Slatic clashes with Fresno Unified trustees - again - as school board ends meeting early
The Fresno Unified school board ended its regular meeting abruptly Wednesday after a series of clashes involving Trustee Terry Slatic.
The meeting ended just after 7:15 p.m., hours ahead of schedule, after Slatic clashed with Superintendent Bob Nelson on several issues and then refused to stop speaking over a community member during public comment.
Talking and arguing from the dais was inaudible at times. The school board called at least one brief recess just before 7 p.m. At one point, Board President Valerie Davis cut off Slatic’s microphone, but he continued speaking anyway.
When the meeting resumed, Slatic continued to air a string of reported grievances from parents ranging from campus police to coronavirus protocols.
In an interview with The Bee following Wednesday’s meeting, Slatic said he was frustrated by what he said was a new rule that limits the amount of time trustees can spend with the superintendent one-on-one. Slatic said he used to meet with Nelson “two to three times a month” and said his fellow trustees have “taken away” that opportunity.
“I would happily cover these one-on-one with him, which is what I did my first two years on this board,” Slatic said. “That has been taken away by the board.”
Trustee Claudia Cazares said all board members are allotted the same amount of time to speak with the superintendent individually.
Speaking with The Bee’s Education Lab late Wednesday, Nelson said the new rule was necessary. He said Slatic “takes his trusteeship very seriously.”
“I do have more interactions generally speaking with (Slatic) than I do with the (other trustees), which can create difficulty because they function as a group, and so any one person getting a great deal more access than anybody else can create problems,” Nelson said.
Wednesday’s meeting ended with much of the school board’s agenda left unresolved, including a proposal to change the name of Forkner Elementary School. The board was also set to discuss redistricting trustee voter boundaries in connection with the 2020 Census.
It wasn’t immediately clear when the board might take up those issues again.
Tensions between Slatic, school board continue to mount
Slatic has fought with his fellow trustees before, and he’s no stranger to controversy in recent years.
In 2019, the school board formally censured Slatic following multiple incidents at Bullard High School. The incidents involved an Army recruiter, a wrestling coach, and a time when Slatic grabbed the backpack of a Bullard student, and an altercation ensued.
Investigations into these incidents concluded that Slatic violated board policies, including failing to “govern responsibly” and blurring the distinctions between board and staff roles.
Slatic was also involved in a controversy in July 2019 surrounding his behavior at a Bullard High cheer practice when he scolded some cheerleaders over a blackface incident. One cheerleader’s family sought a restraining order against Slatic but failed to convince a judge Slatic’s behavior amounted to harassment.
Slatic eventually won $1,000 from the 16-year-old girl’s family to help him recoup part of the legal fees he racked up defending himself.
On multiple occasions, trustees have accused Slatic of racism, a charge he has denied each time.
Last year, a prominent Latino pastor in Fresno said Slatic told the pastor to “go back to the barrio” after an argument erupted during an informal meeting. Slatic flatly denied using the phrase and said the pastor was “bearing false witness.”
Other trustees also criticized Slatic in October after he cast the lone “no” vote on a resolution formally declaring Fresno Unified an anti-racist institution. Slatic said the resolution was unnecessary and “political.”
He’s frequently at odds with trustees, voting against the majority on many issues, including the vote to change Fresno High School’s decades old logo and the naming of Fresno’s newest school campus.
This story was originally published August 25, 2021 at 7:34 PM.