Woodland Hills leaders deny claims school district misused funds
School leaders in the Woodland Hills School District strongly denied claims that the district is misusing funds.
State Rep. Abigail Salisbury called on Tuesday for a criminal investigation into the district's actions after hearing from constituents, many of whose concerns stem from when the district placed Superintendent Joe Maluchnik on administrative leave. It's an action that has never been explained, community members say.
School board vice president Karen Lyons said on Wednesday that what Salisbury did was criminal, calling her "incompetent" based on their interactions.
"What Abigail Salisbury did, in conjunction with other board members, was unacceptable. It was irresponsible," Lyons said. "She never contacted our school to find out what's going on with our finances. So now we're categorized as criminal."
The district's solicitor read aloud a district statement that said if Salisbury had reached out for clarification about financial practices, "We would have been pleased to provide comprehensive documentation demonstrating our commitment to fiscal responsibility and transparency."
Some community members believe the superintendent was pushed out of his position and replaced with his assistant after he found something he was not supposed to find. They think it has to do with questions about board-approved expenditures and contract awards.
"They feel that their taxpayer dollars are funding two superintendent salaries, and there have been public accusations by some members of the school board, as well as members of the general community, about the way Woodland Hill school dollars may have been spent," Salisbury said on Tuesday.
While board members have said they are prohibited from commenting about what happened to Maluchnik, their business manager did provide a lengthy defense of some of their financial practices during Wednesday's meeting.
Lyons said under no circumstances would she sit on the school board and be involved in criminal activities.
"There will be something that will come to this to the floor that will squash all of this, that will put it all to rest," Lyons said. "Then no one will have anything to say."
She then told reporters to look at an article. She appeared to reference reporting of Maluchnik claiming that he had been blackballed at a former school.
Lyons also took aim at the one school board member who has raised similar concerns as others.
"She doesn't want to follow the rules," Lyons said. "A certain board member doesn't want to follow the rules. She thinks she's above and beyond that."
There was a contentious exchange during the meeting between board member Darnika Reed and the district's business manager over Reed not receiving information she wanted about the district's procurement cards. Reed said there was a lack of transparency, while the business manager said they had been totally transparent.
"The public criticism that the district has faced recently is valid," Reed said. "The public should be concerned about the lack of transparency in the contracts, construction contracts in the district and bidding process. I believe wholeheartedly that the superintendent's a whistleblower."
While the majority of neighbors who spoke at the meeting supported the majority of the district, some did praise the on-leave superintendent and call for additional transparency.
One community member said, "Trolling, misinformation and chaos disguised as advocacy. It is not logical. It is not grounded in facts."
The district statement said the original accusations appear to be based solely on social media comments and emails from select individuals, many of whom don't have students in the district.