The board members of the West Fresno School District reaped what they sowed in late October as the district teetered on the brink of going out of business due to poor financial management.
Meanwhile, a San Francisco federal grand jury was investigating the district and had subpoenaed documents concerning $6.5 million the district received that was supposed to be spent to upgrade school technology, the Fresno Bee reported.
At press time, the fate of a possible emergency loan from the Fresno County Office of Education to bail out the 1,000-student district was up in the air, and teachers were blaming the school board for driving the small, two-campus district into the ground.
Oct. 31 was payday, but the district claimed it had no money left to issue checks for the 59 teachers plus support personnel it employed. Several members of the West Fresno Teachers Association marched to school board President James Tucker's house nearby and chanted, "We don't work for free."
WFTA President Laura Jones joined colleagues in wondering where the next paycheck would be coming from. The day after payday, 90 percent of the teachers and 90 percent of the students did not show up for class.
Fresno County Schools Superintendent Pete Mehas reported that the district was about $167,000 in debt and needed to borrow $1 million to cover all expenses for the next two and a half months. If a dispute over an emergency loan for the district dragged on, parents could request that their children be transferred to other school districts, Mehas said.
Also at press time, a judge denied a request by the West Fresno district employee unions to force the district to request an emergency loan to cover payroll expenses.
Teachers remained angry at the school board for not planning better, said David Kennedy, the CTA primary contact staff assigned to West Fresno.
"The school board has the responsibility for taking care of the kids," Kennedy said. "It's a surreal situation."
Mike Myslinski