River Delta official accused of textbook ruse

A River Delta Unified School District administrator has been accused of scheming to fool state inspectors by shuttling textbooks between schools to pass a required inspection.

At a Tuesday night meeting of the district board, former district teacher Alan Eaton said teachers told him that Chief Education Services Officer Robert Hubbell had asked them to help mislead state inspectors.

Walnut Grove Elementary School fourth-grade teacher John Allerson told The Bee on Wednesday that his students had participated in a "dry run," so they'd be ready for inspectors, who visited the school Aug. 30.

"We did have books for the Williams (Settlement) inspection, but they were not ours to keep," Allerson said. "The books were taken back the day after the inspection."

The Williams Settlement case found that California failed to give many public school children the basic tools necessary for a proper education. The case resulted in laws requiring that school districts provide credentialed teachers, textbooks and safe facilities.

Schools that do the poorest on the state's Academic Performance Index are subject to more oversight, including inspections. Walnut Grove Elementary is one of about 2,100 such schools statewide.

Days before the Walnut Grove inspection, Hubbell briefed teachers about the school's textbook situation, Allerson said. Hubbell told teachers he had ordered the textbooks, but they would not arrive in time for the inspection, said Allerson. Hubbell asked teachers to familiarize their students with "practice books." He said they were not to write in them and should be able to hold them up when asked by inspectors to identify them, Allerson said.

All grades except grade six experienced a textbook shortage, Allerson said.

After they passed inspection, Allerson said his students went without textbooks for another two weeks – a month total.

Local California Teachers' Association representative and River View Middle School teacher Peter Hamilton said Walnut Grove teachers complained to him about the incident.

"(They said) that books were brought in from another site and they were told to train the kids to hold the books up when the auditors came in," Hamilton said.

School board President Joy Baker said Wednesday that the board has asked Superintendent Alan Newell to look into the accusations.

Hubbell said Wednesday that former teacher Eaton had mischaracterized what had happened. He said Walnut Grove's principal was on personal leave and that he had taken over for the interim. He soon learned the school hadn't ordered its books. So he scrambled, he said.

"I was taking books that were surplus from other sites," he said, "and I had new books coming into Walnut Grove."

He wasn't absolutely sure if he had all the new books before the inspection, but, he said, "I'm almost certain."

Hubbell said he could have left all the surplus books from Bates Elementary at Walnut Grove after the inspection, but didn't need to. He said he couldn't remember if they went back to Bates or not.

Superintendent Newell said Wednesday he would like to see a written complaint from a teacher or person who was present during the alleged violation.

Eaton had not been present and no one else has brought it to the district's attention, Newell said.

"If we get more detailed information from an employee or parent who was there at the time. I will look into it," he said. "Right now I have no written complaint with any names."

Brooks Allen, an ACLU lawyer who helps to monitor and implement the Williams Settlement statewide, said he's heard similar allegations of textbook shuffling at other schools – about four in the past few years.

"It's rare that someone wants to pull wool over someone's eyes," said Allen, "but … if there is going to be a shenanigan, it comes up in this area."

If a school lacks credentialed teachers – a Williams requirement – they are harder to find, he said. Likewise, the only way to pass inspection of a broken air conditioner is to fix it, he said. Textbooks are easier to finagle, Brooks said.

The River Delta district serves more than 2,200 elementary, middle and high school students at 11 schools.

Some district parents have called for the resignation of Hubbell, or for the Sacramento County Office of Education to dismiss him.

But Sacramento County Superintendent of Schools David Gordon said he has no such authority. What he can do, he said, is investigate a complaint related to the Williams Settlement.

"(But) unless and until we get a complaint (from River Delta parents or teachers), I don't have anything to investigate," he said. "Casting accusations at a board meeting does not constitute an investigation.

"I understand the shortage of textbooks has been corrected," Gordon said. "Whether the school official was acting improperly – that's up to the school district."

Eaton said he and others will file a Williams Settlement complaint soon.

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