School Board members need to be careful when expressing their issues and concerns. Whether it be their own creative solutions for student discipline or spreading rumors which eventually led to a Board member resignation, exercising discretion will save the Board and District from unnecessary distractions. Special attention needs to paid when athletics are involved, as these school board members discovered when the dismissed a highly popular football coach.
In addition, being careful to separate School Board member's work life from the school board matters is critical. And even when Board members recluse themselves, questions still arise. Attempting to serve on two elected bodies at the same time also creates problems.
But more than a month after Steve Cox announced his "Cox Plan," he will not recant his statements made during a public discussion about how to improve test scores at West Covina High School.
The Teachers Association of West Covina is expected to meet with Cox within the next few weeks. If no apology is offered, teachers say they will circulate a no-confidence petition to start a recall effort.
Cox's "plan" includes the removal of all students 'who are apathetic or do not want to learn ... (and) who are disruptive." The students would be sent to the cafeteria to listen to rap music and hang out, but would be still be counted as in attendance so the school could collect state attendance money.
It was introduced during a March school board meeting during a discussion about how to make improvements at the high school because the students' latest state testing scores were lower than school officials had hoped.
"It goes back almost four years from some statements I made then because I was constantly hearing from teachers that discipline is a problem in the classroom and that things aren't being taken care of," Cox said. "My point is we need to get rid of troublemakers, disruptive kids ... because they take away from students who want to take advantage of the opportunities at our schools."
The criticism of his statement, he said, is politically motivated because contract negotiations and a teachers association election are nearing.
Several teachers and parents have complained about Cox's remarks and asked for an apology at the last school board meeting, to no avail. The teachers association put a formal response in writing.
"We are not ready to write these students off, to give up completely on someone who is still a child. How simple it would be to put them all together, turn on the music and forget about them. How simple and how sad," according to the statement.
Parents like Chris "I was horrified," said Dixon, who has children at the high school and middle school. "This is someone who is supposed to be looking out for our students."
School Officials in Sex Rumor Suit
A Huntington Beach principal alleges that a school board member falsely gossiped that she'd been intimate with the superintendent
By Jeff Gottlieb, Los Angeles Times, May 23, 2005
A Huntington Beach elementary school principal and her husband have sued a school board member, saying the trustee spread false rumors accusing her of having sex with the district superintendent.
The suit by Roni Ellis, principal of Harbour View Elementary School, and her husband, David, the Long Beach fire chief, is the latest controversy to embroil the Ocean View School District.
In addition to suing board member Barbara Boskovich, the Ellises named the board of trustees and Supt. James Tarwater, saying he did not do enough to put an end to the rumors. The lawsuit charges sexual harassment, slander and invasion of privacy.
Boskovich declined to comment on the lawsuit, which was filed May 13.
She was elected to a second term in November, receiving the highest number of votes for the Ocean View board. But despite her ability to attract votes, she has been a polarizing figure.
A campaign to recall Boskovich has been filed with the Orange County registrar of voters, citing the Ellis rumor and allegations of district overspending, the district's refusal to investigate a school-related child molestation case, and "exorbitant legal fees to defend her personal unethical behaviors." The recall supporters have until Oct. 11 to gather 8,476 signatures to put the measure on the ballot.
The rumor blossomed at the Dec. 7 board meeting when about 200 parents, teachers, staff and others excoriated Boskovich for spreading the allegations and called for her resignation.
An attorney the district hired to conduct an investigation into the matter reported that Boskovich said she told Tarwater and Ellis of the rumor. In her report, the attorney also found the evidence "uncontroverted" that Boskovich had "commented about a rumor concerning sexual favors being traded for projects."
Boskovich wrote letters of apology to the Ellises, Tarwater said.
According to the lawsuit and an interview with Ellis, Boskovich and the principal had a history of thorny relations, starting when they squared off over the proposed construction of a Wal-Mart on the site of a closed school. Ellis supported the idea; Boskovich opposed it. A ballot initiative to halt the project was defeated in 2000.
The lawsuit charges that in September 2004, Boskovich told Ellis she was disappointed because the principal's staff did not support her bid for reelection.
The lawsuit alleges that, at the same time, Boskovich told Ellis there was a rumor she was "giving sexual favors" to the superintendent in exchange for allowing a Harbour View building project to go over budget. Boskovich said that an unnamed member of Ellis' staff started the rumor, according to the suit.
Boskovich told the rumor to 10 to 15 people in the staff lounge at an elementary school on Oct. 1, 2004, and at a party, the suit alleges.
In October, Ellis filed a formal complaint with Tarwater. Michael Luker, the assistant superintendent of human resources, told Ellis that the superintendent "did not believe it was sexual harassment and that an investigation was not necessary," the lawsuit alleges.
