To the Editor:

In his letter from Jan. 25, 2024, Sonny Ketcham praises former school board member Venki Palamand for his past service.

Voters should beware. Mr. Palamand’s campaign pitch is misleading at best, and downright false at worst. There are three important reasons that Mr. Ketcham should rethink his endorsement. 1. Mr Palamand did not rescue the district from financial problems caused by his predecessors — he caused them. 2. He didn’t regain the public trust — he lost it and had to be rescued by a volunteer citizens group.

1. Mr. Palamand did not “find funds” to build an auditorium. Rather, without voter approval, he refinanced district debt and extended the taxpayers’ obligation by nearly 20 years, costing them millions in additional interest and digging the district into a deep financial hole.

2. The public had good reason to lose trust in the district during Mr. Palamand’s tenure (2007-2013; 2014-2017). His mismanagement required the district to make millions of dollars in cuts. His financial shenanigans caused administrator, teacher and classified employee layoffs and salary freezes; charges to ride the bus; reduced extra-curricular activities; continued use of outdated facilities; deferred replacement and maintenance for physical facilities; and reduced educational resources for students. These cuts have had a long-term impact on the performance of our schools. The public’s trust was restored only when a group of parent volunteers went directly to the public to convince them to pass Prop R in 2015. It was that money, with voter approval, that allowed the district to begin to correct the long list of deficiencies caused during Mr. Palamand’s tenure. Mr. Palamand gets no credit for being bailed out by a concerned citizens group.

Mr. Palamand has shown himself to be a poor steward of the district’s money and dishonest in his efforts to gaslight voters into thinking he accomplished things that he didn’t. Please, Mr. Ketcham, look behind Mr. Palamand’s PR, and look at what really happened the last time he was on the board.

Susan Schmitz

Oakville