A Stockton Unified School District trustee voted to award district contracts worth more than $130,000 to a nonprofit where she’s an unpaid board member, according to SUSD board documents reviewed by Stocktonia.
Area 7 Trustee Kennetha Stevens voted “yes” alongside her six colleagues on the School Board to award the Amelia Ann Adams Whole Life Center, a Stockton nonprofit, two contracts to provide emotional support, mentorship and other services at four schools, records show.
A contract voted on in October for the center is worth up to $70,123, according to board documents. A November agreement is reported in SUSD documents as being valued at up to $60,000, but a copy of the contract lists a higher amount, saying the nonprofit’s total compensation shall not exceed $68,000.
A school district spokesperson was not immediately able to provide the actual value of the November contract.
The Amelia Ann Adams Whole Life Center’s most recent nonprofit tax return shows Stevens is among four members of the center’s board who made $0 in their roles last year, The Record first reported.
Stevens did not respond to a request for comment. In an email, the Amelia Ann Adams Whole Life Center acknowledged Stocktonia’s request for comment, but didn’t immediately provide one.
A spokesperson for Stockton Unified said the district does not believe Stevens’ participation in the contract votes was improper.
“Per the District’s annual Conflict of Interest training, board members are not required to recuse themselves if they do not have a disqualifying financial interest,” spokesperson Melinda Meza said in a statement.
As Stevens is not compensated for being a board member at the nonprofit, she didn’t have to recuse herself, Meza said.
Under the school district’s rules, trustees cannot “participate in the making of any decision for the district when the decision will or may be affected by his/her financial, family, or other personal interest or consideration.”
California’s Political Reform Act bars officials from participating in decisions that could foreseeably impact them financially.
According to a copy of the October SUSD agreement, the contract provides students at Stagg High, Edison High, Pulliam Elementary and Madison Elementary schools two-hour sessions — including healing-centered circles, mentorship and emotional support — twice a week, for 26 weeks.
Records show the November contract is for a three-week restorative justice cycle for Black youth at Madison Elementary, as well as for mental health support, case management and other services.
In a unanimous vote Tuesday, the Stockton City Council awarded the Amelia Ann Adams Whole Life Center roughly $483,000 in funds designated to fight homelessness. No councilmembers hold any positions at the nonprofit, according to the group’s website.
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