Photo: Mario A. Cortez
By Eduardo Rueda – Investigative Reporter
Two current Trustees and one former Trustee of the San Ysidro School District dispute the District’s official position that it properly voted to settle an employee settlement last year.
All three Trustees say that no vote was taken to approve a separation agreement that paid out over $100,000 to an employee that had been terminated by Superintendent Julio Fonseca. That employee felt he was fired only after he talked about Fonseca’s hiring of a woman he was dating.
Three other current Trustees refused to comment. Antonio Martinez, Irene Lopez, and Board President Rosaleah Pellasigue did not return repeated requests for comments.
Last updated February 9, 2017 at 9:15 p.m.
Photo: Megan Wood/KPBS
The Superintendent of the San Ysidro School District hired a woman he was in a relationship with and later retaliated against an employee that warned him about the potential conflict of interest in hiring her.
Dr. Julio Fonseca, 41, became the Superintendent in June 2015 after the District’s former leader, Manuel Paul, was indicted in a wide-ranging corruption scandal that lead to the conviction of 15 other defendants. Paul pled guilty to accepting cash from a prospective contractor and was sentenced to 60 days in federal custody.
For Fonseca, who previously served as Assistant Superintendent at Bassett Unified School District in Los Angeles County, the position at San Ysidro is his first assignment
By Eduardo Rueda / Investigative Reporter
For the second time in two months, a San Ysidro Superintendent has resigned amid allegations of wrongdoing in a district that has already seen a former Superintendent convicted and sentenced to prison time.
Jose Arturo Sanchez-Macias, who had served as Interim Superintendent since Sept. 2, resigned at a special meeting of the San Ysidro school board on Friday night after a five-hour closed door discussion among the Board and its lawyer.
“The San Ysidro School Board has unanimously accepted the resignation of Mr. Jose Arturo Sanchez-Macias as Interim Superintendent effective immediately,” Board member Marcos Diaz said, after Board President Rosaleah Pallasigue appeared visibly shaken and was unable to announce the decision herself.
Mario A. Cortez | La Prensa San Diego
The San Ysidro School District is in settlement negotiations with a female employee that made sexual harassment allegations against former Superintendent Julio Fonseca.
Settlement talks are ongoing with Alexis Rodriguez, an employee that was involved in a personal relationship with Fonseca when they both worked at the District.
Fonseca resigned abruptly in October 2017 after Rodriguez’s allegations came to light. Although Board members were aware of the allegations, they voted unanimously to grant Fonseca a nearly $400,000 severance package when he resigned.
Fonseca had pushed to hire Rodriguez in November 2015, and the Board ratified her employment at its December 10, 2015 meeting.
Mario A. Cortez | La Prensa San Diego
San Ysidro School District’s bond ratings have been lowered after it failed to make a bond payment in September 2017 amid the firing of both its Superintendent and Deputy Superintendent last fall.
Standard & Poor’s (S&P), a global credit rating agency, lowered the District’s general bond rating from “A” to “BBB+”, and lowered the rating on Certificates of Participation (COPs) from “A-” to “BBB”, the lowest rating still considered investment grade. The next lower rating is considered to be junk bond status.
“The rating actions reflect our view of the District’s management practices and internal controls following its late principal and interest payment in September 2017,” said Benjamin P. Geare, primary credit analyst for S&P. “The negative outlook reflects our view of lingering effects from the District’s history of poor internal controls could lead to additional unforeseen events that would pose financial stres