Alisal Union School District finds numerous violations in Oasis Charter School investigation.

After a  months-long investigation, Alisal Union School District publicly released its findings Monday, July 9 into allegations of administrative failures at Oasis Charter Public School.

AUSD determined Oasis board members and administrators violated the California Political Reform Act; the Brown Act, which governs public meeting rules; failed to hire only properly credentialed teachers; and violated conflict-of-interest rules by hiring the executive director's husband as a contractor. 

The investigation came about after Andrew Sandoval, a parent of four students, filed a complaint with 21 allegations.

Even before AUSD completed the investigation, administrators moved to revoke the school's charter on the basis of what they'd found; the school and its chartering district reached an agreement just before a June 30 deadline that will keep the school open next year, with a new executive director and a part-time monitor reporting to AUSD officials. 

AUSD's report found that some of Sandoval's complaints did not have merit, including violations of the California Public Records Act and allegations that Oasis Executive Director Juanita Perea had exhibited intimidating behavior toward him. 

"We recognize and acknowledge that Mr. Sandoval’s relationship with Dr. Perea is strained and that there is tension caused largely by, on one hand Mr. Sandoval’s relentless complaints, and on the other hand, Mr. Sandoval’s opinion that Dr. Perea has failed to respond adequately to his complaints," according to the report. 

(Perea has accused Sandoval of similarly intimidating behavior, and filed a restraining order against him in Monterey County Superior Court. A judge sided with Sandoval and did not grant Perea a restraining order against him.) 

In their analysis, AUSD found multiple violations of the Brown Act, including failures to post revised agendas for board meetings, and limiting the number of attendees in public meetings, such as an Oasis Board Retreat, when Perea capped attendance at 22 people. 

AUSD also found violations of the Political Reform Act, which requires public officials to file various reports not only on campaign fundraising and personal financial interests. The district found evidence that board member Pete Cryer did not fill out a financial disclosure form, known as Form 700, upon taking office in 2012.

AUSD also investigated Sandoval's allegations of conflict of interest in awarding landscaping contracts. They determined one contract, awarded to J & J Landscaping—where an employee's husband is employed—was not in violation of the law, because he is simply an employee, rather than an owner.

But they found that a separate contract, awarded to Jimenez Landscaping—owned by Executive Director Perea's husband—it a violation of California's conflict-of-interest law.

"There is sufficient evidence to conclude that Oasis has violated its charter by contracting with Dr. Perea’s husband, the owner of the company," according to the report. "The charter obligates Oasis to comply with Government Code section 1090 which prohibits Oasis from contracting with an entity in which the party subject to compliance has a financial interest."

Some issues, including the contract to Jimenez Landscaping, remain under investigation by the California Fair Political Practices Commission. 

AUSD also determined that Oasis employed uncredentialed teachers to teach full-time; allowed board members to stay past their appointment periods; and had children clean the school as an educational activity, though cleaning was not part of a curriculum approved by the chartering district. 

Alisal Union School District will continue to be Oasis' chartering school district for 2018-2019 school year. As of June 29, Perea has stepped down and a current Oasis parent, Sergio Guzman, has been accepted as a new board member.