The Chaos Continues at El Camino Real Charter High School

"He's not eligible to be on the board. He has a child at this school."

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- Mandy Rogers

At a special board meeting convened to discuss the alleged forced departure of Executive Director David Hussey and other El Camino Real Charter High School staff members, public speaker Mandy Rogers made a stunning allegation. According to Rogers, the school's bylaws limit how parents of enrolled students may serve on the governing board. If her interpretation is correct, Board Chair Brad Wright may have been ineligible to hold the position.

The charter approved by the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) may explain how the El Camino governing board justified Wright's appointment. While the rules state that the parent representative on the board "shall not have a child attending the Charter School," Wright served as a Community Member. The charter allows the board to choose "a current Charter School parent to serve" in that capacity if it "cannot find a suitable non-parent community member."

Before resigning earlier this month, Wright had served as board chair for six years. If appointing a parent was meant to be a last resort, was there no one else with "strong ties and recognition in the local community" during those six years?

A weak board, unwilling to confront those in leadership positions, has been a hallmark of governance at El Camino and has led to the chaos that has enveloped the school for the past decade. It has also left the board falling short of its responsibility to oversee "the fiscal affairs of the Charter School."

While articles reporting on Wright's resignation have focused on controversies surrounding the school's sports program, El Camino was also responding to a Notice of Concern from its regulators at LAUSD. The allegations outlined in the notice sent on June 30, 2026, included claims that the school's required nepotism policy was not being followed.

The school's Executive Director told LAUSD's Charter Schools Division during an oversight visit that he "was not aware of" the relationship between the Chief Business Officer's father and Biztech, one of the school's vendors. This answer raises questions considering I first reported on this relationship in an article dated July 4, 2020. If this relationship was publicly documented in 2020, why did it take years for LAUSD to formally address it?

The timing of the notice closely tracks Hussey's departure and may explain why he was removed so abruptly. If this was the case, why wasn't the board more transparent with its constituents?

A passive board has repeatedly failed to provide meaningful oversight. The result has been years of controversy, litigation, and regulatory scrutiny.

Had the board provided proper oversight, concerns about David Fehte's use of a school-issued credit card should have been addressed before the allegations became the subject of a Los Angeles Daily News story. A responsible board would not have approved a $215k payout for its former Executive Director on his way out the door.

During the six years that Wright chaired the board, there were complaints that he ran El Camino like his personal fiefdom. Allegations were made that he "set up access to the school security cameras and microphones so he could observe from his home." Those who questioned his directives were allegedly subjected to retaliation, resulting in at least one lawsuit. Mandy Rogers raised an even more serious concern during her comments to the board, alleging that Wright has "a financial interest in this school."

This continuing chaos cannot be good for the students of El Camino, who are entitled to a school focused on providing a quality education rather than navigating one controversy after another. After years of allegations, lawsuits, regulatory scrutiny, and leadership turmoil, stakeholders are still searching for something that has often seemed absent at El Camino: meaningful oversight of the people entrusted to provide it.

Carl Petersen is a former Green Party candidate for the LAUSD School Board and a longtime advocate for public education and special needs families. Now based in Washington State, he writes about politics, culture, and their intersections at TheDifrntDrmr.