Yolo County Grand Jury says Winters violated open-meeting Laws

By Hudson Sangree
hsangree@sacbee.com
Published: Monday, May. 23, 2011 - 12:35 pm

In a stinging report issued this morning, the Yolo County Grand Jury found that members of the Winters Joint Unified School District board of trustees had violated the state's open-meeting law when they fired George Griffin, the respected principal of Winters High School, in March 2010.

"The Grand Jury found that the WJUSD Trustees violated the Brown Act by failing to place their decision about the nonrenewal (of Griffin's contract) properly on the agenda for open roll call," the report said. "The Grand Jury found multiple examples in which the WJUSD Trustees violated open meeting laws and its own Policies and Bylaws."

Grand jurors also found that a school official had improperly hired his or her "paramour" as a consultant. The conflict of interest may have influenced the trustees' decision not to renew Griffin's contract, the report said.

The report also said school board members had treated residents with disrespect by "snickering" and rolling their eyes when they spoke at board meetings.

The firing of Griffin, who had taken Winters High School from low-performing status to designation as a California Distinguished School in 2009, came as a shock and sent the Yolo County town into turmoil.

Residents called on members of the Winters Joint Unified School District board of trustees to explain their action, but they remained largely silent, citing the confidentiality of personnel decisions.

Hundreds of angry protestors marched on school board meetings and demanded the board reverse its decision. They accused trustees of holding grudges against Griffin because he had disciplined their children.

They filed a complaint with the grand jury. And in November, Griffin's supporters succeeded in replacing former school board president Rodney Orosco and other members who chose not to run with a slate of reform-minded candidates.

Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/2011/05/23/3648197/grand-jury-says-winters-school.html#ixzz1NDeqFteQ