On the morning of March 11, parents emerging from talks with Leadership Associates, the search firm hired by the district to seek out a new superintendent, were shocked to see agents from the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office of Public Integrity searching the district's headquarters. The parents stopped one of the agents to ask him what was going on.
Story Created:
Mar 17, 2010 at 8:10 PM PST
Story Updated:
Mar 17, 2010 at 11:41 PM PST
LYNWOOD — A surprise morning raid by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office of Public Integrity March 11 left a lot of unanswered questions throughout the Lynwood Unified School District, and what one teacher calls an “eerie” effect.
“We didn’t know what was going on, we heard that the U.S. Marshals were at the district, with the D.A. and the FBI, then we heard rumors that the school board president was arrested, and that the business manager was arrested, so things weren’t just crazy at the headquarters, news of the raid hit the school sites fast,” said a teacher at Lynwood High School, who got wind of the raid at the district offices as classes began. The teacher said he preferred to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation, but said that even some of his students knew about the raid. “[The agents’] presence might as well have been at all the schools.”
Calls made that afternoon confirmed that no arrests had been made.
Initial reports said the raid included investigators from the FBI and from the U.S. Marshals office, but it was later confirmed that the agents were only from the D.A.’s office — about 15 of them — who arrived at the district’s headquarters with a search warrant at around 7:45 a.m. requesting offices be opened on the spot, prompting district personnel to scramble for keys to offices they did not have.
According to Sandi Gibbons, a spokesperson for the D.A.’s office, the search warrant is related to an allegation of misuse of public funds by the district’s former superintendent, but “that’s all I can tell you,” she said.
“The search warrant … is part of a criminal investigation, that is ongoing,” she said. “And we do not discuss ongoing criminal investigations.”
While the actual affidavit behind the search warrant has been sealed by a judge, the search warrant authorized agents to sort through files, documents and e-mail systems for evidence pertaining to allegations about the misuse of public funds and possible inappropriate campaign activity.
In a statement released on the day of the raid, interim Superintendent Patrick Leier said the district attorney’s office was at the district’s headquarters investigating allegations that the district’s former superintendent engaged in inappropriate campaign activities, yet reminded the public that the allegations were only allegations.
School board member Alfonso Morales said he could not comment on the matter. “I can’t comment on the D.A. being at the district last week,” he said. “It’s an ongoing investigation. … That’s not something we can comment on.”
School board member Rachel Chavez said the raid shocked her like nothing else.
“Just when you think things are settling down, boom, things blow up,” she said.
Other than that, Chavez said it was best for her not to comment on the investigation.
The former superintendent, Dhyan Lal, was released from his contract pursuant to the terms of his employment agreement last August by a 4-1 of the school board. The district is currently in litigation with Lal regarding his contract.
Val Zolfaghari, president of the Lynwood Teachers Association, who butted heads with Lal on more than one occasion over the years, said he had heard rumors last year that the D.A. was opening up an investigation on the former superintendent, but wasn’t sure what it pertained to.
“We heard rumors for a long time, but after a while, it just quieted down,” he said. “Then suddenly [the D.A. is] here. … My question is why have they come in so suddenly? … They don’t take action unless they have some kind of evidence.”
Zolfaghari said he is not going to speculate on what will come out of the investigation, but he does hope the investigation uncovers other activity surrounding the misuse of public funds.
“Teachers and parents have been ignored for years and years about some of these things, but now, maybe, we will be heard,” he said. Zolfaghari said he is not aware of the allegations regarding the campaign activity, but said there have been concerns throughout the years over the constant “mismanagement of funds” in the district.
D.A. agents last week focused most of their attention on the superintendent’s office, the business manager’s office and the computer/tech department.
Agents, working under lead investigator Lt. Steve DePrima, were seen sorting through filing cabinets inside the superintendent’s office, moving computer equipment from office to office, and interviewing several individuals.
By late afternoon, agents left the headquarters carrying several boxes and three computers — from each of the three offices they focused their attention on — and some of them headed to the district’s warehouse on Wright Road, but it could not be confirmed if agents confiscated any files or equipment from there.
Asked if he knew what agents were looking for, Leier said agents were allowed to take whatever they wanted to take.
“The district is fully complying with the D.A.’s office,” said Leier in a telephone interview this week. Have agents returned? Leier said, “no, but they can return whenever they want.”
Aside from that, Leier said the district cannot make any official comments pertaining to the affidavit or to the investigation.
While some are still speculating as to what will result from the investigation, Leier said he hasn’t heard anything this week.
“It’s been quiet this week and I’m glad,” Leier said. Considering there are about nine full weeks of actual school left before the year ends, “It’s a good thing people aren’t focused on this. … Teachers and students should be getting ready for upcoming tests … their energy should be focused on that. … We need to finish the year focused on student achievement. That’s where our focus needs to be.”
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