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Public commenter presses Fullerton district on missing audit, alleges retaliation; Sister City trip announced
Summary
During public comment, Mr. Cardenas said he had repeatedly emailed Superintendent McLaughlin without response, raised concerns about missing financial audit reports and alleged retaliation and questionable reimbursements; Pamela Keller announced a student sister-city trip to Tolo, Italy, scheduled for June–July 2025.
At the close of the board’s organizational business, public comment included sharply worded concerns from a community member, and an announcement about a youth exchange.
Mr. Cardenas addressed the board to say he had sent multiple emails to Superintendent McLaughlin (including on Dec. 14) and had received no replies. He told the board he expected to see the district’s financial audit report on the agenda and said if the audit is not signed by the auditor before Sept. 15 it would mark a third consecutive year that audits were late. He also said he had collected evidence of what he described as questionable reimbursements and credit-card purchases and left a packet for the board; he said the packet includes roughly 127 pages outlining alleged retaliation and other concerns.
"I've got an approximately 127 page document I sent to the board members, detailing retaliation that my colleagues and I... experienced," Mr. Cardenas said during his comments.
The board acknowledged receipt of the materials but did not provide an on-the-record substantive response during this meeting.
Pamela Keller, who identified herself as co-president of the Fullerton Sister City Association and a Fullerton elementary school teacher, spoke afterward to congratulate board officers and to invite students in current eighth grade through seniors to apply for a youth trip to Tolo, Italy, June 20–July 1, 2025. Keller said interested families should attend an information meeting on Jan. 8 at the Fullerton Public Library and that the trip is not school-sponsored.
"It's June 20 through July 1, in 2025... It's not a school sponsored event because that's really important," Keller said.
The board did not take action on the allegations during the meeting. The superintendent and board members expressed thanks and holiday greetings before adjourning.
This report is based on public comment recorded in the meeting transcript; the packet Mr. Cardenas left was noted on the record but its contents were not discussed at the meeting.
