Ex-Galt principal questioned over stadium rental

Scripps-McClatchy News Service

Two coaches and the principal at Foothill High School were the focus of an investigation involving the unauthorized rental of a new $8 million football stadium on the Foothill Farms campus.

Officials at the Grant Joint Union High School District said they began the investigation in June after receiving complaints that the 5,000-seat stadium had been secretly rented out by Foothill administrators. A Foothill employee complained that the rental fees were funneled to the boys basketball and wrestling programs. After the inquiry, basketball coach Drew Hibbs said he was asked to step down as co-athletic director. He retained his teaching job.

Foothill principal Larry Tosta, Galt High's former principal, and co-athletic director Bill Lum, who also serves as the wrestling coach, were also under investigation for possible policy violations involving the rental of the stadium. Tosta and Lum were not punished.

The district also investigated Hibbs for the use of an outside bank account that coaches used to pay for sports activities. Grant officials concluded that Tosta, Lum and Hibbs made mistakes, and are moving to clarify policies for renting out the stadium, which is owned by the district.

The stadium was financed as part of a $74 million bond passed by voters in the district in 2002. The outside bank account was ordered closed by the principal before the district began its inquiry, and the woman who controlled the account said she never kept records on money that passed through it.

The investigation began in June after an employee asserted that Tosta, Hibbs and Lum were renting the stadium without the district's knowledge, said John Raymond, assistant superintendent for the Grant district. The complaints were forwarded to an outside consultant, who concluded his investigation July 11. The results of the inquiry were mailed to Tosta, Hibbs and Lum on Sept. 6.

"We don't see any illegal activities or misappropriation of funds," Raymond said. "It was a new stadium and a new principal who made some mistakes. There were some rules bent a little bit, but no funds disappeared."

Tosta declined to comment for this article. Before becoming principal at Foothill last May, Tosta worked for 25 years in the Galt Joint Union High School District.

Lum and Hibbs insist they did nothing wrong.

Bickering over the stadium began because Foothill officials and Grant administrators each saw the stadium as a way to raise cash, Hibbs said.

"We thought (the new stadium) was a chance to make money for our programs," said Hibbs, who coached two state boys basketball championship teams at the school, in 1994 and 2003. "Who are the real losers? The students at Foothill. The district doesn't care."

Documents obtained by The Bee and written by Grant district counsel Jacques Whitfield confirmed an "extensive investigation" was conducted into the stadium rental by an outside investigator, the Davidsen Group. In the documents, Whitfield wrote the investigation yielded "some very questionable practices," including inconsistent procedures by Foothill officials for turning in facility request forms to the district. Some of the permits made it to the district office and some didn't.

During the investigation, officials found one rental permit that had the words "Don't send to District" written and underlined at the top of the permit, with Tosta's and Hibbs' signatures at the bottom of the document.

The permit indicated that a Roseville soccer league wished to rent the stadium for an undisclosed amount.

Whitfield said that part of the investigation was inconclusive. Hibbs explained that the words were written to remind school officials and the soccer league not to send the permit to the district until Foothill officials could verify the stadium would be available. Hibbs said he did not write the words, but he did acknowledge the words were there when he signed the permit.

"In examining the issue it was apparent that there were some practices not consistent with the spirit of the policy," Whitfield said. The school district lawyer said he has not had a similar stadium issue in his eight years with the Grant district. Revisions likely will be made to the procedures for renting district facilities, Whitfield noted.

Since the stadium opened in October 2004, various groups have rented the facility, including a women's professional football team, youth football teams and adult soccer leagues. According to stadium permits obtained by The Bee from the Grant district and Foothill, rental fees for the stadium varied, from $112 for a Foothill High alumni game to $1,000 per game for the Sacramento Sirens, members of the Independent Women's Football League. The Sirens played seven home games at the stadium.

Paul Preston, a former Foothill vice principal, said money earned from the stadium's rental mainly benefited the boys basketball and wrestling programs.

Fundraising money was placed in an outside account at a Bank of America branch under the title "Foothill High Mustang Boys Basketball," Preston said. The mailing address on the account is for Annabelle Kennedy, a long-time supporter of Foothill basketball.

The account was part of the investigation, said Whitfield, who added it is normal for schools to use booster accounts. Kennedy said other programs such as wrestling, girls basketball and cheerleading have also used the account, which she opened seven years ago and closed at Tosta's request on Jan. 1.

Kennedy said she didn't keep records for the account, making it difficult to verify balances. She said the account seldom had more than $1,000. Kennedy said the account had $65.97 in it when it closed.

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