Mailbag: Hubbard’s supporters should resign

With the exception of Katrina Foley, the members of the Newport-Mesa Unified Board of Education need a civics lesson. For some reason, they were under the misperception that Supt. Jeffrey Hubbard was “innocent until proven guilty” and “entitled to his day in court.”

While that was true in the criminal proceeding, it was not true in the employment context. Hubbard held a position of trust and fidelity as a superintendent of schools. The criminal charges against Hubbard, and the strong evidence in support of those charges, were enough to justify his termination for cause.

Twelve jurors quickly convicted Hubbard of the charges against him, finding the charges were true beyond any reasonable doubt. The only people surprised by the conviction appeared to be all but one of the board members. The failure to terminate Hubbard as soon as the evidence became clear that he was guilty showed an appalling lack of judgment by most of the current board.

Hubbard is now gone. The board members who supported him when his guilt was so apparent, should also be terminated. As a concerned parent and taxpayer, I hope these board members make the honorable decision to resign.

Gerald A. Klein

Newport Beach

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Remember Hubbard on election day

Now that Jeffrey Hubbard has been found guilty by the courts and fired by the Newport-Mesa Unified school board, can we, the taxpaying citizens, expect that the same school board members, who so generously defended his right to his day in court and continued to pay his exceptionally high salary, will find a way to replenish the funds that they wasted on his salary while he was defending himself?

I, for one, will not hold my breath waiting for this to happen, but I will remember all those school board members, except Katrina Foley, who voted to support Hubbard when the next election comes around.

Paul Kelly

Costa Mesa

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Teachers weigh in on Hubbard

Monday afternoon, Jeffrey Hubbard, Newport-Mesa Unified School District superintendent, was found guilty by a Los Angeles Superior Court jury on two of three felony charges of misappropriation of public funds.
As educators, we are saddened by the impact that this case has had on the reputation of our district and the resources it has drained from our classrooms.



Though the felony charges stemmed from employment outside of N-MUSD, the email messages exchanged between Hubbard and Karen Anne Christiansen, introduced as evidence in the case, revealed behavior unbecoming of a superintendent of a school district. Furthermore, the majority of our school board members voted to grant Hubbard five months of paid leave to prepare for his defense — this money would have better served the public had it been spent in our classrooms.



We look forward to finding a new superintendent who respects processes put in place to protect the public trust, understands both the Newport Beach and Costa Mesa communities, and is willing to put the needs of our students first. We call on the school board to have an open and transparent public process, with input from parents, teachers, and other community members in our search for a new superintendent. We want a school board that is responsive and responsible to the community.

An injury to one is an injury to all!

Kimberly Claytor

Costa Mesa

Claytor is the president of the Newport-Mesa Federation of Teachers.