Paso Robles schools explain disputed credit card expenses as independent review proceeds

By Hayley Mattson · Sun Nov 08 2026

District says donations covered staff celebration venue fees and Bakersfield meals involved official business; investigator’s identity and completion date remain undisclosed

PASO ROBLES — Paso Robles Joint Unified School District leaders issued new statements Friday explaining several credit card expenditures questioned in a trustee’s complaint, saying private donations covered staff celebration venue fees and that an administrator’s Bakersfield meal expenses were connected to official district responsibilities. The Nov. 6 statements from Superintendent Jennifer Loftus and Board President Joel Peterson expand on the district’s initial response to allegations raised by Trustee Kenney Enney. The district has retained an independent investigator to examine the transactions and determine whether expenditures complied with applicable policies and requirements.

District leaders also said they had formally requested corrections and clarifications from CalCoast News and California Post, arguing that reporting omitted explanations about the purpose and funding of the purchases.

“The existence of a credit card charge does not, by itself, establish that an expenditure was improper or made for personal benefit,” Loftus said. “An accurate assessment requires an understanding of the purpose, funding source, and supporting documentation for each transaction.”

Enney asked the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office to review whether administrators’ purchases violated district rules or constituted misuse of public funds. His complaint concerns spending by Loftus; Brad Pawlowski, assistant superintendent and chief business officer; Erin Haley, assistant superintendent for education services; and Shauna Ames, assistant superintendent for human resources.

The complaint and 34 accompanying enclosures raise questions about meals, coffee, promotional merchandise, events and whether some expenses charged by Pawlowski were connected to outside consulting work. The records document purchases and consulting payments, but do not by themselves establish that district money was used for personal purposes.

Whether the District Attorney’s Office has opened a review or investigation remains unconfirmed.

“I ask for the opportunity to meet with an investigator from the Public Integrity Unit to walk through the records, the district policy, and the pattern I describe below,” Enney wrote to District Attorney Dan Dow and Assistant District Attorney Eric Dobroth.

Among the transactions identified in Ames’s spending extract are six charges labeled “San Antonio Winery Event” totaling $7,773.44.

Peterson said Friday that the winery charges identified in the complaint were venue fees for the district’s annual staff celebration and were fully covered by a private donation.

“Our annual staff celebration is made possible by a private donation and is held at a local venue that happens to be a winery,” Peterson said.

He said local businesses donate food and beverages for that event and similar celebrations.

“Our administrators are not charging personal expenses at wineries to District credit cards,” he said.

Loftus explained that private donations supporting employee recognition and appreciation activities are presented publicly to trustees for acceptance. Once approved, the contributions are deposited into designated fund balances, and purchases made with district-issued CalCards are charged to the appropriate donated funds.

Those activities include honoring outstanding employees, recognizing retirees and welcoming new staff members, she said.

The explanation identifies the district’s stated purpose and funding source for the winery charges. The Friday release does not include the corresponding donation records, venue invoices or accounting entries showing how individual charges were allocated.

Other transactions identified in the extracts include a $680 Park Cinemas charge on Ames’s card, four California Coast Beer charges totaling $2,896.44 on Haley’s card and a $7,718.58 Crestline purchase on Haley’s card. The Friday statements do not separately identify the purpose and funding source of those purchases.

Merchant names alone do not establish what was purchased, who benefited or whether a transaction violated district policy. A winery or brewery charge does not, by itself, establish an alcohol purchase, and a promotional-products charge does not establish whether items were intended for students, employees or another purpose.

The district also directly addressed questions about Pawlowski’s travel to Bakersfield.

Enney’s complaint places particular emphasis on Pawlowski’s paid consulting work for the Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team, or FCMAT, which assists California educational agencies with financial and operational matters and is administered through the Kern County Superintendent of Schools.

A vendor payment ledger supplied with the complaint lists $93,009.73 in payments to Pawlowski during the period shown, including professional services and expense reimbursements. Accompanying agreements and purchase orders document consulting arrangements at $118.75 an hour.

Enney questioned whether district-funded purchases in Bakersfield were associated with that work. He highlighted Feb. 20, 2025, when Pawlowski’s district card shows $20.13 at Bamboo Chopsticks and $19.49 at the Padre Hotel, and May 16, 2025, when it shows $24.46 at Hon Ramen.

Loftus said Pawlowski serves on the Self-Insured Schools of California, or SISC, board in his official capacity as a district employee, requiring regular travel to Bakersfield.

“District records establish that these expenses were incurred in connection with Mr. Pawlowski’s official SISC responsibilities as a District employee, not his separate FCMAT consulting work,” she said.

The consulting invoices supplied with Enney’s complaint list report-writing work on dates around the purchases, but neither of the two invoices cited lists consulting work on the specific Feb. 20 or May 16 purchase dates.

