Baldwin Park School Police Chief Jill Poe Fired; School District Sued by Poe and Parent-Activist

Disgraced and Fired
Baldwin Park School Police Chief, Jill Poe

On November 12, 2019 - the Baldwin Park School District fired its police chief, Jill Marie Poe for undisclosed reasons. It appears, however, the District was forced to fire her after the Legal Lens, on September 4, 2019, exposed Poe as a an ex-felon, fraudster, and serial sexual predator. The District immediately suspended Poe after publication of the article.

Recently, Poe retaliated against the school district by filing a wrongful termination suit against the District. In her complaint, she alleges that she was terminated because she's a lesbian. Poe points to the fact that the District permits an employee accused of pedophilia to work there, but because of her sexual orientation - the District fired her and not him. Poe also accuses the Legal Lens of extorting her over a traffic citation.

Nonetheless, Poe's allegations are false, and it appears that the fired police chief is having a difficult time coping with the fact that her sordid past has been exposed.

Poe alleges that NBC news, “painted a horrible picture of Poe alleging that Poe should never had been hired". Apparently, Poe believes in her mind that serial sexual predators should be allowed to work with five year old children. She was also stunned that the school district did nothing to defend her in the story.

Troubling for the District, Poe's lawsuit wasn't the only one filed against it yesterday. John Rios, a resident, activist, and father of a child who graduated from Baldwin Park School District, also sued the Baldwin Park School District, the Superintendent Froilan N. Mendoza, and Jill M. Poe.

According to his lawsuit, the school district is failing to release records under the California Public Records Act by denying release and stalling. Most important in these records requests is how Jill Poe passed her background check. Also, the school district refuses to release information as to whether the school police have received proper training required under state law.

Rios is suing for a court order to freeze operation of the school police department, because its officers are not meeting the state requirement of proper training, minimum moral character requirements, and minimum requirements of having policies and standards in place to operate a school police department.

Greg S. Tuttle, long time city activist and small business owner in Baldwin Park, served the complaint to the school district yesterday in front of teachers, parents, and administrators. During public comments period he said, "The school district should shut down its police department. It should stop wasting money on a useless police force and start investing money in education." After speaking, the audience applauded.

The school district's performance is abysmal. U.S. News ranks Baldwin Park School District at 4,418. It says only 17% are college ready. Only 51% are meeting minimum literacy requirements. And only 17% are proficient in mathematics.

Prep Scholar ranks Baldwin Park in the lower 50% of schools with regards to standardized testing - such as the SAT or ACT.

These scandals rock the school district at a time when it is discussing closing down three schools. Parents are now asking where all the school district money went.

The District has a history of corruption. Even in the late 60's, according to a California Supreme Court case called Serrano v. Beverly Hills Unified School District, "Baldwin Park Unified School District expended only $577.49 to educate each of its pupils in 1968—1969; during the same year the Pasadena Unified School District spent $840.19 on every student; and the Beverly Hills Unified School District paid out $1,231.72 per child."

Hence, it appears that properly running school districts are investing over twice as much per student in their children than Baldwin Park is. Both Beverly Hills and Pasadena do not operate their own police department. Furthermore, it's without say that Beverly Hills and Pasadena school districts are in the top quartile of preparing their students for university.

Transparency is required to account for all the missing money that has been skimmed over the decades - especially in the form of hundreds of millions of issued school bonds. A state audit by the controller's office is necessary.

It's been said: "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy". So; it's all of our jobs to drive out these locusts, who are destroying the next generation from even having a future.