SUSD pens 2nd [San Joaquin] grand jury response, confusion ensues

Stockton Unified School District has provided additional responses to the June San Joaquin County Grand Jury report showing financial mismanagement and dysfunction. 

The follow-up response provides reasoning — not evidence — for items the board disagreed with but provided no additional context in their original August response. On a motion from Trustee Zachary Avelar, the board voted 5-2 at their Nov. 14 board meeting to approve the follow-up response to the Grand Jury. Trustees AngelAnn Flores and Maria Mendez voted no. 

At the meeting, there was confusion as to why the board was providing additional response. SUSD’s contracted lawyer Dr. Jack Lipton told the board the additional responses were drafted upon a request from the grand jury. Interim superintendent Traci Miller said the follow-up letter was written by legal counsel and interim Chief Business Official Joann Juarez. 

Trustees Mendez and Flores both said they hadn’t seen the request letter from the Grand Jury — no one on the board fessed up to actually seeing the letter — and asked to be looped in. When asked by Mendez how he obtained the letter, Lipton said he “did not recall specifically,” and did not acknowledge he was able to produce the letter.

The school district has been unable to produce the letter in question upon request by The Record. The San Joaquin County Grand Jury has not responded to The Record’s request for the letter or clarification. 

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The board’s Nov. 15 follow-up states the board or district “disagrees wholly” with six findings — it does not address the rest of the 50 findings — ranging from conflicts of interest and contracting issues to no plans for ongoing costs and one-time fund expenditures. The board disputed nearly half of the grand jury’s 50 findings in their first response. 

Flores, who told The Record she sounded the alarm resulting in two scathing Grand Jury reports and a state audit looking for fraud and illegal fiscal practices that’s currently underway at the district, expressed her outrage with the latest board response. 

“I am a part of this (vote) and I agree with everything this grand jury investigation says. Everything,” Flores said. “I speak for myself, and everything I’ve seen up here firsthand for the last two years — this is another spit in the face to our community, to our teachers, to our staff, our students and our constituents. Please don’t put my name on this response ever, because I am not in agreement with it.” 

Flores, often the sole opposition to the current board supermajority, is currently the only sitting board member with enough votes to win reelection with 846 votes, more than double the runner-up in the Area 2 race. Trustees Scot McBrian and Avelar are both trailing by wide margins in their bids for reelection to newcomers Sofia Colón and Kennetha Stevens, who both ran on transparency and financial accountability. Donald Donaire is handily ahead to replace Trustee Mendez, who is terming out, in the area 5 seat.

28,830 ballots remain to be counted in the county as of Nov. 16, according to the San Joaquin County Registrar of Voters. 

The Record
Ben Erwin
November 17, 2022