High school trustee accused of conflict of interest

Angelique Flores

HUNTINGTON BEACH -- A high school district trustee is being accused of

conflict of interest after she made recommendations to Fountain Valley

school officials on the needs of a special education student.

Last month the Fountain Valley School District wrote a complaint

letter to the Huntington Beach Union High School District accusing its

two-year trustee Sallie Dashiell of conflict of interest.

On three separate occasions in October and December, Dashiell attended

Individual Education Plan meetings for the Fountain Valley student. The

Fountain Valley School District is a member of the West Orange County

Consortium for Special Education, and the Huntington Beach Union High

School District is the responsible educational agency of that consortium.

“In my 10 years on the board, I haven’t seen a letter from another

district before,” said Huntington Beach Union High School Board President

Michael Simons.

The letter states that the Dashiell, 49, acted as an advocate for the

student and her action is “inappropriate and conflicts with her duties

and responsibilities as a trustee.”

“We didn’t know how to cease this behavior without a complaint,” said

Fountain Valley School District Supt. Marc Ecker.

The Fountain Valley district asked that Dashiell withdraw from the

process.

Dashiell contends she acted only as an observer and professional at

the meetings and a board member responding to community complaints.

As a licensed speech pathologist who specializes in communication

problems, Dashiell was asked by the parents of the special education

student to assess their child’s communication abilities.

She did the assessment for free and attended the Individual Education

Plan meetings after hearing complaints from the community about the

process of getting professional services for children with special needs.

Although she did speak about her assessment of the child’s needs,

Dashiell said she was not acting as an advocate.

The child had an advocate, Theodora Parnavelas, who said her role was

clearly different from Dashiell’s.

“I’m there to assist the parents in presenting their views . . . to

talk on behalf of [the family],” Parnavelas said. “I did not provide

services, did not assess the child [as Dashiell did.]

But Fountain Valley officials say Dashiell’s role is not proper.

“We’re not arguing against advocates, just any perceived conflict of

interest,” Ecker said. “The process needs to be as pure as possible.”

Simons said board members usually do not attend Individual Education

Plan meetings, except sometimes as an an observer, which he has done

himself.

These meetings sometimes result in costly decisions, sometimes

precedent-setting decisions, Ecker said.

“You don’t want a situation where an individual is voting on one and

is instrumental in recommending it,” Ecker said. “We’re not attorneys, we

just know and believe that something is not right. There should not be

any conflict -- legal or moral -- when it involves something as important

as decisions that effect students.”

Fountain Valley does not plan on taking legal action and will not

conduct any investigation.

“We just ask that her involvement cease,” Ecker said. “Whether or not

it is a conflict has to be determined. [Huntington Beach Union High

School District] will have to make that determination.”

The Huntington Beach board referred the matter to its attorney to look

into the facts and report back to the board whether there is a conflict

of interest. Attorneys may consult with the Fair Political Practices

Commission to help make the final determination.

The matter may come back for discussion at the next board meeting in

February, said Huntington Beach Union High School District Supt. Susan

Roper.

“When you’re an elected official, you need to be clear beyond a shadow

of doubt that you are not putting yourself in a conflict-of-interest

situation,” Ecker said.

Dashiell feels the community supports her actions by the phone calls

she has received.

“It is unfortunate that some would wish to limit a board member’s

visibility and communication among members of the community,” she said.