Terry Slatic accuses Fresno school leaders of failing to protect teachers, violating laws
A disgruntled Fresno Unified school trustee on Monday escalated his fight with the district’s administration and his fellow trustees.
In a statement to reporters, Trustee Terry Slatic said he filed a formal complaint with the Fresno County District Attorney’s Public Integrity Unit, accusing Superintendent Bob Nelson and four trustees — Valerie Davis, Keisha Thomas, Elisabeth Johansson Rosas Chavez, and Genoveva Islas — of violating California education laws related to student privacy.
Specifically, Slatic said in the statement, he believes laws that require administrators to disclose to teachers when students have a documented history of violence. While providing no details, Slatic said, “this law has been violated hundreds of times in the last thirty-three months. Each violation (sic) putting our students and staff at risk.”
“These elected members have (a) responsibility to ensure that Superintendent Robert Nelson follows the education code and the law in the day to day operation of Fresno Unified School District,” Slatic said in the statement. ”These elected school board members failure to fulfill their oversight (role) has put hundreds of students and staff members at risk.”
The four trustees did not respond to requests for comment Monday. However, late Monday, the FUSD communications office issued a statement on behalf of the district that rejected Slatic’s criticisms.
“Contrary to Trustee Major Slatic’s press release earlier (Monday), Fresno Unified School District is in full compliance with the notification procedures in California Education Code Section 49079,” the district said in a statement.
District officials said Slatic raised the same issue two years ago.
“The District responded with a Board Communication dated October 4th, 2019 that details Fresno Unified’s compliance with each of the requirements in this Education Code provision,” district officials said.
District officials also said Slatic might have violated other school board bylaws by issuing a formal statement on district letterhead “to publicize his own personal viewpoints without the Board President’s approval and without clarifying to the media and the public that his statements are his alone and do not reflect the viewpoint of the Board.
A week of fighting with one FUSD trustee
Slatic’s accusations come just days after he was accused of violating the Brown Act, California’s open meeting laws.
In a statement Thursday, Nelson said Slatic “failed to comply” with sections of the law that say, “Board members shall govern responsibly and hold themselves to the highest standards of ethical conduct,” and “Refrain from rude or abusive conduct, personal attacks, or verbal attacks upon the character or motives of other Board members, District employees, or members of the public.”
Nelson’s remarks came a day after Slatic appeared to stage a sort of filibuster during FUSD’s regular school board meeting.
FUSD Board President Valerie Davis ended the school board meeting after less than a full hour following numerous failed attempts to silence Slatic, who refused to stop speaking even after his microphone was cut off and district parents were trying to address the school board directly.
Slatic read letters of complaints from his constituents, including an issue about the credentials of one of the district’s principals, which drew criticism from Nelson.
“Under no circumstance should any trustee speak publicly about personnel matters involving an individual employee,” Nelson said during the meeting.
Tensions remained high following Wednesday’s meeting debacle, with multiple trustees saying the board should consider another censure.
Slatic has long history of tensions with FUSD
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 changing Fresno High School’s decades-old logo and naming Fresno’s newest school campus.
Slatic has also taken to criticizing some of his fellow trustees in the media.
In June, he appeared on the conservative talk show The Constitutionalist with Terry Collins on TalkRadio 1550 KXEX and described his fellow school board members as “witches” and “racist.”
Full Statements from Slatic, FUSD
Slatic’s statement
“I have filed a complaint with the Public Integrity Unit of the Fresno County District Attorney’s Office demanding that Fresno Unified School District Superintendent Robert Nelson and School Board Members be held accountable for the years of individual violations of California Education Code Section 49079. Violating Education Code Section 49079 is a misdemeanor punishable by confinement in the county jail for a period not to exceed six months or by a fine of $1000 for each violation, or both.
“In my thirty-three months on the Fresno Unified School District Board of Education as an elected member, I have addressed the willful failure to follow this law on numerous occasions with Superintendent Nelson in private meetings as well as in public in the presence of the other board members. This law has been violated hundreds of times in the last thirty-three months. Each violation putting our students and staff at risk.
“The Fresno Unified School District Board of Education members who were present for some or all of these frequent and repeated discussions of this matter are Board Members Valerie Davis, Keisha Thomas, Elisabeth Johansson Rosas Chavez, and Genoveva Islas.
“These elected members have responsibility to ensure that Superintendent Robert Nelson follows the education code and the law in the day to day operation of Fresno Unified School District. These elected school board members failure to fulfill their oversight roll has put hundreds of students and staff members at risk.
“California Code, Education Code - EDC § 49079 states, in part: A school district shall inform the teacher of each pupil who has engaged in, or is reasonably suspected to have engaged in, any of the acts described in any of the subdivisions, except subdivision (h), of Section 48900 or in Section 48900.2 , 48900.3 , 48900.4 , or 48900.7 that the pupil engaged in, or is reasonably suspected to have engaged in, those acts. The district shall provide the information to the teacher based upon any records that the district maintains in its ordinary course of business, or receives from a law enforcement agency, regarding a pupil described in this section.
“An officer or employee of a school district who knowingly fails to provide information about a pupil who has engaged in, or who is reasonably suspected to have engaged in, the acts referred to in subdivision (a) is guilty of a misdemeanor, which is punishable by confinement in the county jail for a period not to exceed six months, or by a fine not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000), or both.”
-Trustee Terry Slatic
FUSD Statement
“Contrary to Trustee Major Slatic’s press release earlier today, Fresno Unified School District is in full compliance with the notification procedures in California Education Code Section 49079. When Trustee Major Slatic raised these same concerns two years ago, the District responded with a Board Communication dated October 4th, 2019 that details Fresno Unified’s compliance with each of the requirements in this Education Code provision. (attached). In addition, how we comply with Section 49079 is clearly stated in our Collective Bargaining Agreement with the Fresno Teachers Association in Article 63, Section 3.
“Lastly, according to Board Bylaw 9010, all authorized public statements made on behalf of the Governing Board shall be made by the Board President or, if appropriate, by the Superintendent at the direction of the Board President. No individual Board member shall make public statements in the name of the Board. Trustee Major Slatic violated Board Bylaw 9010 by utilizing the District’s official letterhead to publicize his own personal viewpoints without the Board President’s approval and without clarifying to the media and the public that his statements are his alone and do not reflect the viewpoint of the Board.”
-Fresno Unified
This story was originally published August 30, 2021 at 1:58 PM.