“It’s not an independent investigation. How can we have an independent investigation that’s investigating a matter that concerns herself?”
Antioch Unified School District Board President Antonio Hernandez questioned the transparency and legitimacy of AUSD Superintendent Stephanie Anello’s call for an investigation into the district’s handling of employee bullying claims, first reported by NBC Bay Area’s Investigative Unit last Wednesday.
WATCH: Antioch Unified boss ‘bully' put worker's desk on roof, employees say
In an early morning email to board trustees Monday, Superintendent Anello called “for a third party, independent investigation into the District’s handling of the matter.” The “matter” being allegations that she turned a blind eye to repeated bullying of employees by her director of maintenance, operations and facilities, Ken Turnage.
Get a weekly recap of the latest San Francisco Bay Area housing news. Sign up for NBC Bay Area’s Housing Deconstructed newsletter.
Turnage has been able to get away with bad behavior for months, several employees tell the Investigative Unit, because of his close friendship with Anello and her husband Allan Cantando, Antioch’s former police chief.
“And so when I saw [her] email, I was horrified that the superintendent was still refusing to take accountability,” said Hernandez.
After NBC Bay Area’s report last week, Hernandez called for a special meeting on Friday for trustees to discuss disciplinary action. Three out of the five school board trustees declined to meet, prompting Hernandez to call for Anello's resignation.
Local
Fellow trustee Jaguanana Lathan agreed a truly independent investigation cannot involve anyone who is accused in the matter.
“An investigation … that happens really needs to be done by the Board of Education,” Lathan said.
Lathan and Hernandez say they have another reason to believe Anello’s investigation may not be independent. The other three board trustees – Gary Hack, Mary Helen Rocha and Clyde Lewis Jr. – have been blocking efforts to hold the superintendent accountable, they say, which they are obligated to do under their contract with her.
“Since getting elected in 2020, I’ve never been part of an evaluation of the superintendent. And the superintendent has not been evaluated throughout the entire time that I’ve been on the board,” Hernandez said. “Every time we’ve attempted to evaluate the superintendent, there’s been excuses with the pandemic, procedural issues.”
“Public school boards have one employee, and that is the superintendent of schools,” Lathan said. “This is something that the board really needs to make a decision on how we want to move forward. That is our responsibility as the supervisor of the superintendent of the school district.”
NBC Bay Area reached out to Hack, Rocha and Lewis for comment but have not heard back. Anello, her husband and Turnage also have not responded to requests for comments.
In Anello’s email Monday, she said she looks “forward to updating the board on the [investigation’s] findings,” not specifying a timeline or who will be conducting the investigation. Hernandez feels it lacks transparency.
“Again, it’s a culture of protecting people and questionable decision making and failure to find accountability in the school district that leads to situations that ultimately harm our staff, our students and our community,” he said.
