Home Antioch Interview: AUSD Superintendent Addresses Budget Rumblings, Campaign Rhetoric

Interview: AUSD Superintendent Addresses Budget Rumblings, Campaign Rhetoric

by ECT

On Saturday, EastCountyToday publisher Mike Burkholder sat down with Antioch Unified School District Superintendent Stephanie Anello to discuss the school district and address the misinformation being spread about the District during this 2016 campaign season and in the media.

The District has been accused of many things by several of the candidates during this campaign from cooking the books, to misrepresenting the budget, to even having a mass exodus of students.

Anello was appointed to interim superintendent in November of 2015 and was officially offered the job in August 2016–She first was hired in 1998 as an English teacher at Park Middle School and then became an assistant principal at Dallas Ranch Middle School where she says it was her entrance into administration.

With regards to the District budget Anello finds it concerning that the District is getting portrayed incorrectly.   Especially, during a recent forum, the District was accused of “cooking the books”.

“Stating that the District is engaging in fraudulent and illegal accounting practices is irresponsible and patently false,” says Anello. “It is also a gross misrepresentation of the integrity of Antioch Unified’s employees. There is no evidence of the District ‘cooking its books.’ There is a tremendous amount of oversight placed on California school districts from the State and CCCOE, not to mention the annual audit of the District’s finances by an independent auditor.  Furthermore, the District and an outside consultant reviewed the budget in February and AUSD hired an interim CBO in March. Neither of them reported any evidence of the district cooking the books.”

According to the latest budget report from the District, it currently has an end-of-year balance of $22 million –a large portion of that one-time funding.  It was highlighted that as enrollment declines due to students “aging out” and homes not yet turning over, they will need to reduce expenditures in the out years to match the number of students in the District.

“The current situation is that the District is deficit spending, but we have enough in our reserves to cover the deficit as we make expenditure reductions in the outgoing years. School Districts build their budgets 3-years in advance and we had projected our enrollment to go down and expected that we would need to make expenditure reductions to match enrollment,” explained Anello.

She noted that the deficit spending has been offset for the fiscal year due to districts receiving funds last year, but not spending in 2015-2016. This included a teacher effectiveness grant and Prop 39 Clean Energy, in the amount of $1.3 million and $1.7 million, respectively. The deficit spending for 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 is a projection which will be dealt with as the budget development process begins for the 2017-2018 fiscal year.

“We already built our budget and along came these add-on’s so the real concern is how we use the one-time funding,” explained Anello. “We never try and use one-time funding on costs that we know are reoccurring because that is how you get into trouble in the future.

Anello also highlighted that since she was hired, they have been going through the books and are finding additional money that can be used while saying it’s been a transparent process.

“What we are finding, are some practices that have been in place from all the way back in 1985 that are now not necessarily in the best interest of the District, we are now changing that. We are asking a lot of questions and being more collaborative in how we build our budget and becoming more transparent about where we are at any given point,” explained Anello.

With regards to those who suggest the District should increase its reserves, Anello says everyone has a preference but it’s ultimately a school board decision.

“You always have to have a balance between a healthy reserve and making sure that students have the tools they need to be successful while also ensuring we are able to attract and retain employees with competitive salary and benefit packages. It’s tough; it’s finding the right balance. That’s why the board makes the decision together in a public setting”, said Anello

When asked what she is doing to combat the negative narrative, Anello said, “Antioch School District employs amazing people who work to serve the families in the District. They do this because they have a moral imperative to help our students and the greater Antioch community,” says Anello. “Thus, most drown out the noise of the campaign by focusing on the many successes of our students. I try to keep morale high by acknowledging and thanking those I encounter on a daily basis and by focusing on the positive.”

Anello says her love of Antioch, the school district and the people overshadow the current campaign rhetoric.

“I love this District, I love this city. I raised my own children here and they went through our schools,” says Anello. “I have a big investment in this district. Wherever I go it’s always about the people. Ever since I moved here in 1990, I’ve met some of the most generous people, they are determined, they are caring. That is not to say we don’t have challenges in our  community and in our district,  but at the end of the day I think we have the right people to address those issues.”

She says right now, she still is under contract and she is taking advantage of that to build the best team around her as possible while trying to make everyone else around her better. She wants the best team possible for the District so students win.

“If anyone thinks they can do this job by themselves, I would have to disagree. It’s important that we attract and retain the very best and that we invest in our people,” says Anello. “We have incredible hard-working employees in this District and some of the things we are doing are incredibly innovative. It’s about empowering our staff so that they can best serve the students and the greater Antioch community.”

She calls it an exciting time in the District with a lot positive things going on that she hopes the public will soon recognize.

“I am excited that we brought back elementary school music and I get to see kids walk home with their instruments, and I love going to performances where parents get to see their children perform or get an award. I also love that we have been able to bring back counselors at all levels, including at elementary schools. Students being successful is number one for me,” says Anello.

She also is working on improving outreach to parents and the community to create a positive culture of change that continues to build the public’s trust.

“Historically, schools have been very insular and to me it’s important that we break down barriers and humanize ourselves in a way that when a conflict occurs we can find a place of mutual interest and can see that our hopes for children are not different even if our roles are.  I think the system needs to be as transparent as possible. That is my own personal belief.”

Anello also believes the district has been honest and upfront about declining enrollment but says new data shows promises.

AUSD Enrollment Projections

AUSD Enrollment Projections

“The school district grew quickly between 1990 and 2004. In fact, during that time span, half of all Antioch schools were built to accommodate the rapid growth. To say that the District is ‘losing’ students paints the natural issue of students aging out as something it is not. Enrollment did decline by 800 students between the 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 school year,” says Anello.  “As of September 8 the enrollment was down by 525 students from 2015-2016. This is an expected pattern when you look at the historical growth years.  However, the lower grades are trending up indicating that homes are beginning to turn over to families with young children.”

A complete enrollment report will be presented in December and will include an historical look at growth and a five year enrollment projection.

In the next few years, the District will continue to focus on providing more supports and interventions for struggling students as well as enrichment opportunities for all students explained Anello.

“I see a bright future for Antioch Unified School District. Just in the past few years, we brought back programs, created supports and interventions for students, and involved parents and the community in our decision making, so I sincerely see a bright future,” says Anello.


This interview took place on Saturday, Oct. 1, 2016

This interview took place on Saturday, Oct. 1, 2016 in Antioch, CA

Disclosure: As publisher of East County Today,   I’ve embedded myself in Antioch Unified School District information and issues pertaining to the community.

More important than any election is an informed public who is armed with accurate information rather than campaign rhetoric. It saddens me that other media has printed opinion as fact and not questioned both reckless and erroneous statements.

It is my hope that this interview clears the air on statements made about Antioch Unified School District during the 2016 campaign.

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1 comment

Jen Thomas Oct 6, 2016 - 7:30 am

Thank you for setting the record straight on the budget. Watching some of these candidates spew lies has been hard to handle without getting angry. I hope the public is not as stupid on election day as some of these candidates are.

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