Spokeswoman: Hubbard to visit CdM’s PTA meeting
Newport-Mesa Unified’s embattled superintendent will make his annual appearance Wednesday morning at Corona del Mar High School’s PTA meeting, school officials said.
Jeffrey Hubbard, who has been charged with three felonies related to his previous job in Beverly Hills, is on the meeting agenda.
He is not attending to publicly discuss his case, but is scheduled to make some general remarks and answer questions at 8:45 a.m. in the school’s library, 2101 Eastbluff Drive, said PTA President Anne Gordinier.
“This is not new, and CdM’s PTA meeting … is nothing different than a typical ‘general update’ about the district,” district spokeswoman Laura Boss wrote in an email. “If he’s invited to attend and his schedule allows, he has always attended.”
At the meeting, Hubbard will likely speak on district educational practices and professional learning communities. He may also give an update on the construction projects, Boss said.
Hubbard has pleaded not guilty to the three charges and publicly has the support of a majority of the Newport-Mesa Unified school board.
District teachers, however, may withdraw their support soon. The Newport-Mesa Federation of Teachers is in the process of counting their ballots that called for a vote of no confidence in Hubbard.
Gordinier said the issues surrounding Hubbard didn’t factor in to the PTA extending an invitation to him, but she believes questions will be asked about it.
The already popular meeting is sure to bring in more parents because of Hubbard’s appearance, she said.
The superintendent, though, can’t talk about his criminal charges, Boss said.
“…Dr. Hubbard is not at liberty to address questions that involve his pending court case from Beverly Hills until such time as the legal issue has been resolved in a court of law,” she said.
It is a long-standing practice of a superintendent to attend PTA and Parent Faculty Organizations throughout the district, Boss said.
Hubbard and other top district officials also attend the monthly Harbor Council PTA meetings to give district updates, she said.
Hubbard faces charges of misappropriation of funds, actions that prosecutors say happened when he was head of the Beverly Hills Unified School District. He was charged with the first two counts last December for allegedly giving about $20,000, without the required school board authorization, to Karen Anne Christiansen and increasing her monthly car allowance. Christiansen also worked for the Beverly Hills school district.
The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office got a grand jury indictment for the third charge in October.
Hubbard is expected back in court in Los Angeles on Nov. 10.
Twitter: @britneyjbarnes