Still, Ocean View hired the outside attorney to investigate the allegation. The lawyer concluded that the comments did not constitute sexual harassment, said school district attorney Gary Gibeaut. Gibeaut said he agreed.
This controversy is the latest to roil the district. Two years after the battle over the Wal-Mart, there was a fight over plans to build combination gyms-auditoriums at four schools.
When a former elementary school teacher was convicted of molesting boys and sentenced to 24 years in prison in 2002, the prosecutor in the case criticized Ocean View officials.
The district agreed a year later to pay $6.8 million to six boys who said Jason Abhyankar had molested them. District officials had also recommended the teacher for a classroom job in another district even though they allegedly suspected him of acting inappropriately around students.
In addition, Boskovich has found herself embroiled in another controversy over contacting police about a verbal threat one fourth-grader made to another. After getting a call from the mother of one of the children, a district report said, Boskovich called the police chief, a friend of hers, and attended a meeting between a girl's parents and police. The district reviewed her actions and ultimately determined that she had not violated board policy.Tarwater said the board had been contentious since he arrived at the district 12 years ago. Last week he signed a three-year contract to head the Lake Tahoe Unified School District, starting June 20. He said his departure was not connected to the controversy.
New direction for Ocean View School District
Tonight, the Ocean View school board will discuss how to fill an empty seat
By Rachel Olsen, Orange County Register , April 18,, 2006
A school district mired in rumors of sexual favors for school modernization funds, and a lawsuit, is now short one trustee.
Barbara Boskovich resigned as part of a lawsuit settlement April 10. Tonight, the board will discuss replacing her by either a special election or an interim appointment.
Harbour View Principal Roni Ellis sued Boskovich, former district Superintendent James Tarwater and the school board in May. Ellis said in the lawsuit that Boskovich spread gossip suggesting Ellis traded sexual favors with Tarwater for school funds. Boskovich has admitted to spreading false rumors.
"I think it is an appropriate response to what she's done," Ellis said of the resignation. "The district is back in the hands of people who care and want it to move forward."
Ellis won an undisclosed amount of money in the settlement.
Boskovich declined to comment Monday.
An investigation concluded that Boskovich started the rumors, but no investigation was conducted as to whether the gossip amounted to sexual harassment, said Assistant Superintendent Mike Luker.
The four-member board will choose to fill Boskovich's position with a special election or temporary appointment by June 12.
Susan Robin, a past PTA president, said she hopes Ocean View will be able to move forward after Boskovich's resignation.
"I think it is long overdue. I think it's exactly what the district needed to get some harmony back," Robin said. "It's been extremely divisive."
The appointment of a new trustee, Robin said, could be interesting if the board, which typically voted 3-2 with Boskovich in the majority, is deadlocked.
But Trustee Tracy Pellman said the board usually splits only when it is handling construction issues.
"The district has been dealing with that issue and others tied to her resignation. The focus has been so much on that and not the children," Pellman said.
Chino school official put on leave
By Mason Stockstill, Daily Bulletin, July 21, 2005
CHINO - An administrator at the Chino Valley Unified School District has been placed on leave after raising concerns about a possible conflict of interest involving the president of the board of education.
Sergio Sanchez, the district’s associate superintendent of business/operations, wrote a memo to the superintendent in May that questioned a purchasing agreement the district had with office supply retailer OfficeMax, where school board President Bobby Grizzle is a sales manager.
In the memo, Sanchez said OfficeMax was ‘‘exerting a tremendous amount of pressure’’ on the district to buy more office supplies from the company.
‘‘I strongly believe that this type of pressure is highly irregular, unwarranted and could be construed by many as unethical,’’ Sanchez wrote.
He also wrote that in the past, board members have been involved with vendor contract negotiations – behavior he termed ‘‘unacceptable.’’
In the weeks following the memo, Sanchez was subjected to a series of negative performance evaluations and was asked to resign, said his lawyer, Toni Jaramilla.
‘‘The timing is very startling,’’ Jaramilla said. ‘‘Right after (he wrote the memo), a few days later, he was reprimanded under the guise of something else.’’
Neither Grizzle nor interim Superintendent Michael Rossi returned calls seeking comment.
Grizzle, who was first elected to the Chino Valley school board in 2000, has remained largely unscathed by the various scandals that plagued the district in recent years.
Other current and former board members weathered complaints of sexual harassment and charges that their involvement in the district’s day-to-day operations jeopardized CVUSD’s financial health. Grizzle has faced accusations that he had a district contractor perform work on his home, but nothing improper was ever proved.
The district has purchased thousands of dollars’ worth of office supplies from OfficeMax during Grizzle’s tenure, and Grizzle recuses himself from voting on board agenda items relating to that.
