Blast from SFUSD's past: Rojas crony pleads guilty in Dallas

Veteran SFUSD parents, staff and observers well remember the Wild West days of the Bill Rojas administration, 1992-’99. Rojas departed to run the Dallas school district, took several of his associates with him, and left Dallas under a cloud a couple of years later. Meanwhile, his buddies have been getting into legal trouble in Dallas for various shenanigans.

Now William Coleman, once Rojas’ No. 2 guy in SFUSD, has pleaded guilty in Dallas to charges of attempting to influence a grand jury, and has agreed to testify against another former SFUSD administrator, Ruben Bohuchot, on multiple felony charges over Dallas dealings.

When Rojas’ successor, Arlene Ackerman, arrived in SFUSD in 2000, her first task was to clean up Rojas-era corruption, and she scored some impressive successes shutting down shady schemes and getting crooks busted. Even the controversial Ackerman’s detractors generally give her full marks for that aspect of her tenure. But the Rojas aura lives on in Dallas.

Here’s the May 29, 2008, Dallas Morning News on the Coleman/Bohuchot dealings:

Former DISD administrator will testify in plea deal

William Coleman, a former top Dallas school administrator, pleaded guilty Wednesday to one count of attempting to influence a grand jury that was investigating a bribery and money-laundering scheme in the Dallas Independent School District.

In exchange for his guilty plea, Mr. Coleman agreed to testify for the prosecution next month in the trial of former DISD Associate Superintendent Ruben Bohuchot and computer company executive Frankie Wong on felony charges, including bribery and obstruction of justice. …

Ties between Mr. Coleman and Mr. Bohuchot go back more than a decade when they worked together in the San Francisco school district.

Both men came to Dallas in 1999 to work for their old boss, former San Francisco Superintendent Bill Rojas, who became DISD chief in 1999.

Click to read the rest of the story.