School board fires Hubbard

COSTA MESA — The Newport-Mesa Unified school board announced after a special closed-session meeting Tuesday afternoon that it fired its superintendent after his conviction of two felonies.

School board President Dave Brooks said the board unanimously voted to terminate Supt. Jeffrey Hubbard effective Monday, when he was convicted in Los Angeles County Superior Court.

"We are at an end of an era," Brooks said Tuesday evening, after the board's regular meeting. "His contract has been terminated, and soon we will be looking for a new superintendent."

Hubbard, 54, was found guilty of two charges of misappropriating public funds during his previous job as superintendent of the Beverly Hills Unified School District. He was acquitted of a third charge.

Hubbard did not attend the afternoon board meeting.

Deputy Supt. and Chief Business Official Paul Reed will act as superintendent until March 5, or until an interim leader can be found.

The board also authorized the search for both an interim and permanent superintendent, with the goal of hiring the permanent superintendent by July 1.

"I, probably like everyone else, I wish it never happened, but it did," said Trustee Judy Franco after the regular meeting. "But, like we've said for a year, he was entitled to his day in court."

Teachers union President Kimberly Claytor, as well as the union's Executive Director Nicholas Dix, were the only two community members in attendance at the special meeting.

Claytor said she wished the board had also addressed Hubbard's actions in the district — specifically sending inappropriate correspondence while using his school district email account and taking more than five months of paid leave to prepare for his defense.

"I guess I'm disappointed that they did not also address the issues that took place in our district," she said. "I think that needed to be included, but then again, I think that needed to be included before."

At the regular meeting, Newport Heights Elementary school parent Peter Boyd asked the board to look into employees hired during Hubbard's tenure after what happened in Beverly Hills and conduct a forensic audit of all Hubbard's actions.