Orange School District: A History of Problems

Here are some key events that preceded Tuesday’s charge by the Orange County Grand Jury that four school board members had engaged in willful misconduct in office in connection with alleged bid rigging by a former district employee.

Sept. 1984: District Supt. Kenneth D. Brummel begins investigating reports of missing or unaccounted-for school property. He places two employees--Steven Presson, management coordination director, and Richard C. Lampe, garage service coordinator--on leave.

Oct. 1984: Brummel calls in police investigators.

Dec. 11, 1984: After a monthlong investigation, Orange police announce that large amounts of Orange Unified School District property are missing and that some district employees appear to have been involved in criminal activity. Brummel announces that Presson has resigned.

Oct. 23, 1986: The district board fires Brummel and names the district’s personnel administrator, John Ikerd, acting superintendent. Board members said Brummel’s firing had nothing to do with the missing property investigation.

July 9, 1986: Search warrant affidavits filed in Orange County Superior Court charge that Presson gave inflated contracts to a few companies between 1979 and 1984 in exchange for gifts and services.

Dec. 19, 1986: The state controller’s office issues a report criticizing the district’s fiscal and management practices between 1975 and 1984 and says that they “contributed” to alleged contract bid-rigging and kickbacks “in the form of money, services and material from construction contractors to district administrators.”

April 1, 1987: The Orange County Grand Jury hands down the first indictments since the investigation into alleged improprieties began 2 1/2 years earlier. Steven Presson and his wife, Diane Elizabeth Presson, are indicted and arrested on felony charges of theft and misuse of public funds and property. Also indicted are William A. Gustafson and Ronald Brock, officers of the Brock and Gustafson Construction Co. of Orange, which did business with the district.