Antioch School Board President Calls Special Meeting to Talk “Use of Force”

The Antioch Unified School District announced that it will hold a Special Meeting to hold a study session for District-Wide Use of Force Policies and Procedures. The meeting is set for Thursday, Sept. 2  at 6:00 pm.

This item was requested by Board President Ellie Householder in response to the video coming out of a student being detained by campus security–the District has since issued a statement after both Board President Ellie Householder and Antioch City Councilwoman Tamisha Torres-Walker shared the video.

According to the agenda items, no details were included on what will be discussed within the two items:

1. District-wide Use of Force Policies and Procedures (Householder)
2. Board of Education Notification Policies and Procedures (Householder)

Householder announced the special meeting on social media, nearly 24-hours prior to the agenda being published. With no details, a Public Records Request (see document) was submitted before the agenda was released seeking details on the meeting.

Here is what Householder requested from the Superintendent at 3:45 pm on August 30:

Stephanie,

I am disappointed we couldn’t connect by phone.

I have consulted with Vice President Dr. Lewis, and we both agreed that there are unanswered questions regarding the video of the incident at Antioch High on 8/27.

Please take this email as my official notice calling a Special Meeting for Thursday, September 2^nd at 6pm to investigate the incident. There will only need to be one item for discussion/action by Board: “Inquiry into Social Media Post Circulated on August 27 incident at Antioch High School.”

• I would like AUSD staff involved to be available for questions, including administration and site safety.
• Additionally, please invite Strategic Threat Management since we contract with them.
• Please attach with this agenda item (1) Strategic Threat Management’s contract, (2) job duties for site safety personnel, and (3) and written policies that outline how violent situations regarding students is handled
  – this can be Antioch High specific, Board Policy, and District’s safety plan-anything to help the Board understand scenarios and responses
• Lastly, please provide any data we have on student arrests for the last 4-5 years, including but not limited to number of arrests, reason, school site, grade, gender, and race. Typically, I would only ask for 3 years of data, however, because of COVID, I am extending that time span.”

Please do not hesitate to call or email me with follow up questions or clarifications.

Ellie Householder, MMP,
School Board President

The next day, on August 31, at 8:43 am, Superintendent Stephanie Anello then responded on by outlining she could schedule the meeting, but could not do so as directed due to potential ethics, employees rights and student privacy rights.

Good morning President Householder,

I am happy to schedule a Special Meeting. Unfortunately, I can’t agree to the agenda items as requested for the following reasons:

– This is an ongoing investigation (at the time of your request, staff as had less than 24-hours to investigate);

– You are asking me to violate employees’ employment rights;

– You are asking me to violate a students right to privacy;

– You are breaching my employment contract;

– You are violating Board Policy

I am sure there are many other ethical violations included in this request.

The one item I do believe the Board may discuss at this time is the STM contract. However, I want to go on record as stating I believe that absent of an investigation, this is inappropriate at this time. However, if this is what you would like the Board to consider, please advice and I will calendar the Special Meeting.

Sincerely,
Stephanie.

Householder then requested the Boards Attorney.

By 12:14 pm on August 31, Householder updated her agenda item requests to state “The item for discussion.action by Board: “District-wide use of force policies and procedures” while asking her to be prepared to walk the Board and the community through use of force in AUSD as part of the overall District Safety Plan.

In a follow up email (Sept. 1 at 11:55 am), Anello told Householder than no single board member can direct the work of staff and would not be preparing anything for Thursday night. Rather, it would be an item for discussion so that she could get direction from the Board as a whole.

Email Exchange via Public Records Request:  CPRA 9 1 21

Meeting Details:

Thursday, Sept. 2 at 6:00 pm
Agenda: https://go.boarddocs.com/ca/ausd/Board.nsf/Public

Public Comments:
Comments can be submitted via an online form at https://tinyurl.com/ausd-public-comment-card  or by email to [email protected] .

Education Code regarding Special meeting

A special meeting of the governing board of a school district may be called at any time by the presiding officer of the board, or by a majority of the members thereof, by delivering personally or by mail written notice to each member of the board, and to each local newspaper of general circulation, radio, or television station requesting notice in writing. The notice shall be delivered personally or by mail at least 24 hours before the time of the meeting as specified in the notice. The call and notice shall specify the time and place of the special meeting and the business to be transacted. No other business shall be considered at those meetings by the governing board. The written notice may be dispensed with as to any member who at or prior to the time the meeting convenes files with the clerk or secretary of the board a written waiver of notice. The waiver may be given by telegram. The written notice may also be dispensed with as to any member who is actually present at the meeting at the time it convenes.

The call and notice shall be posted at least 24 hours prior to the special meeting in a location that is freely accessible to members of the public and district employees.

(Amended by Stats. 1986, Ch. 641, Sec. 1.)

Here is the excerpt from Government Code – Brown Act – Open Meeting Laws; Special Meetings:

1. a) A special meeting may be called at any time by the presiding officer of the legislative body of a local agency, or by a majority of the members of the legislative body, by delivering written notice to each member of the legislative body and to each local newspaper of general circulation and radio or television station requesting notice in writing and posting a notice on the local agency’s Internet Web site, if the local agency has one. The notice shall be delivered personally or by any other means and shall be received at least 24 hours before the time of the meeting as specified in the notice. The call and notice shall specify the time and place of the special meeting and the business to be transacted or discussed. No other business shall be considered at these meetings by the legislative body. The written notice may be dispensed with as to any member who at or prior to the time the meeting convenes files with the clerk or secretary of the legislative body a written waiver of notice. The waiver may be given by telegram. The written notice may also be dispensed with as to any member who is actually present at the meeting at the time it convenes.

The call and notice shall be posted at least 24 hours prior to the special meeting in a location that is freely accessible to members of the public.

Here is the excerpt from our BB 9320 Meetings and Notices regarding who can call a Special Meeting:

Special Meetings

Special meetings of the Board may be called at any time by the presiding officer or a majority of the Board members.  However, a special meeting shall not be called regarding the salary, salary schedule, or other compensation of the Superintendent, assistant superintendent, or other management employee as described in Government Code 3511.1. (Government Code 54956)