The Santa Clarita Community College District is still wrestling with the future of its leadership while questions linger about allegations that millions of dollars were misused in the wake of several departures last year.
There could be several lengthy discussions at Wednesday’s board meeting for College of the Canyons’ governing board.
The closed session agenda calls for the board to discuss “significant exposure to litigation” regarding “one potential case,” with no indication of the case stated on the agenda report published Friday.
David Andrus was pegged to lead the campus as president on an interim basis after the governing board placed Dianne Van Hook on administrative leave in July 2024.
Shortly after taking the helm in September, Andrus fired off a memo calling for a 20-year forensic audit of the college’s finances and its billing practices. He shared a presentation with the board in November that indicated $12 million may have been misappropriated involving more than 700 projects.
There’s been no publicly released report thus far regarding the findings of F3 Law, which was contracted to look into the college’s spending and procedures. A report is expected soon.
The release of the report and the search for a new leader both have direct impacts for Andrus, who was appointed interim president by a very different governing board than the one he now serves under.
The board conducted its personnel review of Andrus, which is considered confidential under state law, at an August board meeting.
A new three-member majority for the governing board successfully ran together in November on a slate, with at least one of the trio, Fred Arnold, expressing open support for Van Hook in the days following her departure, praising her decades of leadership.
Arnold even speculated that his election-night lead might have been bolstered by Van Hook’s wrongful-termination claim filed days prior at the end of October. She has not filed any lawsuit over her departure as of this story’s publication, per L.A County Superior Court records available online.
Differences between the views of some in the Andrus-led administration and the governing board came up during the discussion of student housing funds, which led to tearful stories from some on the board and a lone no vote from Arnold, who wanted to seek student-housing funds.
The other board members ultimately sided with the staff recommendation that there wasn’t enough in the grant funding or the college’s budget to make it happen.
There’s also been protracted discussion about the college’s efforts and delays in acquiring a new advanced technology center, a controversy speculated to be involved in Van Hook’s departure.
COC’s governing board approved the first steps for a national search in March, and in July approved a $66,500 contract with Professional Personnel Leasing to search for a new superintendent.
There’s been no change in Andrus’ contract status since PPL’s hiring, according to Eric Harnish, spokesman for the college, in a phone interview Friday.
The Signal reported in August 2024 that Andrus’ contract at the time called for a salary of $300,000 per year, and is set to run through June 2026, or whenever a permanent selection is made.
During the July meeting, Arnold asked whether the firm was working with “a sense of urgency” in finding a replacement for Andrus, who sat next to Arnold but recused himself from the discussion.
At one point, Arnold also asked what would happen if the board of trustees didn’t like any of the candidates presented and had to ask for more.
“We don’t want it to be a failed search, so we keep it always open until filled,” said Pam Walker of Professional Personnel Leasing, at the board’s July meeting.
Arnold said in a phone interview Friday that he was still waiting on the approved agenda for Wednesday’s meeting.
Arnold said his “sense of urgency” was because the college deserves a permanent leader, and Andrus has every opportunity to apply for and pursue the full-time role if he so chooses.
