Morgan Hill school officials deny there is a grand jury probe
under way into the district.
Morgan Hill school officials deny there is a grand jury probe under way into the district.
Longtime board watcher Harlan Warthen asserts there is such an investigation going on. He told trustees at the May 5 meeting that he had been interviewed three times since the first of the year “concerning a criminal grand jury investigation of the Morgan Hill Unified School District.”
The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office did not respond to phone calls seeking comment.
“Absolutely to my knowledge, there is no grand jury investigation,” School Board President Tom Kinoshita said Thursday. “There never has been. I know for a fact that no board member has been approached by a grand jury investigator. I am not and neither is the board under investigation.”
Superintendent Carolyn McKennan also said Thursday there was no investigation.
“The board is not under investigation,” she said. “No employee of the district is under investigation. There is no involvement on any part of the district with any grand jury investigation.”
Warthen said Thursday the focus of the investigation was not revealed to him, but because of the nature of the conversations, he believes the grand jury is looking into the district’s bidding process.
“Three times since Jan. 1 I have been interviewed by the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office,” he said while reading a one-page letter at the board meeting. “During that period of time I asked four board trustees if they were aware of such an investigation and the unanimous answer was no. My question is this, Why did the superintendent fail to communicate the investigation to the trustees?”
In the process of his own investigations into district operations, Warthen said, one of the possible problems he has found is that the district signed a “design build” contract with Jacobs Facilities, Inc., for the construction of Barrett Elementary, which opened in August 2001.
A board-requested audit of Barrett construction costs, which totaled approximately $16.7 million, by Saylor Consulting revealed the elementary school cost 23 percent more than a typical school of its size.
One of the causes cited by the Saylor report for the cost overrun was “contractual issues and relationships.”
In the letter, Warthen asked the district to answer 11 financial questions related to construction of district schools. He asked two other questions related to district contracts with Jacobs Construction.
Calls to Bill Larsen, grand jury specialist for the DA’s office, and Joe Brockman, criminal investigator for the DA’s office, were not returned by press time.
Asked if the School District was under investigation by either a civil or criminal grand jury, Trustee Shellé Thomas said Thursday she could not comment.
“We can’t divulge anything that’s discussed in closed session,” she said. “That would be a violation of the Brown Act.”
Trustee Mike Hickey agreed.
“Because it was addressed in closed session, I can’t comment,” he said.
Trustee Del Foster, an attorney, said there is no grand jury investigation.
“But I am concerned because this same person’s wife has filed a lawsuit against the district,” he said, referring to Warthen.
Marsha Warthen, a former district teacher, filed a claim for $1 million against the district in January 2002 for wrongful termination in violation of public policy.
The lawsuit claims Marsha Warthen was fired for filing a worker’s compensation claim and for requesting accommodation for her medical condition.
