Since my tenure began, I have initiated a series of independent, third-party investigations into the Office of Education’s substantial financial, operational, and data management issues under the tenure of the previous administration and superintendent of schools. As time progresses, more complaints and issues have come to light and I am keeping the Santa Clara County Board of Education aware of these new issues.
The allegations being investigated are deeply concerning, including the unauthorized expenditure of public funds, unnecessary and suspect contract awards, misappropriation of public education dollars for personal legal fees, clandestine investigations of Board of Education members and some SCCOE staff, which appear retaliatory in nature, suspected unauthorized surveillance, and an investigation into misappropriation of federal Head Start funds, which is under concurrent federal review.
The Dec. 9 special Board of Education meeting was convened to inform current Board members of findings related to activities conducted during their tenure. All new Board members will be thoroughly briefed on these matters once their term begins and they are sworn in.
As publicly elected representatives, it is the Board’s obligation to provide oversight of the Santa Clara County Office of Education to maintain the office’s fiscal and operational integrity as it works to serve, inspire, and promote student and public school success within the County.
During closed session, the Board directed counsel to turn over these findings to public investigative agencies, such as the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC), the District Attorney, sheriff’s department, the attorney general, the inspector general, as well as any other state or federal agencies responsible for investigating potential malfeasance and misfeasance of particular items or actions within the County Office of Education. The Board has committed to fully cooperate with any follow-up investigations into these matters.
The publicly-elected representatives on the Board play a crucial role as fiduciaries who oversee the Office’s integrity and fiscal responsibility for the good of Santa Clara County’s students, families, local school districts, charter schools, and community partners. By creating a space for the interim superintendent and a third party to come in and conduct a thorough, unfettered review of systems and practices, the Board has upheld its duty to support accountability and transparency in a system that, for a moment, appears to have gone awry. Under this leadership, the focus is on students, student funding, fiscally responsible practices, and on protecting tax dollars.
Under the leadership of a new superintendent who no doubt will choose to work cooperatively with the Board, the County Office of Education is now providing the steady hand needed to move forward, with the accountability and transparency the community demands.
Due to the nature of the ongoing investigations, the SCCOE Board and staff members will not be able to comment further on these preliminary investigative findings.
Video footage of Dr. Hinman’s public statement from the Board of Education’s Dec. 9 meeting can be found here and is available for use by the media.
