Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Fresno Unified Won't Pay State Conference Costs for Trustee Slatic
gvw_nancy_price
By Nancy Price, Multimedia Journalist
Published 5 years ago on
December 3, 2019

Share

Trustee Terry Slatic
School board members and school district employees from all over the state will gather this week in San Diego for the annual California School Boards Association’s Education Conference and Trade Show.
The attendees will include six Fresno Unified trustees, Superintendent Bob Nelson, and several other district staffers. Their expenses are covered by the district.
But if trustee Terry Slatic wants to attend, he’ll have to pay his own way — at a cost of several thousand dollars.
Slatic said he was told that board leadership is citing the censure resolution as to why the district won’t pay his expenses. The censure was approved in August on a 6-0-1 vote (Slatic abstained), which required him to attend anger management, threatened to remove his indemnification as an elected official in the event of legal claims, and suspended him “from representing the district and the board at public functions in any official capacity.”


Listen to this article:
 


“Apparently if I’m attending a School Boards convention and learning governance, I would be somehow representing Fresno Unified School District,” Slatic said.

The Censure Resolution




The vote to censure Slatic came after a series of incidents involving the trustee, Bullard students, school staff, and an Army recruiter at the northwest Fresno high school. Slatic was accused of engaging in abusive and disrespectful treatment, including engaging in a physical altercation with a Bullard student in January.
Slatic told GV Wire on Monday that he thinks it’s ironic that the board’s stated goal is for him to improve his governance skills, but the district won’t pay for him to attend a conference that includes sessions on leadership and governance.
Slatic said he was informed several weeks ago by district chief of staff David Chavez that his conference costs would not be paid.

Censure Shouldn’t Be Punitive

Slatic, who maintains that his governance skills are already in good shape, said the refusal to pay his costs to attend the conference is punitive, which is illegal.
“Censures, in the history of censures in political bodies, are not punitive,” he said. “This obviously is punitive, it seems to be taking stuff away.”
By declining to pay his expenses, Slatic said, other trustees are saying, in effect, “You don’t get to go to the annual meeting … that teaches governance, which can be loosely defined as how to get along well and do the job as the trustee.”

Photo of Carol Mills
Trustee Carol Mills

No Objections Raised to Censure Language

Carol Mills, the board’s secretary, said that the district’s legal counsel stated that the censure resolution was not supposed to be punitive.
And, Mills added, the resolution still is subject to amendment.
“I think that if there are provisions in there that trustee Slatic feels are punitive, then that could have been addressed at the time of the vote, and it could have been addressed after that as well,” she said. “But there’s not been any requests to modify or change it.”
Mills noted that although Slatic’s conference costs will not be covered, he is not being prevented from attending the conference.
Board president Claudia Cazares could not be reached for comment Monday.

Slatic: Next Step Is Legal Action

Slatic said he is proceeding with legal action to have the censure resolution overturned. He said he has a new attorney, who he would not identify on the record, and hopes a Superior Court injunction hearing can be scheduled sometime in the first three months of 2020.
But in the meantime, after learning that Mills said the censure resolution is still subject to amendment, he has made an official request by email seeking board action to remove the resolution’s punitive language, which he maintains is illegal and disenfranchises his constituents.

DON'T MISS

Warriors Guard De’Anthony Melton to Undergo Season-Ending Knee Surgery

DON'T MISS

Massive Ground Beef Recall Affects Restaurants Nationwide, USDA Warns

DON'T MISS

Chris Stapleton Wins 4 CMA Awards, but Morgan Wallen Is Entertainer of the Year

DON'T MISS

These Fresno Schools Are Unsafe and in Bad Condition. And No One Is Complaining

DON'T MISS

Putin Says Russia Has Tested a New Intermediate Range Missile in a Strike on Ukraine

DON'T MISS

SEC Chair Gary Gensler, Who Led US Crackdown on Cryptocurrencies, to Step Down

DON'T MISS

Is Fresno Mobile Home Park Controversy Over? Tenants Applaud Federal Judge’s Ruling

DON'T MISS

Wiggins, Curry Power Warriors to Dominant Win Over Hawks

DON'T MISS

Sale and Skubal Claim Cy Young Awards After Historic Pitching Triple Crown Seasons

DON'T MISS

What Will Happen to CNBC and MSNBC When They No Longer Have a Corporate Connection to NBC News?

UP NEXT

What Will Happen to CNBC and MSNBC When They No Longer Have a Corporate Connection to NBC News?

UP NEXT

Classes for Cannabis? UC Merced Extension Launching Weed Workforce Training

UP NEXT

Who Are Fresno State’s ‘Heroes’ in Health and Human Services Services?

UP NEXT

Reedley College Celebrates Opening of Gleaming New Performing Arts Center

UP NEXT

Volunteers Came Back to Nonprofits in 2023, After the Pandemic Tanked Participation

UP NEXT

New Study: Proposed Trump Tariffs Could Cost US Consumers $78 Billion a Year

UP NEXT

Riders Stuck in Midair for Over 2 Hours on Knott’s Berry Farm Ride

UP NEXT

Measures A and Q Still Winning. Clovis Unified Trustee Candidate Extends Lead.

UP NEXT

Shouting Racial Slurs, Neo-Nazi Marchers Shock Ohio’s Capital

UP NEXT

More Logging Is Proposed to Help Curb Wildfires in the US Pacific Northwest

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

These Fresno Schools Are Unsafe and in Bad Condition. And No One Is Complaining

19 minutes ago

Putin Says Russia Has Tested a New Intermediate Range Missile in a Strike on Ukraine

25 minutes ago

SEC Chair Gary Gensler, Who Led US Crackdown on Cryptocurrencies, to Step Down

44 minutes ago

Is Fresno Mobile Home Park Controversy Over? Tenants Applaud Federal Judge’s Ruling

52 minutes ago

Wiggins, Curry Power Warriors to Dominant Win Over Hawks

1 hour ago

Sale and Skubal Claim Cy Young Awards After Historic Pitching Triple Crown Seasons

2 hours ago

What Will Happen to CNBC and MSNBC When They No Longer Have a Corporate Connection to NBC News?

2 hours ago

Bulldogs Stack Double-Doubles Like Burgers on a Plate to Beat Prairie View

2 hours ago

Bitcoin Is at the Doorstep of $100,000 as Post-Election Rally Rolls On

2 hours ago

US Regulators Seek to Break Up Google, Forcing Chrome Sale as Part of Monopoly Punishment

2 hours ago

Warriors Guard De’Anthony Melton to Undergo Season-Ending Knee Surgery

SAN FRANCISCO — Golden State Warriors guard De’Anthony Melton will undergo season-ending knee surgery. The team announced Wednesday th...

7 minutes ago

7 minutes ago

Warriors Guard De’Anthony Melton to Undergo Season-Ending Knee Surgery

11 minutes ago

Massive Ground Beef Recall Affects Restaurants Nationwide, USDA Warns

13 minutes ago

Chris Stapleton Wins 4 CMA Awards, but Morgan Wallen Is Entertainer of the Year

19 minutes ago

These Fresno Schools Are Unsafe and in Bad Condition. And No One Is Complaining

25 minutes ago

Putin Says Russia Has Tested a New Intermediate Range Missile in a Strike on Ukraine

44 minutes ago

SEC Chair Gary Gensler, Who Led US Crackdown on Cryptocurrencies, to Step Down

52 minutes ago

Is Fresno Mobile Home Park Controversy Over? Tenants Applaud Federal Judge’s Ruling

1 hour ago

Wiggins, Curry Power Warriors to Dominant Win Over Hawks

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

Search

Send this to a friend