Fresno trustee Slatic threatens lawsuit, demands school board lift parts of censure
Fresno Unified School District Trustee Terry Slatic on Wednesday will ask trustees to lift some of the provisions of the censure they imposed on him last year.
Slatic, in an interview with The Bee, said he plans to sue the district if the board refuses to modify the censure. He said he hopes his efforts Wednesday night will “informally resolve this censure prior to litigation.”
In August, the board voted 6-0 to censure Slatic following multiple incidents at Bullard High School. Investigations into those incidents concluded that Slatic violated board policies, including failing to “govern responsibly” and blurring the distinctions between board and staff roles.
A report released in July found Slatic violated three board policies after he threatened an Army recruiter on campus in January. According to the report, the recruiter said Slatic, a retired Marine major, asked him what he was doing at the high school and then told him to “shut your mouth” and threatened to ban him from the school.
Slatic was also scrutinized after he arrived uninvited to a Bullard High School cheerleading practice in July following the blackface incident. An FUSD cheerleader posted a video and photo to social media wearing blackface. In the video, the girl said: “Who said I can’t say n—?”
At the cheerleading practice, Slatic threatened to kick students off the team if they kept bringing up the blackface incident.
Slatic also had a confrontation with Bullard High wrestling coaches. Slatic demanded the coaches stop having a joint wrestling practice with Clovis East High School. During the exchange in February, Slatic became “volatile” after the coaches wouldn’t meet his demands, according to a report.
A video was also released in January that shows Slatic grabbing and pulling students backpack after that student attempted to walk away from him.
The censure prohibits Slatic from attending internal staff meetings and requires him to notify school administrators before visiting a campus. If Slatic does go to a school in the district, he needs to be with a chaperone.
The censure also removes Slatic from leadership and committee roles until he takes anger management classes, and Slatic said that’s something he’s not willing to do. Slatic said he has done nothing illegal and hasn’t violated any policies. He argued only a judge can censure him and require him to take anger management classes.
Slatic argued the censure is “disenfranchising” his constituents.
“Every trustee should be handled and treated the exact same way and should not have any restrictions that impact their constituents in any way,” he said.
Slatic argued teachers won’t want to speak with him freely if he’s chaperoned and rather than speaking to teachers at a convenient time on campus he has to meet with them at a different place after school hours.
“That’s a disadvantage to any trustee,” he said.
At Wednesday’s meeting, the board will discuss modifying the censure and if a majority agrees, the board will direct the Censure Committee to draft some changes. After that, the board can vote to adopt the changes.
This story has been updated to clarify a formal vote will not take place Wednesday.
This story was originally published January 14, 2020 at 1:56 PM.