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Former Santa Ana, Calif., Schools Controller Sues Over Lost Job

Posted on: Thursday, 7 July 2005, 18:00 CDT

Jul. 7--SANTA ANA -- The former controller for Santa Ana Unified has sued the school district, alleging she was forced to produce erroneous financial reports, write bad checks and engage in other questionable practices at a time when the district was sinking into a $29 million budget deficit.

Cecile Nunley, who worked for Santa Ana Unified from April 2002 to July 2004, also claims she lost her job after she reported the actions to the county Department of Education.

Juan Lopez, Santa Ana Unified's associate superintendent of human resources, said Nunley was offered another job of equal pay, which she rejected, when district officials eliminated the controller job because of budget cuts.

District officials could not comment on the rest of the lawsuit filed June 30 because they have not reviewed it with attorneys, Lopez said.

As controller, Nunley oversaw all financial transactions and prepared financial reports on the district's yearly $500 million budget.

Nunley, who is seeking unspecified damages, alleges in the lawsuit that she was ordered by former Associate Superintendent of Business Services Don Stabler to change reports on the district's financial outlook. Stabler left the district last year and is now the finance chief at Torrance Unified.

Nunley also claims that Stabler forced her to write checks totaling $39 million in spring 2002 for construction projects at Segerstrom High School out of accounts with insufficient funds. The school is expected to open on schedule this fall.

Last year, the district increased class sizes, cut programs and teachers accepted a 4 percent pay cut to help erase the $29 million deficit.

County and state auditors have said the district's deficit was caused by declining enrollment and the loss of state funding. Auditors found no evidence that financial mismanagement led to the deficit.

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Copyright (c) 2005, The Orange County Register, Calif.

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Source: The Orange County Register

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