The Stockton Unified
School District Board of Trustees voted 5-2 to accept their formal response to
the San Joaquin County Grand Jury report disputing nearly half of the grand
jury’s findings at the Aug. 23 board meeting.
The board or district
disagrees disputes or “will not comply” with 23 of the 50 findings in the grand
jury report showing financial mismanagement, poor business practices and a lack
of transparency. Trustees AngelAnn Flores and Maria Mendez voted no.
Just before the vote,
Flores said being a minority vote on the board has rendered her unable to do
her duly elected job. She said she played no part in the board’s response and
encouraged the community to contact Judge Michael Coughlan — who the district’s
response is addressed to — and the San Joaquin County Superior Court.
“We did not follow
protocols … We did not go through the due protocol process for hiring our CBO
(Chief Business Officer Marcus Battle). We did not go through the due process
of hiring directors. We did not receive public input in a lot of the business
that this district has done,” Flores said. “This grand jury (report) is valid.
I thank the community for coming, speaking up and having the courage to speak
on your behalf.”
The formal response comes
after the board made a commitment to the community to hold town halls and to
participate in public discussion about the report. After trustees remained
silent at an Aug. 4 town hall filled with concerned citizens, Board President
Cecilia Mendez said, “No town halls. We’re not having any more town halls right
now,” at the Aug. 16 special board meeting, ending any hopes for a two-way
conversation before the district’s formal response was prepared.
There was no talk of any
further town halls at the Aug. 23 board meeting.
Stockton Unified has been
allotted more than $241 million in one-time federal COVID-relief funds. The
June grand jury report states that Stockton Unified has no master plan that
shows how these, Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds
are or will be spent, and the Business Services Department is unable to provide
data and accounting for ESSER expenditures.
The state’s Financial
Crisis and Management Assistance Team (FCMAT) is midway through an AB139
Extraordinary Audit of Stockton Unified to determine fraud, misappropriation of
funds or other illegal fiscal practices. The San Joaquin County Office of
Education hired FCMAT in response to the school district’s projected deficit of
at least $30 million by 2024.
In response to four
findings addressing Stockton Unified’s budgeting and deficit woes, the Board’s
response letter states: “The District disagrees with this Finding.” No
additional explanation is provided.
A tale told before
If the board’s response
seems familiar, it's because it is.
Just a year ago, a 2021
grand jury report directed at Stockton Unified found that the district’s Board
of Trustees had failed as district leaders and will likely continue to do so.
In their response, the board declined to implement many of the recommendations
and 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.”
Recordnet.com
Ben Irwin – The Record
August 24, 2022
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