Merced County Superintendent of Schools candidate's district under financial review before election

A school district managed by a candidate running to be Merced County’s top education chief is coming under scrutiny after a recent audit raised questions.

Richard Lopez is the longtime superintendent of Merced River School District, a small district with roughly 300 students located in the unincorporated community of Winton.

Lopez is one of four candidates on the June 2 primary ballot for Merced County Superintendent of Schools, in a race to take the leadership reins from Steve Tietjen, who is retiring.

On March 4 of this year, the Merced County Office of Education referred an “allegation of misappropriation of funds” to the state Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Team, otherwise known as FCMAT, according to an email from Michael H. Fine, the team’s chief executive officer.


https://themercedfocus.org/merced-county-superintendent-of-schools-candidates-district-under-financial-review-before-election/