SACRAMENTO, Calif — Watch all four episodes of this ABC10 Originals investigation here.
“I’ve been so privileged to be a part of seeing people’s lives transformed,” said Ali Diaz.
Diaz has been an educator for 30 years. What stood out to her about Highlands Community Charter and Technical Schools was the students.
The school offers high school equivalent diplomas plus English language classes in-person and online as well as career technical training programs like truck driving and cosmetology to adult students. The public education is free – to qualify, students must be over age 22 and not already have their high school diploma.
“It’s a lot of newly arrived immigrants,” Diaz explained.
Throughout ABC10’s year-long investigation, we spoke with several Highlands students who said the school truly helped them adjust and succeed in the United States, like Saima Babak – a Highlands student who came to the United States from Afghanistan in 2017.
“The situation in Afghanistan is bad and there’s no proper education for females,” said Babak. “[Highlands provides] a great opportunity for migrants to come here and learn English… it was amazing for me to learn (at) this age.”
“It’s a good school. It’s nice. I like the teachers, classmates – all the school is nice,” said Magaly Chavez, who came from Lima, Peru and started at Highlands two months before we spoke with her.
“It was meeting a need in the community that wasn’t being met,” Diaz said.
But as time went on, Diaz felt the school’s priorities shifting. She said leadership became obsessed with her classes’ average daily attendance, known as ADA.
“ADA is money,” said Diaz. “Just money, money, money.”
It’s the number that determines where your tax dollars go.
“This is for all public schools, it’s how we get our money,” said a current Highlands teacher. “How many butts in seats so to speak.”
For more than a year, ABC10 spoke to over 30 past and current Highlands employees both on and off camera. Fearing retaliation, some employees asked us not to disclose their identities – like one current teacher at Highlands. We’ve withheld the teacher's name so they could speak openly.
For the 2022-2023 school year, California taxpayers gave Highlands $136,220,347 for attendance, Highlands records show.
To get there, staffers say the school’s leaders relied in-part on promotional gimmicks – shown in recordings of staff meetings that ABC10 was provided by employees.
“So, every day that your student attends class, it will count towards them earning fantastic prizes,” a Highlands staff member announced while describing a raffle for attendance during a September 2022 staff meeting. “And they have a chance to win the grand prize which is a $500 value.”
“There have been a lot of raffles and things for students who attend,” said the teacher. “I’ve seen that in other schools, but it’s just really over the top.”
While we don’t know exactly where the funds for the September 2022 raffle prizes came from – the school’s leaders knew raffles could be a legal problem.
A 2018 government audit found Highlands potentially violated the California Constitution by raffling off laptops, gift cards and big screen televisions.
The audit listed Highlands’ own policy that “awards” of this nature should come from a “student merit award committee” and awards should “not exceed $200.”
The audit said “if the dollar amounts and specifics of the awards are true, then some exceed the limits allowed” as the prizes were bought with tax dollars, according to the audit, and used to encourage attendance.
It seems to have helped. As of September 2023, Highlands has 50-plus sites with over 14,700 students, the school said. That makes Highlands bigger than nine of California’s State Universities.
But it was more than raffles. According to employees we spoke with, Highlands also engaged in inflating attendance numbers.
“I was being given lists of students, sometimes 20 to 30 a week – new students – all the time,” said Diaz. “Adding to my roster, adding to my class. And then a lot of them wouldn’t attend. I had never met them.”
Twenty Highlands employees told ABC10 the school’s leadership has pressured teachers to boost attendance reports; more ADA means more tax dollars for the school.
“I don’t want to put my credential at risk certifying something that I can’t verify,” said Diaz.
Diaz even put that in writing – in an email to her supervisor, Diaz said, “I have never met the students and haven’t seen their work.”
“I just kept pushing back,” Diaz said. “Other teachers were facing the same experiences but just because they were being harassed so much, they started just signing it.”
She said she even brought this concern in-person to the school’s current top leader, Doc Smith.
