Tension among members of the Santa Maria-Bonita School District Board of Education has reached an all-time high.
On the evening of March 2, during the board’s closed session portion, Superintendent Phil Alvarado asked a district staff member to call the Santa Maria Police Department. According to a statement from the district, Alvarado “requested the presence of a police officer” to “provide assistance in restoring order
to the meeting.”
Other board members and district staffers allege that recently elected board member Will Smith was “disruptive and interfering with the course of the closed session meeting” by attempting to discuss issues that weren’t on the closed session agenda.
“Despite repeated requests from the board members and school officials to return to the posted closed session agenda items,” the statement read, “Mr. Smith continued to disrupt the meeting. Mr. Smith also improperly attempted to record the meeting.”
The meeting couldn’t continue, the statement also said, because of Smith’s “aggressive verbal and physical behavior,” which raised safety concerns among the other board members and district staff members.
District spokeswoman Maggie White confirmed that police officers arrived at the Souza Center at approximately 6:20 p.m. and took a report of the incident.
The board then decided to begin its open session meeting.
White said the incident is being
investigated for possible violations of the Brown Act.
In an e-mail to the Sun, Smith said he was the one who called the police.
“I have heard that someone else called the police station after I made the initial call. I was not escorted out of the board meeting, nor was I out of control at any time,” Smith wrote. “These allegations are flat-out untruths. I met the police in front of the Souza Center and was the first to speak with them.
“There was no verbal or physical abuse that occurred,” he continued in the e-mail. “As a matter of fact, I was sitting in a chair the whole time the verbal confrontation took place. Board members took exception when I asked a question, and voices were raised. … I wish to work with my peers on the board, but not at the expense that I will go with the business as usual mentality that, in my opinion, could be costing jobs and unnecessary spending. While I am willing to work with the team, the team has to be willing to work with me also.”
The board has been at odds with Smith since he was sworn in at the end of last year. According to the district, Smith shouldn’t be able to serve on the board because he’s still technically on the district’s payroll. California Education Code states a district employee can’t lawfully be sworn in as an elected or appointed school board member. The district took Smith to court in Santa Barbara County, but the case was dismissed based on jurisdictional issues. The district has said it intends to pursue the matter at the state level.
The district also strongly believes Smith is unfit to serve on the school board. In 2009, the district moved to terminate Smith as a teacher at Arellanes Junior High School based on a report compiled by a third-party arbitrator that alleged he verbally and physically abused his students.
Smith contested the report and his dismissal. He told the Sun the school board and other district administrators were targeting him unfairly. He also claimed the board misled the third-party arbitrator by withholding evidence and barring him from participating in the investigation.
The parties settled out of court, but the ramifications from the incident seem to be ongoing.
This article appears in Mar 10-17, 2011.
