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E-mail StoryKHSD may face suit over input dispute
| Thursday, Dec 6 2007 10:05 PM
Last Updated: Friday, Dec 7 2007 8:20 AM
A couple are considering litigation against the Kern High School District for what they believe was a violation of California open-meeting law.
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7 p.m. Monday Dec. 10
5801 Sundale Ave.
For more information contact spokesman John Teves at 827-3172.
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Trustee Bob Hampton rubs his forehead as he listens to people address the Kern High School District board regarding the proposed poster.
The poster in the midst of the hubbub.
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Trustees voted on Nov. 5 to hang a newly designed poster displaying the nation's motto, which the public had never seen, in every district classroom, potentially costing the district $12,000.
Michael and Jessica Korcok, who have spoken to the board on several occasions, said Thursday night that perceived violations of the Brown Act prompted them to send a "cure and correct demand letter" to the board. They asked the board to rescind the vote and not discuss or act on it again so long as several of the current school board members are still in place.
"The behind-the-scenes conclusion of what to do without public input (brought him to act)," Michael Korcok said. "We saw person after person go up there (to give public comment on an earlier proposal) having no idea the majority of the trustees had already agreed that a (different proposal would be made)."
The California Supreme Court has ruled that governing bodies cannot introduce new items for action without public comment if they are substantially different from original or similar proposals, according to Terry Francke, general counsel of Californians Aware, a First Amendment watchdog group based in Sacramento. They also cannot form a consensus in a series of meetings outside the boardroom, Michael Korcok said.
Allegations from local couple
This is what the Korcoks believe happened when trustee Bryan Batey introduced the new poster, with a new cost structure, without the public's ability to review and comment on the proposal. Trustee Joel Heinrichs had been involved in the new poster's development and Trustee Chad Vegas commented favorably during the Nov. 5 meeting that Batey had shared the new poster with him earlier in the day before the vote.
"When people had been led to expect a certain option or array of options or choices and the one that is actually presented and adopted is significantly different from the ones that have been placed on the agenda, then that decision can be voided because people had no ability to prepare themselves," Francke said, "even (if) it wasn't intentionally done to deceive the people."
Messages left for Batey were not immediately returned Thursday evening.
The board has 30 days from the date it received the Korcoks' letter to respond in writing as to its intent to either correct or not correct the allegations, according to "The CalAware Guide to Open Meetings in California," written by Francke. The Korcoks then have 15 days to file a suit.
'This is about governance'
The issue is now back on the agenda for Monday's meeting, and the Korcoks said that while they have yet to receive a letter from the board, they believe the move was out of concern over possible litigation brought by their letter.
They did receive correspondence from Superintendent Don Carter notifying them that the issue would be taken up again Monday.
But district spokesman John Teves said Carter's letter was simply a courtesy because they had placed an alternative proposal on a previous agenda and was not related to the Korcoks' letter to the board.
The latest board action may not be enough to quell the Korcoks' concerns.
"This is about governance," Mr. Korcok said, a Bakersfield College communications professor. "The rescinding of the decision, I'm not sure it really addresses anything legally or as a practical matter."
Mistake on poster
Earlier Thursday, a press statement notified local media that Batey submitted two agenda items addressing an error in the motto section of the poster and the lack of public comment on the new design before the board took action.
The first item retracts the Nov. 5 approval of a new poster displaying the U.S. Constitution, Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights and both national mottos.
The second calls for its approval with changes.
"Because my motion in November was to approve a specific layout for the poster, I thought it was best that we let the board members review and approve those changes at our meeting here next Monday," Batey said earlier. "An added benefit is that we'll be able to accept additional comments from the public on our individual poster."
The new poster, which Teves said will be available for the public to view before the public comment period, corrects the motto portion of the poster, which stated "E Pluribus Unum" had been approved by Congress as the nation's motto in 1776 when it had actually only been used as the de facto motto after its inclusion on the Great Seal of the United States a few years later, Teves said.
The mistake was made when information pulled from the Internet and attributed to the Boy Scouts of America was used to present a concept design but accidentally became part of the final approved poster, Teves said.
"The poster will remain a patriotic poster that places the nation's motto in the appropriate historical and educational context," Batey said.
Also, the district acknowledged concerns that the public did not view or have the ability to comment about the revised poster before the board approved it, according to the news release. Teves said he did not think laws were violated by presenting the poster after the close of public comment.
No mention was made in the news release or in talking with Teves of the Korcoks, their concern or the possibility of litigation.