accountable for improper acts and the perception of impropriety.”
School employees told the grand
jury that the Common Application School Report, a widely used confidential and
universal college application, of the student in question was improperly leaked
to the trustee and parent. The application included a negative review of the
student, which was eventually modified by another employee without
justification, the grand jury report said.
May
25, 2015
The
San Diego Union-Tribune
By Maureen
Magee
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