School Board President Clarifies Gag Order Over Belmont Project

In the face of sharp criticism and a legal challenge, Los Angeles Board of Education President Genethia Hayes eased back Wednesday on an apparent gag order issued by the board a day earlier.

Board members had unanimously passed a resolution to quell speculation on the Belmont Learning Complex after voting to set up a commission to evaluate whether it should be completed.

Hayes told The Times in an interview that the order was not intended to stop district officials from turning over documents or providing information that is covered by the state’s public records act.

But she strongly defended the board’s self-imposed silence and reaffirmed her intent to stop a drumbeat of negative news coverage that she said has turned the Belmont deliberations into a circus.

The high school being built west of downtown has been plagued in recent months by the discovery of methane and other oil byproducts that will require expensive measures to deal with. The board must decide whether to scrap the project or potentially endanger students.

“We don’t need all of the [news] leaks,” Hayes said. “We don’t need all of the speculation. We don’t need everybody going off on a tangent when we don’t have the information we need to make a clear, objective decision based on the facts.”

The decision to set up a commission and stifle publicity gave the first indication of how the three reform-oriented newcomers and the incumbent on their slate, all of whom were sworn in earlier this month, intend to conduct business.

It appeared Wednesday that the gag order was having a chilling effect on some district officials.

Chief Administrative Officer David Koch, for example, declined to elaborate on his comments about the board’s decision to “secure” the $200-million high school construction project. He had said Tuesday that securing means adding doors and windows to a building to protect it from the elements.

“No comment,” Koch said Wednesday, echoing the words of the statement Hayes read at the close of the public hearing.

At the meeting, the board voted to set up a five-member commission of highly respected civic leaders to recommend whether the environmentally plagued project should be completed or abandoned.

Then all seven board members indicated their approval of a statement that said, “Board members and staff will not comment on this project while the commission is at work.”

The Times on Wednesday put the district on notice that it will go to court if the board does not rescind the order by noon Friday.

“This gag order is a clear and flagrant violation of the 1st Amendment of the United States Constitution and the even more protective provisions of the California Constitution,” wrote Times attorney Rex Heinke of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher.

A lawyer for the Los Angeles teachers union said there was “a good possibility” he would seek to invalidate the board’s action based on the state’s open meetings law.

District officials waited until board members had emerged from a five-hour closed session Tuesday to post a report indicating that the appointment of a commission would be on the agenda of the public meeting that followed.

Previous public notice for the meeting had said it would cover a “suspension” of the Belmont project, but the board did not vote on a proposed suspension.

“The law makes clear that the school district cannot act on or discuss items that were not specifically” listed in a public notice 72 hours in advance, said Jesus Quinonez, attorney for United Teachers-Los Angeles.

District general counsel Richard K. Mason said Tuesday that he believes the board’s decision not to speak about the project to be legal but added: “I will review the arguments The Times has raised.”

Hayes said the new board has concluded that the Belmont deliberations are being driven by constant negative publicity. “This thing has been played out in the press to the point where people can’t breathe they’re so scared of being lambasted or being accused of something. I don’t know whether that leads to a calm public dialogue,” she said.