Fresno schools spent a lot of money investigating one elected trustee. Here’s how much

Fresno Unified school board member Terry Slatic has cost the district more than $250,000 in attorneys fees and related investigation in less than three years, according to a copy of a resolution seeking to discipline the controversial trustee.

On Monday, Slatic lashed out at his fellow trustees, blaming them for the spiraling cost of investigations, and blasted the school board as “the biggest hypocrisy in local politics.”

“The trustees I serve with are massive hypocrites; they are massive narrative spinners,” Slatic told The Bee’s Education Lab on Monday. “Those investigations aren’t going to ever do anything. They’re simply a way to say ‘we don’t like Slatic.”

Slatic faces a public censure Wednesday during the FUSD regular school board meeting, his second since his election in 2018. The latest calls to formally rebuke Slatic, a retired U.S. Marine Corps officer, stem from his highly publicized outburst during the board’s Aug. 25 meeting.

Objecting to what he said amounted to the district cutting off Slatic’s access to FUSD Superintendent Bob Nelson, the disgruntled trustee staged a sort-of filibuster to protest the new meeting restrictions. Slatic said he used to meet with Nelson “two to three times a month” and said his fellow trustees have “taken away” that opportunity.

FUSD Board President Valerie Davis ended the board meeting after less than a full hour following numerous failed attempts to silence Slatic, who continued to speak even after his microphone was shut off and parents were trying to address the board directly.

In the following days, Slatic faced major criticism from some trustees and other school officials. However, Slatic fought back, accusing the school board and Nelson of violating California education laws that require the district to inform teachers when a transfer student has a 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.” Slatic filed a formal complaint with the Fresno County District Attorney’s Public Integrity Unit. An update on that case was not immediately available Monday.

Nelson has brushed off Slatic’s allegations, saying the district remains in full compliance with the last. He also said Slatic had raised this issue before.

Slatic’s incidents cost FUSD more than $250k, school board says

But the tensions surrounding Slatic and the school board go beyond the most recent spat.

Wednesday’s censure resolution details a lengthy history of controversies sparked by Slatic after almost three years on the board.

A Fresno Bee review of financial records in August 2019 showed the incidents involving Slatic cost the district more than $100,000 in his first eight months on the school board. According to Wednesday’s resolution, that number has swelled to more than $250,000.

In 2019, the school board formally censured Slatic following multiple confrontations 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.

Those investigations 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.”

In October last year, other trustees also criticized Slatic 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.

But Slatic insists his fellow trustees have singled him out, writing special new board rules that he says are just for him. Slatic said he never supported any of the investigations and said the other board members were responsible for spending that money.

“They choose to spend a bunch of money investigating me to what end?” Slatic questioned.

The FUSD school board is scheduled to discuss Slatic’s possible second censure Wednesday night.

This story was originally published October 11, 2021 at 11:45 AM.