Orange Unified Probing Claims of Bid-Rigging : Finances: The investigation centers on the maintenance department’s relationship with an Upland contractor.

The Orange Unified School District has launched an internal investigation into allegations of bid-rigging and improper bookkeeping in the district’s transportation and maintenance department, school board members and the superintendent confirmed Friday.

Board members said the investigation centers on the maintenance operations and transportation department’s relationship with Upland’s W.D. Gott Construction Co., which was awarded at least $590,000 in contracts over the past three years.

“There is a review of activities involving the Gott firm,” said Trustee Robert H. Viviano, who, like other board members and district officials, would not elaborate further. “At this time, I really don’t know where it’s headed.”

The long-troubled school district was rocked by a bid-rigging scandal 10 years ago, which resulted in felony convictions for the district’s then-director of maintenance and the downfall of four trustees. One of the largest in the county, the district of 27,000 students and 36 schools serves Orange, Villa Park and parts of Anaheim Hills, Garden Grove and Santa Ana.

Officials said the current investigation was triggered by a community activist who alleged that irregularities occurred between the maintenance department and the Upland contractor.

Howard Mason, director of the maintenance department since 1992, could not be reached for comment. Mason, one of three top administrators accused of sexual harassment in 1993, has been on stress leave since early this year. The sexual-harassment case is pending.

Gott officials declined to discuss the matter, deferring questions to President Mike Gott, who was out of town and unavailable for comment.

District officials are keeping a tight lid on the investigation until Mason, 46, returns to work later this summer, said one board member, who asked not to be identified.

“When Mason comes back,” said the board member, “the proverbial is going to hit the fan.”

One of the allegations involves a contract awarded to Gott last year for a portable office that apparently should have been put out to bid, according to officials. Without school board approval, Mason authorized $70,000 in contracts to complete the new office--$40,000 of which went to Gott, according to McAllister and financial records.

According to Supt. Robert L. French, school districts are required by the state Education Code to request competitive bids if a project exceeds $15,000.

“We’re investigating some bills [for the project],” said French, who has been with the district for a year. “We’re examining all those things.”

Officials said community activist Marvella McAllister prompted the investigation after she requested and received financial records from the district. McAllister, who narrowly lost a race for school board seat in 1993, said she plans to submit the documents supporting the allegations to the Orange County Grand Jury on Monday.

“I am coming forward now because the school board has been dragging their feet,” said McAllister, 46, whose daughter attends a district high school. “We elected these people to look after our kids and our money, and they haven’t been doing a very good job.”

McAllister questioned the propriety of two contracts Gott received estimated at $550,000 that were awarded under emergency circumstances in mid-1992. One contract estimated at $500,000 was for replacement beams at Canyon High School; the other was for $50,000 in earthquake repairs at the district’s former headquarters on Glassell Street.

In both, the school board declared an emergency and waived the bidding process. The Education Code permits such an exception for emergencies.

McAllister said the board knew of the structural problems at both sites months before they reached a critical status but failed to act in a timely manner. And, she added, the board decision reveals a suspicious pattern of awarding contracts to Gott.

Also, in examining district financial records, McAllister alleges that some of the documents appear to have been altered after she confronted school officials about the contracts.

However, some board members suggested McAllister’s investigative track record is wanting. For example, board members recalled that the Orange County district attorney’s office dropped an investigation prompted by McAllister into charges of conflict of interest against Mason in 1993.

“She’s been making all kinds of serious charges for three or four years,” said Trustee Bill Lewis. “And up to this point, the DA’s office has never taken any interest.”

McAllister has tried repeatedly without success to prod county officials into beginning another investigation into her new allegations about bid-rigging.