Public’s Right to Konw

“Reassigned to teaching duties by the Huntington Beach City Elementary School District board following a closed-door session are the following two employees: Social Security numbers 344-26-2964 and 024-24-8759.”

That’s all the school board would tell district parents and taxpayers about the controversial reassignment of two administrators to teaching duties after its closed-door meeting Tuesday.

The trustees refused to give a reason for the reassignments and, ostensibly to protect the employees’ right to privacy, released only the two Social Security numbers, which are worthless because federal law prohibits the identification of holders of specific Social Security numbers.

Rita Jorgensen, principal of Hawes School, and Joan Skinner, assistant principal of Sowers School later confirmed that they were the two administrators demoted. That was obvious, considering that parents had been on a drive to head off the anticipated board action.

Shifting or even demoting principals, however controversial, is nothing new. The most recent celebrated case was in Newport Beach when two principals were ordered to switch posts. That action, however, came at an open board meeting at which parents had a chance to speak.

The board action in Huntington Beach was intentionally less open and the release of only Social Security numbers to identify the demoted administrators was ridiculous in light of the publicity that preceded the board’s action.

In deciding to handle the issue so secretly, the school board not only ignored the interests of hundreds of parents but put the board in violation of the state law that requires the district to identify reassigned personnel if anyone asks.

Instead, the school board is attempting to hide behind the language of the state’s open-meetings law, the Brown Act, which it claims covers hirings and firings but not reassignments. Technically, that is correct, but what the statute intends to do is have public agencies transact the public’s business in public--something that the Huntington Beach City Elementary School District board appears to have no intention of doing if it can possibly avoid it.

According to a 1980 state attorney general’s opinion, the state public-records law complements the secret-meeting law and requires that board actions such as personnel reassignments be made public.

Despite that opinion, another one issued last week by the state Department of Education saying that the names of the demoted administrators had to be made public, and a formal request from a Times attorney for their identity as required by the Public Records Act, the school board still refused to name the demoted administrators.

On Election Day, voters in Huntington Beach need not memorize Social Security numbers of arrogant school board members who hide behind closed doors and legal loopholes to avoid public disclosure and then ignore another state law requiring public disclosure.

All voters need remember are the names: Karen O’Bric, Gary Nelson, Sherry Barlow, Robert Mann and Pat Cohen.