This is an 11-minute excerpt from the Sept. 22nd Board of Trustees meeting. On the agenda, the Board had just voted to approve wage increases for the teachers & classified employees, which we believe are well-deserved, after having gone so long without a wage increase. The Board then voted to give all management personnel - including the superintendent - the same increase. There was no opportunity to protest the management increase because Trustee Garcia refused to allow any public comment. Despite the Brown Act training given by their attorney last month, this is yet another Brown Act violation! After we called Garcia on that, he reluctantly allowed the public to comment before voting to raise Dr. Luzas salary. Body language says a lot. Barnes and Luza look very nervous while receiving our public comment. How many times can you grab your water bottle in 3 minutes? When the camera pans to Sean Henry speaking, you can also see district administrators Lori Sanders, Mary Pritchard and Beatriz Chaidez paying no attention at all. Granted, our comments were not being addressed to them. It just doesnt look respectful to not even bother listening, thats all. Janet Barnes comments after Sean & I finished speaking were a bit disingenuous. She said she agreed with Foster Hoffman that the superintendent deserves a raise because he is doing a good job. But thats not what Mr. Hoffman said. Actually, he said increasing the superintendents salary is necessary in order to attract a qualified replacement in the event Dr. Luza leaves. He also said the previous superintendent, Donna Vaughn, would often forgo her wage increases in the interest of the students. I will also say it is very common for public employees to receive an evaluation after 4 months of employment to determine if the employee is the right fit for the job. Not only that, but Dr. Luza had already served as the interim superintendent for 6 months prior to Barnes handing him the job on a silver platter last January. So there is absolutely no good, compelling reason to be withholding his evaluation, unless Barnes, Kim & Garcia are concerned about what it might reveal. Parents, teachers & our community must demand accountability.
Posted on: Fri, 26 Sep 2014 15:36:59 +0000
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