November 14, 2023

Murdock Smith, Executive Director

Highlands Community Charter
1333 Grand Avenue
Sacramento, CA 95838

Dr. Steven Martinez, Superintendent

Twin Rivers Unified School District
3222 Winona Way
North Highlands, CA 95660

David Gordon, County Superintendent

Sacramento County Office of Education
PO Box 269003
Sacramento, CA 95826

Dear Executive Director Smith, Dr. Martinez, and County Superintendent Gordon:

Subject: Notification of Concerns and Request for Information

On or about November 8, 2023, the California Department of Education (CDE) received

an inquiry from the media about Highlands Community Charter (Charter School) that
raises a number of issues that the CDE finds concerning. See attached letter.

Twin Rivers Unified School District (District) is the chartering authority of the Charter
School. The Charter School operates within the boundaries of the Sacramento County
Office of Education (County).As the local chartering authority of the Charter School, the
District is responsible for supervisorial oversight of the Charter School, which includes
inspecting, observing, and monitoring the Charter School’s compliance with its charter
and the law, pursuant to California Education Code (EC) Section 47604.32. The CDE
further acknowledges that the County Superintendent may review or audit the
expenditures and internal controls of any charter school in the County, pursuant to EC
Section 47604.4.

As detailed below, the CDE requests information from the Charter School and District.

1. EC Section 47605(a)(4) states, “After receiving approval of its petition, a charter

school that proposes to expand operations to one or more additional sites or
grade levels shall request a material revision to its charter and shall notify the
chartering authority of those additional locations or grade levels. The chartering
Murdock Smith, Executive Director
Dr. Steven Martinez, District Superintendent
David Gordon, County Superintendent
November 14, 2023
Page 2

authority shall consider whether to approve those additional locations or grade

levels at an open, public meeting. If the additional locations or grade levels are
approved pursuant to the standards and criteria described in subdivision (c), they
shall be a material revision to the charter school’s charter.”

While the CDE acknowledges the jurisdictional limitations set forth in EC Section
47605.1(f)(1) may not apply to the Charter School, the Charter School is still
subject to the material revision requirements of EC Section 47605(a)(4).

As it appears the Charter School has expanded its operations to multiple

additional sites since its charter was approved, the CDE requests the Charter
School provide CDE with documentation showing how the Charter School has
complied with EC Section 47605(a)(4).

2. Based on the website, https://hccs.hccts.org/apps/pages/locations, which was

last visited on November 14, 2023, the Charter School has identified 55
locations, including locations outside the boundaries of the District.

The CDE acknowledges that EC Section 47605.1(f)(1), states in pertinent part,

“Notwithstanding any other law, the jurisdictional limitations set forth in this
section do not apply to a charter school that provides instruction exclusively in
partnership with…[t]he federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act.

As the chartering authority, pursuant to Education Code section 47604.32, the

District is responsible for supervisorial oversight duties, including, but not limited
to, visiting the Charter School at least annually, monitoring the Charter School’s
fiscal condition, and ensuring the Charter School complies with all reporting
requirements, including the annual budget, first interim, and second interim

The CDE requests the Charter School provide the following information to the
District, County, and CDE:

a. Please confirm the Charter School continues to provide instruction

exclusively in partnership with the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity
Act and provide documentation in support of this partnership.

b. Please provide the dates of the District’s annual site visits of the Charter
School, identification of the District staff person(s) who visited the Charter
School’s 55 locations, and any written report and/or correspondence
related to the annual site visits.

3. The media inquiry indicated that “Members of Highlands leadership and a board
member have traveled to places like Maui, Pebble Beach and France on
taxpayer’s dollars…. Sources say members that traveled stayed in top tier hotels
Murdock Smith, Executive Director
Dr. Steven Martinez, District Superintendent
David Gordon, County Superintendent
November 14, 2023
Page 3

at these destinations. The school also flew 500+ employees to San Diego and
paid for a beach-front hotel for a professional development retreat. This retreat
cost over $2,000,000, which came from grants provided by the Department of
Education.”

The CDE requests the Charter School provide the following information to the
District, County, and CDE:

a. A summary of travel by Charter School staff, leadership, and board

members that identifies the individuals’ names, dates of travel, locations.
reimbursement amounts, approval forms, and purposes of the trips.

b. All policies, procedures, and forms used by the Charter School to propose,
approve, and reimburse travel.

4. The media inquiry reports that “Every employee and student at Highlands
received a Google Pixel Fold Phone. Every employee at Highlands was given a
$20,000 bonus this year – which amounts to over $10,000,000.”

The CDE requests the Charter School provide the following information to the
District, County, and CDE:

a. An inventory of cell phones and/or other electronic devices currently

provided to the students, staff, and governing board members of the
Charter School, including the dates issued and costs.

b. All policies, procedures, agreements, and forms used to request, approve,

issue, and return cell phones and other electronic devices of the Charter
School, including how the Charter Schools ensures these items are used
for appropriate Charter School-related purposes.

c. A staff roster that identifies job titles, hire dates, bonus amounts, and
bonus issue dates, including any pro rata formula used to calculate bonus
amounts.

