School District Debates Finances, Transparency

Education leaders in the Mount Diablo Unified School District are arguing over secrecy and a report estimating the financial impact of the new Clayton Valley Charter High School.

School board President Cheryl Hansen said, "Board members should tell each other what reports were commissioned. I think it creates more public district if we don't own it," the Contra Costa Times reported.

Hansen said she did not find out about a report on the charter school's financial implications until it was posted on a statewide website of the Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Team.

The report validated district estimates that it is losing more than $3 million a year in the transition of Clayton Valley to a charter school, Superintendent Steven Lawrence said, according to the Times piece.