Trustee Blasts Anaheim Union Vote

A trustee with the Anaheim Union High School District has filed a formal complaint this week against fellow board members, alleging that they violated the state’s open meeting laws when they voted in closed session to settle an American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit and did not tell the public.

Alexandria Coronado also alleged that at their Feb. 22 meeting, board members discussed ways to avoid telling the public they had approved a settlement over books about gays and lesbians that district officials had pulled from a school library. Coronado said she cast the only dissenting vote, according to the complaint dated March 1.

However, the district’s legal counsel, Kyle Brown, said no settlement has been reached. He denied all of Coronado’s allegations.

“We are way premature here,” Brown said. “There’s absolutely no violation of the Brown Act. As we speak, we are still negotiating with the ACLU about whether or not we’re going to settle, and if so, on what terms. As soon as there is a settlement--if there is one--it will be made public and reported on.”

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An attorney for the ACLU on Friday said she is working with district officials on a settlement but no final settlement has been signed. She declined to discuss details of the negotiations.

The ACLU sued the district last December, alleging that district officials violated 1st Amendment laws when they removed biographies of gay men and lesbians from the Orangeview Junior High School library. It was the first time the ACLU of Southern California sued a school district over censorship.

The books are part of a series called “Lives of Notable Gay Men and Lesbians.” Among those profiled are economist John Maynard Keynes, author Willa Cather and the Greek poet Sappho.

Several concerned parents were in the audience because the item was on the closed-session agenda and they expected a vote on the matter.

Coronado, who opposes settling the lawsuit, said that is exactly what happened. The board voted 3-1 to give their attorney clear instructions to settle the case with no amendments to the ACLU’s demands, she said.

“They were accepting a settlement,” Coronado’s attorney James V. Lacy said. “This was a final action.”

The board’s failure to report the vote to the public violates the Brown Act, the state’s open meetings law, only if that action finalized the settlement, said Terry Francke, general counsel for the California First Amendment Coalition.

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Coronado said that after she refused to vote in favor of the settlement, board members tried to coerce her to change her vote and also launched into a nearly 10-minute discussion about how to get around telling the public about the vote.

“I will not be part of criminal misconduct,” she said.

She is demanding that board members publicly report the closed session vote, admit in open session that they failed to report the vote and publicly apologize to her for attempting to influence her to change her vote.

If board members do not agree to these conditions within 30 days, Coronado will sue, Lacy said.