At a recent public budget review committee meeting, former Stockton Unified School District Chief Business Officer Joanne Juarez stated that the district was unable to account for a loss of $100 million dollars. This lack of fiscal accountability due to corruption and frequent turnover amongst high-ranking district officials paints an uncertain future for our members, students and community.

As a result, the likelihood of the State of California placing the district into trusteeship has never been greater. CSEA will do everything it can to protect our members from the likely budget cuts, furloughs or layoffs that may come as a result. Securing a new contract before the district is placed under trusteeship is our top priority. A new contract will expand our ability to fight against the threats to our jobs.

CSEA has secured two bargaining dates on June 6th and June 14th to work on this right away. We will keep you updated as negotiations continue.

To illustrate the scope of mismanagement and disarray that this district, its staff and students have experienced, just look at the revolving door of district officials over the past two years:

• Superintendent – John Ramirez (May 2021-June 2022), Francine Baird (June 2022-July 2022), Traci Miller (July 2022-June 2023)
• Chief Business Officer – Marcus Battle (August 2022), Joanne Juarez (June 2023)
• Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources – Nancy Lane (May 2021-September 2022), Wendy DeSimone (October 2022-April 2023)
• Maintenance and Operations – Director, Armando Orozco (PAL), Manager, David Arreaga (October 2022), Manager of Custodial Services, Randy San Nicolas (PAL)
• Director of Constituent Services – Enrique Torres (October 2021-June 2022)
• Director of Risk Management – Herb Lester (June 2022)
• Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services – Roxanna Villasenor (July 2022)

The district has been mismanaged to the point that law enforcement and oversight agencies have taken notice. Since 2021, the district has been under investigation from the following agencies:

• Federal Bureau of Investigation
• US Attorney’s Office
• San Joaquin County Grand Jury
• San Joaquin County District Attorney’s Office
• Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team

While we cannot control the direction of the district as it undergoes this investigative and rehabilitative process, we can protect ourselves by locking down a new contract as soon as possible. We will update you with our progress in negotiating that new contract.