A recent audit from the California State Auditor found that Highlands Community Charter and Technical Schools (HCCTS) inappropriately received more than $180 million in funds.
The 171-page audit released in June revealed that Highlands “engaged in wasteful spending, and it assigned teachers to classes for which they did not hold appropriate credentials.” The audit also claimed that Twin Rivers Unified School District “did not provide adequate oversight of Highlands.”
HCCTS also failed to provide adequate English-language education in violation of state law and failed to offer appropriate instructional time.
“By not offering the required amount of instruction at the schoolsite, requiring students to attend class at the schoolsite for the minimum amount of time required by law, or meeting requirements for nonclassroom-based instruction, HCCS was not eligible to receive the $177 million in K–12 funding it received in fiscal years 2022–23 and 2023–24,” the audit read. “Further, Highlands received more than an estimated $5 million in overpayments, of which $3.5 million is in addition to the $177 million in disallowed funding, by not complying with state law in calculating its average daily attendance.”
The audit further highlighted instances of “unlawful and wasteful spending of public funds” such as travel, an educational game, a donation to the Asian Pacific Islander Legislative Caucus Foundation, and a $1.96 million trip to San Diego over three days, among other expenditures.
Assemblymaker Al Muratsuchi (D), Chair of the Assembly Education Committee, said the report confirms what whistleblowers have exposed for years, that the schools “inappropriately received over $180 million in public education funding just during two audited fiscal years, and engaged in wasteful spending as well as hiring and contracting based on nepotism.”
“These complaints that have been confirmed include Highlands Charter’s practice of receiving a full school day equivalent of public education funding per student despite teachers lecturing for only a few hours, students attending less than a full day, and school staff inflating student attendance numbers,” he said. “Other complaints of abusive spending of tax dollars include $1.96 million for a 2023 San Diego staff retreat, as well as over $82 thousand in staff travel to destinations like Paris and Maui.”
Highlands’ new director, Jonathan P. Raymond, told ABC10 that he is reviewing the information and “looking at our curriculum because we need to do better for our students, and I’m looking at credit card statements because there’s no wasteful spending under my watch.”
“I’m bringing in a chief academics officer who knows K-12, a chief operating officer who knows [how to ensure] we have compliance and it’s doing everything we can to build Highlands back better,” Raymond said.
The audit followed an ABC10 report on Highlands Community Charter and Technical Schools.
