Buyout ends tenure of MiraCosta College president

June 21, 2007
Sale of palm trees led to lawsuits, investigations.

Trustees of MiraCosta College in Oceanside, Calif., have agreed to pay college President Victoria Muñoz Richart more than $1 million to leave the campus following a year of lawsuits, death threats and hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on an investigation into the illegal sale of palm trees from the campus's Horticulture Department. The underwhelming results of the probe: conviction of a former administrator for felony grand theft involving $306.
Click here to read The San Diego Union-Tribune article.

EARLIER: An administrator linked to an investigation of the illegal sales of palm trees at MiraCosta College in San Diego County, Calif., has sued the college to keep her job. Julie Hatoff is the college's vice president of instructional services, but last month, the board voted 4-3 to terminate her contract when it expires June 30 and to start the process to take away her tenure as a teacher. Hatoff was placed on administrative leave in August 2006 after a campus scandal involving sale of trees raised on campus for private profit.
Click here to read The San Diego Union-Tribune article.

A top official in the horticulture department at MiraCosta College in San Diego County, Calif., improperly aided a private businessman in the sale of campus palm trees, and two administrators protected her from discovery, an official probe alleges.
Click here to read The San Diego Union-Tribune article.

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