Hubbard Set to Be Arraigned

Jeffrey Hubbard, superintendent of the Newport-Mesa Unified School District, is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday in a Beverly Hills courtroom on two felony counts of misusing public money, the Los Angeles County district attorney's office reported today.

Hubbard, 53, is facing two felony counts of misappropriation of public funds. The charges stem from when he headed up the Beverly Hills Unified School District. His bail has been set at $50,000, according to Jane Robison, a spokeswoman for the district attorney's office.

"He will be required to turn himself in at that time," Robison said.

The district's board of education met in a closed session Monday to discuss the felony charges against Hubbard, but no action was taken. District spokeswoman Laura Boss said the board met with legal counsel during Monday's meeting. The superintendent was not at the meeting, she said, because he was on vacation as of Dec. 10. Hubbard is due to be back from vacation January 3, Boss said.

Board President Karen Yelsey said in a statement Tuesday that Hubbard was presumed innocent until proven guilty and added, "At this time, we fully expect that [Hubbard] continues to be capable of performing his duties and responsibilities as superintendent until this matter is resolved."

The charges against Hubbard were filed Dec. 9 and refer to incidents that allegedly occurred while he worked at Beverly Hills Unified between September 2005 and February 2006. According to documents from the Los Angeles County district attorney's office, Hubbard  gave Karen Anne Christiansen, the district director of planning and facilities at the time, a $20,000 stipend and an increased car stipend without school board consent.

Christiansen, 52, of Las Vegas, is also scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday. She also faces the two felony misappropriation of funds charges, but in addition was charged with six felony counts of conflict of interest from incidents that allegedly occurred between 2006 and 2008, Robison said.  Her bail was set at $2 million.

Christiansen was hired by Beverly Hills Unified in 2004 at an annual salary of $113,000 but secretly negotiated a contract to be an independent contractor while performing the same duties, according to prosecutors. 

She was paid a total of $5.2 million by the school district between 2006 and 2009, officials said.

Christiansen also is accused of negotiating contracts with an energy firm to do work for the district while simultaneously negotiating contracts between her company, Strategic Concepts, LLC, and the energy firm, according to the district attorney's office.