Do you want to restore excellence and accountability in our public schools? Have you been fighting diligently in your local school district? You may be greatly encouraged by this:

A student watchdog in the San Dieguito Union High School District prompted the school board to authorize an independent audit. The audit corroborated the watchdog’s findings on financial mismanagement, facility misuses and lack of transparency.

This story matters for many good reasons, chief among which are: 1. Its demonstration of the effectiveness of persistent and strategic local organizing; 2. The vital value of a courageous challenger (in this case, two high school seniors).

Nearly a year ago, CFER was put in contact with two Canyon Crest Academy students who shared concernsabout their school foundation (Canyon Crest Academy Foundation), a nonprofit operating independently of the school and the school district. The students formed a watchdog named Ravens for Transparency and blew the whistle on the foundation’s “shady practices, incompetence, and secrecy,” including massive ambiguous expense unaccounted for, excessive bloat and other issues of financial mismanagement**. As soon as we learned about the case, CFER provided support by commissioning a third-party** audit of the school foundation through a reputable public accounting firm. With the third-party audit, these two brave students built more confidence to advocate for their case and continue the fight between September 2024 and now.

The school foundation responded with threats and smears, dismissing all allegations categorically and condemning the whistleblowers. Even though the foundation is a separate entity from the school, the school administration pressured the students to take down their report and the principal blasted a schoolwide emailcalling the students’ effort “grossly erroneous and misleading.” The school even classified the whistleblowing as “misinformation” and demanded the students learn to “communicate effectively, following appropriate norms and with civility and accuracy.”

But the students and the community did not back down. Since September 2024, parents and community members, many of whom were organized by two local organizations – Asian American Parent Alliance of San Diego (AAPASD) and Taxpayers Oversight for Parents and Students of SDUHSD (TOPS), spoke in support of the student watchdog at multiple school board meetings. Due to public pressure and media exposure, the school board authorized an independent audit of all foundations within the school district in October 2024. The audit report was finished last month (July 2025) and echoed many findings in the CFER-commissioned audit, especially regarding financial mismanagement, lack of fiscal transparency, and facility misuses.

After nearly two years of fighting and fending off retaliation, the courageous students are finally vindicated, while the public good for accountability and transparency is delivered. Kudos to Ravens for Transparency, AAPASD, and TOPS!

The moral of the story? Many hands make light work. With these brave individuals and groups fighting on the forefront, CFER was able to obtain necessary resources to support their fight with facts and research!

At CFER, we firmly believe that the victory of Ravens for Transparency for holding the school district accountable, as well as other success stories, is replicable and scalable. As long as local parents, students and community members are willing and ready to organize locally with diligence and persistence, CFER will always be here to support you, every step of the way and one school district at a time!

If you are ready to start in your own local school district, let us know by replying to this email. We look forward to learning more and working with you. And if you believe in CFER’s work, resolve and track record, please consider making a generous donation to us today. You can also become a CFER member to support our legal advocacy and other operations.

Thank you!