After a Fresno County grand jury report earlier this year said Fresno Unified trustees and officials need to review California’s ethic laws for elected leaders, the district scheduled its Ralph M. Brown Act workshop for Sept. 17.

However, minutes after board members, top district staff, outside attorneys, and Fresno Teachers Association leaders gathered for the meeting, Trustee Elizabeth Jonasson Rosas made a motion to cancel the meeting. Jonasson Rosas, board chairman Valerie Davis, and trustees Keisha Thomas and Claudia Cazares voted yes, and Trustee Andy Levine voted no.

About 40 people in total were at the after-hours meeting, according to a Fresno Unified spokesperson. The spokesperson said the facilitators absorbed their fees.

With two trustees absent — Susan Wittrup was ill and Veva Islas was traveling abroad — Jonasson Rosas said she wanted to cancel the meeting because all board members should be present.

“This being such an important topic, and a couple trustees that aren’t able to be here today, I’d like us to consider leaving and rescheduling this workshop to a time when all seven of us can participate,” Jonasson Rosas said.

Other trustees, however, said that with other participants already gathered, there was no need to cancel the event. The grand jury recommendation did not say that board members need to be trained together.

Levine said at the meeting the absent trustees could watch the recording.

“A lot of time has been put into this, schedules have been moved around,” Levine said. “I imagine this meeting, if it does move forward, can be recorded.”

Waste of Taxpayer Money: Bonilla

Fresno Unified also invited both Manuel Bonilla, president of the Fresno Teachers Association and Louis Jamerson, executive director of the teachers union, to attend the meeting. Jonasson Rosas made the motion to adjourn the meeting seconds after the two sat down.

Bonilla told GV Wire that canceling “wasted taxpayer money.”

“A majority of the school board wasted taxpayer money by adjourning a Brown Act workshop, despite having a quorum, after pulling the entire senior management team away from their work,” Bonilla said. “This is not their private company; it is the public’s time and resources. Our elected leaders must be reminded that they are accountable to the public.”

District Paid for Food, Overtime

Wittrup told GV Wire she informed other trustees she would not be at the meeting the day before the meeting. Trustees knew Islas was going to be out of town at least a week prior, Jonasson Rosas told GV Wire.

Wittrup, however, called it “inconsiderate” to cancel the meeting after having everyone there.

“They put a lot of time and energy and money into getting everybody there after a long-days work. People had to make childcare arrangements, all of that,” Wittrup said. “So to cancel the training when it was already in motion with everybody there, I thought was very inconsiderate especially in light of that there is no legal requirement that the full board needs to be trained together.”

The Fresno Unified spokesperson said the workshop had been scheduled weeks in advance, but the planning period only took a “few days.”

The district did pay for refreshments and did have to provide overtime pay for support staff — including security, audio/visual managers, and the board secretary.

Trustee Jonasson Rosas told GV Wire the attending attorneys were on contract and there for a meeting the next day.

She said given the grand jury report, it was important that all trustees be there. She said it was important for trustees to show the community that they are following state law and that they care about disclosure.

“Five of seven (trustees) doesn’t really show that message,” Jonasson Rosas said.

Elected Leaders Have to Do Brown Act Training Every Two Years

The grand jury’s May report came after citizen complaints about information given out from a closed session meeting of the Fresno Unified board to local media. The grand jury report did not specify what leaks occurred or to what media outlet. It did not say that Brown Act violations occurred or how citizens knew confidential information came out.

The grand jury report did say board members did not show a thorough understanding of how leaked information could impact a governmental body.

Elected members have to take Brown Act training every two years, Wittrup told GV Wire.

She said she recently completed her required two-hour training online. She said she won’t attend the follow-up Brown Act meeting.

“As far as another workshop, I don’t feel like I need to attend that because I have completed my training and I really want to spend my time and concentrate on things that are going to improve student outcomes, improve student achievement,” Wittrup said. “That’s where I want to spend my time.”