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Former Portola Valley School District Superintendent Tim Hanretty pleaded not guilty this morning (April 6) to three felony counts that include misappropriation of public funds — allegations of misdeeds that stem from his earlier employment with the Woodside School District.
Mr. Hanretty, who resigned Jan. 31 from his position in the Portola Valley district during an investigation requested by the Woodside district, was arraigned at 9 a.m. in San Mateo County Superior Court-Redwood City Felony Court.
Despite the seriousness of the charges, Woodside school officials believe at this point that the misappropriation of funds wasn’t for Mr. Hanretty’s personal gain, according to a statement issued Thursday by Woodside district Superintendent Beth Polito.
The preliminary hearing on the charges against Mr. Hanretty was set for 9 a.m. May 24.
Mr. Hanretty is out of custody on bail of $30,000.
The charges stem from a loan that allegedly was fraudulently acquired by Mr. Hanretty when he served as finance officer for both the Woodside and Portola Valley school districts, but they involve the Woodside district only. School officials said earlier that there has been no indication of such irregularities in the Portola Valley district.
New details of the alleged misdeeds emerged this morning in a report from county District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe, who said Mr. Hanretty presented fraudulent paperwork to obtain a far larger loan than was authorized by the school board for the purpose of updating an athletic field. The board had approved a loan not to exceed $632,000.
Mr. Hanretty obtained a $2.6 million loan instead, and agreed to a repayment schedule that pushed the amount to more than $4.33 million with interest, the report said.
“The field work cost approximately $600,000; (Mr. Hanretty) used the other monies (without board approval) for other school projects,” the report said. Over the following months, Mr. Hanretty regularly told the school board that the project was on time and on budget, it said.
The alleged fraud was discovered when school district officials conducted an investigation “to determine why their debt was unusually high,” the report said.
The DA’s office launched an investigation in December after Woodside district officials brought to its attention the alleged financial irregularities.
Mr. Wagstaffe, who announced the charges Thursday afternoon, said that Mr. Hanretty and his attorney, Michael Markowitz of Gagen McCoy of Danville, “have been cooperative in working with us in all this.”
The charge of public funds misappropriation carries an allegation of “excessive taking,” which means that it involves more than $1 million, Mr. Wagstaffe said.
“That doesn’t mean that … Mr. Hanretty got personal benefit of over a million dollars,” Mr. Wagstaffe noted. “It just means the funds that he was maneuvering inappropriately, misappropriating, was over a million dollars.”
In her written statement, Superintendent Polito said:
“During the 2005-2008 Woodside School Modernization project a loan was acquired fraudulently. The Woodside School Board approved a loan resolution for $632,000 to complete a field project as part of the modernization project. Altered loan documentation allowed for a loan up to 3 million dollars. Ultimately a loan for 2.6 million dollars was issued.
“It is our current belief the money acquired through the fraudulent loan … was spent on the 2005-2008 Woodside School Modernization Project.”
In addition to misappropriation of public funds by a public officer, Mr. Hanretty is charged with fraudulently passing a forged or altered document, and filing “a false or forged instrument.”
Attempts to reach Mr. Hanretty have been unsuccessful, and Mr. Markowitz has not returned the Almanac’s phone call seeking comment.
Woodside district Superintendent Polito said in early February that the district first discovered the irregularities last October. The questionable accounting dated back to a building modernization project that was completed in the 2007-08 school year, she said.
In a written statement issued in February, Ms. Polito said that, after the discovery, the district “immediately contacted legal counsel and through counsel, hired independent forensic auditors.” The information gleaned from that audit led to the district’s contacting the district attorney’s office.
The Woodside School District, she said, “has retained independent accountants to further investigate these irregularities. We do not believe there will be any immediate negative impact on the … district’s budget.”
Portola Valley school district officials have “absolutely no indication that any fiscal wrongdoing has taken place during Mr. Hanretty’s tenure at this district,” the district’s school board president, Scott Parker, wrote in a letter announcing Mr. Hanretty’s resignation in January.
“Nevertheless, in an abundance of caution, the board is working closely with the Office of the County Superintendent of Schools to retain an independent auditor to evaluate our district’s finances,” he wrote. “The district is not able to provide any further comment or details until the completion of the investigation.”
Mr. Hanretty worked many years for both the Portola Valley and the Woodside elementary school districts, first as business manager, and beginning in 2004, as assistant superintendent.
He was appointed superintendent of the Portola Valley district in 2010, replacing Anne Campbell when she moved on to serve as San Mateo County superintendent of schools.
Ms. Campbell said in February that her office is overseeing the audit of certain areas of the district’s finances. “We want to be absolutely, positively sure that everything is OK,” she said. “We owe that to the public.”
Carol Piraino, who had been serving as the Portola Valley district’s assistant superintendent, has been serving as acting superintendent since Jan. 31. She could not be reached for comment.
— Barbara Wood contributed to this story.
Photo by Michelle Le/The Almanac." class="wp-image-578125"/>
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Renee, I find this to be the most irresponsible reporting yet from an Almanac reporter, a once great institution with amazing reporters like David Boyce, Jane Knoerle and your predecessor, Marjorie Mader. You once again let it seem as if Tim absconded with funds when in fact the Woodside Principal in an email to the district just released today specifically states the following:
“It is our current belief the money acquired through the fraudulent loan listed above was spent on the 2005-2008 Woodside School Modernization Project.”
