State sides with county officials in Sweetwater schools budget dispute

The California Department of Education has sided with county officials in their latest budget dispute with the Sweetwater Union High School District.

Earlier this month, the San Diego County Office of Education ordered Sweetwater to make changes to its budget projections. The county office is in charge of overseeing school districts’ finances and ensuring they are accurate and sound.

Among those changes, the county office said Sweetwater had to remove $4 million of savings that the district already built into its budget because those savings have not yet fully materialized.

The office also said Sweetwater understated its payroll costs by $3 million.

Last week, Sweetwater officials appealed those two changes to the state education department, saying they were not in the financial interest of the district.

The state department denied Sweetwater’s appeal on Tuesday, saying it did not meet the criteria for appeals set in state law.

In a copy of the appeal letter obtained by The San Diego Union-Tribune, Sweetwater Superintendent Karen Janney not only appealed the two changes but complained about the county office and County Deputy Superintendent Mike Simonson over three pages.

Janney asked the state to hold a mediation between Sweetwater and the county office, claiming that the county office “has created an incredibly fractured relationship” between them.

Over the course of more than a year, Simonson has written several letters to Sweetwater pointing out what he has said are inaccuracies and improper decisions regarding the district’s finances. State law requires county offices to write such letters analyzing all school districts’ finances at designated times of the year.

Sweetwater is currently being audited by the state for potential fraud after Sweetwater was found to have long misrepresented its finances.

In her appeal letter, Janney said Simonson’s letters contained some unreasonable requests and “negative, inflammatory” language.

She also criticized the county office for providing those letters to media outlets shortly after district officials received the letters themselves. She said the letters “have impugned our standing in the community.”

All the county office’s letters are public records that must be made available upon request from media outlets or members of the public.

Simonson said in an interview that he believes Sweetwater’s accusations against the county office are beside the point.

“We view all that as deflections from the real issue, which is their serious problems with the budget,” Simonson said.

On Tuesday, Sweetwater spokesman Manny Rubio would not immediately provide The San Diego Union-Tribune a copy of Sweetwater’s appeal letter, saying there are “some sensitive and potentially confidential items” in the letter.

After The San Diego Union-Tribune told Rubio on Wednesday it had acquired a copy of the appeal, Rubio said in a statement: “We hope that the letter outlines the collaboration we’ve tried to maintain with [the county office] and shows that we’ve asked the CA Department of Education to step in as a mediator so that we can all move forward in a positive way.”

In a letter responding to Janney’s appeal, Interim Deputy State Superintendent Bruce Harter did not address any of Janney’s complaints about the county office or her request for state mediation.

Regarding Harter’s letter, Rubio said: “We appreciate the State looking at this and we will comply with the [county office’s] letter as originally requested.”

The state also agreed with the county office that Sweetwater must write and submit a “detailed comprehensive fiscal recovery plan.”

When asked whether the district has a comprehensive plan, Rubio has previously pointed to Sweetwater’s current efforts to pay off its interfund borrowing debt, as well as the early retirement incentive program the district implemented last year.

Despite those initiatives, the district still faces a deficit next school year.

Sweetwater has said it may have to cut $24 million next school year to make ends meet. The county office believes the next-year deficit may actually be as high as $36 million.

The district’s total budget is about $479 million.

On Tuesday, Rubio said Sweetwater will present details of its plan going forward at a December school board meeting.