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The Tale of Two Stories

Another observation regarding the March 9 meeting revolves around the strict regulations the new Board President is implementing during meetings.  Public comments are limited in time and must be strictly related to the agenda item.  While this new structure saves time and runs the meetings with a bit more efficiency, it also seems to allow the district to stifle comments they don't want to address and limits the openness and transparency of the district.  When the Board president was asked what the district will do about the $330,000 received from the "A" Street Project, the Board President simply dismissed the question claiming it had no relation to the Board agenda item being discussed.  A district of our size that prides itself on transparancy and openness should have no problem addressing important issues like that to the public. 

As the district pushes for a series of "take backs" from the employees in negotiations, one would think that the district would attempt to push for positive relations with labor in all other areas.  Sadly, that is not the case.  Here are some of the ways district is moving forward regarding its relations with the teachers and classified. 

  •  The district refuses to crunch numbers for a retirement benefit that could entice up to five people to retire.  This is baffling since getting five people to retire will help reduce our budget deficit and hopefully rescind pinks slips.
  • For the second month in a row the superintendent held a meeting with certificated personnel on the second Tuesday of the month, which is contractually reserved for the monthly union meeting.  The GFCCE has already sent the superintendent a letter and spent thirty minutes discussing the previous infraction with her. 
  • The Board president, Superintendent and CBO have not made any efforts to keep the lines of communication open with labor during these difficult and challenging times.  This is despite the fact that the GFCCE has made several attempts to establish those lines of communication.  For example, the GFCCE President has taken the superintendent out to lunch and he has made several attempts to establish a line of communication with the Board president. These efforts have, to this point, been met with silence from the district.  No efforts have been made by the distirct to keep lines of communication open.  Not once has the superintendent, CBO and/or Board president made any gesture or effort to reciprocate and offer ways to work with the union or to keep lines of communication open.  (Mr. Gemma occasionally called the GFCCE to discuss matter.) At this point, the District is making a very clear statement:  that they don't care what teachers and classified think.  I hope we can see why it is essential for us to start up our political action committee and to try to change the culture in this distirct.