Slatic accuses Fresno school leaders of violating laws that protect teachers — again
Fresno Unified Trustee Terry Slatic filed another complaint with the Fresno County District Attorney’s Public Integrity Unit, accusing district leadership of violating state education laws regarding student privacy — less than a year after filing a complaint alleging violations of the same law.
The latest complaint, filed Friday, referenced an open letter penned by Hoover High School teacher Sara Reyes and addressed to Superintendent Bob Nelson earlier this month.
The letter, posted on the Fresno Teachers Association’s Facebook page, outlines the teacher’s experiences with a student who she discovered had a history of threatening violence against students and teachers.
She wrote that the district did not brief her on his behavioral history or equip her to handle it. “One particularly concerning (disciplinary) entry was a threat about killing people on campus with a knife. Yet, this was deemed ‘not credible,’” Reyes wrote.
“It appears that Ms. Reyes has experienced the result of FUSD failing to comply with Education Code Section 49079 which requires teachers to be notified in advance of the violent records of their students,” Slatic wrote.
Slatic’s complaint asks the office to investigate whether Fresno Unified violated that law, which Slatic noted is a “misdemeanor punishable by six months in jail, a $1000 fine or both for each offense,” if investigators prove the district “knowingly failed” to provide the information.
In an email to The Bee early Saturday, Jerry Stanley, Fresno County’s assistant district attorney, confirmed receiving Slatic’s complaint.
“Mr. Slatic’s complaint is pending review and assessment,” Stanley said. “Any investigative action to be taken will be decided after the review is complete.”
District spokesperson Nikki Henry brushed off Slatic’s complaint late Friday, writing in an email that the district remains “confident in our compliance with Ed Code Section 49079” and would “refer back to the determination from the (Public Integrity Unit) on this exact issue just earlier this year.”
Slatic, in September 2021, accused the district of violating the same law, saying FUSD has broken that law “hundreds of times” over more than two years. The 2021 complaint specifically accused Nelson and several trustees of breaking that law.
A months-long investigation by the DA’s Office concluded there was “no evidence” that Fresno Unified has a systemic problem of failing to inform teachers when violent or otherwise troubled students are transferred to new classrooms.
Slatic also raised the same issue in 2019, but did not involve the DA’s Office, officials have noted previously.
But this time, Slatic is referencing a teacher’s complaint about a specific incident.
Henry said FUSD would cooperate with any investigation.
FTA President Manuel Bonilla wrote in a statement to the Ed Lab that Reyes’ open letter “demonstrates how the district seems more concerned about areas of our contract or ed. code” than supporting “students, educators and the classroom.”
In the district’s response to Reyes’ letter earlier this month, Henry defended FUSD’s handling of student discipline and campus security.
“First, there seems to be a narrative as if Fresno Unified does not take action and use student discipline, when in fact our district suspends and expels students at a higher rate than districts across the state,” she wrote. “We do not say that as a point of pride, as we know the significant negative impacts of expulsion on the potential trajectory of a student’s life.”
Nelson responded to Reyes’ letter in a comment on FTA’s post, writing that the district would discuss the return of uniformed police officers to the district’s middle school campuses at the next board meeting.
The board passed a new agreement with the Fresno Police Department Wednesday to start phasing full-time, armed police officers onto all of the district’s middle school campuses, starting in the fall.
The Education Lab is a local journalism initiative that highlights education issues critical to the advancement of the San Joaquin Valley. It is funded by donors. Learn about The Bee’s Education Lab at its website.
This story was originally published June 17, 2022 at 7:35 PM.
