It was a happy day in Emery Unified. The district was celebrating the end of an era: a decade of state debt and state control.
Emery’s fiscal crisis began to unfold in 2000, about two years before the mess in Oakland began. Its former superintendent, J.L. Handy, who had racked up personal charges on the district credit card, left the tiny, two-school district $2 million in debt.
Emery regained partial control in 2004, but — as is the case today in Oakland — the state maintained veto-power over its spending. In late July, Emery officials repaid the last of the district’s emergency loans.
From everything I’ve heard, state receivership didn’t leave the same scars on Emery Unified as it did on Oakland. At an event today, local leaders actuallythanked the state-appointed administrators/trustees, Henry Der and John Quinn, for helping to put Emery’s fiscal house in order. In contrast, Oakland Superintendent Tony Smith (and former Emery superintendent) noted at