The district’s new statement provides its explanation for the Bakersfield expenses. The release does not attach the SISC meeting records, travel authorizations or expense documentation supporting that explanation.

Peterson said district travel is approved in advance and that receipts and documentation are required for every expense. Lodging, mileage and meals are covered within approved limits, he said.

Loftus also addressed meals purchased for working meetings, saying those expenses are subject to district purchasing and documentation procedures, including requirements for agendas and attendance records.

Enney’s analysis identifies 22 food and coffee transactions totaling $658.54 on Loftus’s card. His memorandum acknowledges that most of her spending was associated with conferences and travel and that supporting records are needed to determine the purpose of the smaller purchases.

A review of the four transaction extracts, counting each administrator’s records once and including refunds, produces 536 transactions totaling $192,499.66 in net spending. Haley’s transactions account for $110,433.23; Ames’s, $36,932.24; Loftus’s, $23,450.68; and Pawlowski’s, $21,683.51.

Those figures represent all spending in the extracts, including conference registrations, lodging, airfare and other purchases. They are not totals of spending established to be improper. Although the files are labeled July 2023 through June 2026, Haley’s extract includes some June 2023 transactions, and Loftus’s first listed transaction is in July 2024.

Enney described a minimum of $26,000 in spending as questionable and cited a computer analysis placing the amount between $30,000 and $70,000. Those are his estimates, rather than findings by an investigator or auditor. Merchant-based categories in his supporting materials do not consistently align between the spreadsheet and individual memorandums, leaving questions about which transactions comprise the estimated range and the criteria used to classify them.

The CalCard handbook supplied with the complaint, marked updated Aug. 1, 2025, states that cards are for district business. It prohibits alcoholic beverages, personal charges and certain gifts, and requires attendance sign-in sheets and agendas when reconciling food purchases for student or staff meetings. It also lists subscriptions and technology software among prohibited card uses.

Because the records span multiple years, evaluating individual transactions requires identifying the purchasing rules in effect at the time, along with applicable policies, approvals and supporting documentation.

Peterson expanded Friday on the district’s description of its annual audits, saying independent auditors test spending against supporting records and state and federal requirements.

“In each of the years covered by the story, our independent auditors issued their reports without findings related to these expenditures,” he said.

He said the expenses fell within board-adopted budgets and were reported publicly through the board’s regular approval of district expenditures.

The Friday statement describes the audit process but does not identify which questioned transactions auditors tested or whether they examined compliance with each CalCard provision cited in the complaint. The district says the independent investigation will examine each transaction raised and verify compliance with applicable requirements.

The parties continue to offer differing accounts of how Enney brought his concerns forward.

“I have tracked staff CalCard activity for three years and have complained to the board and superintendent about what I considered to be wasteful spending,” Enney wrote.

Peterson said Friday that Enney did not bring the complaint to the district before filing it with the California State Auditor, California Department of Education and district attorney and sharing it with news outlets.

Those accounts leave unresolved whether Enney’s earlier objections concerned spending generally or identified the specific transactions and potential violations detailed in his complaint. Dated correspondence and meeting records could help clarify the distinction.

Enney credited San Miguel resident Berk Baker with obtaining transaction records through a California Public Records Act request submitted in June 2026.

According to Enney, Baker initially sought receipts, attendance rosters, agendas and other supporting documents, but narrowed the request after the district described the workload involved. Enney said Baker received four transaction extracts Sept. 17 and submitted a follow-up request Sept. 28 seeking supporting records.

The Friday statement does not address that chronology or specify what records have been provided in response to the follow-up request.

The dispute comes against a history of district financial oversight concerns and subsequent recovery.

In November 2020, the San Luis Obispo County Civil Grand Jury released “Paso Robles School District: A Cautionary Tale,” describing earlier budgeting and oversight failures as reserves fell from roughly 10% of the budget to less than 1% over four years. Those findings concerned a financial crisis that predated Loftus’s tenure and do not establish wrongdoing in the current transactions.

More recently, the district announced Oct. 8 that Moody’s Ratings had upgraded its issuer rating to Aa3 and general obligation bond ratings to Aa2. The district said the June 11, 2026, rating action reflected improved finances and fiscal management since 2018. That assessment addressed the district’s broader financial condition.

The district has pledged to release the independent investigator’s findings. Peterson added Friday that the district would also disclose the investigation’s cost to taxpayers.

The investigator’s identity, detailed scope of work, contract amount and expected completion date remain undisclosed in the statements provided. The district has not specified when the findings or supporting transaction records will be released.

“Responsible stewardship of District resources is fundamental to the public trust,” Loftus said. “PRJUSD remains committed to transparency, accountability, and ensuring that our community receives a complete and accurate accounting of the facts.”

The Paso Robles Press will continue following the independent review and seeking documentation addressing the remaining questions.