THURSDAY, JULY 14, 2016
WWW.POMERADONEWS.COM
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Vol. 64, ISSUE 7
PUSD board fires superintendent
INSIDE
Lawsuit planned to recoup money owed to the district Ground broken, money raised, for Tony Gwynn Memorial. A3
■ Reader Poll, A2 ■ Crime Log, A6 ■ Calendar, A12 ■ Opinion, A16 ■ Obituaries, A18 ■ News Briefs, A18
CRISELDA YEE
ENJOYING ART AND WINE Pam Ness, Marcia Husband, Rebecca Martin and Judy Moriarity were among those who participated in Icarus Studio’s "Paint and Wine" class on July 8. The studio was among the Village Shops at Bernardo Winery that extended their hours to participate in the winery’s Sunset Artwalk. The admission-free event is held each Friday evening through September. For more details and photos, see Page B8 and the photo gallery at PomeradoNews.com.
‘Funny Business’ opens PowPAC season. B4
Parks Fit San Diego 30-mile challenge returns to RB park Earn a free T-shirt when completing goal by Aug. 13
■ Sports, B1 ■ Entertainment, B4 ■ Vacation Photos, B6 Classifieds, B9 ■ Homes, B14 ■ Business, B15 Rancho Bernardo/4S Ranch News Journal
An Edition of ELIZABETH MARIE HIMCHAK
14023 Midland Road Poway, CA 92064 (858) 218-7200 pomeradonews.com
The start and finish points for a 1-mile route along sidewalks winding through Rancho Bernardo Community Park can be found in front of the Rancho Bernardo-Glassman Recreation Center.
BY ELIZABETH MARIE HIMCHAK San Diego Park and Recreation is encouraging people to go outside and get fit through its third annual 30-mile Parks Fit San Diego Challenge. The challenge is to walk, run, bicycle and/or swim a combined 30 miles by the program’s conclusion on Aug. 13. Among participating venues is Rancho Bernardo Community Park, where those who register can earn a free Parks Fit San Diego T-shirt if they meet the mileage goal. There is no cost to participate. Rancho Bernardo-Glassman Recreation Center Director Eric McDonald said registered participants do not need to complete all their miles at the park, but staff there have marked a mile-long path along the sidewalks that wind SEE CHALLENGE, A11
BY EMILY SORENSEN Poway Unified School District board members voted unanimously Sunday night to fire Supt. John Collins and to initiate a civil lawsuit to recoup money they say he owes the district. The announcement came following a nearly four-hour closed session held at the district office. All five board members were in attendance. In a statement, board President Michelle O'Connor-Ratcliff said that Collins' termination was due to over $345,000 in "overpayments and unauthorized payments" discovered during an audit of Collins' contract. "The board was dismayed when the final audit report identified $320,769 in overpayments and unauthorized payments made to Dr. Collins, and an additional $24,494 in other transactions that violated district policies. The severity of the findings justified terminating the superintendent's contract for cause,” said O’Connor-Ratcliff in her statement. “The board was prepared to John Collins listen to any additional information or explanation Dr. Collins and his attorney wished to offer,” the statement said. “Following the conference, the board unanimously rendered the difficult decision to terminate his employment with the district.” A statement of charges filed by the board against Collins, obtained by the Voice of San Diego, listed the charges against him as engaging in unprofessional conduct, dishonesty and “persistently violating and refusing to obey the laws of the state and reasonable regulations prescribed by the governing board of Poway Unified School District for the operation of the district schools.” Pomerado News was unable to obtain a copy of the charges from the district or the board’s attorney and cannot verify any of the information in the document as being correct. Maribel Medina, the board’s personal attorney, hired VLS Forensic Services of Glendora to conduct the audit of Collins’ contract. A redacted version of the audit report, dated June 22, was released by the district on Monday afternoon. Collins' lawyer, Lynne Lasry, released a statement, saying, "For the almost three decades that Dr. Collins has served PUSD, SEE COLLINS, A10