Otherwise, “people will question what’s in the report and that will lead to speculation about what may have occurred, legal or illegal, criminal or innocuous,” she said. Marlene Widawer, a parent who has been vocal about El Camino administrators’ spending, agreed and argued that releasing the investigation report would show the school board has nothing to hide. “If they really do care about transparency and having credibility with the public school about the management of the school, then it seems to me they should waive the attorney-client privilege and release the report.” However, “it’s important to understand that the attorney-client privilege can be waived by the client - the client here being the board of directors of the charter school,” Scheer said. Peter Scheer, executive director of the Bay Area-based First Amendment Coalition, said the charter school may try to withhold the consultant’s report on the grounds of attorney-client privilege depending on the facts of the case. ![]() “After this is done, the board can decide to put the question of a full or partial release to a vote.” “The board would need to consult with an attorney for the legal issues that may be involved with releasing the report,” Wasser, who cited “attorney-client privilege,” said in an email. El Camino officials have also said that most of the charges were for business purposes though some “inadvertent personal” charges that were made were reimbursed to the school.Įl Camino Real Alliance Board President Jonathan Wasser said his board can decide to accept Oracle’s findings as a final report or send them back for corrections or additional information. LAUSD staff have also argued that updates made to the charter school’s policies in recent months have been inadequate.Įl Camino – which converted to an independent charter in 2011 and receives about $32 million a year in government funds - denies any fiscal mismanagement, contends the district’s notice of violations contains dozens of careless or intentional errors and argues the allegations are an attempt to “wrestle back control” of a successful charter school. District staffers have alleged “numerous seemingly exorbitant personal and/or improper expenses” were charged by school administrators and processed without scrutiny from November, 2013 to December, 2015. 23 to deliver its formal response to a “notice of violations” issued by the Los Angeles Unified School District’s Board of Education last month - the first step to potentially revoking the school’s charter - over alleged fiscal mismanagement, breach of charter and violation of open meeting laws. Separately, the embattled charter school has until Sept. The estimated $20,000 investigation, which examined credit and charge card spending as well as reimbursement policies, followed a series of Daily News stories highlighting such spending - including $15,500 at Monty’s Prime Steaks & Seafood in 20 - by the public charter school’s Executive Director David Fehte and other top administrators. RELATED STORY: “Special Report: LA charter school under review after principal charges $100K”.The El Camino “board, as a whole, will determine whether and when the findings of the investigation will be made public,” Ruley said. However, the seven-member board could take action in open session to implement recommendations within the investigation’s scope if they address changes to board policies or other public matters. Ruley, an attorney representing the Woodland Hills school, said in an email. It will be presented in closed session “because the investigation scope included confidential employment matters,” Janelle A. The El Camino Real Alliance board, which hired Oracle Investigations Group in June amid Los Angeles Unified School District concerns about the school’s spending, is expected to discuss the results at its Sept. WOODLAND HILLS > An independent investigation by an outside firm into seemingly lavish credit card spending by El Camino Real Charter High School administrators has been completed, but whether the public will ever hear those findings is in doubt.
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