Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Corporation for Public Broadcasting to Close After Funding Cut, in Blow to Local Media

2 days ago

‘Freedom Week’: California Gun Owners Rush to Buy Ammo After Court Ruling

3 days ago

Wall Street Selloff Sparked by Trump Tariffs, Amazon Results, Weak Payrolls

3 days ago

US Construction Spending Extends Decline in June

3 days ago

Global Shares in Red After US Jobs Data, Trump’s Tariff Salvo

3 days ago

Construction of $200M Trump Ballroom at the White House to Begin in September

3 days ago

US Senate Committee Backs $1 Billion for Ukraine in Pentagon Spending Bill

4 days ago

Trump Says Mexico Trade Deal Extended for 90 Days

4 days ago

Fresno Unified Trustee Susan Wittrup Responds to $162,000 Payout

4 days ago
Fresno Unified Board Considers New Censure, Complaint Rules
NANCY WEBSITE HEADSHOT 1
By Nancy Price, Multimedia Journalist
Published 6 years ago on
August 21, 2019

Share

The Fresno Unified School District board tabled a vote on a new bylaw detailing procedures for trustee censure at Wednesday’s board meeting, just two weeks after the board took the rare step of censuring a fellow trustee
Board members said they wanted more time to review and provide comments on the proposed bylaw additions and revisions, including a new censure bylaw. They are scheduled to take the matter up again at the Sept. 18 school board meeting.
 


Listen to this article:
 


 
The proposed censure bylaw does not contain language allowing the board to order a trustee to undergo an anger management program or to remove a trustee’s indemnification from any legal claims or actions resulting from the trustee’s conduct. Both measures were included in an Aug. 7 censure of trustee Terry Slatic, the subject of a series of a complaints this year by Bullard students, a wrestling coach, and an Army recruiter that have been or are being investigated by the district.
“We’ve now established the protocol for this board president and board majority, ‘Well, if it doesn’t say we can’t do it, we can do it.’ It opens up that genie’s bottle.”trustee Terry Slatic
Drafts of two new bylaws and revisions of two other bylaws were added to the Fresno Unified board agenda Tuesday afternoon.
Slatic told GV Wire that he considers the censure bylaw to be irrelevant because the board’s attorney told the trustees at the Aug. 7 meeting that nothing in the bylaws prohibited the censure resolution. In effect, the board established a precedent, he said.
Fresno Unified School District Trustee Terry Slatic
“We crossed the Rubicon at that previous meeting with the board attorney, acting very uncomfortably, when he was made to say, ‘Well, we can do this because there’s nothing in there that says you can’t do it,” Slatic said. “At this point, it doesn’t matter what it says in the document. We’ve now established the protocol for this board president and board majority, ‘Well, if it doesn’t say we can’t do it, we can do it.’ It opens up that genie’s bottle.”
Slatic has said that he will pursue action to overturn the censure resolution sections that require him to undergo anger management counseling and that remove his indemnification. He said his attorney, Charles Manock, is in consultation with the district’s attorney over the matter.

Censure Procedures Set

The proposed censure bylaw would establish procedures for the board to follow when considering whether a trustee’s conduct merits a formal reprimand. If the matter cannot be resolved through discussion with either the board president or clerk and the trustee, a request for a censure hearing would need to be submitted to the president or clerk by not fewer than two board members and not more than three, with specific information on the allegations and how they constitute a violation of board bylaws.
That limitation was set to conform with the state’s Brown Act that requires open meetings for a quorum of elected officials, said Carol Mills, who serves on the bylaws committee with board President Claudia Cazares and trustee Keshia Thomas. Neither Cazares nor Thomas could be immediately reached for comment.

“I think there was just a sense from some board members that maybe we need to have a process embedded in the bylaws, so that if the issue should ever arise again, we’re not starting from square one.”trustee Carol Mills
The matter would then be placed on a board agenda at a regular or special meeting for public discussion. A copy of the request for censure, with background documentation, would have to be sent to board members at least five days before the board meeting.
After review at the meeting, the board would determine whether to further investigate the allegations, orally censure the trustee, schedule a public hearing to adopt a formal censure resolution or take no action. Any further investigation would be done by an ad hoc committee appointed by the board president or clerk. If the censure goes to a public hearing, the trustee targeted for censure must have 10 business days to prepare a response.
By contrast, the censure resolution against Slatic was added to the board agenda only three business days prior to the board’s 6-0 vote to approve it.
Mills said she wanted to include the 10-day period in the proposed censure bylaw to give sufficient time for due process.

