Parlier Unified School District hoping to rebuild public trust after scandal

PARLIER, Calif. (KFSN) -- Following years of corruption that included a federal grand jury investigation into the alleged misuse of money by a previous superintendent, the Parlier Unified School District wants the community to know it is working to clean up its image and gain the public's trust once again.

"We need to look at being progressive," interim Superintendent Mike Berg said. "We need to look at being cutting edge and doing things very differently than we did in the past."

Berg was hired at the end of 2016 to help bring stability to the district and serve as Parlier's interim superintendent. His goal is to take the focus off the school board and back to the students and their academic achievements

"Now we're working with not hiding the negativity, we're being very transparent about it but were also saying look at the other things that are going on look at the positive programs," he said.

"We have kids competing on a national level in a number of avenues in this district."

School board president and Parlier-native JD Garza has already seen the positive impact Berg has had on the district in a short amount of time.

"He's done a good job making sure," he said. "We stay on track, and we're staying focused on what needs to get done so we can better serve our kids and our community."

Berg intends to stay on as superintendent through the end of the year while the board searches for an experienced candidate who is up for the challenge.

"This district, at this point in time, isn't for a rookie," he said. "This isn't for somebody to learn on the fly. It needs to be somebody with experience somebody who understand governance somebody who understands the law and policy and the structural practice."