California school district shirks its duty

FROM REDDING.COM-

Just when you thought the Redding School District's reputation for mismanagement couldn't grow any worse, it surprises everyone in town and tops itself.

Last summer, Sycamore Elementary School librarian Wannel Stolz was arrested on felony embezzlement charges alleging theft from the parent-teacher club and the school itself. That would have been a disturbing allegation on its own, but what really piled the logs on the fire was that Stolz's husband, Rein Stolz, was the president of the school board at the time. (He quickly resigned.) Further, there were credible allegations that those who'd tried to blow the whistle on Stolz, including Sycamore's principal, faced retaliation.
What followed was an embarrassing collective denial of responsibility when the district badly needed leadership willing to clean up the mess. And the abdication continues nearly a year later. Last week the board took steps to allow Wannel Stolz — whose trial is scheduled for this summer — to return to work and in the process force the layoff of another school librarian with less seniority.
Cindy Trujillo, the district's human-resources director, wouldn't comment on the case in detail, citing personnel privacy, but did point out that the district cannot fire an employee simply because of a criminal accusation. Even a conviction, at least on this charge, wouldn't be grounds for automatic dismissal.
It is famously difficult for schools to fire employees for cause, but if there were ever case that demanded taking steps toward doing so, this is one. Stolz isn't accused of off-hours misconduct that didn't affect her school, but of directly abusing her position to steal on the job.
Is Stolz presumed innocent? Of course. And it is ultimately a jury's job to weigh whether the charges are proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
But in the meantime, the police found enough evidence to make an arrest. The district attorney found enough evidence to file charges. The judge found enough evidence to hold the case over for trial. There is a substanial body of evidence of wrongdoing. For district administrators to ignore all that is simply a dereliction of their duty to students, parents and taxpayers.
Trujillo last week declined to comment on whether the district had launched its own, independent investigation, but she did say that "the public does not have access to law enforcement's investigative files." That's incorrect. The Shasta County district attorney's office filed charges nearly a year ago, and the police reports and other documents that underlie the criminal charges are public. The district has abundant information on which to base its own decisions — or would if anyone cared to exend the strenuous effort of taking a drive to the courthouse.
The California Education Code states that employees may be dismissed or disciplined for "unprofessional conduct" and "dishonesty," among other job-related wrongdoing. If this case doesn't present strong enough evidence for the district to take action, what would?
The district is subject to strict and complex laws and might not be in a position to fire Stolz. Fine. At the very least, anyone facing felony charges for on-the-job conduct should remain on unpaid leave until the courts render a verdict. (Last summer, Stolz took a voluntary leave of absence, which is ending.)
The Redding School District hired a new superintendent in April to replace Diane Kempley, who is retiring. The refreshed leadership can't come soon enough.
And it's hard not to draw a larger political lesson here. Down in Sacramento, the heart of the feud over the state budget is that Republicans refuse to budge one inch on allowing new taxes or even a vote on them without various reforms. They won't throw more money at a broken government, or so they argue.
Whether the heart of Redding School District's troubles is the system or the people running it, when schools are pink-slipping good employees to make room on the payroll for accused felons, we're dealing with a bureaucracy grown inept to the point of corruption. More money can't fix that.