Sweetwater Audit Finds No Crimes

A six-month audit by state officials has turned up no evidence to support allegations of criminal activities in the Sweetwater Union High School District but does criticize several cases of sloppy record-keeping that cost the district money, a report released Wednesday concludes.

A San Diego County Grand Jury concluded last month that allegations of computer and car-theft rings operating out of the district, as well as an allegation of bribery by a teacher, were unfounded.

In the state report, the Office of the Auditor General recommends that the district tighten its control over expenditures, equipment, purchasing, cafeteria operations, payroll and personnel.

“These are areas we think can be rectified without additional costs,” acting Auditor General Kurt Sjoberg said. “It’s basically (a question of) people doing their job more efficiently and with more of an eye toward what their responsibilities are.”

District officials said they plan to take the state’s recommendations to heart and, in some cases, had already begun making necessary adjustments before the audit began.

Sweetwater Supt. Anthony Trujillo, who has already responded to the report and expressed some disagreement, said he was not as upset about the findings as he was about the way the report was written.

“My major quarrel was that the findings did not warrant the language they used,” Trujillo said. “Their language made us look like we’d never done anything correct.”