2019: Livermore Valley charter schools update

In a connected post, I have summarized the financial aspects of the charges against the owners of the charter schools. April 28 2019 I was contacted by Eric Dillie (see comment-area below). As you see below he claimed that the entire case had been politically motivated. I started looking into the matter and found his version of event in a blog post:

Captured from Dillie’s Medium blog

In the case of the People of the State of California v. Eric Dillie, Brock Van Wey and Randy Taylor the following charges were laid before the court:

1. BROCK VAN WEY did, in the County of Alameda, State of California, on or about January 28, 2016, commit a MISDEMEANOR, to wit: ASSAULT AND BATTERY,

2. BROCK VAN WEY did, in the County of Alameda, State of California, on or about January 28, 2016, commit a MISDEMEANOR, to wit: CRUELTY TO CHILD BY ENDANGERING HEALTH,

3. Eric Dillie, Randy Taylor did, in the County of Alameda, State of California, on or about January 29, 2016, commit a MISDEMEANOR, to wit: FAILURE TO REPORT CHILD ABUSE,

This was not the first time Livermore Valley Charter that had been involved in a case of child abuse. In 2014 Jason Quero was charged with molesting two students at the school. The judgement in that case was six years prison and the school and Tri-Valley Learning Corp. received two law suits against them because of it.

Not long after the alleged assault in 2016, 17 foreign exchange students were “bullied, intimidated, mocked, and used profanity toward, or witnessed such behavior,” by Principal Eric Dillie, Brock Van Wey and Nina Stoien,” . LVJUD brought up all of the other violations by the school.

1. 13 notices had been sent by the county,
2. foreign exchange students were overcharged,
3. forcible transfers of foreign exchange students,
4. using the Livermore Valley Charter Preparatory name illegally for marketing purposes in China (here and here),
5. fiscal mismanagement,
6. delinquent financial obligations,
7. irregularities,
8. problems with accreditation,
9. lack of transparency and integrity,
10. lying to county officials, and
11. failures to comply.

What surprises me is how much white collar crime people get away with before getting the police involved. These are not small sums we are talking about. The new school year was chaotic and confusing. After the accusations of overspending, Mr. Dillie left Livermore for another charter school in September.

In 2017 the Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Team (FCMAT) published its reports regarding the handling of the Tri-Valley schools. It is, at the very least, questionable that former CEO of Tri-Valley, Bill Batchelor, began a new charter school in the same building as Livermore. The story of Livermore basically stops with its bankruptcy June 2017.

In the case of the court case regarding assault and failure to report, March 27, 2018, Mr. Dillie signed a “No Contest” plea and April 17, 2019, the plea in 2018 was set aside and a “Not Guilty” plea reinstated.