GILROY
– The Gilroy Teachers Association and school board tried to
resolve the question of whether the board denied the public’s right
to speak during a recent meeting.
By Lori Stuenkel
GILROY – The Gilroy Teachers Association and school board tried to resolve the question of whether the board denied the public’s right to speak during a recent meeting. For now, it seems the two sides are willing to agree to disagree.
GTA representatives say the Gilroy Unified School District Board of Trustees violated the Brown Act, which guarantees the public’s right to attend and participate in open forum meetings of local legislative bodies.
At the Sept. 4 regular school board meeting, GTA President Michelle Nelson and El Roble Elementary School teacher Kristen Mackay both attempted to speak about the unfinished condition of El Roble classrooms during the teachers’ first week back at school. They spoke during a “public hearing” section of the meeting designated for discussion of the contract articles which will be re-negotiated for the 2003-04 school year.
Nelson described the condition of the classrooms and teachers’ frustration over the weekend hours that were spent setting up the classrooms. She was interrupted by School Board President Jim Rogers, who said that the public comments must relate directly to the contract. Mackay, who briefly addressed the board in the same vein, was also stopped.
“There was some confusion that night as to whether it was appropriate for me to speak to that, and it was entirely appropriate,” Nelson said.
One of the contract articles that will be negotiated allows teachers to be paid for up to 15 hours of work if they must move their classrooms.
Rogers defended his actions, saying that Nelson should have approached the board differently.
“I think Ms. Nelson chose an inappropriate way to make a complaint or express a concern,” he said. “I don’t feel it was a Brown Act violation at all.”
Superintendent Edwin Diaz acknowledged that members of the public, including teachers, have the right to address the board, but said that if Nelson and Mackay wanted to talk to board members about that topic, it would need to happen during the general “public communication” segment of the meeting or through the formal complaint process.
“I think there’s an appropriate way to submit a grievance, submit concerns, and it has to come with some detail and it has to come through a process that’s already established by the collective bargaining agreement,” Diaz said at the meeting. “So I don’t see this as being the forum on a public hearing on the contract as the way to do it.”
Both Nelson and Diaz consulted their attorneys to defend their opinions. The GTA will not take any legal action at this time.
Meanwhile, Nelson says the incident was a learning experience.
“To my knowledge, nobody’s ever commented on the (contract) re-openers before,” she said. “The damage has been done, let’s try to fix it for the future.”
