Charter school accused of misspending millions is seeking to open under new name

A Sacramento charter school that the state auditor blasted last year for allegedly wrongly receiving $180 million is seeking a new home – and a new name – in Sutter County.

Highlands Community Charter and Technical Schools, which serves adults at a half dozen campuses in Sacramento, is seeking to sever ties with its oversight agency, the Twin Rivers Unified School District, and obtain a new charter with Yuba City Unified. The school would have a new name, as well: California Learning Academy.

Yuba City’s school board unanimously denied the petition in July, citing the school’s “unsuccessful history in education,” including what it called persistent low academic achievement, questionable financial management, unqualified teachers and inaccurate attendance reporting. 

Leaders from the charter school said that Yuba City based its decision on outdated information and is appealing the decision to the Sutter County Board of Education, which has until November to decide on it.

“A lot of (Yuba City’s information) predates the work that myself and our team have done, and we’ve worked really hard to continue to save this school because the mission is important,” said Highlands Executive Director Jonathan Raymond. “And so we fight on.” 

Whistleblowers and audits

Founded in 2014, Highlands consists of two schools that serve students over age 22 and offers classes in career training, English language skills and academic subjects needed for a high school diploma. Although it’s not a traditional K-12 school, it receives state money through Proposition 98 – the primary funding mechanism for California’s K-12 schools – because it’s affiliated with a federal workforce training agency. It also receives federal and local money.

The school has six locations in Sacramento, although much of the classwork is remote. A majority of its students are low-income immigrants from Ukraine, Afghanistan, Russia and other countries.

Within a few years of its opening, Highlands began attracting scrutiny from journalists, government watchdogs and whistleblowers. In 2016, the Sacramento County Grand Jury found that a Twin Rivers Unified board member worked as a consultant for Highlands and also served on its board. In 2018, an audit by a state agency that monitors school finances, found that Highlands violated more than two dozen laws, including paying for repairs on an employee’s BMW and paying a board member’s legal fees.

In 2024, teachers and other Highlands employees settled a class-action lawsuit they filed against the school over claims some had been paid less than minimum wage, weren’t paid for overtime or weren’t paid on time.

Also in 2024, reporting by Sacramento television station ABC-10 spurred Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi, at the time chair of the Assembly Education Committee, to ask the state auditor to investigate Highlands. The audit, published in 2025, found 19 alleged improprieties, such as evidence that the school had wrongly received nearly $180 million in state funds due to inaccurate attendance reports. It said Highlands spent money on expenses like a $1.2 million bill from the Grand Hyatt hotel in San Diego and staff and board trips to Paris and Hawaii. It also found apparent nepotism in hiring and contracts and a large percentage of unqualified teachers. 

Raymond said Highlands has fixed 18 of the issues, including replacing hundreds of unqualified teachers with those who have credentials or are working toward credentials. 

But the school disputes the $180 million figure and is appealing to the state’s Education Audit Appeals Panel, which is expected to make a ruling in early October. Meanwhile, the California Department of Education has demanded that Highlands repay the money. Raymond said that would bankrupt the school and leave Twin Rivers Unified to pay the bulk of it. 

None of the employees suspected of misspending money – mostly senior staff and board members – still work for the school, he said. Highlands has taken some of them to small claims court to reclaim the money, but that hasn’t been successful, Raymond said. 

Following the state audit, the school’s entire board and executive director resigned. The new board and management are trying to clean up the school’s operations and start fresh, said Raymond, a former superintendent of Sacramento City Unified.

“The mission of the school really moved me,” Raymond said, in explaining why he accepted the job. “We’re helping adults that have been underserved – immigrants, refugees, folks who’ve been incarcerated, people who never got a high school diploma for whatever reason. These people deserve a chance.”

That wasn’t enough to convince Twin Rivers Unified’s board, which voted in January to revoke Highland’s charter. Highlands successfully appealed the decision to the Sacramento County Office of Education, so – at least for now – Twin Rivers still oversees the school.

Plans for Yuba City

In May, Highlands approached Yuba City Unified, amid the rice fields and almond orchards about 40 miles north of Sacramento, and requested a charter under a new name.

Highlands plans to keep its Sacramento campuses but intends to expand into Sutter County and reorganize as one school, with in-person as well as remote classes. Sutter County is a good fit for Highland, Raymond said, because it has a large percentage – 20% – of adults who lack a high school diploma. And Highlands’ program combining academics, career training and English classes sets it apart from other adult schools in the area, he said. 

“These gaps are not abstract; they translate directly into lower employment rates, reduced earning potential, and limited economic mobility,” Raymond wrote in the application.

Tara Degg isn’t having it. A special education paraeducator who’s an official with the local  school employees union, Degg is outspoken in her opposition to Highlands moving to Yuba City. Her primary concern is that local students would enroll and be shortchanged on an education.

“We can’t afford to have something like this happen here,” Degg said. “It really doesn’t feel like their money goes to students at all.”

Mercedes Geraldo, who’s also a local school union official, said Yuba City already has high-quality adult education options, including the local community college. She’s also opposed to charter schools generally, which she says aren’t held to the same accountability standards as traditional public schools.

In addition, she doesn’t trust that the current Highlands management has made sufficient changes. She pointed out that Twin Rivers recently notified Highlands that it had violated its charter by not producing financial audits. 

“What are Highlands’ intentions here? And what are they spending their money on?” Geraldo said. “I don’t believe that relocating Highlands to Sutter County is in the best interest of our community.”

Last year, Highlands had a 5.2% graduation rate and only 13% of its teachers were fully credentialed, according to the California School Dashboard. Statewide, the graduation rate is 88% and 82% of teachers have credentials. Raymond said the dashboard numbers are outdated and the current figures, which have not yet been published, will show better results. As for the audits, Raymond said the school will provide them this month.