During public comment at the Los Lomitas Elementary School District board meeting on Nov. 6, parents questioned the district about its finances after a Public Records Request raised concerns about trustees’ spending.
The request was filed by LLESD parent Susanna Chenette, who began looking into the district’s spending after teacher strikes began. Though they have since reached an agreement with teachers for a 16% raise over three years and other benefits, the district initially claimed they didn’t have enough money to support a teacher salary raise.
LLESD Superintendent Beth Polito is currently one of the Bay Area’s highest-paid superintendents despite managing just two schools. In 2022, her total salary and benefits accumulated to $383,021.
According to the request, Polito used the district’s credit card for luxury expenses, including rooms at the San Francisco Four Seasons and Disneyland Resorts, meals at two-star Michelin restaurants, first-class flight upgrades, and more.
LLESD policy states the superintendent’s spending on the district credit card cannot “exceed five hundred dollars ($500) per month without the written authorization of the Board President.” Though Polito exceeded this limit, the released documents contain no written authorization from the LLESD Board President for these expenses.
LLESD policy also states that the district will “not reimburse for seat upgrades or extra leg room options.”
Yet, the request revealed that on at least 16 different occasions, Polito used the district’s card to pay for United Economy Plus and Premium Class upgrades, which, according to United Airlines, offer “extra legroom and a seat in front,” among other amenities.
No other trustees charged any form of airline seat upgrades to the district account.
The M-A Chronicle reached out to Polito and LLESD Chief Business Officer Mei Chan to provide context for the trustees’ spending but has not received a response from either.
Before her tenure at LLESD, Polito worked at Woodside School District. However, Polito’s departure from WSD was marked by controversy.
In November of 2015, while working as WSD superintendent, Polito led the dismissal of a male teacher in an effort to fire him from Woodside Elementary. WSD accused the teacher of leaving students unsupervised for short periods of time, favoritism, using profanity when talking with students, and other violations of professional conduct. However, the attempt to fire the teacher failed, with the administrative panel assigned to the hearing unanimously dismissing all charges against him.
In the aftermath, WSD was forced to assume costs for the hearing in addition to legal fees for both the teacher and the district.
The teacher also remained on district payroll—with full pay and benefits—while on administrative leave until June 30, 2016, even receiving a pay raise. WSD then gave the teacher a $200,000 severance payment, bringing the total cost for taxpayers to $584,000.
Afterwards, many blamed Polito for dismissing the teacher without sufficient evidence and for neglecting student safety. In the comments section of an article from The Almanac about the issue, one community member wrote, “My question for the Superintendent is if you were so concerned about student safety and you think a teacher is not with his class, why did you not go out and look for him immediately or at least call another person to look for him?”
Another community member commented, “After the administrative panel found the teacher innocent of all charges, why would Superintendent Polito and the School Board decide to dump him anyway? What were they thinking?”
In a Facebook post on Nov. 10, the Los Lomitas Education Association called for an official investigation into Polito and Chan. They also called on the board to immediately remove Polito from her role as superintendent.
During the board meeting on Nov. 6, community members discussed the possibility of the board hiring Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates to find a new superintendent. However, many pushed back against the firm’s possible selection, arguing their prior role in selecting Polito as superintendent is a conflict of interest.
Polito has not resigned but is set to retire in August of 2025.
