El Camino’s Latest Scandal Raises Old Questions at Los Angeles Charter School

“Game Point,

Nobody wins.”

- Queensrÿche, “Empire”

The message came out of the blue, but it wasn't a complete surprise. According to a source who claims to be familiar with the situation, El Camino Real Charter High School reportedly fired its Executive Director, David Hussey, on July 8, 2026. The source went on to state: "There is once again missing money."

In an announcement the following day, Brad Wright, ECRA Chair, Board of Directors, told the "El Camino Real Charter High School community" that "Mr. Hussey is currently taking personal time." This version of the story directly contradicts my source's account, which states that Hussey was "escorted out of (the) El Camino" campus.

If the information conveyed to me is accurate, this would be the latest in a long string of scandals to plague the publicly funded private school. Hussey became the charter school's Executive Director after his predecessor, David Fehte, resigned amid a financial scandal that included using a school credit card to purchase airline tickets for travel connected to his second job with the San Antonio Spurs. He was then accused of retaining the reimbursement from the NBA team and failing to return it to the school until regulators questioned the transaction.

If the apparent lack of financial controls at the school was not enough to revoke El Camino's charter, the subsequent attempted cover-up should have sealed the deal. Instead, the LAUSD Board allowed the charter school to provide a $215,000 golden parachute in exchange for Fehte’s resignation.

It was an incident that reinforced the belief that when it comes to operating a charter school, breaking the rules can sometimes appear to pay.

In an attempt to placate critics calling for a full accounting of the financial improprieties unearthed during the Fehte scandal, the governing board voted to hire Oracle Investigations Group to audit the school's operations. This report would have not only helped determine whether there was any additional misconduct, but also given the public confidence that those leading the school forward, including Hussey, had not played a role in the improprieties.

Unfortunately, the report generated by Oracle was never released to the public or to the school's authorizer, the Los Angeles Unified School District.

A review of the audio recording from the board meeting where the audit was approved confirms that the motion presented authorized the school to contract directly with Oracle at an estimated cost of $20,000. However, a request for Hussey to share the resulting report under the California Public Records Act was denied. El Camino stated that its attorneys, Young, Minney & Corr, LLP (“YM&C”), had entered into the contract with Oracle, and that the report was therefore protected from disclosure as privileged attorney work product.

The Los Angeles Unified School District's (LAUSD) best opportunity to compel the release of this document was during the school's charter renewal process. Given that taxpayers paid for the audit and the charter school's board had authorized the expense, I argued at the time that the school had no legal standing to bypass the California Public Records Act. Furthermore, reviewing the audit results was the only reliable way, in my view, for the district to confirm that there were no other unaddressed issues. I urged the board to make renewal of the charter contingent on the audit's release.

Unfortunately, the board did not appear to consider this argument, or the evidence that I presented suggesting the school was discouraging the enrollment of students with special education needs. The charter was renewed, effectively signaling acceptance of the administration’s actions.

The result of this lack of accountability is an environment where the appearance of impropriety continues to flourish. In the years since, there have been allegations of contracts being awarded based on nepotism. A lawsuit was filed that included the claim that the Governing Board president had “access to the school security cameras and microphones so he could observe from his home.” Now there are new allegations of another financial scandal.

“You should be criminally prosecuted.”

- Public comment at the El Camino board meeting on July 9, 2026

At a special meeting of the charter school’s governing board on July 9, 2026, multiple speakers criticized the lack of transparency surrounding Hussey’s departure and a slate of other recent terminations. Although the presiding officer attempted several times to shut down these comments, their message was clear: the school community wants more information about what is happening behind closed doors.

While some in the community have speculated that the firings are connected to financial impropriety, the lack of transparency has left more questions than answers. One of the most pressing questions is whether Hussey was dismissed because he uncovered some type of wrongdoing and is now being silenced. This theory has gained traction due to reports that he settled with his former employers in exchange for a non‑disclosure agreement.

El Camino was once a proud school within the LAUSD. In my view, private management has not delivered the accountability the community was promised. Perhaps it is time to bring the school back into the fold.

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.