Oakley School Board Resigns After President Steps Down Over 'Hot Mic' Remarks
OAKLEY (CBS SF) -- One day after the president of the Oakley school board resigned over disparaging comments about parents that she and other board members made on a video conference call the rest of the board trustees followed her lead.
The district's superintendent, Greg Hetrick, released a statement early Friday evening announcing the mass resignations after the social media explosion mushroomed following the release of the public meeting's recording. Board president Lisa Brizendine had resigned Thursday, although there was no public announcement made at the time.
The statement stated: "Board Members Kim Beede, Erica Ippolito, Richie Masadas ask that the statement be shared with you: We deeply regret the comments that were made in the meeting of the Board of Education earlier this week. As trustees, we realize it is our responsibility to model the conduct that we expect of our students and staff, and it is our obligation to build confidence in District leadership; our comments failed in both regards, and for this we offer our sincerest apology... To help facilitate the healing process, we will be resigning our positions... effective immediately. The superintendent will be working with the Costa County Office of Education to address the vacancies on the Board of Education."
The statement said that all four of the trustees would continue as "interim board members" until new members are selected "in accordance with Education Code 5094."
The code states: "If for any reason vacancies should occur in a majority of the offices on any school... the president of the county board of education having jurisdiction may appoint members of the county board of education to the district governing board until new members of the governing board are elected or appointed."
Friday night, Contra Costa County Superintendent of Schools Lynn Mackey released a statement and confirmed receiving the resignations of all four members of the Oakley Board of Trustees. A fifth seat was vacant.
In response to the resignations, county Board of Education President Annette Lewis has appointed two members of the county board to serve as temporary members of the Oakley Union Elementary School District Board. A third appointment is pending.
Lewis has appointed herself and fellow county board member Mike Maxwell to the Oakley board. A third seat will be filled by county board member Consuelo Lara or Alaina Villeda, who was appointed by the previous Oakley board before the resignations. Villeda has not yet been sworn into office and has not indicated whether she will take the seat. If the three appointees serve, the board would have a voting quorum."The appointments are temporary," Lewis said.
"I look forward to working with the OUESD community to determine the best course of action to fill these seats with people who will represent the best interests of students, families, teachers and school staff," Lewis said.
Hetrick declined to answer any questions Friday. Trustees did not reply to emails this week.
The board president, Lisa Brizendine, stepped down Thursday night after the controversy became public and triggered a firestorm reaction on social media.
Brizendine could be heard on the zoom call saying -- "(parents) don't know what we know behind the scenes and it's really unfortunate that they want to pick on us because they want their babysitters back."
Her name had been removed from the district's website early Friday morning. Brizendine has also deleted her @LisaBriz2 Twitter account.
Superintendent Hetrick was describing a proposal to limit public meeting comments during the Wednesday meeting to three-minute audio clips made in advance when trustee Richie Masadas noted, "It's easy to hide behind a screen."
Apparently unaware that the public video feed was still live, trustee Kim Beede said "Are we alone? If you're going to call me out. I'm going to f--- you up."
Hetrick issued a statement Thursday saying, "Last night at the Oakley Union Elementary School District Regular Board Meeting there were unfortunate and truly inappropriate comments made that were heard by many. These comments are not typical and more importantly they are not what the community should expect from our school district."
He added, "The comments made were not in alignment with our Vision and are definitely not what any of us stand for as leaders. I know that we lost trust with the community. I will not make excuses for what happened or why it happened. I am the superintendent. I am responsible and accountable and I am truly sorry for what took place... I know that our students deserve better from us."
An online petition seeking the resignation or recall of the school board trustees was posted soon after the video became public. The site had more than 5,100 signers and rapidly climbing by Thursday afternoon.
Hetrick issued a statement Thursday saying, "Last night at the Oakley Union Elementary School District Regular Board Meeting there were unfortunate and truly inappropriate comments made that were heard by many. These comments are not typical and more importantly they are not what the community should expect from our school district."
He added, "The comments made were not in alignment with our Vision and are definitely not what any of us stand for as leaders. I know that we lost trust with the community. I will not make excuses for what happened or why it happened. I am the superintendent. I am responsible and accountable and I am truly sorry for what took place... I know that our students deserve better from us."
"I was listening in to the meeting and it was shocking!" said PTA member Katie Patterson, who has two children in the district and just learned about the board stepping down Friday night. "Shocking what they said ... understandable that they resigned," she added.
© Copyright 2021 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Bay City News and KPIX 5's Juliette Goodrich contributed to this report