New Complaint Bylaw Proposed

Fresno Unified School District Trustee Carol Mills
The board also will consider a new bylaw with procedures on how to file a complaint against a school board member, which would require a signed and dated letter written to the district superintendent.
Incidents involving board members, on the other hand, would be reported in a signed and dated report to the executive director of constituent services. The proposed bylaw specifies that such incidents would not be subject to a district investigation.
“We’ve never had bylaws for that (censure and complaints against board members) before, and I think there was just a sense from some board members that maybe we need to have a process embedded in the bylaws, so that if the issue should ever arise again, we’re not starting from square one, that we have a bylaw and process in place,” Mills said.
Other revisions would add sections in the bylaws for board governance and committees.
Some of the new bylaws and revisions mirror language that was in Slatic’s censure resolution, including that board members should: Refrain from rude or abusive conduct, or personal attacks or verbal attacks against other board members, district employees or the public; direct questions or requests for information to the superintendent, chief of staff or a designee; avoid unscheduled drop-in meetings with the superintendent unless for limited emergencies; not attend internal staff meetings or meetings with administration and third parties unless invited by district or site administration, or board authorization; sign in when visiting schools and identify as a trustee.

Bylaw Revisions Preceded Censure

The bylaw committee began considering the two new bylaws and revisions to two existing bylaws before the summer break, Mills said. Drafts were sent to trustees to give them the opportunity for review and to provide comment to the chief of staff, she said. After further review and a few tweaks, the bylaws committee was ready to forward its proposals to the board, Mills said.

Slatic’s censure came after a series of complaints were lodged against him, accusing him of being abusive and unprofessional and of exceeding his role as a board member. The resolution included details from a series of incidents involving Slatic and a Bullard High student, a Bullard wrestling coach, an Army recruiter at the campus, and Bullard cheerleaders, all of which have been or are being investigated by the district. The first incident involving the 15-year-old Bullard student on campus was in January, barely two months after Slatic was elected.
Slatic is due in court on Monday for a hearing into a request from a Bullard cheerleader for a restraining order against him. He is accused of entering a cheer practice and threatening to boot off the cheer squad any girls who continued to comment on the discipline that resulted from a social media post of a cheerleader wearing blackface and saying the n-word. After the district decided not to remove the cheerleader from the squad, community protests about racism at Bullard have continued to occur.
Through the end of June, the district had paid $114,000 for its investigations of complaints made against Slatic.

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Iran’s Army Chief Says Israeli Threats Remain, State Media Say

DON'T MISS

Tens of Thousands Join Pro-Palestinian March Over Sydney Harbour Bridge

DON'T MISS

Trump, Carney to Speak in Coming Days, Canadian Official Says

DON'T MISS

Rail Customers Urge Regulators to Block Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern Deal, FT Reports

DON'T MISS

United States Set World Record in Women’s 4×100 Medley Relay

DON'T MISS

White House Backs Away From IVF Coverage Mandate Despite Trump’s Campaign Pledge, Washington Post Reports

DON'T MISS

Six More Die of Hunger in Gaza, Israel Says UN Trucks Make Fuel Delivery

DON'T MISS

Gifford Fire Grows to Nearly 40,000 Acres. Evacuation Orders Expanded in Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo Counties

DON'T MISS

This Test Can See a Heart Attack in Your Future

DON'T MISS

‘South Park’ Skewers a New Kind of Sanctimony and Trump

UP NEXT

Willow the Streetwise Poodle Mix Gets a Second Chance

UP NEXT

Fresno Donates Firefighting Gear to Sister City Guadalajara

UP NEXT

US Judges Speak Out About Death Threats, ‘Swattings,’ and ‘Pizza Doxings’

UP NEXT

Fresno County Finds E. Coli at Avocado Lake. Don’t Swim There

UP NEXT

Corporation for Public Broadcasting to Close After Funding Cut, in Blow to Local Media

