Stockton Unified top business official among three high-profile resignations

Stockton Unified School District is experiencing another wave of resignations from high-ranking officials, headlined by Interim Chief Business Official Joann Juarez.

Juarez was tapped to lead Stockton Unified’s business operations after former Chief Business Official Marcus Battle resigned in August 2022. The district confirmed she will return to her previous position July 1 as budget manager, an $80-90,000 pay cut from the CBO position, according to Stockton Unified's salary schedules.

In her resignation letter, Juarez said it’s always been her goal to become a CBO in the community she lives in, but her experience with Board President AngelAnn Flores has made her reconsider her career path.

“I consider her defamation of my character as egregious and criminal. Her comments related to my lack of work ethic and knowledge have created a false narrative within SUSD and community,” Juarez’s letter reads. “I am afraid that (Flores) will fire me for not following her unethical and criminal directives. Again, I have worked to(o) hard to get where I am in my career.”

Flores said Juarez has been assigned immense responsibility as interim CBO, including temporarily overseeing the district’s transportation department.

“I’m doing my due diligence and asking questions,” Flores told The Record. “If they’re overwhelmed and unable to answer those questions, that’s not a reflection on me.”

Juarez has been responsible for adhering to a plethora of tasks and recommendations from the San Joaquin County Civil Grand Jury and the state’s Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team, government watchdogs that have been critical of the district’s business operations and accountability.

SJ schools chief: Stockton Unified has ‘serious’ technical budgeting concerns, deficit spending

An April 14 letter from San Joaquin County Superintendent Troy Brown detailed deficit spending and “serious” technical budgeting concerns at Stockton Unified, including a failure to listen to the county’s fiscal expert regarding accounting errors.

'Hostile behavior' leads to two exits

Interim Superintendent of Human Resources Wendy DeSimone submitted her letter of resignation April 14. She’d been in the role for six months, previously serving as the director of certified personnel since December 2021.

“Board leadership has exhibited hostile behavior toward staff, our prior general counsel, and myself,” DeSimone’s resignation letter reads. “I can no longer work toward improving our District’s reputation when our board leadership routinely displays unprofessional and threatening behavior in public and in professional meeting settings.”

Stanislaus County Office of Education confirmed DeSimone was hired at the Director 2 level in their human resources division and will begin May 1.

Transportation Director Nate Knodt abruptly retired April 11 after submitting a resignation letter April 7, the district confirmed. He had served as transportation director since Aug. 23, 2022. Knodt replaced former Transportation Director Benard Veasley amidst allegations of a “toxic” work environment that included bullying and sexual harassment.

Flores speaks out on 'mean-girl' behavior

Over six hours into the April 18 Stockton Unified Board of Trustees meeting, an emotional Flores addressed the allegations from resigning administrators claiming she'd been a "bully."

"There has been a narrative shared about me that I am a bully and belittling staff. I’ve never belittled or berated any staff. I’ve asked for results and accountability,” Flores said at the board meeting. “I depended on people to put students before their own egos."

Flores said "head leadership" has encouraged complaining against her and promoting lawsuits. She apologized to the staff that have been "caught up in childish, mean-girl behaviors."

"They have taken time away from work to focus on student achievement instead to focus on gossiping and promoting false narratives about your board president," Flores said. "We must demand that our leaders act with integrity and put the needs of our students first."

Interim Superintendent Traci Miller, who started her 25-year career in education as a counselor with Stockton Unified, said her commitment as an educator "holds strong."

"It's been a privilege to sit in this chair ... There's still a lot of work that needs to be done in the next few weeks, but I am very proud of the leadership team," Miller said at the April 18 board meeting. "Despite the outside distractions, I would ask that we continue to support our students, teachers and staff who are doing the amazing, transformative work each and every day for our students."

This article originally appeared on The Record: SUSD top business official among three high-profile resignations