Superintendent indicted by grand jury

LOS ANGELES - The former superintendent of the Beverly Hills Unified School District was arraigned Tuesday on a grand jury indictment charging him with a new count of misappropriation of public funds.Jeffrey Hubbard, 54, pleaded not guilty to the indictment that was returned on Friday by the grand jury. Deputy district attorney Max Huntsman said the new charge stems from Hubbard's alleged direction of a subordinate to give a raise to a female employee without school board authorization. Hubbard was released on his own recognizance and ordered to return to court on Nov. 10. Hubbard - now superintendent of the Newport Mesa Unified School District - was charged in December 2010 with two counts of misappropriation of public funds for allegedly giving a former Beverly Hills Unified School District official, Karen Anne Christiansen, more than $20,000 in unauthorized gifts. He also allegedly gave Christiansen increases in her car allowance that were unauthorized by the board. Christiansen, the former facilities director for the district, is charged in the same case with six counts of conflict of interest. Christiansen, who was hired in 2004 at an annual salary of $113,000, is accused of encouraging the district to borrow money for a building campaign while planning to steer the management contract herself. Her company, Strategic Concepts, ultimately received the contract and began drawing more than $100,000 a month until she was terminated.

********** Published: October 13, 2011 - Volume 10 - Issue 26