San Diego County Grand Jury • 2014-2015

San Diego Unified School District Trustee’s Overreach: Abuse of Power?

Published: May 21, 2015 6 pages

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Findings 6 findings

The removal of two staff members from the school attended by a trustee’s child was perceived by other staff to have been improperly influenced by a trustee.

Several school staff members testified that they made decisions regarding a trustee’s child out of fear of retribution.

A trustee may have failed to follow the Code of Conduct and Governance Culture GC-7, section 2.a, by attempting to interfere with operational issues at a school attended by their child. Fact: Confidential student information may have been improperly provided to a trustee/parent. Fact: A school employee was admonished for violations of district policy regarding the handling of confidential student information. Fact: Another school employee who was deemed not supportive enough of the student’s prospects for college was disciplined. Fact: Conflicting Common Application School Reports (CASR) were completed by two staff members for a student who was the child of a trustee.

These actions conflict with Governance Culture Policy GC-7 section 1.c. “conflicts based upon the personal interest of any board member who is also a parent of a student in the district.”

District and school personnel have difficulty maintaining appropriate boundaries with a trustee parent as distinguished from a trustee without a personal interest in school operations. Fact: There is no mandatory training required to ensure that trustees are fully informed about their obligations and responsibilities under the Board Member Code of Conduct and Ethics Policy. Fact: There is no requirement that trustees acknowledge in writing that they have read and understood the documents. Fact: District officials provide no training to either the trustees or the school employees about proper interactions with a trustee who has a child in the school. Fact: Employees believe there is no confidential procedure/process to report conflicts regarding a trustee. Fact: The District has no ombudsman for resolving issues regarding trustees. Fact: Employees believe their positions may be in jeopardy if they make decisions contrary to the interests of a trustee.

There is no perceived confidential procedure for employees to utilize when faced with conflicts regarding a trustee. 4

Recommendations 6

15-30
Page 5

Create a stand-alone Code of Conduct and Conflict of Interest Statement for
15-31
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Require trustees to sign a formal declaration acknowledging their
15-32
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Implement a mandatory annual training program for all trustees regarding
15-33
Page 5

Implement a mandatory in-service program for school staff, administrators,
15-34
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Establish the position of Ombudsman as part of a newly developed
15-35
Page 5

Establish an Ethics Review Panel independent of the San Diego Unified

No Responses Found 1

Government entities assigned to respond to this report. No response documents have been linked in our database.

San Diego City Unified School District School District