“I’ve never heard of that ever,” Smith said in response during ABC10’s one-on-one interview with him. “I take offense to it.”
We asked him how Highlands ensures attendance records are accurate – as the school is receiving tax dollars for each student they list as in class – so, this allegation would be an issue impacting all tax payers.
“Hey, including me. I pay taxes,” said Smith. “That’s why our attendance system, which is the number one accounting system, we default to absent. If I was that compelled to say, ‘Let’s falsify,’ the easiest way would be to reverse it, like every other school district does.”
Smith said Highlands uses PowerSchool, a software program, to track attendance. He said other schools default to present, but Highlands defaults to marking students absent.
ABC10 reached out to PowerSchool for verification. The company’s communication manager Beau Berman said they could not comment on their clients’ settings and that “schools can determine the best attendance approach for them, including how they set their default settings.”
Either way, those who are entrusted in marking students absent or present is the teacher.
As for Highlands prioritizing attendance, Smith denied that saying the school “prioritizes our students.”
Teachers like Diaz told ABC10 issues with attendance came in two parts; at times they felt forced by leadership to inflate attendance numbers, and then at other times, suddenly, their classrooms at certain sites with beginner students would balloon to more students than capacity.
“We have open enrollment, so there’s no caps on class sizes,” said Diaz.
ABC10 asked Twin Rivers Unified School District – the district that authorizes Highlands’ charter about class sizes and regulations. Only when there’s more students than “classroom capacity or if the quality of instruction is impacted,” then class sizes should be reduced, Twin Rivers Unified School District said.
Teachers told us their sudden ballooning classrooms weren’t only against fire codes, but hurt students’ education.
“My room was so crowded, with beginner students,” Elke Dameson, a former Highlands teacher recalled. “So they’d come and only hear noise. They can’t really learn.”
“I had a room that had 34 chairs, at one point I had 88 students in the room,” said Diaz.
A December 2023 class roster was provided to ABC10; for a single in-person class, 287 students were assigned to one teacher.
Teachers said it is impossible to properly educate that many students.
To keep filling classrooms, sources said Highlands used teacher assistants – known as paraeducators.
“The paras that should just help you – they would always teach,” said Dameson.
“If you’re giving them (students) high school credits towards a diploma, that should mean something,” said Diaz. “That the person teaching math, history, science should have the education and background and credentials to do so.”
Charter school or not, the California Teacher’s Commission verified to ABC10 that if a student is working towards receiving a credential or diploma, the teacher must have a credential.
Teaching without a credential is against the education code in California, and can result in a school losing its funding.
The anonymous teacher told us during our interview they witnessed a paraeducator teaching a class alone that day.
“We don’t have enough qualified teachers. So why are we pushing for more students?” the teacher asked. “Doc will tell you because he wants to serve more students, which is a great goal when you’re actually serving them.”
A lawsuit that was settled against Highlands alleged when one paraeducator expressed concern to Doc Smith about not being qualified to teach, he was told to “keep working” and even got larger class sizes.
“Those cases I can’t talk about,” Smith said during our interview.
Smith wouldn’t comment on lawsuits, but insisted students do get the education tax dollars are paying for. Over 30 current and former Highlands staff ABC10 spoke with disagree.
“I know students that’ve gone (to class at Highlands) for years, and they don’t speak (English),” said Dameson.
Dameson says she believes the quality of education was sacrificed for money. She’s another teacher who says she refused to alter attendance records. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, she says Smith pushed teachers to contact all their students – for Dameson, that was 110 students every day.
“You had to text or (have a) phone call connection, because with any connection they would basically be ‘present’ on the attendance sheet,” Dameson said.
A quick text or call, she said, would be the equivalent of a student being marked present in class.
The stress of hitting attendance numbers compounded the stress of the pandemic itself. Locking down our world, virtually teaching students who had never used Zoom.
“I decided I can’t do this anymore,” said Dameson. “I’m going to send an email to all the staff and leadership saying we need to slow down… so we can give our best to our students.”
Within an hour and a half of sending what she describes as a respectful email, she says her work email was disabled, cutting her off from her students and colleagues.
