Roseland Scholarship Fund Lacks Necessary Oversight as Students Question Missing Payments
The Roseland Public School's Charter Scholarship Fund does not appear to be compliant with California Ed Code
Tracking down the charter scholarship monies received and disbursed within Roseland Public Schools is not a task for the faint of heart. As students have come forward to express they never received their promised funds, the district’s lack of financial oversight is becoming evident.
California Ed Code is a collection of all the laws directly related to California K-12 public schools. Ed Code sections are created or changed by the governor and Legislature when they make laws. Local school boards and county offices of education are responsible for complying with these provisions.
The code below dictates the regulations established for a district administered scholarship and loan fund.
2023 California Code
Education Code - EDC
TITLE 2 - ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION
DIVISION 3 - LOCAL ADMINISTRATION
PART 21 - LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES
CHAPTER 2 - Governing Boards
ARTICLE 12 - Scholarship and Loan Funds
Per Ed Code, the governing board of any school district may establish and maintain a scholarship and loan fund, to be administered by a committee composed of the members of the governing board of the school district, the school district superintendent, and such other community, faculty, administrative, and student representatives as the governing board shall determine.
The governing board shall, by rules and regulations, determine the terms of office and the method of selection of such community, faculty, administrative, and student representatives.
The superintendent of school district shall be the chairman of the committee and shall be the chief executive officer of the fund.
The committee may accept on behalf of, and in the name of, the fund, such gifts, donations, bequests, and devises as are made for the purposes of the fund. Such gifts, donations, bequests, and devises may be made subject to such conditions or restrictions as the committee may prescribe.
Money in the fund shall be deposited in a bank or other institution whose accounts are federally insured, and any money so deposited shall be in an account or accounts fully covered by that insurance.
The committee shall establish and maintain procedures to identify clearly all money in the fund and its separate and distinct impressed trusts, if any, and from whom and to whom the money was received and disbursed.
The governing board of the school district shall arrange for an annual audit of the fund in the same manner as prescribed in Section 41020.
The chief executive officer of the fund shall make periodic reports, but not less frequently than annually, to the governing board of the school district with respect to the status and activity of the fund.
On December 12, 2023, Community Relations Coordinator Jenn Del Rosario gave a presentation regarding her department to the charter board. The department’s name is Community & Alumni Relations & Engagement (C.A.R.E.).
The presentation included an overview of the Scholarship Oversight Committee. The roster includes RCP/RUP Principals, Directors of College & Career Services, the Alumni Success Coordinator and Community Relations Coordinator.
CA Ed Code requires that the superintendent of the school district shall be the chairman of the committee and shall be the chief executive officer of the fund. Oddly, this position was not referenced as a Committee Member.
The district’s website page for ‘Ways to Give’ does not appear to currently include a full roster of the Committee Members, rules/regulations for the Committee, terms of office or the method of selection for Committee Members.
The ‘C.A.R.E.’ department does not appear to be housed anywhere on the district’s website.
Ms. Del Rosario’s name only appears on the following pages of the district’s website:
Roseland’s neighboring partner in higher education, Santa Rosa Junior College also houses a Standing Scholarship Committee. Their website includes: the committee roster, a roster legend, meeting schedule, committee function, committee agendas, committee minutes and other committee documents. None of this information appears to be virtually accessible for the Roseland district.
On December 13, 2022 Ms. Del Rosario presented a Roseland Charter School Scholarship Programs Handbook to the Board of Directors for approval.
The handbook included the following language:
Scholarship Amounts
“The amount of each Roseland Charter General Scholarship is determined by the Roseland Charter Scholarship Selection and Oversight Committee. The committee takes into consideration eligibility requirements, including but not limited to: student effort, resourcefulness, seeking all financial assistance, and academic persistence. The committee also makes its recommendations based on the gap between cost of attendance, all other scholarships, and awarded aid. The amount of any Roseland Charter Scholarship is subject to change if there is a change in the institution the student is attending, the amount of aid offered by the institution, residential or enrollment status.”
Scholarship Oversight and Selection Committee
“The Committee shall meet at least twice yearly (August and April) to oversee the scholarship process, set priorities, and create timelines for deadlines and procedures in scoring/rating of applications and interviews and determine final award amounts. The Committee shall make revisions to the handbook and create additional applications/forms when necessary. The Committee shall include the Charter High School Principals, the Directors of College and Career, the Charter College Success Coordinator and Community Relations Coordinator. The Committee will report out the anticipated number of students that are receiving the Roseland Charter Scholarship to the Board in September and May.”
The Committee reports did not appear to have been included as an agenda item within previous board meetings for the months of September, nor May.
Ms. Del Rosario’s position does not appear to be currently included within the Roseland district’s staff directory nor the salary schedule. Legally, all new job descriptions and their associated salary ranges are required to receive Board approval.
Ms. Del Rosario is responsible for reporting all donations to the Charter Board. How can the stakeholders rest assured that all donations have actually been reported due to the tremendous lack of oversight?
Several ‘BIPOC’ individuals have expressed to me that they did not trust Ms. Del Rosario, do not understand what she does at the district and don’t understand why she is being compensated $170k/yr. What exactly does she do and why are students claiming they did not receive their promised funds?
Luke 16:10 - ‘Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.’