Gonzalez Spends $10 Million in Add to Cart

$10 Million Grant Used Last Minute to Purchase 14,400 Wooden Pencils, 50,000 Address Labels and More

COACHELLA — A $10.1 million grant designed to support after-school programs at Coachella Valley Unified School during the 2023-24 academic school was allegedly being saved instead to buy land, Carissa Cline Carrera, president of the Coachella Valley Teachers Association, told Uken Report.

Cline Carrera said that is what she “heard” and could not independently verify it, but the fact remains that $10.1 million was being saved and not spent during the academic year for the children as intended. The move left school leaders scrambling to spend the money leading them likely to purchase unnecessary items, despite the director knowing she had it all along, Cline Carrera said. “She gets about $10 million each year. It’s concerning she’s held on to that money.”

Cline Carrera said Beatriz “Bea” Gonzalez, Director of Expanded Learning, was told to spend it before the end of the fiscal year, June 30.

Three attempts to reach Gonzalez, who also serves on the College of the Desert Board of Trustees, were unsuccessful. Gonzalez, who represents Area 2, is up for re-election in November.

“CVTA has been concerned with how the EXLP funds are being spent and/or prioritized for several years,” Cline Carrera said. “It seems that extremely large supply and contract requests come to the board last minute forcing them to make quick decisions or risk losing the money. We aren’t sure if this is an intentional strategy or just poor oversight, but we believe there should be strict guidelines regarding program spending and not free rein.”

In May, about a month before the fiscal year deadline, Gonzalez requested authorization to open purchase orders for supplies & material needed to fulfill Expanded Learning Opportunities Program. The request was made to purchase supplies and materials from district approved vendors to provide activities that foster learning opportunities and family engagement. By that time school year was nearing its end.

“The purchase of supplies (and) materials for ELO-P and EXLP will provide academic and enrichment opportunities that will keep students engaged and foster a safe and positive learning environment,” Gonzalez claimed in her analysis.

Her request was approved. Those voting yes were Joey Acuña Jr, Trinidad Arredondo, Adonis Galarza, Jesus Gonzalez.

Voting no was Valerie Garcia; Jocelyn Vargas abstained, and Silvia Paz was not present.

With majority support, Gonzalez went on a spending spree “adding to cart” with wild abandon. See for yourself in the link provided. Some items in her cart were:

• 50,000 address labels at $12,692
• 7,000 sticky note pads at $2,850
• 3,000 Sticky wall easel pads at $4,950
• 6,000 Bic pens at $549.00
• 5,000 Hanging file folders at $1,198
• 300,000 Avery folder labels at $6,184
• 20,000 Manilla folders at $1,444
• 2,400 rolls of Scotch tape at 5,220
• 14,400 wooden pencils at $1,116
• 1,800 White Out Tape at $2,659
• 5 million staples at $780.00
• 7,200 Dry Erase Markers at $6,198
• 14,400 medium Binder Clips at $840
• 3 million sheets of copy paper for a total of $22,650

The money was also used to purchase 2,000 Tickets to the CV Firebirds Games at a cost of $152,740 (pgs. 2163-2166)

She bought so much “crap” as one person described it, she needed to buy rolling tool chests for a total of $5,118 (pg. 3041)

Four attempts to reach Acuña, board president, were unsuccessful.

Cline Carrera said word has gotten out that all of these supplies are on hand and one of the storage facilities was broken into this week and supplies stolen.

There are 21 EXPL sites in CVUSD, Cline Carrera said. They are located in 14 elementary schools, three middle schools, two regular high schools, one combined middle and high school and one continuation school. While an exact number of students in the programs was not readily available, Cline Carrera said there are “thousands.”