Van Zant felt retaliated against over charter schools

SAN DIEGO  —  As superintendent, Steve Van Zant was often frank about his motives for ushering in charter schools throughout San Diego County: to generate money for his rural Mountain Empire Unified School District.

When he was sentenced last week after pleading guilty to a felony violation of the Political Reform Act, Van Zant told probation officers he promoted charters out of a deep desire to help underperforming children.

The San Diego County Probation Department report offers the first insight from Van Zant since he was charged in January with violating conflict of interest laws while running Mountain Empire and a charter consulting business at the same time.

Van Zant told court officials he thought it was legal to steer charters to the district, even as he earned a bonus for each one approved and then profited again when some schools hired his EdHive firm.

“I did it. At the time I didn’t know what I was doing was illegal but I was acting in a position where I should have known,” he told court officials, according to the probation report.

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Van Zant, 53, rarely spoke in court during proceedings, making the probation report particularly significant. The former superintendent has repeatedly declined requests for comment from the Union-Tribune.

Mountain Empire approved 13 charters to operate in other school districts under Van Zant’s leadership between 2008 and 2013, with some of them going on to hire EdHive. In addition, he personally received stipends equivalent to 5 percent of the district’s charter revenue under his employment contract negotiated with the school board.

By approving charters for other districts, Mountain Empire earned much-needed revenue (up to $500,000 a year under Van Zant) from charters without losing its own students to those schools — or the state attendance money they generate. Van Zant coached at least one other local district on the financial benefits of charter school development.

In 2010, when he was questioned about approving a charter middle school in La Mesa after Mountain Empire had just shut down its only middle school amid dismal student performance, Van Zant told Channel 10 News, “There is a financial incentive for our district to go ahead and sponsor charter schools.”

Probation officials said in the report that Van Zant expressed remorse for his actions and poses a low risk for recidivism. The report also acknowledged the educator’s contributions to his profession.

“Although he clearly had a financial interest in the expansion of charter schools, the defendant does appear to have a genuine interest in creating educational alternatives for students who have unmet educational needs,” the report states.

Some three years after Van Zant left Mountain Empire, his legacy lives on in court.

The now-disgraced superintendent sometimes failed to notify districts of the charters they would house prior to approval, as required by law. His work brokering charter deals throughout San Diego County and California has stirred animosity and costly litigation among several districts.

The La Mesa Spring/Valley School District has a lawsuit pending against Mountain Empire over the College Prep Middle School, which it says failed to provide notice before Van Zant approved it some six years ago.

Van Zant told probation officers he “feels as though he was retaliated against by another school district because he ultimately developed a reputation in the field as an ‘expert’ as to implementing charter schools causing certain districts to lose funding because of a declining student enrollment,” the report states.

Van Zant is serving a sentence of 30 days of home confinement — in his Mission Bay house — with an electronic monitor, three years probation, and 300 hours of community service. He must reimburse Mountain Empire for $51,600 in charter stipends, and forfeit retirement earnings accrued after April 10, 2012,

Handed down last week, Superior Court Judge Daniel Link’s sentence all but mirrors the plea agreement announced in February, when Van Zant pleaded guilty to violating conflict-of-interest laws. He was required to resign from his post as superintendent at the Sausalito Marin City School District, which he accepted in 2013. He submitted his resignation in February from the three-day-a-week job that paid $172,000 in the 2014-15 school year.

Van Zant still runs EdHive with his wife, Ingrid, from a downtown office in Symphony Towers. The business web site has been downsized significantly in recent weeks, but it once advertised, “We can find an authorizing district for your charter and cut a deal that provides the financial incentive for the district and still save your school money.”

It’s unclear exactly how the felony conviction will influence Vab Zant’s work with charters in the region and state. Van Zant told probation officials he is in the developmental phase of establishing a “sports academy” in India.

maureen.magee@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @MaureenMagee