Letter to the Editor:
At the BUSD Board Meeting on February 5th, Mr. Hasty, Interim Assistant Superintendent of Business Services, presented a study of legal costs this year to date as compared to legal expenses in the 2024/2025 school year.
According to the report, the Board approved an allocation for 1.5 million dollars for only SIX MONTHS of legal fees and settlements from July 2025 through January 22, 2026. The report reveals they have spent 2 million dollars to date, which looks like an overage of close to half a million for this fiscal year so far.
The report notes “Mainly due to large settlements in the 25-26 FY, BUSD is on track to spend more in legal costs than expended in the 24-25 SY.” There are two separate settlement payments made for roughly half a million dollars each. Why didn’t the Joint Powers Authorities pay those claims?
This report brings up concerns and questions:
- The pending lawsuit outcome regarding an employee terminated in defiance of the hearing officer’s recommendation is not included in these figures. That’s the one the Board referenced in the charges for termination against Mr. Cantwell. Is that expected to be another significant amount out of general fund dollars?
- This breakdown does not include the settlement that was just reached with Mr. Cantwell on January 30 in the amount of close to $450,000. Guessing that’s another overage.
- The report also doesn’t include the expenses incurred when terminated employees were given extended paid administrative leave rather than disciplinary processes and negotiated settlement agreements. Those costs were charged to payroll instead of legal settlements, and, including Mr. Cantwell, Dr. Rudchenko and others, are possibly as much as $1.1 million dollars since fall 2024 alone. That estimate doesn’t include the costs of consultants, substitutes, and temporary or part time staff, to do the jobs for people who are being paid to stay home. If we were to add that cost, that number could double.
- Then if we were to add that amount to the legal spending over the past two years, the figures would be at approximately $1 million for fiscal year 24/25 and around $2,675,000 for ONLY the first half of this fiscal year.
- What is the budgeted allowance for legal spending for the second half of this fiscal year? Is that going to be another large sum taken out of the unrestricted general fund? Is it expected to be another $2 million dollars?
- Most importantly, where will this extra money come from to cover these costs? Do these accumulated overages of several million dollars get tacked on to the $11 million dollars that reportedly has to be cut in the next three years because of legal missteps and liabilities?
These millions of dollars related to legal costs and overages are taken out of the money that’s supposed to be used to educate my child. Our children. To pay teachers, aides, fund the PE and arts programs, all of which are facing cuts because of what looks like mismanagement resulting in legal outcomes.
Genuinely, please, HOW do we stop this hemorrhaging of money? Because our kids are the ones who are paying the price.
Jim Festante
Burbank
