“With deficits approaching
$30 million per year by fiscal year 2024-25, the financial forecast for
Stockton Unified School District is dire,” the San Joaquin County grand jury says in a
new report.
The Stockton Unified
School District Board of Trustees must implement better financial management
and leadership policies to avoid financial trouble, conflicts of interest and
increase transparency, the 2021-22 San Joaquin County grand jury said in a
report released Friday.
The grand jury wasted no
time in painting a picture of the district, which recently saw the resignation
of Superintendent John Ramirez Jr.
“With deficits approaching
$30 million per year by fiscal year 2024-25, the financial forecast for
Stockton Unified School District is dire.”
Ongoing expenses are being
paid with limited-time funds, grants are not being managed appropriately and
experienced personnel who would address these “critical issues” are leaving,
the grand jury report said. Outside staff and consultants are being hired to
cover “essential duties.”
The Board of Trustees
“often make critical decisions with minimal data, knowledge and consideration.”
The report says that the
San Joaquin County Office of Education has hired FCMAT, the state agency
charged with conducting fiscal oversight of public education, to conduct an
AB139 Extraordinary Audit.
The Extraordinary Audit is
the first such audit of a San Joaquin County public school district. The only
other Extraordinary Audit in the county was a review of an independent charter
school in 2015, the report said.
According to the grand
jury report, if the Extraordinary Audit finds financial mismanagement, misuse
of funds or insolvency, Stockton Unified could be placed in state receivership.
The receivership, which would be administered by the San Joaquin County Office
of Education, could include firing the superintendent and suspending the Board
of Trustees as a decision-making body for the district.
The audit will take
between 12-18 months to complete.
The new report comes less
than a year after the 2020-21 grand jury found the Board of Trustees had failed
as district leaders and will likely continue to do so.
In a scathing 33-page
report, that grand jury said Stockton Unified trustees are the direct reason
for what's been called the district's "revolving door" of
superintendents.
"The grand jury found
that there is widespread concern about the short tenure of SUSD
superintendents, especially in the last 15 years," the report said.
"This turnover rate, which is as high as anywhere in California, is a
foremost indication that the trustees have failed, and will continue to fail,
to effectively lead the district."
Trustee behavior and
actions have negatively impacted SUSD and made it "difficult, if not
impossible," for any lasting, positive changes to take hold, the report
says. Trustees have also been found to have contributed to declining trust and
morale of employees and the community.
The previous grand jury
found other issues of serious concern, including a "disregard of policies
and procedures, especially regarding hiring; trustee behavior, especially
during meetings; trustee disregard of their appropriate roles, inappropriate
complaints, especially by trustees against other trustees; and deficient
transparency, making it difficult for the public to understand what is taking
place."
In a draft response
trustees said the civil grand jury "ignored the weight of evidence, and
that it instead has generally chosen to support the views of a disgruntled
minority" and emphasized negative aspects of the board. Trustees declined
to implement many of the grand jury recommendations.
The Record
Genette Brookshire and Donald W Blount
June 18, 2022
No comments:
Post a Comment