LA MESA – The San Diego Civil County Grand Jury issued a report slamming the Grossmont Union High School District Board for a decision that left students without on-campus mental health support.
Released on June 1, the report examined the board’s 2023 decision to end a contract with San Diego Youth Services (SDYS).
The investigation found ending the contract “was not based on performance concerns or misconduct.” Instead, it came about entirely due to false claims about SDYS services for LGBTQ+ students.
In June 2023, the board unanimously approved a governance plan that cited a growing need for student mental health support and suicide prevention. A month later, the board, despite that vote, canceled the district’s contract with its long-term mental health service provider.
That decision came after a single public comment accused SDYS of being part of a “groomer cartel” due to its program Our Safe Place. That program, for transgender and questioning youth, was not part of the district contract so it was not offered on school sites. The commenter, Anthony Carnevale, sits on the Cajon Valley Union School Board where his right-wing stances have embroiled the district in conflict.
The grand jury noted Carnevale does not have any mental health training or licenses, and the comment that became the basis for ending the contract contained “falsehoods and misrepresentations.” The report accused the board of making an impetuous decision with little effort to verify if the claims were true.
The move stunned students and parents who went to subsequent board meetings to beg for the contract to be renewed. Some tearfully explained how a disruption of service would hurt their mental health and how much they depended on SDYS counselors.
Site administrators and staff were also surprised, the report found, with no advance directive in place to seamlessly transition between providers. Instead, it left students without mental health services for four months as new service provider Wellness Together was put in place.
The SDYS contract debacle was the first public test of the board’s conservative Christian majority. Since then, the board has faced lawsuits, investigations and recall efforts to little effect.
Very few of their controversial decisions, like laying off all librarians, have been reversed. And others also involved alleged discrimination against the LGBTQ+ community, including a lawsuit filed by a special education administrator, Rose Tagnesi, alleging that she was pushed out of the role for being a lesbian. She and the district ultimately agreed to a $700,000 settlement of her suit.
In addition, the board created an administrative job in 2025 for a former teacher, Jerry Hobbs, who Tagnesi once had fired for allegedly making racist and sexist remarks to students. The man, who then became a paralegal, ended up working at a firm the district hired to investigate Tagnesi. Hobbs spearheaded the probe into his former boss before the district hired him as a chief of staff — on the same night they voted to terminate the librarians.
The grand jury report referenced these ongoing controversies while noting that the SDYS contract decision led to persistent distrust between the community and board that affects students’ wellbeing.
Grand jury reports on local governments are not binding, but do require a response within 90 days. District spokesperson Collin McGlashen said the district is reviewing the report, but argued that it relies on publicly available information and “presents little, if any, new evidence.”
“The governing board has both the authority and responsibility to decide how district resources are allocated to best serve students. Reasonable people may disagree with those decisions,” McGlashen wrote. “However, disagreement with a board decision is not, in and of itself, evidence that board policies, bylaws, or the Education Code were violated.”