5. The media inquiry indicated that multiple sources have reported that the Charter
School leadership “has put a lot of pressure on reporting high numbers of
attendance, teachers say they have been forced to create fraudulent attendance
records”

The CDE requests the Charter School and District provide the following
information to the District, County, and CDE:
Murdock Smith, Executive Director
Dr. Steven Martinez, District Superintendent
David Gordon, County Superintendent
November 14, 2023
Page 4

a. Since the FCMAT extraordinary audit report was issued on May 31, 2018,
what steps have been taken by the Charter School to improve its internal
controls and practices?

b. Since the FCMAT extraordinary audit report was issued on May 31, 2018,
what steps have been taken by the District to monitor the Charter School’s
changes to internal controls and practices?

c. Has the Charter School received complaints from teachers and/or other
employees of Charter School about being “forced to create fraudulent
attendance records”?

d. Has the District notified the Charter School of receiving complaints from
teachers and/or other employees of Charter School about being “forced to
create fraudulent attendance records”?

e. Please describe the process by which the Charter School submits

attendance reports to the District and/or County for review.

f. Please describe the process by which the Charter School’s attendance

records are inspected during the District’s annual site visits and/or during
the instructional year.

6. The media inquiry indicates that the Charter School “has grown beyond its
capabilities and does not have enough credentialed teachers (teachers of record)
to be in all their classes and therefore, paraeducators, without teaching
credentials, are teaching classes”

The California Statewide Assignment Accountability System (CalSAAS) allows

annual monitoring of all certificated educator assignments, including at charter
schools. CalSAAS identifies questionable assignments and provides charter
schools, charter authorizing school districts, and the county offices of education
with an opportunity to address anomalies and correct misassignments.

The CDE requests the Charter School provide the following information to the
District, County, and CDE:

a. Please provide a summary of the total number of misassignments and

measures implemented by the Charter School to correct misassignments.

b. Please provide a summary of the Charter School’s student enrollment and

staff roster (names and job titles) by each site operated by the Charter
School.
Murdock Smith, Executive Director
Dr. Steven Martinez, District Superintendent
David Gordon, County Superintendent
November 14, 2023
Page 5

c. Please provide a summary of teacher vacancies and what steps the

Charter School is taking to ensure these vacancies are filled.

7. The media inquiry states that several Charter School “employees have said the
school’s leadership has created a ‘toxic work environment’ filled with nepotism
and favoritism.”

Page 123 of the charter states that the Charter School “provides appropriate due
process for complaints, disputes or grievances involving or affecting staff
members,” and the Charter School “maintains an Employee Handbook detailing
the rights and responsibilities of all HCCS employees and shall comply with all
anti-discrimination and sexual harassment employment laws applicable to public
agencies. On or before August 1 of each subsequent year, HCCS shall provide
TRUSD with two (2) copies of the Employee Handbook. HCCS shall annually
update and revise the Employee Handbook to reflect changes in the law and/or
policies.”

The CDE requests the Charter School provide the following information to the
District, County, and CDE:

a. Please provide all policies, procedures, handbooks, and forms that

describe the process for employees to submit complaints, disputes, and/or
grievances.

b. Please provide the documentation showing the date that the most recent
Employee Handbook was provide from the Charter School to the District.

c. Please provide a summary of all employee complaints that have been

submitted to the Charter School, including the dates the complaints were
submitted, job titles of the employees filing the complaints, and current
status of the complaints, including, if applicable, the dates of the
resolutions of the complaints.

d. Please provide a summary of all Charter School employee complaints that

have been submitted to the District, including the dates the complaints
were submitted, job titles of the employees filing the complaints, and
current status of the complaints, including, if applicable, the dates of the
resolutions of the complaints.

e. Please provide documentation of trainings and/or professional

development received by Charter School employees about the Charter
School’s complaint processes, including timelines for an investigation and
response and the prohibition of retaliation for submitting a complaint.
Murdock Smith, Executive Director
Dr. Steven Martinez, District Superintendent
David Gordon, County Superintendent
November 14, 2023
Page 6

f. Please provide any and all anti-nepotism, discrimination, harassment,

intimidation, and bullying policies and procedures.

The CDE requests the above-identified information be provided for the period of
July 1, 2022, to October 31, 2023.
The CDE requests the above-identified information be provided to the District, County,
and CDE by December 15, 2023. As to the CDE, please submit the requested
information to spark@cde.ca.gov.
Sincerely,

/s/

Susan Park, Director

Charter Schools Division

SP:sp

cc: Elizabeth Dearstyne, Director, California Department of Education School Fiscal

Services Division

Sent via Email to the Following:

murdock.smith@hccts.org
steve.martinez@trusd.net
dgordon@scoe.net