A Santa Barbara County grand jury investigation into the Lompoc Unified School District’s (LUSD) Board of Education has revealed inadequate financial controls and oversight of staff, as well as an apparent conflict of interest.
The grand jury began its investigation in response to complaints regarding a “perceived conflict of interest” involving LUSD board member Bill Christen and his spouse, Tina, who worked as the district’s director of special education.
“The complainants reported that they came to the grand jury because they feared retaliation if they spoke out publicly on the issue, having already been subjected to threats of termination and other workplace hostility,” the grand jury’s investigation report stated.
Christen voted twice to increase the salaries of management and confidential employees of the Association of Lompoc School Administrators—including his spouse’s. Though the grand jury did not accuse Christen of violating government codes, it identified his actions as possible conflicts of interest, since Christen’s votes may have violated a government code prohibiting school board members from having financial interest in contracts made by their board.
The code states that a school board member whose spouse works for the same district has a prohibited financial interest in any board contract that would impact the spouse’s financial interest, and that an official who willfully violates that code is punishable by a fine or imprisonment “and is forever disqualified from holding any office in this state.”
According to the grand jury report, Christen denied breaking any conflict of interest laws.
The investigation also revealed the following issues within LUSD:
- • Financial irregularities, where “the jury was unable to determine exactly how expenditures of the LUSD’s general fund are being allocated and tracked.”
- • Inadequate and unenforced internal financial controls.
- • Hostile work environment, according to former and current LUSD employees who reported in interviews that the district had “a hostile and confrontational work environment.”
- • Other unethical behavior.
- • Lack of ethics training, since the LUSD board has not required ethics training for its members or certified staff employees.
The investigation report concluded that the LUSD board “has failed in its self-proclaimed mission ‘to provide leadership and citizen oversight of the district.’” It recommended that the district take back Tina Christen’s pay increases and that board members recuse themselves from issues presenting apparent conflicts of interest. It also called for more detailed tracking of expenditures and better oversight of staff behavior.
This article appears in Jul 7-14, 2016.
