Dysfunction between Modesto City Schools' top two officials has been going on for nearly two years, according to documents the district released to The Bee this week.
E-mails and memos show a power struggle that boiled over in January and became public two months ago between Superintendent Arturo Flores and Debbe Bailey, the district's chief business officer.
He accuses Bailey of "unprofessional" behavior and "questionable judgment" for having e-mailed internal information to the teachers union. He also says they could not agree on financial strategy, and that Bailey undermined him to district employees and the public.
Bailey was placed on paid leave April 27. Flores and district trustees gave her and the public little explanation, citing confidentiality in personnel matters. She's worked at the district 23 years, eight as deputy superintendent.
After Bailey was placed on leave, the district's human resources department began a review of her work e-mails from her office computer. Officials found e-mails dating to July 20, 2007 — three weeks after Flores took office — between Bailey and who appears to be Pat Nan, the superintendent's secretary, containing snide comments and complaints about Flores.
Many names of district employees, other Stanislaus County education officials and Modesto Teachers Association officials were blacked out from the 130 pages of documents released to The Bee in response to a public records request.
In an e-mail Jan. 13, an MTA official asked Bailey if she had anything to add to a regularly scheduled meeting agenda between union leaders and district officials. Bailey responded, directing the union to ask about the cost of a consultant for ongoing strategic plan support.
"That's a $40,000 contract and I have yet to figure out for what," Bailey wrote.
In a performance review completed last week by Flores and Roman Muñoz, the district's attorney, Flores calls Bailey's conduct in that case unethical.
"You (Bailey) demonstrated questionable judgment by not informing the district's chief negotiator that you provided this information and your questionable description of the district's use of a consultant ... in such a negative manner without advising my office of your concerns is unprofessional," Flores wrote. "Your conduct serves only to create distrust and animosity between the district and the association (MTA)."
Bailey maintains that only selected e-mails were being released to make her look bad, and that most of her e-mail comments are being misinterpreted. Muñoz said the e-mails released were the only ones recovered from Bailey's computer.
Flores was unaware of Bailey's critical e-mails and communication with the MTA in January, when the two met with a mediator. Flores said he initiated that discussion after the two argued over a winter of 2008 district newsletter describing the district's financial picture and after Bailey made a disparaging remark about him on a statewide e-mail list for school district chief business officials.
"I feel like I'm swimming upstream when my boss wants to put a positive spin on everything," Bailey wrote.
Flores said Wednesday that Bailey's conversations with MTA leaders and Trustee Cindy Marks have fractured relationships among trustees and district staff. He also said that Bailey's behind-the-scenes conversations have been detrimental to the district, trustees and the staff's ability to deliver resources to improve student learning.
In exchanges with Marks, Bailey forwarded e-mails to her from Flores pointing out his perceived shortcomings. Bailey also warns Marks against giving employees a 1 percent salary increase for 2008-09, encouraging her to ask others to delay the raises.
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