Dehesa district puts superintendent on leave as she faces criminal charge

The Dehesa School Board voted 4-0 Friday to place Superintendent Nancy Hauer on paid leave, two days after prosecutors announced she was charged with misappropriation of public funds.

Hauer was one of 11 defendants named in an indictment that accuses some charter school leaders of self-dealing, inflating charter school enrollment and stealing more than $50 million in public funds that should have gone to educating students.

Three of the charter schools prosecutors said were involved in the indictment were authorized to operate by the Dehesa School District. Prosecutors said Hauer over-billed the schools for oversight fees.

Hauer denied the charge and pleaded not guilty during her arraignment Wednesday.

School districts that authorize charter schools collect fees from them to pay for overseeing the schools. Prosecutors said Hauer billed the district’s charter schools more than $2 million in oversight fees last school year, which is more than the district’s entire payroll.

District Attorney Summer Stephan said Hauer increased what she charged in oversight fees as the charter schools’ reported enrollment rose.

Stephan said the “symbiotic relationship” between the charter schools and the district discouraged Dehesa from performing oversight that could have uncovered the self-dealing alleged in the indictment.

Hauer’s lawyer, Jan Ronis, said this week he is “really surprised” that Hauer was indicted. He said Hauer was not accused of personally profiting from what was alleged, and Hauer was not personally acquainted with most of the defendants.

“I’m pretty confident she’s likely to be dismissed out of it,” Ronis said.

Hauer was a teacher for 20 years before becoming superintendent, Ronis said. Last year, she was paid a salary of $115,088, according to Transparent California.

When asked after Friday’s board meeting, neither Board President Cindy White nor acting superintendent Anna Buxbaum could say what year Hauer was hired as superintendent or what her current salary is.

The board deliberated in closed session for one and a half hours before White announced Hauer’s leave.

“This will allow the district to focus on their students and wrapping up the school year and allow the superintendent to focus on the charges she is facing,” White said.

Board Vice President Mark Zacovic was absent from Friday’s vote.

In light of the charter school allegations, Dehesa School District said it is changing how it oversees its nine charter schools.

“We are focused on the many questions and concerns that are circulating around how the District may have, in the past, approved and overseen charter schools,” White said in a statement Thursday. “We are firmly resolved to identify all areas of operation that must be addressed.”

Three days before the charter school indictment came down on May 17, the Dehesa School Board voted unanimously to deny renewal of Valiant Academy of Southern California’s charter. Valiant Academy is one of the charter schools involved in the alleged scam. It will close permanently on June 30.

Dehesa staff concluded the school suffered from poor academic performance, including low test scores and poor college and career readiness. They said Valiant’s petition for renewal contained several statements that lacked details or meaning, as well as references to tests and laws that are outdated.

The district also hired an outside auditor, who found Valiant had engaged in several related-party transactions, or financial conflicts of interest, that aligned with the self-dealing described in the indictment.