Parlier Unified School District
trustees voted Tuesday night to place Superintendent Gerardo Alvarez on paid
administrative leave, following a grand jury report that found the district had
misused millions of dollars and made unnecessary purchases.
The Board of Trustees voted in
closed session late Tuesday to place Alvarez on administrative leave effective
immediately. He will remain on leave pending an outside investigation of the
grand jury’s allegations of misconduct.
The board has directed that an
independent investigation be conducted to assist with its response to the report, according to a statement written by Parlier trustee
Edgar Pelayo. It is unclear who will conduct that investigation.
Deputy Superintendent Edward
Lucero will act as superintendent in the interim.
The grand jury report, released
last week, found that Parlier Unified administrators and trustees gave
themselves raises, went on trips, increased the number of lawyers and
administrators on staff and paid millions for excessive consultants. The report
accuses Alvarez of hiring, promoting or giving raises to his and trustees’
friends and family members. Alvarez has hired more administrators than other
local districts of comparable size, and these new hires’ roles or purpose are
not clearly defined.
The report also said Alvarez
and Parlier Unified trustees waste money by holding meetings at restaurants
instead of district offices. Witnesses told jurors that Alvarez and some trustees
believe this practice is “a reward for their service.”
The Parlier trustees take the
grand jury’s allegations, findings and recommendations seriously, according to
Tuesday night’s statement.
“As the report notes, many of
these allegations are part of Parlier Unified’s history. Nevertheless, as
current trustees, we intend to approach these matters critically and make
changes where necessary,” the release said. “The board holds the trust placed
in it by the Parlier community in the highest regard. We believe taking a
critical look at the management and operations of our district is best for our
students.”
In the statement, the board
says transparency is important going forward, but the Parlier Faculty
Association — a member of the California Teachers association — takes issue
with that.
According to an email obtained
by The Bee, Lucero asked all Parlier Unified employees to “refrain from making
any public comments” regarding the grand jury report, and said failure to do so
could result in termination.
“While all of us in the
district will no doubt have thoughts and opinions regarding this report, we
would ask that you also consider refraining from speculating about the report,
and instead take this opportunity to redouble your focus on the business of educating
our students in a safe and appropriate environment,” Lucero said in the email.
Lucero also asked employees to
avoid media inquiries.
The California Teachers
Association wrote a letter to Lucero last week asking him to retract that
email, saying that it infringes on teachers’ First Amendment rights. The CTA
will not hesitate to fight any disciplinary action taken against teachers who
discuss the grand jury report, according to the letter.
“The intention of your email is
to silence the voice of PFA and its members to speak to a matter of public
concern, and has the effect to chill speech that is protected by the United
State and California Constitutions,” the letter said. “They have the right to
speak on behalf of matters affecting their work conditions.”
In a statement released
Wednesday evening, the Parlier board indicated it regretted the tone of the
email that Lucero sent out at the board’s behest. The intent of the email was
not to silence district employees but to encourage staff to share their thoughts
with the Board directly, the statement said.
“Our primary purpose in the
email was to communicate to every employee that the board is responsible for
making all official public comments regarding the grand jury report,” the
statement said.
In a separate email, Vice
President Edgar Pelayo said the board had retracted the prior statement about
disciplining employees who speak publicly on the grand jury report.
In a statement released by the
Parlier Faculty Association, teachers said they were not surprised by the grand
jury’s findings.
“As much as top district office
administrators say students come first, they don’t. They are being forgotten,”
the statement said. “It is ironic that the Parlier Unified School District is
in trouble for its lack of transparency while school employees have been issued
a gag order to not discuss the case.”
Lupe Leija, president of the
Parlier Faculty Association, said Alvarez was only part of the problem and that
his temporary absence is not a sufficient solution.
“The irony of this is that the
grand jury report was not just about him. It’s about the board and many
others,” she said. “They’re all involved and they are all responsible. The
decisions that they have made have not been in the best interest of the
students.”
Leija said the grand jury
investigation is the latest chapter of a long history of unethical business
practices at Parlier Unified that involve nepotism and ulterior motives. A
state takeover is always the last solution, but there may not be another
option, she said.
“For a long
time it’s been who you know, not what you know,” Leija said. “I think we need
brand new people in there at the top that had nothing to do with the district
in the past.”
July 29, 2015
The
Fresno Bee
By
Mackensie Mays
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