“I texted seven people in leadership. I got no response,” Dameson recalled. “I realized, ‘I’m fired. That’s it! They fired me.’”
She wasn’t fired. Two weeks later, she says she received her next paycheck, but was still in the dark.
Finally, she says, Smith called her. After the isolation, she says, he demanded control.
“For the reason you sent an email, your own opinion to the leadership and staff, we had to cut you off,” Dameson said he told her on the phone. “Every time you want to express an opinion, you need to come to me and I will allow it or not.”
We asked Smith about this. He said he “wasn’t sure” what we were referring to and that he could make his legal counsel available.
In staff meeting recordings provided to ABC10, Smith tells his employees he welcomes their input.
“We have an open-door policy,” Smith said during the meeting. “I want you to know you can exercise that and there’s no type of retaliation.”
Yet, a current class action lawsuit accused Highlands of retaliating against whistleblowers, alleging Highlands reduced an employee’s hours and eventually fired her after she voiced concern about discrimination.
That’s why, staff members told ABC10, they have come to see the open door as a trap.
“Any time anyone voiced an opinion or some pushback, that person would usually just disappear,” said Diaz.
“I’ve never worked anywhere, in education or otherwise, where it is expected that you nod and smile and you do not say anything that can be seen as negative – even if it’s a legitimate concern,” said the teacher. “Even if you’re a professional on that subject matter, it’s not tolerated… and the proof is in the pudding that people are fired, left and right… that threat looms over all of our heads.”
Multiple lawsuits filed against Highlands describe accounts of harassment, discrimination and retaliation. A class action lawsuit is currently pending in state court, another has been settled with Highlands and a third the petitioner filed the court to dismiss it.
Complaints to the California Labor Commission allege Highlands failed to pay employees wages and expenses.
Another lawsuit that was settled alleged Smith told one employee to “adjust his attitude,” and used a misogynist slur against him – and that the employee was threatened with firing.
We asked Smith about these lawsuits and claims.
“Not knowing what you’re talking about in regards to cases or specificity,” Smith said – referring us to his attorneys.
“Put simply, would you tell an employee to adjust their attitude or stop being a p**** if they came to you with a concern?” ABC10 Investigative Reporter Andie Judson asked.
“No, no, no. I can guarantee that never happened,” Smith said.
He was adamant Highlands is not a toxic place to work.
“We respect our staff,” said Smith. “The reality is it’s vindictive to say that. I do know – and I apologize for saying it – that many, many of those members of staff you talked to were departed… not as in dead… (I mean) no longer working at Highlands.”
During our nearly two-hour interview, Smith kept wanting to focus on the former employees we spoke with. We repeatedly told him we’ve also spoken with current employees who expressed concerns.
“Look, if you have 600 employees, you’re going to have some that aren’t loving you,” Smith replied.
Yet, if you go to Highlands, you’ll hear lots of love for Smith. Staffers told ABC10 it’s a way to protect their jobs.
“We have to praise him. We have to talk about numbers. We have to talk about how amazing Highlands is,” said Dameson.
“It’s almost an unspoken rule that during Zoom meetings, all staff meetings, you type in the chat how grateful you are (like), ‘Thank you Doc. Thank you, boss,’” said the anonymous teacher who spoke with ABC10 on-camera.
“It’s like the Emperor’s New Clothes,” said Curtis. “He has all these people nodding and saying yes and that’s a great idea and they don’t question him.”
Employees say Smith created a culture of favoritism; those who give praise get on leadership’s “good side.”
“The ones that were Doc’s buddies and who Doc liked, they were sent to the good sites,” said Dameson. “And they got into leadership very quickly.”
While some employees told us they love working at Highlands, others described it as cult-like, toxic, full of favoritism. Smith denied these allegations.
“The number one way we get our staff is from recommendations from other staff,” Smith said. “They’re telling their friends to come work here. We have over 96% retention rate.”
Dozens of employees told ABC10 they stay at Highlands Community Charter and Technical Schools because of the students and how much the school pays, not the work environment.
