The Sunnyvale Sun

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Fireworks erupt again at school board meeting

By ERIN HUSSEY

A letter threatening the teachers union with possible jail time for using district email to inform members of school board candidate endorsements was a heated topic at the Oct. 17 meeting of the Fremont Union High School District board of trustees.

An email to teachers from the Fremont Education Association endorsed three candidates: challengers Bill Wilson and Don Mackenzie and incumbent Barbara Nunes. The union was informed that district email could not be used for political purposes.

FEA President Tom Avvakumovits told the board he was confused. In the past, he said, when the association endorsed projects that the board also supported, there was no mention of misuse of district resources, but when it went against the board, it was punished.

"What troubles me is that after a very clear email from Polly [acting Superintendent Bove], we also received a letter from [attorney for the district] Joe Zampi," he said. Zampi's letter threatened misdemeanors and possible jail time if the FEA again used district resources in that way.

While board member Kathryn Ho said she felt the FEA was making a full campaign against her, trustee Nancy Newton was apologetic.

"If we cannot allow people to make innocent mistakes and threaten them with jail, we are in a sad state of affairs," she said. "It was insulting, and I just can't tell you how sad it makes me feel."

She told Ho that during Newton's campaign as a candidate in years past, she had not received an endorsement by the California School Employees Association, but that everyone had a democratic right to choose.

Events surrounding the firing of former Superintendent Stephen Rowley and the resignation of popular teacher Tim Krieger also dominated board debate. Trustees once again discussed the timeline of events leading up to both controversial issues with members of the community.

Addressing the board about its 3-2 vote to fire Rowley, Larry Dean, the father of two FUHSD graduates, spoke directly to board members Avie Katz, Homer Tong and Ho. He said, "I can't imagine you three casting that vote without prior conversations and communication either together or in a serial fashion." Dean told the three he found their actions incredibly negative and divisive to the community because of the amount of money their choice will cost the district. He asked how many teachers would be let go, how many AP classes would be cut and how many crab feeds would be canceled.

"Someone's going to see you on the street and say, 'There's that board member that blew 20 percent of my parcel tax contribution," he said. "Maybe if you three resign, the total cost to the district could be mitigated."

Tong responded that despite wanting to tell Dean and the rest of the community details on the dismissal of Rowley, the district's legal counsel had advised the trustees not to.

"You don't have all the information," he said. He advised Dean and the rest of the community not to draw uninformed conclusions. Several meetings ago, Katz told the Courier that an email inadvertently sent by Rowley to all members of the board which said Katz and his wife, Cathy, were to blame for the loss of Krieger was the reason, "in part," for Rowley's firing.

Addressing the trustees for the first time was the student representative to the board, Peter Lu. Peter attends Monta Vista High School, where Krieger had sought a position as a guidance resource teacher and was adviser to the school's student leadership program. Peter said, "If there is one thing I want to come out of tonight's board meeting is what the investigation is actually going to be."

While Tong and Ho reiterated their desire for a thorough investigation, Newton said she thought the motion the trustees passed was to construct a factual timeline only.

She said, "If the timeline doesn't provide sufficient information, we can ask [attorney Tom Sharpe] to go and look at different avenues, but we need to stick with a timeline."

Katz said no member of the board is impartial. He said Sharpe, a neutral party, should draw conclusions from the facts. After much deliberation, it was agreed that Bove would contact the Sharpe for a status-check and to reconfirm how he was going to handle the investigation.

For more information on future board meetings and minutes from previous meetings, visit www.fuhsd.org/agendas.htm.