Former district HR director files appeal to have records released

Newport-Mesa Unified School District’s former personnel chief filed an appeal in Orange County Superior Court Thursday after a judge denied his request for documents under the state’s public records law.

John Caldecott, the district’s former director of human resources, initially filed a lawsuit against the school district in January to compel officials to release internal emails and other documents related to his complaint against Supt. Fred Navarro.

In April, Judge Geoffrey Glass decided that because Caldecott is already in possession of the documents he requested the California Public Records Act request is “moot.”

“Further, the two documents and attachments are directly and inextricably linked to Mr. Caldecott’s claim of a hostile and abusive work environment, which is an internal personnel matter exempt from disclosure under CPRA,” Glass wrote in his decision.

Caldecott’s attorney, William Crosby, believes the trial judge erred in his finding. The goal of the appeal, he said, is to compel the district to disclose the documents to the general public, not just Caldecott.

“These are important documents that bear on the public interest,” he said.

Caldecott declined to provide the Daily Pilot with a copy of the documents.

“My intent at this time is to go through the California Public Records Act,” he said.

The school board fired Caldecott on Jan. 27, shortly after he filed his request with Orange County Superior Court.

Caldecott said in March that among other things, he suspects that salary reports to the California State Teachers’ Retirement System, or STRS, are incorrect and could inflate pensions.

The misreporting, Caldecott alleged, concerned the salaries of principals and administrators whose jobs require an administrative credential — a category known as certificated management. He said he suspects the district was considering forms of compensation such as merit pay in pension calculations, a move that may ultimately drive up pensions.

“[Caldecott] believed that the district superintendent had knowingly authorized and condoned improper governmental activities, including creating a hostile and offensive work environment for employees, and authorizing improprieties in the expenditure of public monies and pension reporting,” court documents state.

An attorney representing Newport-Mesa Unified did not return a phone call seeking comment.

While he was still employed at Newport-Mesa, Caldecott asked the board to authorize a forensic audit of all STRS records of certificated management employees. He said district officials and the board did not act on his request.

However, the state retirement system began an audit of district records in March.