Interview with Carolyn Castillo
CABOC President and School Board President
of El Rancho Unified School District
As a School Board Member, I’ve been surprised that most people do not understand the complexity of managing a bond program. While it appears that a specific amount would handle the proposed bond projects, the costs are deceptive meaning that the construction of any proposed facility is much higher than expected. The resources needed to manage a bond project are often greatly underestimated.
- I’ve been working with CABOC for a few years and have been impressed with the passion of our members who are advocates for schools, education and school facilities. This group has experience or witnessed how school districts mismanage bond funds. The problems are common – poor processes such as construction bidding, internal controls for processing invoices and understanding construction change orders. Once people understand how easy it is to overpay invoices, pay for work not performed and how construction work is sloppy, they get involved as CBOC members so that it never happens again.
- For any district or community college a CBOC performs a valuable service. First of all, the public is willing to get involved and perform the role of a watchdog for bond expenditures. They are curious and keen to investigate anomalies and report their findings. One of the primary problems most CBOC members experience is poor or limited training as well as school districts reluctance to support their activities. I’d like to see more robust training being provided to CBOCs. However, it should be coupled with new legislation where districts are accountable for managing bonds funds prudently.
- After retirement, I was motivated to become a community advocate and applied to serve as a CBOC member. My background in facilities management was ideal for the role. The first thing I discovered was that costs were unusually high for a simple remodel for one classroom. No other CBOC member was aware of this because they were not familiar with construction costs. It was much later that I suspected mismanagement of funds and worked to identify potential waste.
- A school board member’s role is to set the direction and policies for the district. Most of the time, the member’s monitor school academics and approve budgets. However, as in any business, the board must ensure performance for the services it delivers while remaining fiscally solvent. There are several educational and Contracting Codes that must be followed and adhered to.
- When I decided to run for the El Rancho Unified School District (USD) school board, my motivation was to prevent fraud and ensure the school district was fiscally responsible for managing its bond projects. After months of tedious work collecting data I was instrumental in reporting bond irregularities to the school district and the Los Angeles County Office of Education (LACOE). Double billing from the bond management company between El Rancho USD and Palmdale USD was shown on timesheets. It is still an open case with the Los Angeles District Attorney.
- Within a year of my election, a Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team (FCMAT) audit was completed where mismanagement of funds was found. It took over 18 months to get the bond program on track by hiring facilities personnel, a bond financial firm, and architectural firms we now consider our partners. There is much more work to be accomplished as our school districts move past the pandemic – educational institutions have undergone significant changes in the last two years and upgrades to facilities are now more critical for our students success.
- – Carolyn Castillo