I know that not including the actual wording may not be sensational enough for the tabloid you are clearly turning the Almanac into, but it is unacceptable when you think of the rumors you will now kindle, some of which are unbelievably absurd, that will go that much further to ruin the life and career of an amazing guy who cared more about kids than almost anyone else. Why aren’t we asking how that loan could have escaped the vigilance of whatever leadership is ultimately fiscally responsible when that loan must have been serviced somehow? Ah but that would be real, balanced, investigative reporting and we haven’t seen that in a long time.
It looks like Mr. Henretty has displaced Mr. Lawnsign Mischief Maker as the top miscreant in the area. So Portola Valley has displaced the Willows in notoriety.
@ Disgusted, I find that the article simply relates that he is being charged, which is factually true, and it references “irregularities” which is true, and that none others are known, which is not damning and is also true. The quote is from the DA and even says “it doesn’t mean he benefited personally” (paraphrase). What more could you want, the article is about him being charged, which is noteworthy.
Disgusted, You’re exhibiting an awful lot of sound and fury here. Below is a paragraph from my story:
“That doesn’t mean that … Mr. Hanretty got personal benefit of over a million dollars,” Mr. Wagstaffe noted. “It just means the funds that he was maneuvering inappropriately, misappropriating, was over a million dollars.”
Your charge of irresponsibility and sensationalism is way over the top. If you have information that would provide me the opportunity to make the article more “responsible” and balanced, I would welcome it. You can email me at rbatti@AlmanacNews.com
Innocent until proven guilty. We have the utmost confidence in Mr. Hanretty’s character and integrity.
One thing is for sure, they didn’t spend the money on providing enough parking for all the school families. When the construction eliminated a large percentage of the school’s on-site parking spots no provisions were made to find a place for those cars, which now clog the streets of Woodside and park illegally and unsafely any place they can find.
Creative financing! And that’s the thanks he gets.
It’s my understanding that some teachers had recieved over payment while at Woodside on their salaries and they notified Mr. Hanretty and he was totally unaware. Of course when it came to paying back such overpayments he requested it in a lump sum. Although it is my understanding that did not take place. It sounds to me like Mr. Hanretty may have been pre-occupied with construction that was going on at his own residence by I believe the same contractor that was working on the Woodside school project. Timing alone is pretty bad.
I have never believed that Mr Hanretty gained anything personally from his efforts to manage the Woodside School District. The fact that rumor and conjecture have tarnished the reputation of a man I have always found incredibly patient, straightforward and fair, I find both shocking and reprehensible. In my experience, Mr Hanretty has always acted with integrity and honor, as exemplified by his immediate resignation offer when this debacle began. Although I wouldn’t have expected any other action by him in that situation, I am deeply saddened that the Portola Valley School District has lost such a valuable asset to the District and the community.
He’s a great person but if he did what’s accused, he did something plainly wrong, unethical and illegal even if he didn’t benefit.
There’s a reason the board is there. For anyone to subvert the democratic & legal & public process and add $2m debt obligation to the schools is plain wrong. To cover it up compounds the illegality. He may be innocent but DAs don’t file charges unless there’s some pretty compelling evidence. So we shouldn’t rush to condemn him but we also shouldn’t condemn those who are doing their job in investigating and reporting.
@Disgusted– Even though “school officials believe at this point” that Mr. Hanretty didn’t commit felony crime for “personal gain,” they are hardly saying that they believe that he is innocent of the charges. In fact, it sounds like quite the opposite. These are serious charges, and should be reported as such… no matter how “amazing” your personally find the accused to be. Are you related to (or connected to) Mr. Hanretty in some way?
At any rate, you need not fear that the Almanac will kindle absurd rumors, or opinions that you do not like. We are quite capable of doing that on our own. LOL.
Oh, and by the way… you must not have read the Almanac during the “Disco†era. When the names of local people (some of them “amazing,†I don’t doubt) were published after they had the “bad luck” to be arrested for DUI’s, domestic violence, etc, a minority of angry people (mostly relatives and BFF’s) protested. They really thought the Almanac had gone to you-know-where in a hand basket because of this “sensational†and “grossly unfair†practice. Their complaints only brought more attention to the “missteps†of their poor misunderstood friends/relatives…
So some $3.5 million was spent without being authorized. Do tax payers have to pay that back? Can the city claim that as a loss to their insurance company?
Why isn’t the school board, responsible for budget also charged in this crime of the century? They have direct oversight of the budget and spending. Also, Since generally the only point of contact between the board and the administration is the (deceased) superintendent, how on earth can the guilt trickle down and land on the shoulders of just one subordinate. Something stinks here.
I am amazed at how many commenters attest to the superlative positive character of Tim Hanretty.
Conversely, I have found the crimes of which he is accused to be totally consistent with his character as I experienced it personally. I found him to totally lack integrity, honesty, and sound judgment. He avoids public statements of opinion or position, leaving his remarks behind closed board sessions, closed offices, and other closeted meetings. Furthermore, he possesses a smugness and arrogance of superiority seemingly without regard to what might merit such confidence.
That he would, therefore, take it on himself to gain in reputation or profession through subterfuge because he is unable or unwilling to submit his ideas to public scrutiny or debate is entirely plausible based on my experience with his “character.”
In any case, he now has ample time to play Scrabble while considering his own character, regardless of the differing opinions of others.
Glad to see Tim has defenders – it’s great when your family rallies around you in times of trouble. Fact is, Timmy went wild with the district’s credit card and they now have to pay on the debt leaving them with constrained opoortunities to financially manage all other aspects of the district – thanks Tim, let me know where to send you the soap-on-a-rope you’ll need where you’re going…