In the period after criminal charges were filed against Newport-Mesa Unified School District Supt. Jeffrey Hubbard, the president of the school board steadfastly supported him, e-mails obtained by the Daily Pilot show.
"We remain positive and confident of a positive outcome for you," school board President Walt Davenport wrote in a Dec. 16 e-mail to Hubbard. "We just hope it happens quickly. You would have been heartened by the applause when [a district official] relayed your greeting to the folks at the district lunch yesterday. I think the troops are solidly behind you."
The e-mail came a week after Hubbard was charged in Los Angeles County on two felony counts for alleged criminal wrongdoing during his previous job as head of Beverly Hills Unified School District. Prosecutors allege that Hubbard misappropriated Beverly Hills funds to benefit a subordinate when Hubbard served as the schools chief there. Hubbard and Karen Ann Christiansen have pleaded not-guilty.