Stockton Unified reinstates safety coordinator, grant writer — but funding questions remain

Ben Irwin, The Record
·4 min read
The Stockton Unified School District's Arthur Coleman Jr. Administrative Complex is located at 56 South Lincoln Street in downtown Stockton.
The Stockton Unified School District's Arthur Coleman Jr. Administrative Complex is located at 56 South Lincoln Street in downtown Stockton.

The Stockton Unified School District Board of Trustees voted at the July 26 board meeting to reinstate the district’s grant writing and safety coordinator positions, but questions about funding the two positions remain.

Reinstating the positions puts them back on the books, but the district will still need to make hires. Both classified management positions — the grant development and compliance specialist and the emergency services/school safety program coordinator — had been eliminated April 27, 2021, along with about 70 other positions due to lack of funds or work as a part of the district’s reorganization.

ICYMI: Stockton Unified's safety plans dated or out of compliance with state law, consultant says

During discussion at the July 26 board meeting, Trustee Maria Mendez questioned the use of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief, or ESSER funds — the over $241 million in one-time COVID-relief dollars Stockton Unified was allotted from the federal government — to finance the two positions. Salary and benefits in 2020 for the two positions totaled over $315,000.

“If these positions are so important to the district, why are we utilizing ESSER funds?” Mendez said. “To me, ESSER funds are temporary, saying we don’t need these positions long-term.”

Nancy Lane, assistant superintendent of human resources, said the positions were initially going to be funded through ESSER funds until the positions are “identified as an ongoing need for the district,” at which point the funding source can be changed.

The emergency services/school safety program coordinator would be responsible for leading and working with school improvement initiatives that support student safety and emergency preparedness, according to the district’s job description, including managing the district’s safety plans.

Almost a year after the position was eliminated, 15-year-old freshman Alycia Reynaga was stabbed to death in front of classrooms full of students at Stagg High. Stockton Unified’s Comprehensive School Safety Plan has since been determined to be dated or out of compliance with state law — Senate Bill 187 — by the district’s contracted safety consultant, Rockeye Consulting, LLC.

Twenty-five-year-old Miranda Garcia, who describes herself as a family friend, sits near a makeshift memorial outside the fence at Stagg High school where 15-year-old student Alycia Reynaga was stabbed and killed by an intruder at the school on April 18, 2022.
Twenty-five-year-old Miranda Garcia, who describes herself as a family friend, sits near a makeshift memorial outside the fence at Stagg High school where 15-year-old student Alycia Reynaga was stabbed and killed by an intruder at the school on April 18, 2022.

Trustee AngelAnn Flores offered up some advice from what she’d learned at the NALEO conference she attended in late June, a professional development opportunity for Latino elected and appointed officials in Chicago.

“During the ESSER funds (portion of the conference), this is one of the things we were strongly advised not to do,” Flores said.

Flores had been explaining what she’d learned at the conference earlier in the meeting but was cut off when her allotted time expired.

“If there’s any way we can find the funding in a different category, I strongly advise that,” Flores said. “What’s going to happen, according to that conference, is the state is going to evaluate how we spent the money. If we didn’t spend it correctly and according to the regulations they’ve provided, we’re going to have to pay that money back … I’m OK with the positions being reinstated, but the funding is a no-no.”

Board Vice President Ray Zulueta motioned to approve reinstating the two positions, and to bring the item back to ratify a different funding source. The motion carried 7-0.

Dire financial picture

A June 2022 San Joaquin grand jury report alleged Stockton Unified is hurtling toward an at least $30 million deficit by fiscal year 2024-25 due to financial mismanagement and poor business practices.

SJ grand jury: SUSD needs better financial management, leadership policies

Stockton Unified has an eight-month contract with Rockeye for $226,800. In 2020, the emergency services/school safety program coordinator was employed at the most senior paygrade for the position at $164,162 including benefits. Month to month, paying Rockeye is costing Stockton Unified more than twice what it previously was to have safety services in-house at the highest paygrade. The position was originally eliminated due to lack of funds or work.

As stated in the grand jury report, no single individual or department staff currently oversees Stockton Unified’s grant process, resulting in missed financial opportunities, lack of monitoring, poor data collection, possible misuse of funds and the inability to track the progress of grants and compliance with grant terms.

The entire district Grant Development Office was eliminated in 2021, the grand jury report states. One of the grand jury’s recommendations was to reinstate a grant writing position — and the Grand Development Office — to explore grant opportunities for programs and minimize the risk of a budget deficit.

Record reporter Ben Irwin covers Stockton and San Joaquin County government. He can be reached at birwin@recordnet.com or on Twitter @B1rwin. Support local news, subscribe to The Stockton Record at https://www.recordnet.com/subscribenow. 

This article originally appeared on The Record: 2 Stockton Unified positions restored; funding questions remain