State officials reviewing whistle-blower claims of 'unethical behavior' by Marysville district leaders

MARYSVILLE, Wash. - After months of trying to get a handle on millions of dollars in budget deficits, the Marysville School District could be in hot water again. 

The district has been working with the state superintendent's office since last summer to solve financial issues. Now, state officials are reviewing some strong accusations from an employee whistle-blower who has accused the district of "unethical behavior." 

State officials confirmed Wednesday that they received a letter containing the accusations from the district's Executive Director of Finance and Operations, Dr. Lisa Gonzales, and they are under review. 

At this week's Marysville School Board meeting, parents like J. Hooman reacted to a similar letter, written by Gonzales that was sent to the board, accusing the district of law violations, inaccurate state reports and cronyism. 

"First time seeing it," said J. Hooman, Parent and Co-Founder of the Marysville Community Coalition. "It's not surprising. We've been saying it the whole time." 

FOX 13 has since obtained the official letter that Gonzales sent to the Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, or OSPI, to report what she calls "immoral practices" to the state.   

In the letter, she describes several events that she believes are violations. In one example, Gonzales describes an alleged attempt by school district officials to cover up errors in the First Comprehensive Financial Plan.  

This is an excerpt from Gonzales' letter below:

 "The first Comprehensive Financial Plan was submitted with errors that our unions pointed out.  Specifically, the number of employees was incorrect, particularly for certified staff." 

"When I stated in a meeting that we needed to inform OSPI of the error, Dr. Robbins said it would not sit well to show we made an error and he directed us not to change the numbers; he did have Mr. Cooper call Shawn Lewis and say that there were groups of teachers he didn’t include as a way to get out of the error pointed out by the unions.  Those numbers, provided by HR, were then revised for the Revised Fiscal Plan and increased by over a hundred staff."  

Gonzales also told state officials that the HR department wasn't handling leaves correctly.  She stated in the letter, "we are overpaying staff on a regular basis because of the misinformation."

Gonzales said she reached out to a board member on May 15, but did not get an answer back.  

"On May 15, 2024, I made a call to Board Member Kristen Michal, leaving a message on her phone to call me, explaining that the behaviors and intimidation were really bad within top leadership in the district, and I was trying to report unethical and illegal behavior.  The call was made from my parents' cell phone and I informed her of that.  I never heard from her."

About a week later, she told state officials she had a heated meeting with the Human Resources Executive Director, Alvin Cooper after she reported problems to the state auditor. 

READ MORE: Marysville proposes closing 3 schools, parents demand answers

"On May 22, 2024, I had a weekly meeting with ED of HR, Alvin Cooper.  At times it was heated as I shared the ongoing issues we have with his staff and leaves.  At that time, I informed him that I had reported us to the State Auditor for our practices."

She also stated that she had emailed Marysville School Board President Wade Rinehardt a day later. 

"On May 23, 2024, I reached out to Board members Michel and Wade Rinehardt via email at 11:37 am, with a note that included the following:  "I have about 100 pages of paperwork that you might like to see because I’ve been keeping evidence of what’s been going on in the district as have many of my colleagues.  This feels very retaliatory that I have been pointing out a number of illicit and immoral practices in the district."

Then, on May 23, she said she was told her contract would not be renewed. 

"On May 23, 2024 "I was informed by Superintendent Zac Robbins that he would not renew my contract, despite having a legally binding agreement that he had signed, wanting to get us all under contract before you all weighed in on the next steps in binding conditions." 

Gonzales went on to tell state officials that the service center had become "very toxic." She said her staff members were also "scared" as they heard inappropriate comments from the Human Resources team including, "we need to get rid of anyone who has been here". 

When asked about the letter containing the accusations Monday, Rinehardt declined to comment.   

"The school board needs to really take a look at their role and responsibilities at this point in holding the district administration accountable," said Hooman.  

A district spokesperson declined an interview with FOX 13, but sent this statement from the district, indicating that an outside investigator would be called in to take a look at the allegations. 

"Dr. Lisa Gonzales, Executive Director of Finance and Operations, was hired by the Marysville School District in July 2023. On May 31, 2024, the district announced that her employment contract would end on June 30, 2024, and she would not be returning to the district.

On June 3, 2024, the Marysville School District received a written statement drafted by Dr. Lisa Gonzales. In the statement, Dr. Gonzales makes several allegations about the district, its fiscal and human resources operations, and other staff-related areas. The allegations are under review. 

The district, committed to transparency and accountability, takes allegations like these very seriously. In line with this commitment, an outside investigator will conduct an investigation to examine the allegations and Dr. Gonzales's other comments thoroughly."

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