Records expose financial ties between Sacramento leader, public charter school

The Sacramento-based Highlands Community Charter School boasted star power across its hundreds of employees: an influential Black community leader, a retired police chief and a former Sacramento Kings player. 

Those employees, designated as “special projects coordinator” in 2023, included Jay King, the president of the California Black Chamber of Commerce; Daniel Hahn, Sacramento Police Department’s chief for four years starting from 2017; and basketball player Harold Pressley, according to payroll records. 

Questions about King’s employment were raised in a scathing state audit released last month that said the school wrongly received about $180 million of state funds. NonprofitHighlands Community Charter and Technical Schools, which operates under the Twin River Unified School District, did not offer the required amount of instruction, failed to appropriately track student attendance and its teachers did not have appropriate credentials, according to state auditors. The nonprofit runs both the Highlands Community Charter School and the California Innovative Career Academy. 

Now, documents obtained by The Sacramento Bee shed new light on the employment of King and how Highlands awarded him lucrative contracts for his radio business separate from his six-figure salary. 

The California Black Chamber of Commerce received $583,712 from 2020 until 2024 across event sponsorships, underwriting radio programs hosted by King and other payments, according to a ledger of expenses from Highlands Community Charter School obtained by The Bee.

“Because this employee was the president and CEO of an organization that received funds from an organization of which he was also an employee, the public may assume that this person financially benefited from these transactions,” the state audit said. 

King declined to comment. Highlands did not respond to a request for comment. 

The California Black Chamber of Commerce began receiving funds in the fiscal year 2020 to 2021. Highlands paid $50,000 under a charge labeled “2021 Proposal: HCCTS + CBCCF Strategic Partnership,” records show.

That same fiscal year, Highlands gave $12,000 to radio show “Traffic Jam,” a show hosted by King on radio station KDEE-FM (97.5), records show. KDEE-FM is a subsidiary of the California Black Chamber of Commerce. 

King, a Grammy-nominated artist and DJ, also hosted another show called “Never Too Late” at the same station. Both shows received at least $243,000 from Highlands across fiscal years beginning in 2020 and ending in 2023, records show.

King was also separately paid in 2022 about $101,000 in wages, according to Transparent California, which collects payroll records. 

For state auditors, Highlands was “unable to demonstrate” ifKing’s “job duties and functions for a certain role warranted a full-time, salaried position.” King was not named in the audit, but his tenure at the Highlands Community Charter School aligns with the timeline included in the document. 

On paper, King’s job description varied from his actual duties. A job description the Highlands charter school providedto state auditors “describes the position’s essential roles and responsibilities to include building, refining, producing, and monitoring the HCCS Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP) with all conditions being met for State compliance mandates, being the WIOA coordinator, as well as multiple other responsibilities.” 

But King told auditors his “primary responsibilities were to expand awareness of Highlands in the local Black community and host a radio show, as well as perform any additional tasks at the request of the former executive director.” 

“Never Too Late” was co-hosted by King and Michael Roessler, a director of student engagement at Highlands. During the show, King promoted the positive attributes of Highlands. Many episodes have since been deleted from Facebook. 

In one episode, King praises the school’s ability to reach people of color. The audio was posted online in October 2024 on the California Black Chamber of Commerce’s Facebook page.

“Highlands has made a concerted effort to reach out to those vulnerable, those English speakers and vulnerable communities, Black and brown in particular, that have been left behind in the education system for one reason or another,” King said. “And I’m just uh, I’m proud to say that uh that Highlands has been at the forefront of making sure that African American men, in particular, are being … looked after, being catered to and encouraged to get their education and to, restart their lives.” 

There are strict guidelines for a radio show’s underwriting by the Federal Communications Commission. Underwriting does not allow for a companies’ promotion, but rather only explanations of its services. 

While the school paid King’s salary, it also received an award in December 2022from the California Black Chamber of Commerce and Greater Sacramento NAACP duringan observance of “Kwanzaa: The Celebration.”

In the 2022-23 school year, Highlands paid $20,000 to the California Black Chamber of Commerce for a “bronze sponsorship,” records show.

These contracts “ran the risk of facilitating the appearance of impropriety” because King was a school employee but also received contracts, the audit said. 

Highlands laid off hundreds of teachers and administrative staff members effective June 30 after the audit was released. The entire school board resigned, according to ABC10. The TV station reported on allegations of conflicts of interest, poor student outcomes and alleged luxury spending in a series last year that spawned a request by state lawmakers for an audit. 

A new executive director, Jonathan Raymond, assumed his role July 7. He will work with Twin River district officials to come up with a plan to re-open some schools for the upcoming school year.

This story was originally published July 28, 2025 at 7:00 AM.

Ishani Desai

The Sacramento Bee

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Ishani Desai is a government watchdog reporter for The Sacramento Bee. She previously covered crime and courts for The Bakersfield Californian.