After a sometimes tumultuous
relationship with the public over issues like the Burlingame pool usage and the
placement of a new charter school in the district, state Sen. Jerry Hill, D-San
Mateo, is asking the civil grand jury to investigate a school board’s
interactions with the public.
At a San Mateo Union High
School District Board of Trustees meeting Thursday night, the senator brought
up his concerns that the board has lost its way and that its actions give
little confidence that it can find its way back.
“This attitude is
unacceptable,” Hill told four of the five school board members, as board Vice
President Stephen Rogers was absent. “It is clear that you do not recognize in
yourselves the offensive, divisive and unfitting behavior you have exhibited.
Our constituents must be served in a better way. And our schools must be
responsive to our citizens. Therefore, I will be asking the grand jury to
institute an investigation into your conduct and actions.”
The district said Friday that
Hill’s comments were inflammatory and take away from the fact that the
district’s mission is to educate students to the best of its ability.
Hill, however, referenced how
Burlingame Councilman Michael Brownrigg told the board at a Dec. 11 meeting
that the board and district might be out of step with the public.
“For the better part of the
last year, constituents shared with me their serious concerns that the lack of
transparency, and the disdainful attitude of some board members, have eroded
the public trust in this district,” Hill said. “Some parents feel so estranged
from this board that in order to get your attention they felt they had to place
an advertisement in the San Mateo Daily Journal. Others hired a community
relations firm to try to reach you.”
The Mills’ Vikings Parent Group
ran an ad calling for the district to find a new location for the charter
school, Design Tech High School. The district has been grappling with finding a
new location for it next school year, as it is temporarily co-locating with
Mills High School in Millbrae. By law, the district needs to provide facilities
the charter with facilities by Feb. 1. The San Mateo Adult School was worried,
and rallied, when d.tech asked to be placed at the Adult School’s SMART Center
location in San Mateo. The district is also looking to house its alternative
high school, Peninsula High School, which is located on the site of the aging
former Crestmoor High School in San Bruno, but has run into trouble as there
are few facilities on the Peninsula fit for a public high school. The district
is looking for new facilities for its district office as well.
Trustee Linda Lees Dwyer said
that elected representatives should work together to solve problems — like the
d.tech location, and would appreciate Hill’s assistance, as the district works
to find the best location for the charter school.
“We all know that the current
location is less than ideal and if everyone who believes the charter school
needs a new location works on finding a new location, we all benefit — and in
particular the students at Mills and d.tech benefit,” she said.
Hill noted that dozens of
interested citizens came to the Dec. 11 meeting to engage the board in a
discussion about the future of the pool at Burlingame High School, which is
shared by the district and city and closed for the month of January. The
district also recently threatened litigation against the city of Burlingame in
relation to the city not responding to the district’s request for additional
space in the 50-meter Olympic size pool for its teams and more payments from
the city for its usage.
“The board did not place the
pool on the meeting agenda,” Hill said. “This move allowed trustees to posture
at length on the issue during their comment session and avoid a public
discussion because the topic was not on the agenda. Instead of asking
yourselves ‘what is it about the way we do business that would cause the
parents of our students to do such things?’ instead of engaging the parents in
a dialogue, your response has been shameful: you deride them for their efforts,
rant about what you claim are false allegations and you point the finger of
blame at the very people you are obligated to represent and serve.”
He noted the board demonstrated
its contempt for the public and its complete lack of interest in hearing what
the community has to say, when at the Dec. 11 meeting, it determined that it
would vote on a matter first and take public comment after the vote. He added
it may have been a violation of the Brown Act, California’s open meeting law.
The board issued a strong
reaction to Hill’s comments, stating that his speech contained accusations
based on misinformation that only hinders the public process.
“From erroneously asserting
that members of the board do not read letters from constituents, to board
members not allowing public comment, Sen. Hill made a number of unsubstantiated
claims directed at the SMUHSD board,” said board President Marc Friedman in a
prepared statement Friday. “The SMUHSD board continues to tirelessly move
forward in finding d.tech a home of its own. The board’s intent was not to
offend any member of the public who attended the Dec. 11 board meeting. This
public matter has regrettably caused much frustration. Sen. Hill’s comments
last night do little to diminish what has been a very difficult situation for
everyone involved — including students.”
Millbrae Councilman Wayne Lee
and Millbrae Vice Mayor Reuben Holober came to the Thursday night meeting as
well and asked the board to try to resolve the issues with finding a new
location for d.tech.
“I see you’re trying to make
progress,” Lee said. “I do have respect for elected officials — it’s not easy.
Some things the public doesn’t have total grasp of, but we’re asking you to
know the community. Some of you have expressed you don’t have to know the
community. The point is when I go overseas and Mills comes up and I ask, ‘why
are you asking about Mills 4,000 miles away?’ Because there is a great
investment in the city of Millbrae and Mills High School.”
Hill went on to state that he
was appalled when he read one trustee’s recent communication to a concerned
parent where he wrote that he has ‘an extreme negative reaction when I see
children and foreign nationals/immigrants unfamiliar with our system so
obviously being manipulated and used as I witnessed at the December board
meeting.’”
Board members want to stress
board members serve as board members for one reason — to ensure the best
educational experience for all the community’s high school students.
“Wanting an education that will
help prepare our teens for future success is a common interest that we can all
agree on,” Friedman said. “A common interest that will allow all of us to move
forward in working collaboratively together to provide that all students have a
school they can call their own.”
Recently, the district also
dealt with an upset San Bruno Relay for Life at Capuchino High School when the
district changed its 24-hour event to a 12-hour one because of a new policy of
closing campuses after midnight.
At the same meeting, the
district interviewed search firms that will work to help find a new
superintendent, as Superintendent Scott Laurence will be leaving the district
at the end of the school year. The district selected Leadership Associates
after interviewing it and other firms such as Dave Long & Associates,
Education Leadership Services, Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates, McPherson
& Jacobson, L.L.C., The Cosca Group and Ray and Associates, Inc.
The district will hold a
special meeting on the budget and financing 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 27 at the
Adult School, 789 E. Poplar Ave. in San Mateo.
January
17, 2015
The
Daily Journal
By Angela Swartz
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