District Attorney investigates SYVUHS

 

The District Attorney’s Office does not anticipate any charges will be filed against Superintendent Fred Van Leuven or any of the Santa Ynez Valley Union High School district board members, following the close of its week-long investigation into allegations of employee coercion and intimidation.

David Tonello, a senior criminal investigator for the county district attorney’s office, said he had completed the investigation April 29 and he was submitting his report to the deputy district attorney handling the case April 30. “I don’t anticipate any charges will be filed,” he said.

The conclusion of the investigation follows Tonello’s visit and meeting with Van Leuven April 22, which he said was requested by Van Leuven.

 

The meeting was the result of a complaint the district attorney’s office received from Reformation of Santa Ynez High School, which alleged that Rick Wardrop, a classified staff representative, was told to poll members of the classified staff during business hours to see if they would sign a letter of support for the school board members.

In an April 28 press release, RoSY said it was approached by “some very concerned, very scared employees, who were looking for some help,” on the issue, which prompted the organization to send a letter to the district attorney’s office.

At the April 15 school board meeting, Bruce Porter, a representative of RoSY, accused the board of ignoring reports of employee intimidation.

In an e-mail to the Journal, Porter said that administrators were walking around campus with clipboards and asking district employees if they were willing to sign a letter to support the school board and recording answers.

 

“Polling of employees on a political matter leads straight to a climate of intimidation and fear in the workplace,” he said.

However, Cindy Belanger, a classified employee at the high school, refuted Porter’s and RoSY’s claims at the April 15 board meeting.

“It’s just not true,” she said, adding that she felt that RoSY members didn’t give the board enough credit for the positive changes at the school.

Meanwhile, RoSY is continuing with its efforts to recall all five members of the school board: Joe Dugan, president; Holly Lindberg, clerk; Jeffrey Little; Jack Mochnick and Sharon Steele.

RoSY has demanded that Norm Clevenger, the high school’s previous principal who was placed on administrative leave Feb. 14 by Van Leuven, be reinstated and that the school board members step down and allow the electorate to vote them into office.

If the board decides to do these things, RoSY will withdraw its recall, Porter said.

School board members and Van Leuven were not available for comment.