‘‘I’ve not seen it as an issue,’’ said CVUSD board member Michael Calta. ‘‘Ethically or legally, I have not witnessed any violations at all.’’
Calta noted that the board recently approved a contract to purchase printer paper from Office Depot – not OfficeMax, which had also submitted a bid for the contract. Grizzle abstained from voting on that item.
‘‘Never did he call me and say, ‘Hey Mike, you gotta help me, vote for OfficeMax,’ ” Calta said. ‘‘He’s always conducted himself very professionally with me.’’
Sanchez, who was hired by the district in December, has no immediate plans to take legal action, Jaramilla said.
‘‘At this point, he’s considering his options,’’ she said. ‘‘These are serious issues that we want to resolve.’’
Recall against Center trustees heads to ballot
By Molly Dugan , Sacramento Bee, July 31, 2005
The recall of Center Unified School District trustees Scott Rodowick and Teri Ferguson will move forward, the Sacramento County elections office announced Friday.
The campaign to recall Rodowick and Ferguson submitted enough valid signatures to qualify for an upcoming ballot, said Brad Buyse, campaign services manager for the elections office.
The board of trustees is scheduled to set the election date at its next regular board meeting, Wednesday. The election could be scheduled for the upcoming Nov. 8 ballot or a special election.
The filing period for candidates wishing to replace Rodowick and Ferguson - should they be voted out of office - will begin after the election date is set. The deadline to file for candidacy is Aug. 12.
Rodowick and Ferguson have said they will not resign.
The trustees have been caught in a public firestorm since May 18, when they voted not to renew the contract of Center High School's popular football coach, Digol J'Beily. The decision prompted the resignations of 35 coaches and student activity advisers and several student-led demonstrations.
Rodowick and Ferguson voted against the coach a second time on June 3, after which Ferguson was served with recall papers. Rodowick had been served earlier in the week.
District Superintendent Kevin Jolly reinstated J'Beily June 17, two days after Jolly was given the authority to appoint all coaches and advisers. All the coaches and advisers have since returned to their positions.
Trustee actions reveal division on school board
By Chris Moran, San Digeo Union Tribune, March 18, 2006
Three San Ysidro school board members have recently added a job to the payroll and moved an employee from one school to another without the recommendation of the superintendent, opening a schism on the board over trustees' roles in personnel decisions.
This month, veteran trustees Sandy Lopez, Jean Romero and Yolanda Hernandez voted to restore an attendance technician position that the board eliminated a year ago as part of $1.8 million in budget cuts.
The two newcomers to the five-member board – Paul Randolph and Raquel Márquez – voted against adding the job. On Thursday, they also voted against transferring the employee, a decision the other three supported.
Márquez and Randolph say both decisions represent the old way of conducting San Ysidro board business – board members getting personally involved in personnel moves in apparent disregard for district policy.
Some details of the conflict were revealed in e-mails The San Diego Union-Tribune obtained through a public records request.
The employee transfer involves Pearl Quiñones, a Sweetwater Union High School District board member who works in San Ysidro schools. Superintendent Tim Allen transferred her out of Smythe Elementary last year after a controversy over her job performance and attendance.
The three board members transferred Quiñones back to Smythe over the recommendation of Allen, who recommended someone else for the job. Quiñones will return to Smythe after spring break.
A clause in the superintendent's contract states that subject to board approval he “shall have responsibility in all personnel matters, including selection, assignment and transfer of employees.” In addition, board policy states that the superintendent “shall determine the personnel needs of the district” and make recommendations to the board.
“This is all about politics,” Randolph said. “We have board members who are acting outside their role.”
Randolph said the board's micromanaging of personnel decisions has created a “culture of fear” among employees.
Lopez, Romero and Hernandez said board policy notwithstanding, their job is not to rubber-stamp the superintendent's recommendations. The three have served on the board for more than a decade, through many changes in administration.
“Do we believe everything we're told by the administration, or have we taken the time to really study the issue and do what's right for the community, staff and the students?” Romero asked. “The board has to answer to what's best for the community and for the employees.”
“Our primary focus is to take care of our students, not community constituents,” said Randolph, who along with Márquez has been on the board for 16 months.
Quiñones, who says she plans to run for mayor of National City in November, was transferred last summer. The superintendent moved her against her will from Smythe Elementary to the same job at Willow Elementary as a dropout prevention coordinator. The job involves connecting students with social services.
Some Smythe parents complained last year that Quiñones was often absent and that even when she was at work she was not responsive to their needs. Quiñones missed 17.5 days in the fall of 2004 as she campaigned for re-election to the Sweetwater board.
Other Smythe parents and staff defended Quiñones and appeared at school meetings to testify to the help she had given students.
