New superintendent says no malfeasance found in prior district administration
Meeting held at school district to discuss financial issues
–About forty people turned out Wednesday morning for what was set to be a small meeting of 5-10 people to discuss the cause of financial issues facing the Paso Robles School District. The meeting was called after citizen Michael Rivera and School Board Trustee Chris Bausch raised questions at a recent school board meeting about an investigation into accusations of malfeasance by former superintendent Chris Williams and the board of trustees during his tenure.
Superintendent Dr. Curt Dubost invited those in attendance Wednesday to share their concerns. Chief Business Officer Brad Pawlowski passed out a memorandum which addressed questions raised by citizens.
For instance, what happened to about $7 million dollars in the district’s budget reserve? During Williams tenure that $7 million evaporated. The memo described errors in calculating the Average Daily Attendance (ADA), and other accounting errors, and cited the implementation of new programs without appropriate “position control.” The number of administrators nearly doubled from 47.3 full-time employees (FTE) in 2013-14 school year to 73.2 FTE in the 2017-18 school year.
Dubost stated emphatically that his own investigation found no malfeasance. Some of those in attendance were less convinced. One participant made unsubstantiated accusations that if there were no theft, there were certainly kickbacks and other ruses implemented by Williams and his associates to steal from the school district.
The school board will consider at its next meeting the formation of a Citizens’ Investigation Committee to look into the financial dealings of the previous school board and superintendent.
Current PRJUSD Board President Joel Peterson is opposed to any investigation into the previous board’s decisions.
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