The San Dieguito Union High School District on Thursday introduced a plan for making changes recommended in a recent audit of its school foundations.
It could, however, take until March for all of those changes to be carried out.
Some parents told the five-member school board they want to see more accountability and transparency from foundations that raise money for the district’s schools.
“I believe a deeper forensic audit is needed,” parent Janice Holowka said. She also demanded recognition for Kevin Wang and Litong Tian, the two Canyon Crest Academy (CCA) students who questioned financial practices by their school’s foundation.
"Also the retaliation has not been addressed, even though the two boys faced retaliation for speaking out about the CCA Foundation," she added.
Last year, Wang told KPBS he'd been sent to the principal's office over the report.
His work with Tian prompted an audit of all the district’s foundations. Both have now graduated and are attending college out of state, but on Thursday, Minato Garcia, a current CCA student, read a statement from Tian to the board.
“The only way for the foundation to regain the confidence of the community is if it successfully implements these guidelines, without deliberately trying to stall us," Garcia said, reading the statement. "As such, for the benefit of the school, its students and its community, I hope this year's recommendations (will) be successfully implemented.”
The audit found 16 issues, including missing memoranda of understanding (MOU) between the district and foundations. The auditors recommended having formal MOUs with all four school foundations.
Associate Superintendent Stephen Dickinson said he expects to have a draft MOU by October or November.
“We may have board policies or administrative regulations that may need amendments, revisions to align with what comes through this MOU and this process," he said. "We would hope by December we have the final MOU with all of our four foundation plans."
He said all the audit recommendations should be fully implemented by March.
