Where to File a Complaint in Inyo County on Job
John R. Hart | The Union
Inyo County Superintendent of Schools Terry McAteer, under fire in recent weeks for insensitive remarks toward minorities and low-income residents as well as possible abuse of taxpayer money, is now under investigation by the Inyo County grand jury.
McAteer was the superintendent of schools for Nevada County, serving four terms before abruptly stepping down in 2008 and later accepting the position in Inyo County.
The Inyo Register was able to independently confirm that the grand jury had launched an investigation into McAteer's use of what he calls "discretionary" dollars that the Inyo County Office of Education earns by providing business services to charter schools in Los Angeles. The grand jury is also looking into the purchase of an automobile with ICOE funding that appears to be driven almost exclusively by McAteer's wife.
The grand jury's investigation was started in response to complaints from local taxpayers. "There are a number of citizens who have concerns and we are looking into those concerns," our source said, noting that the investigation has primarily entailed "following the money."
That money originates at Youthbuild charter schools in Los Angeles, which pay the ICOE a fee in exchange for business services, such as payroll and accounting.
During a telephone interview in early January, McAteer explained that he charges these schools a 7 percent fee even though it doesn't cost the ICOE that much to provide the services. There are no strings attached to this money and it is not earmarked for any specific project or expense, meaning it can be spent on anything the ICOE wants to spend it on. McAteer said he stores the proceeds in a discretionary account and he and the Board of Education decide how to use it.
The board
During an open meeting with the Board of Education on Feb. 12, the Inyo Register discussed reports of nepotism, cronyism and extravagant spending by McAteer, as well as reports of ageism – replacing women nearing retirement age with much younger women – and retaliatory firings.
The board stressed that, unlike other boards of education, it had no authority over hiring and firing at the ICOE or other personnel issues. The board emphasized its job was strictly providing financial oversight.
Yet the board acknowledged never taking a formal vote of approval on any of McAteer's proposals before he spends money on them. It was explained that he offers up a list of initiatives, projects and trips at the start of the year, and the board gives him the go-ahead to proceed with them.
The board does take a vote once a month when it does a review of financial activities, sources of revenue and any budget transfers that need to be made. The ICOE also undergoes an annual audit, which it passes with flying colors.
Year to year, there's roughly $700,000 available in discretionary funds — a point of pride for McAteer, who noted during the January interview that his critics are not accustomed to seeing an Office of Education operated with an entrepreneurial spirit.
With those funds, McAteer has been able to sponsor the One-to-One initiative in local schools, an effort to arm every student in grades 1-12 with a personal computer of some sort, whether an iPad or a laptop.
He was also able to contribute $75,000 towards the downtown Bishop Wi-Fi project initiated by the Bishop Chamber of Commerce, and has invested in county library makeovers in exchange for them staying open later to better accommodate students.
However, it's other uses of those funds that have drawn criticism and raised suspicions, such as catered receptions, flying a dozen or so local VIPs to L.A. for a tour of the charter schools, an annual and spendy retreat at Furnace Creek in Death Valley, a recent 18-person technology research trip to the Bay Area and an upcoming trip to Italy for an estimated 12 educators with Child Care Connection – many of the same educators who signed a letter of support of McAteer that was published in the Jan. 31 edition of The Inyo Register.
One reason given for the overseas trip is that it's a rare opportunity to get the best training available in the Reggio Emilia Approach – a method of teaching that begins with preschool.
The teachers will be visiting the school where Reggio Emilia originated. But as a learning opportunity, it doesn't appear to be rare. At least a dozen preschools in San Francisco are exclusively based on Reggio Emilia learning and Lesley University in Cambridge, Mass. offers an annual, comprehensive course in Reggio Emilia.
The exact cost of the trip to Italy is not known, as Assistant Superintendent Tom Snyder was out of town this week and his assistant was not authorized to release the information.
Familiar story
While these teachers visit Italy in May, Youthbuild Charter School of California educators will be leading classrooms each of about 35 students. The students themselves are anywhere from 16 to 24 years old, high school drop-outs and sometimes juvenile delinquents looking at their last chance at an education. Ninety-six percent of the study body is minority enrollment, with the majority of the students identifying as Hispanic.
Youthbuild first contracted with McAteer when he was the superintendent of schools for Nevada County in the mid-2000s.
McAteer's tenure there was not without controversy either. Complaints of nepotism made it to The Union, in 2007 when McAteer hired his wife, Liz, as a long-term substitute teacher at Nevada Union High School that January.
She reportedly did not go through a competitive interview process and there were other candidates said to be just as, if not more, qualified than she.
Five months later, McAteer told The Union he was stepping down as superintendent, with time still left on his term, to return to the classroom "with a genuine excitement … to relive the magic that takes place every day in the most important job in society."
Then, in March 2008, while still teaching, he agreed to take the superintendent of schools job in Inyo County and finish out the unexpired term of retiring George Lozito. When McAteer left Nevada County, he brought the Youthbuild Charter School of California with him.
In the six and a half years McAteer has served as Superintendent of Schools in Inyo County, he's increased the ICOE's budget from $2.8 million to $6.4 million.
He said he accomplished this in part by making the ICOE less "top-heavy" through not filling positions when someone retires and moving employees into other positions.
Another Driving Concern
The bountiful budget is another point of pride for McAteer and for the Board of Education, which gave McAteer permission to use funds from the discretionary account in 2013 to purchase a vehicle for the travel he does for his work with the charter schools.
The problem with that, according to the Grand jury and several inside sources, is that the board appears to have unwittingly bought Liz McAteer a car instead.
Seen driving the vehicle to and from work and other locations around Bishop, Liz was the one who picked out, signed for and drove the car off the lot, according to a former employee of the dealership where the vehicle was purchased, Eastern Sierra Motors.
The employee said Liz arrived solo at the dealership with a list of specs and initially requested a Ford Edge Ltd. Edition, the top-of-the-line model that comes with heated leather seats.
This raised the employee's suspicions and he asked to speak to someone from the ICOE directly, to which Liz gave the impression she was an authorized representative.
Liz eventually settled on an Escape Titanium, again with leather seats, a moon-roof, navigation and other extra features. When it arrived at the dealership, it was Liz who came to pick it up on Aug. 28.
A new 2013 Ford Escape starts at the base price of $23,295. The dealership sold that particular Escape to the ICOE for more than $34,000.
Darcy Ellis is the managing editor of the Inyo Register.
Where to File a Complaint in Inyo County on Job
Source: https://www.theunion.com/news/local-news/inyo-county-grand-jury-investigating-former-nevada-county-superintendent-of-schools-terry-mcateer/