A. The top three categories of calls received on the hotline are:

• Employee relations. A large portion of calls involves employee relations, such as complaints about treatment by a supervisor or personal disputes between employees. These are referred to appropriate departments, such as Human Resources, for investigation and resolution.
• Theft of time. The other largest category of calls allege such issues as abuses of overtime or pay for hours not actually worked.
• Policy issues. Reports related to policy issues include violations of district policies and procedures. Examples include questionable allocations in a school or department budget, inappropriate use of a procurement card, or use of district facilities or resources for non-district related functions.

Other callers allege conflicts of interest, wage/hour issues, safety and sanitation issues, and fraudulent insurance claims.

Q. How are investigations handled?

A. The Office of Audits and Investigations (OAI) is committed to investigating all fraud hotline complaints in a professional and timely manner. Once a case is assigned to an internal investigator, it can take a couple of weeks to several months to complete, depending on its complexity.

Investigations are handled with the utmost discretion, and the findings are confidential. It is OIA's goal to protect the rights of the accused and the accuser. Great care is taken to protect all district employees from any abusive use of the hotline.

The internal investigator’s job is to verify the facts and to take action to resolve the complaint or concern. Issues raised are frequently assigned to an appropriate district department for follow-through. For example, concerns related to personnel matters are referred to the chief of human resources for evaluation and further action. The concerns may be forwarded by the chief of human resources to district-level administrators for action.

All complaints about alleged sexual abuse, violence or physical harm will be referred to the San Diego Unified School District Police or to the San Diego Police Department. The internal investigator monitors and follows up on the status of each complaint to make certain it is being processed in a timely manner.

Once an investigation is completed and its findings warrant disciplinary or correct action, the Board and Superintendent will be notified. It is up to district administration to take personnel action. Criminal matters will be referred to local prosecutorial authorities. The internal investigator maintains and updates records on the status of all complaints processed by the OAI. Periodically the internal investigator prepares a summary report of all complaints processed.

A. There have been two cases to date that resulted in criminal proceedings:

1. A classified employee embezzled over $26,000 in cash from recycling funds. The case was referred to the San Diego District Attorney's Office for prosecution. The D.A. charged the employee with 6 felony counts including misappropriation of public funds and grand theft. The case went to trial and the employee was found guilty on all 6 counts.
2. A president of a foundation withdrew over $120,000 from the foundation's bank account without the consent or knowledge from other Foundation's officers. The case was referred to the San Diego District Attorney's Office for prosecution. The person was subsequently arrested and booked in jail.

The internal investigator will contact the caller with follow-up questions before the promised call-back date. The caller has 15 days to respond. If no response is received, the case will be closed.