San Carlos Superintendent Asks for Home Loan from School Board

What do you think? Should the school board approve the $1.3 million loan? Tell us in the comments!

Among the many items on the agenda for tonight's San Carlos School Board meeting is one that might jump out at local residents.

Craig Baker, superintendent of the San Carlos School District, has been granted a $1.3 million dollar home loan, but in order to receive it, the school board must approve it. 


The board, which operates as part of the district (technically a political body of the state) is likely to approve the loan because of "the superintendent's excellent service to the district, his agreement to continue providing such services to the district in the future and because it is important to the board that the superintendent reside with the jurisdictional boundaries of the district," the SCSD website says.

Such loans are not uncommon, but they do come with a certain level of risk. In late 2012, the Santa Clara County School Board sued its former superintendent, Charles Weis, after he walked away from a luxury condo, which he purchased with a loan from the board. According to the Mercury News, the condo lost significant value from the amount of the loan in just a few years. 

While loans to superintendents are not unprecedented, are they a slipper slope? Do they entitle teachers and other government employees to make similar loan requests? We asked locals for their opinions this morning on our Facebook page and among the responses was this one from reader Marlys:

Right after they build that ski resort in hell! My dad was a SC firefighter for 25 years and I don't recall the city offering any such deal to him.

To read Baker's promissory note, click here.

What do you think? Should the school board approve the $1.3 million loan? Tell us in the comments!