UP NEXT

Farmers in West Fresno County to Consider 200% Groundwater Pumping Fee Hike

UP NEXT

Fresno Councilmember Vang Accused of Conflict of Interest in Budget Vote

UP NEXT

Ghislaine Maxwell Moved From Florida Prison to Lower-Security Facility

UP NEXT

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Scott Oscar Whitehead

UP NEXT

Visalia Road Project to Temporarily Shut Down Part of Caldwell Avenue

Nancy Price,
Multimedia Journalist
Nancy Price is a multimedia journalist for GV Wire. A longtime reporter and editor who has worked for newspapers in California, Florida, Alaska, Illinois and Kansas, Nancy joined GV Wire in July 2019. She previously worked as an assistant metro editor for 13 years at The Fresno Bee. Nancy earned her bachelor's and master's degrees in journalism at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism. Her hobbies include singing with the Fresno Master Chorale and volunteering with Fresno Filmworks. You can reach Nancy at 559-492-4087 or Send an Email

Rail Customers Urge Regulators to Block Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern Deal, FT Reports

13 hours ago

United States Set World Record in Women’s 4×100 Medley Relay

13 hours ago

White House Backs Away From IVF Coverage Mandate Despite Trump’s Campaign Pledge, Washington Post Reports

14 hours ago

Six More Die of Hunger in Gaza, Israel Says UN Trucks Make Fuel Delivery

14 hours ago

Gifford Fire Grows to Nearly 40,000 Acres. Evacuation Orders Expanded in Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo Counties

14 hours ago

This Test Can See a Heart Attack in Your Future

15 hours ago

‘South Park’ Skewers a New Kind of Sanctimony and Trump

15 hours ago

India Will Buy Russian Oil Despite Trump’s Threats, Officials Say

1 day ago

The US Said It Had No Choice but to Deport Them to a Third Country. Then It Sent Them Home

1 day ago

Trump Reaffirms Support for Morocco’s Sovereignty Over Western Sahara

1 day ago

Iran’s Army Chief Says Israeli Threats Remain, State Media Say

DUBAI — The commander-in-chief of Iran’s military, Amir Hatami, said on Sunday that threats from Israel persist, according to state me...

13 hours ago

Iranian Army commander-in-chief Amir Hatami attends a meeting in the Iranian Army's War Command Room at an undisclosed location in Iran, in this handout image obtained on June 23, 2025. (Reuters File)
13 hours ago

Iran’s Army Chief Says Israeli Threats Remain, State Media Say

Protesters walk across the Sydney Harbour Bridge during the Palestine Action Group's March for Humanity in Sydney, Australia, August 3, 2025. AAP/Dean Lewins via REUTERS
13 hours ago

Tens of Thousands Join Pro-Palestinian March Over Sydney Harbour Bridge

Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney arrives at a press conference to make an announcement on recognizing Palestinian statehood, in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, July 30, 2025. (Reuters File)
13 hours ago

Trump, Carney to Speak in Coming Days, Canadian Official Says

A Union Pacific rail car is parked at a Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) train yard in Seattle, Washington, U.S., February 10, 2017. (Reuters File)
13 hours ago

Rail Customers Urge Regulators to Block Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern Deal, FT Reports

World Aquatics Championships - Women 4x100m Medley Relay Final - World Aquatics Championships Arena, Singapore - August 3, 2025 Regan Smith, Kate Douglass, Gretchen Walsh and Torri Huske of the U.S. celebrate after winning the final and making a new world record REUTERS/Edgar Su
13 hours ago

United States Set World Record in Women’s 4×100 Medley Relay

A view shows Alabama Fertility, an IVF clinic in Birmingham, Alabama, U.S., February, 23, 2024. (Reuters File)
14 hours ago

White House Backs Away From IVF Coverage Mandate Despite Trump’s Campaign Pledge, Washington Post Reports

14 hours ago

Six More Die of Hunger in Gaza, Israel Says UN Trucks Make Fuel Delivery

The Gifford Fire has scorched nearly 40,000 acres in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties as of Sunday, August 3, 2025, prompting multiple evacuation orders and the closure of Highway 166 as crews work to contain the fast-moving wildfire. (CalFire)
14 hours ago

Gifford Fire Grows to Nearly 40,000 Acres. Evacuation Orders Expanded in Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo Counties

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend