Sacramento City Unified School District is investigating one of its top financial officers following allegations of fiscal mismanagement made by an anonymous group within her department.
The whistleblowers allege that Assistant Superintendent of Business Services Cindy Tao engaged in several unscrupulous practices, including presenting incomplete budgetary information to the district board, hiring outside consultants to perform duties in her job description and hiring or promoting friends in roles they are unqualified to perform. Reached by email on Wednesday, Tao called those allegations “absolutely false.”
The allegations are detailed in a Tuesday email sent to district trustees and union leaders. The letter writers, who wrote that they chose anonymity due to “persistent and credible fears of retaliation,” escalated the matter to the board because of what they characterized as district leadership’s failure to sufficiently address the issue…