Impropriety Perceptions Topic as Bylaws Amended
Following a four-hour long, special workshop Tuesday night at which President Scott Tracy reiterated his opinion that the school board is held to a higher standard by the public with regard to the perception of conflict of interest or the appearance of such, the La Cañada Unified School District Governing Board unanimously adopted revised bylaws.
During discussions regarding the amendments of the existing bylaws, members occasionally lapsed into mild conflict regarding agreement or disagreement over potential changes but overall, members scrutinized the lengthy document in a methodical and detailed manner before final approval.
At the onset of the meeting it was determined that the four major areas of concern, Bylaw 9000, Role of the Board; 9010, Public Statements; 9270, Conflict of Interest and 9312, Governance/Board Bylaws should be discussed first to deal with areas that would conceivably take the most amount of time. Following those discussions, all other portions of the bylaws would be addressed.
In attendance were former Governing Board members Andy Beattie, Jeanne Broberg and Meredith Reynolds, as well as Donna Shepherd, former president of the La Cañada Chapter of the California School Employee Association (CSEA) and Richard Wells, La Cañada High School chemistry teacher.
Beattie, Broberg and Shepherd all voiced their opinions regarding the bylaw adoption and proposed amendments.
The issue of any appearance of a conflict of interest, nepotism and/or perception of such was discussed at length, including the fact that while there is no anti nepotism law, currently in the state of California, under the Political Fair Practices Act, elected officials should avoid even the appearance of conflict of interest. “The board should be sure that their obligation to the public is above reproach,” Board member Joel Peterson said.
Discussion revolved around the recent hiring of school board member Jinny Dalbeck’s daughter, Allison, as a counselor at LCHS and perceptions by some community members of impropriety, although all processes were followed according to procedure and Dalbeck recused herself from all involvement. At the time of her daughter’s hiring, Dalbeck offered to resign from the board but was told that was not necessary.
Shepherd commented on her experiences as a panel member charged with hiring new staff members for the LCUSD and said she had never heard of a perception or problem with the Board’s involvement in hiring process.
Following the meeting Shepherd said, “During my 13 years in the district, and I’ve been on at least eight panels, we have a very good process when followed the way it should be followed.
“Speaking for myself, they [a relative of an employee, staff member or board member] would have to be the most outstanding candidate in the room. I’ve never felt pressure at any time by the Board, no matter who the candidate may be.”
During the meeting, Board member Cindy Wilcox expressed her belief that there is a high level of scrutiny from the community and said the rule should remain as presented and not amended, while her Board colleague Susan Boyd disagreed, saying, “We need to trust in the system and the process. It has worked in the past. Board members recuse themselves during discussion and voting. Then they can say there is no conflict of interest.” Boyd further said that by adopting the bylaw the district could be excluding highly qualified, homegrown potential staff members.
During discussions to amend the item to delete the paragraph titled “Hiring,” a vote to retain it passed by a 3-2 margin, with Dalbeck and Boyd dissenting. While tensions occasionally ran high, members were able to eventually agree to adopt the bylaws as presented, but to ask legal counsel to review wording to determine if the word “marriage” matched the concept the Board had in mind and if it captures all legal and recognized unions inclusive of religious, common law and domestic partnerships. If a change in wording is recommended, it can be amended at any time the future.
“I think overall it went very well. When you get into overall philosophical differences it’s difficult to come to a decision. [The Board] did a really good job with all five people to get as close to the middle ground and take a vote,” said Peterson. “This is a method that would help the district to avoid the appearance of impropriety as required by state law.”