The recent arguments about personnel started in an e-mail exchange in late February. Lopez's request to put the attendance technician position on the March 2 agenda was “designed to give Pearl a position outside of Willow,” Allen wrote in an e-mail on Feb. 27 to trustees Randolph and Márquez.
Ten minutes later, Randolph responded: “I don't understand the request or the issue here . . . regarding Pearl, I'm only interested in acting in some way to assist the school(s) and would not want to support give (sic) Pearl an 'out' and reinforce her poor performance and behavior at Willow.”
Lopez said she wanted to transfer Quiñones after seeing her by chance on a recent visit to Smythe during which she thought Quiñones looked exhausted. Lopez said she concluded that Quiñones will be happier and therefore more productive back at Smythe.
Lopez said she and Quiñones have never spoken about a transfer.
Romero acknowledged a long relationship with Quiñones as a fellow South County board member but said they had never spoken about restoring Quiñones to her old job.
Hernandez, Lopez and Romero all said they believe the position they restored will pay for itself as attendance – and the state funding based on attendance – increases. The salary and benefits for the position are about $54,000 a year.
However, Romero said it was “a risk” and that she didn't know for sure that there would be a return on the investment.
According to an e-mail Randolph wrote to Allen, Randolph was so frustrated with what he saw as personal politics on the board that he recently told his wife that “it would be nice to consider moving to North County where we wouldn't have to deal with these sorts of things . . . .”
Romero said keeping employees happy is part of a trustee's job, even if it means disagreeing with the superintendent or newer board members.
“When you're new, you're very idealistic and everything you're learning is new, and you try to do everything by the book, which would be ideal,” Romero said. “But you're dealing with personalities.”
Dual posts may mean loss of board seat
By Zachary K. Johnson , Stockton Record, April 13, 2006
MANTECA - A school board member could lose his post on the Manteca Unified School District Board of Trustees for simultaneously holding two elected positions.
An attorney hired by the district said Trustee Manuel Medeiros was violating state law by sitting on two boards whose functions could conflict with each other.
But Medeiros brought his own legal opinion to Tuesday night's school board meeting. It asserts his role on the school board does not conflict with a position he holds on the governing board of the Lathrop-Manteca Fire Protection District.
The school board voted to wait to get a third legal opinion from the fire district, but it appeared the dispute is headed to the state attorney general's office. If the issue does push Medeiros off the school board, he will be the second trustee since the last election to be forced off the board by laws governing elected officials.
The fire district board oversees employees who inspect Manteca Unified schools for fire code compliance, said Roberta Rowe, the school district's attorney. If Manteca Unified appeals an apparent code violation, that appeal would go to the fire district board, she said.
State law says it only takes one conflict like this to make the two offices incompatible, she said.
"Normally when these issues come up, the person involved will resign," she added.
Medeiros, however, said he intends to fight for his seat on the board.
He brought the fight to the board on Tuesday, carrying an opinion written by Stockton attorney Michael McGrew that said the fire chief oversees and hires the inspectors enforcing state fire codes and the fire district's board is not involved with the process. He concluded Medeiros would have no clash of duties or loyalties.
Both attorneys talked about seeking an opinion on the issue from the California Office of the Attorney General. The attorney general could give a nonbinding opinion on the matter or set the process in motion for the case to be adjudicated in civil court. If a judge determines the offices are incompatible, then Medeiros would have to leave the school board, according to the attorney general's office.
"If someone holds incompatible offices, they have to vacate the former office," attorney general spokesman Nathan Barankin said.
Medeiros was a school board member when he was elected to the board of directors of the fire district in 2004. He first became a school board member in 1996. He lost his seat in 2000 and was re-elected in 2002. His current term expires this year.
Manteca Unified board President Dale Fritchen said the issue with Medeiros began when an unknown woman brought it to Fritchen's attention during a break at a school board meeting. Fritchen said he talked to Superintendent Cathy Nichols-Washer about the encounter, and the two decided to ask Rowe to write an opinion.
Fritchen said personal feelings should not get in the way of upholding the law and that he faced a similar situation when a member of the public told him last year that former Trustee Paul Gutierrez moved out of the boundaries of his area of representation. This move meant Gutierrez could no longer represent that area, and board members selected his replacement from a pool of applicants.
Medeiros said it is well-known he holds two elected offices, and he doesn't know who would gain from forcing him from his seat. He admits he might not be the most popular board member, noting he asks a lot of questions and sometimes makes quips that rub people the wrong way. He also said he doesn't know if anyone has plans to run for his seat on the board this year.
But he does view this as an attack against him. And it could help him make up his mind about running for the school board again, he said.
"If they make me mad, I'll probably run," he said. "If they leave me alone, I'll probably, go away."
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