State May Seek to Oust 3 on School Board : Antelope Valley: They may be targeted over their vote not to administer the Department of Education’s controversial CLAS exam.

The state Department of Education has threatened to remove three members of the Antelope Valley Union High School District board who voted this week not to administer the department’s controversial CLAS examination.

Board President Billy Pricer said Friday that if the district refuses to give the test, the Department of Education will seek to convene a grand jury and ask it to dismiss him and board members Tony Welch and Sue Stokka.

“They’re calling it inappropriate behavior for an elected official,” an astonished Pricer said. “It just floors me because there’s no substance to it.”

In a 3-2 vote, the district’s board of trustees voted Wednesday not to dispense the California Learning Assessment System test. The 12,600-student district is the first in California to outright refuse to administer the test.

Department attorneys have repeatedly said the law mandates that all school districts in the state administer the CLAS test, an exam highly touted by education reformers, but it has been harshly criticized by conservatives as a violation of students’ and parents’ rights.

“We haven’t violated any laws,” Pricer said. “We’re not quite that stupid. I don’t mind defying the state (Department of Education), but I’m not going to violate a legislated law.”

Pricer contends that the law does not specify that the CLAS test is the standardized assessment exam that must be given.

“The decision is at the local level,” he said. “I think the most frightening thing is the loss of local control.”

The CLAS exam has come under fire from some parents and political groups that contend that the literature portions of the test contain passages that denigrate the family. Issues of secrecy have also raised concern. The state Department of Education argues that access to the tests must be limited to ensure its integrity, while critics contend that the secrecy is to keep parents from knowing the true contents of the exam.

William D. Dawson, acting state superintendent of public instruction, failed to return calls Friday. Department representatives would say only that a formal response would likely be sent Monday to the school district.

But William L. Rukeyser, a department spokesman, said the department was not going to allow renegade school districts to decide for themselves whether to administer the CLAS test, given for the first time last year to about 1 million fourth-, eighth- and 10th-grade students.

“The state Department of Education is not going to roll over on this issue,” Rukeyser said. “It’s an issue of vital importance to the state of California and the economy of California. The strength of the state’s economy depends on a highly educated population and a trained work force.”

Pricer said the Antelope Valley district’s attorney, Frank J. Fekete, told him of the Department of Education’s threat. Fekete said he had talked to Pricer but he declined to divulge the details of their conversation.

“It appears that . . . they (the Department of Education) are going to send a letter demanding we give the test,” Pricer said. “If we do not, they may file a lawsuit. Their other option is they may file with the grand jury to have us forcibly removed from office.”

Fekete said there is a little-used procedure in the law that allows a person to present charges to the district attorney for the removal of an elected official by a grand jury. The district attorney decides whether to present the charges to a grand jury.

A few months ago, Fekete said, the Department of Education used the law in hopes of removing a Mendocino County school superintendent from office. She resigned after the district attorney convened the grand jury.

“All we have done is tried to challenge the validity of the test,” Pricer said. “We are not trying to overthrow the government.

“What in the world are they afraid of?”

Stokka echoed Pricer’s comments, saying if the department took the matter to the district attorney, it would only serve as proof to her argument that the state is trying to bully school districts over the test. She believes that it would also hurt the department’s credibility.

A lawsuit over the test, however, could hurt the school district’s finances. Fekete, general counsel for Schools Legal Service, said that if the department brought a suit, the Antelope Valley district could easily spend $100,000 defending it.

“The issues are so complex,” he said. “If the state sues (the district), it will see to it that every district in the state knows.”

The Antelope Valley district is just emerging from a $14-million deficit that forced layoffs and program cutbacks. The final payment of an $8-million loan from the county is expected to be made next month.

“It’s reckless and irresponsible to jeopardize the financial recovery of this district to make a political statement,” said board member Bill Olenick, who with member Wilda Andrejcick cast the dissenting votes in the decision to not administer the CLAS test.