Search warrants served at Stockton Unified headquarters, board president's home: DA

Search warrants were executed at the Stockton Unified School District headquarters and at least one home on Tuesday as part of a law enforcement investigation into the school district.

Heather Brent, a spokesperson for the San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office, wouldn't specify whose offices and homes were searched, or if they included school board members, administrators, or other school employees.

"On this specific case, our goal right now is to be as thorough as possible. We don't want to tarnish anybody's reputation," Brent said. "Once we are able to share that information, we will."

The search arose from an independent investigation by the sheriff's office, she said. No other agencies, including the FBI and U.S. Department of Justice, are involved at this stage, Brent added.

However, Lee Neves, a San Joaquin County District Attorney's Office spokesman, said the search warrant was executed on the home and possessions of school board president AngelAnn Flores.

Flores' home was the only residence searched, according to Neves. At this stage, no criminal charges relating to the search have been filed against Flores in court, Neves said.

Neither Brent nor Neves specified which offices or departments within Stockton Unified's downtown headquarters were searched, or what, if anything, sheriff's office investigators took.

The Record has reached out to Flores for comment and is awaiting her response.

Flores was a no show at Tuesday night's regularly scheduled board meeting. While the board room was packed, neither community members nor trustees commented on her absence or the search warrants.

“It has been brought to our attention that the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office is conducting an investigation," Melinda Meza, a Stockton Unified spokesperson, said.

"The Stockton Unified School District will cooperate fully while keeping our focus on student wellness and achievement.”

In April, District Attorney Ron Freitas announced a multi-agency investigation with the FBI and the U.S. Attorney's Office into "any and all wrongdoing" at Stockton Unified.

That investigation was initiated from the state Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team's Feb. 14 report, which found evidence that fraud and misappropriation of funds likely occurred at Stockton's largest school district with more than 36,000 students.

It's unclear if the sheriff's independent investigation that triggered the search warrants Tuesday is connected in any way to the federal inquiry Freitas announced in April.

Brent added that the sheriff's office wanted to emphasize that members of the public are not in danger.

"Based on our thorough investigation surrounding this case, students, faculty, nor the community are in any known danger," the spokesperson said.

"We also want to make it clear that we're going to stay discrete as far as the people involved in this current case."

Record reporter Hannah Workman covers news in Stockton and San Joaquin County. She can be reached at hworkman@recordnet.com or on Twitter @byhannahworkman. Record reporter Aaron Leathley covers public safety. She can be reached at aleathley@recordnet.com or on Twitter @LeathleyAaron. Support local news, subscribe to The Stockton Record at https://www.recordnet.com/subscribenow.

This article originally appeared on The Record: Search warrants served at Stockton Unified office, trustee's home