“We call it the ‘Golden Handcuffs’ at Highlands,” Curtis said. “So, a lot of people turn a blind eye.”
“I don’t know what they mean by that,” said Smith. “But I can tell you the fact that we care about our staff.”
One former Highlands administrator agreed to go on-camera as long as ABC10 protected their identity.
“In many ways there was toxicity,” said the administrator.
They worked alongside Smith and agreed to share their knowledge of Highlands’ leadership inner workings: including the strategy to boost attendance numbers – and revenue.
“Their language wouldn’t be, ‘Go commit fraud,’” said the administrator. “But it would be, ‘You need to keep these numbers.’”
“No matter what it takes…” Judson replied in question.
“They didn’t say that exactly but that was definitely the message,” said the administrator.
During their time at Highlands, the administrator estimates only 30-40% of students reported as attending class were actually there.
While ABC10 wasn’t able to independently confirm that estimate, other sources also questioned Highlands attendance records.
As for teachers who refused to boost numbers, within leadership they “would be labeled as someone who doesn’t work well with people.”
A path to no promotions, the administrator said. Meanwhile, some climbed the ladder based on their connections.
“There are many family members and friends that are hired,” said the administrator. “That’s how they hire.”
The administrator said a board member’s daughter was hired for a six-figure leadership position – despite not having any education credentials or a bachelor’s degree. And that's just one example – based on accounts from sources ABC10 spoke with, we found at least 106 Highlands employees are related.
- 40 with parent-child relationships.
- 48 with siblings, cousins, or another familial relation.
- 18 with marriage or dating connections.
One of those employees is Smith’s own son.
“I don’t think that’s a bad thing,” said Smith. “If he wasn’t a good employee, I’d fire him.”
Smith said Highlands does not have a problem with nepotism.
“Do we hire the right person for the job? Yes,” said Smith.
Our sit-down, on-camera interview with Smith stretched for nearly two hours. He denied most of the allegations against Highlands – though – he did admit that he hired an employee for his front desk, and then hired her family.
“If that’s nepotism by definition but not by productivity because they’re amazing!” Smith said. “No one is supervising their family. That’s what the law says.”
Sources we spoke with question this, saying family members were in the same reporting chain at Highlands.
Related or not, sources criticize other close connections happening at Highlands.
“How things were handled, or how conflict was managed, was so contingent upon your relationship with leadership,” said Jeanette Rowe, a former Highlands counselor.
Many staffers told us if they weren’t on leadership’s good side, they felt boxed in. Highlands has no mechanism for employees to report problems confidentially.
“If you write an email to the HR email, Doc is on that. He gets a copy of that,” said Curtis.
During our interview, Smith confirmed he receives HR emails, and adding he receives all emails between groups of his employees.
“Because when I took over, it’s hard to get information, especially as you grow,” said Smith. “And what I typically do is read the first few words and then delete. 95% I just delete. And then, ‘Oh! There’s a need. How come we’re not addressing it?’”
Staff say Smith receiving emails is uncomfortable and further instates a toxic culture.
“So who do I complain to? I can’t complain to HR because he will receive the email. I can’t complain to the board because their kids work here… Who do I go to?!” said the teacher. “It’s absurd it had to come to this – to going to the media to get someone’s attention, when people have been trying for about a decade to get attention for what’s really happening.”
After Smith became aware of our reporting, he made his expectations explicit. He repeatedly told staff they have a “duty of loyalty to Highlands.”
He repeated this phrase in multiple staff memos as well as in staff meetings that ABC10 was provided recordings of where he said, “All employees loyalty is due to the company of which they work.”
“The way they made you feel they knew everyone and controlled everything definitely made me fearful,” said the administrator. “For six to eight months, I was considered severely depressed.”
“It’s been really, really hard on my mental health,” said the teacher.
“I left Highlands before I knew what my next career move was going to be,” said Rowe.
“I took a job that paid $20,000 less, just so I could get out,” said Diaz.