Former Redlands Administrator Serves as Decade-Long Advisor to 64 Public Agencies While Her Own District Remains Under State Monitoring

According to the Inland Personnel Council’s website, the advisory role informs County Superintendents on legally complex, high-stakes personnel and compliance matters across two counties.

Sabine Robertson-Philips, a former senior administrator at Redlands Unified School District, is listed on the website of the Inland Personnel Council (IPC) as a member of its Advisory Committee—a position she has held for more than a decade, according to archived IPC materials.

The Inland Personnel Council (IPC) is a regional, two-county consortium that provides legal services, advice, and professional development on personnel and labor matters to school districts and county offices of education in San Bernardino and Riverside counties.

According to IPC’s website, the Advisory Committee provides “advice and counsel” to IPC’s Executive Officers, the County Superintendents of Schools for San Bernardino and Riverside counties. Those Executive Officers—Ted Alejandre and Dr. Edwin Gomez—direct IPC’s services affecting 64 school districts and county education agencies across both counties.

IPC’s Wide-Ranging Advisory Role Across Two Counties

IPC describes its work as providing legal services, advice, and professional development to member districts in the areas of employer–employee relations, collective bargaining, and contract management, along with trainings and updates on new laws and legal decisions affecting work with employee associations.

The website also describes a centralized member portal through which districts share and review personnel and labor-related information, including employment contracts, salary schedules for certificated and classified staff, management salary schedules, and the status of labor negotiations. IPC states that districts may enter their own data and view other districts’ information for comparability purposes.

Individual school districts remain legally and financially responsible for personnel decisions made at the local level.

Advising County Superintendents as Her Own District Came Under Scrutiny

During much of the period in which Robertson-Philips served—and continues to serve—on the IPC Advisory Committee, Redlands Unified was under federal and state scrutiny related to its handling of required personnel policies, procedures, training, and oversight.

In April 2024, the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued a resolution letter following a compliance review of Redlands Unified’s handling of sexual harassment and assault during the 2017–18, 2018–19, and 2019–20 school years, with findings indicating deficiencies that persisted into later years. OCR identified institutional shortcomings including missing or inconsistently implemented policies, inadequate investigations, insufficient staff training, weak documentation, and a lack of coordinated districtwide oversight.

According to reports, on the same day the OCR resolution was issued, Redlands Unified placed Robertson-Philips on paid administrative leave.

In June 2024, the California Department of Justice entered into a stipulated judgment requiring a minimum of five years of court-enforced monitoring and corrective action at Redlands Unified. The judgment was entered without trial or adjudication and includes language stating that it does not constitute evidence or an admission by the district regarding the allegations, while nonetheless imposing extensive compliance obligations and oversight requirements.

According to reporting, Robertson-Philips remained on paid leave beginning in April 2024 until a settlement was negotiated, which included her resignation effective September 1, 2025, and language stating that no findings of misconduct were made and that neither party admits wrongdoing.

As of the date of publication, Robertson-Philips continues to be listed on IPC’s website as an active Advisory Committee member. The public record does not indicate that this advisory role is connected to the compliance issues identified at Redlands Unified.

Advisory Service Not Reflected in Local Records

Despite the significance of the Advisory Committee’s role, EdWatch did not locate any references to the committee in publicly available agendas and meeting minutes reviewed for the six agencies whose administrators serve on the Advisory Committee. Nor did those records reflect any publicly documented process by which administrators were nominated, elected, or appointed to serve on the committee.

This absence is notable. School districts and county offices of education routinely disclose outside boards, regional committees, and professional affiliations held by senior administrators, particularly when those roles relate to personnel governance, labor relations, and compliance. Those disclosures commonly include how such roles are authorized or assigned.

FPPC Review Highlights Broader Disclosure Uncertainty

Separate disclosure questions have also arisen in connection with another IPC Advisory Committee member.

According to records reviewed by EdWatch, Sherry Smith, Superintendent of Alta Loma School District, is currently under review by the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) to determine whether service on the IPC Advisory Committee should have been disclosed on required Form 700 statements of economic interests.

The FPPC administers and enforces California’s Political Reform Act, which is intended to ensure transparency and prevent conflicts of interest by requiring public officials to disclose certain outside positions, financial interests, and sources of income that could reasonably be affected by their official duties.

The review highlights a broader transparency issue. Whether or not IPC Advisory Committee service is ultimately determined to be a reportable position, the absence of disclosure limits governing boards’ and the public’s ability to understand the committee’s role, identify potential conflicts of interest, and assess how its advisory work influences district decision-making.

A Regional Advisory Role with Local Consequences

IPC’s website describes an Advisory Committee that advises the County Superintendents of Schools for San Bernardino and Riverside counties—Ted Alejandre and Dr. Edwin Gomez—on legally consequential, compliance-critical matters affecting dozens of public education agencies. Yet the committee’s composition, tenure, selection process, and disclosure practices remain largely unexplained to the public.

For school district governing boards, parents, employees, and community members, the lack of publicly available information limits the ability to understand how this regional advisory guidance impacts local personnel and compliance decisions, as well as the legal and financial liability that ultimately remains with individual districts.