On Thursday, the a special meeting of the Antioch Unified School District Board of Trustees could not occur due to a lack of quorum.
Antioch School board President Antonio Hernandez called the meeting to order at 7:05 pm and attempted to call for a quorum. Only Hernandez and Trustee Dr. Jag Lathan were in attendance. Trustees Gary Hack, Mary Rocha and Clyde Lewis were not in attendance.
The lack of quorum was predictable as Trustees Hack, Rocha and Lewis were not consulted when the meeting was set, simply told it was scheduled. It was also scheduled the same night as the Middle School’s in the school district hosted its open house.
Had the board met, the two items up for discussion in closed session include:
- Public Employee Discipline/Dismissal/Release [Pursuant to Government Code section 54957]
- Public Employee Performance Evaluation Title: Superintendent [Pursuant to Government Code section 5495]
Last week, Hernandez tried to call a special meeting to discuss possible disciplinary or removal actions of a school employee. However, that meeting failed to have a quorum so it did not occur.
Hernandez has publicly called for Superintendent Stephanie Anello to resign:
“I maintain my position that the Superintendent must take accountability and resign. I urge my 3 colleagues, Clyde Lewis, Mary Rocha, and Gary Hack, who refuse to meet as a board to do their jobs by joining me in demanding accountability. I will do all that I can to ensure that we take care of the tax money you entrusted to this school district and more importantly, I will never stop fighting to ensure that we stay focused on ensuring that every student gets a quality education,” said Hernandez via a social media post.
Kim Atkinson Addressed School Board Back on September 13, 2023
At the September 13 meeting, Atkinson spoke during public comments sharing her concerns over bullying and asked helps from human resources. In response to the public comments at the meeting, then Board President Dr. Clyde Lewis responded by apologizing for not addressing the workplace environment and stated “we will look into it”.
It was not until media reports after the April 10, 2024 meeting, 8 months later, there was any attempt by the Board to seek out what disciplinary actions had been taken by the District regarding 10 alleged complaints against Director of Facilities, Maintenance and Operations Ken Turnage.
This dates all the way back to January 2023 when a desk was placed on a roof. None of the details have been released by the District as of Friday morning.
Debrief on Investigation Already Set for May meeting
In an email, Superintendent Stephanie Anello confirmed that on April 10, prior to the school board meeting, Hernandez had requested a debrief which she said would be at the first meeting in May. Here is what she provided on April 23:
“President Hernandez asked for a debrief on April 10th; I said that we could discuss it at the May Board of Education Meeting in closed session. I did not hear anything else from him,” stated Anello.
No documents associated with the debrief have been released and no update has publicly been given on discipline regarding the bullying claims or if any of the 10 alleged complaints were confirmed, unfounded or dismissed.
Third Party Investigations
Superintendent Anello has called for a third party to investigate the District’s handling of the alleged bullying investigation. She sent the board the following email:
Good Morning,
Given the media coverage over the Director of Maintenance and President Hernandez’s public call for my resignation, I have called for a third party, independent investigation into the Districts handling of the matter. I look forward to updating the Board on the findings.
Very Sincerely,
Stephanie
Editors Note – Still waiting on public records request made on April 19
Recent Antioch Unified School District News:
- April 19 – Contra Costa County Teacher of the Year Finalists Announced
- Feb 15 – Antioch School District Names Nicole Vicknair as Teacher of the Year
