Investigation into alleged bullying by Antioch maintenance director still ongoing, could take months

ANTIOCH — It could be months before any decision is made on the fate of a maintenance supervisor whose alleged bullying and harassment sparked events that led to the firing of the Antioch Unified School District superintendent.

The well-publicized conduct by Kenneth Turnage II led to multiple complaints from district workers, who claimed Superintendent Stephanie Anello looked the other way, in part because Turnage was a friend of her husband, former Antioch police Chief Allan Cantando. Last week, the school board voted to terminate Anello.

In an interview this past week, Anello’s replacement said the school district’s business moves on, as a third-party firm looks further into allegations that Turnage harassed and intimidated his district employees.

For now, Turnage remains on leave and is not “directly or immediately involved” in any work related to bond measure renovations, Acting Superintendent Robert A. Martinez said. AUSD has tapped Liz Robbins, the associate superintendent of business and operations, to take over managing the bond measure.

Without going into specific details, Martinez emphasized that AUSD takes every employee’s concerns seriously and follows due process to investigate the complaints.

“I want people to see that we take matters seriously because we want everyone to feel safe and secure as an employee, student, or somebody coming onto our campuses from the community,” he said. “Because when our community is feeling better, and our students are feeling good, and our employees are doing fine, it works better on behalf of those students.”

Once the outside investigators complete their investigation, it will be presented to the school board for review and a decision.

“I will be the conduit bringing that information to the governing board, and that generally happens in what they call a closed (meeting) session because it has to do with potential discipline for any employee that occurs there,” he said. “Based on that, then the board would give me direction to remedy, if you will, or take any action out of their direction.

However, he was unable to provide details on how long the third-party investigations would take to conclude.

Martinez said a Skelly hearing, required under the state’s education code, will be conducted before the matter is handed over to the board for the final decision. He explained that the hearing provides protection to the individual employees and the district.

Martinez dispelled the notion that a superintendent oversees all district employees, adding that there is a structural difference. He said that often, the superintendent will have full management authority over all district employees. However, the process is more complex when it involves a permanent employee, as the education code provides specific guidelines on such matters.

“It still then defaults to the board of education making final adjudication decisions for somebody continuing (their) employment, rather than even an individual superintendent walking around dismissing everybody or individuals. It doesn’t fall that way,” he said.