Hayward schools: Open government advocate says public comment needed before renewing charter

HAYWARD, Calif. — The president of the Alameda County Board of Education violated the state’s open meeting law when she refused to let members of the public speak before the board voted last week to conditionally renew FAME Public Charter School’s charter, a media law attorney said.

Jacki Fox Ruby, who has come under fire by some community members for her decision, maintains she did nothing illegal because individuals had their chance to speak at two public hearings late last year. Those who missed the previous meetings should not be granted exceptions, she said.

“I believe in the democratic process, and I understand that people are upset. But they also have to follow the process,” she said.

FAME, which serves predominantly immigrant families from the Middle East and Southeast Asia, has campuses in Fremont and San Leandro and serves more than 1,400 students throughout the Bay Area. It plans to launch the country’s first Arabic-English immersion program and had applied for a five-year charter renewal.

After the board voted 5-2 to conditionally approve extending the charter, Maram Alaiwat, FAME’s executive director, said in a statement that the board “is truly recognizing our record of academic success and service to underserved Bay Area communities. … We will continue to provide high-quality, innovative educational opportunities to best serve the Bay Area’s diverse communities.”

Although the board granted a charter extension, some trustees continued to express concerns about FAME’s business practices, following an audit last year that found that the school failed to report the full wages of its executive director on state and federal tax forms and overcompensated her in benefits.

Alaiwat said some of the errors resulted from miscommunication with the county education office, which handled payroll for FAME, and that such issues have been resolved.

The audit included 42 recommended corrective measures.

In granting the charter renewal, the board set a condition that FAME must implement all the changes by March 1, or the school will shut down after June.

Before the vote, some people arrived at the meeting expecting to speak. But the board president said she did not allow comments because there were 200 people in attendance, and the board already had received a binder full of letters from people commenting on the issue.

“We already had the public hearing in November. “… I didn’t feel — (and) staff didn’t feel — it was right to then open it up again because we had not announced (on the agenda) that we would have people speak once again,” Ruby said.

When asked who at the county Office of Education she had consulted, Ruby said, “I don’t think that’s pertinent. … Let us not make a big brouhaha because that harms any educational entity.”

Sheila Jordan, superintendent of the Alameda County Office of Education, did not attend the meeting but said she had consulted with the associate superintendent of business and legal counsel and spoken with Ruby before the meeting.

“As a public official, I think it’s always important to be as inclusive as possible. However, “… as I told (Ruby), my understanding is the prerogative was hers. The law did not demand that she have a full additional hearing. That’s how it’s been explained to me,” Jordan said.

But Jim Ewert, legal counsel for the California Newspaper Publishers Association, said Ruby’s interpretation of the law is “inconsistent with the state Constitution.”

“The board president’s action limited the right of public access,” he said.

If people start to repeat points already made, “then the board president at that time could appropriately ask that people limit their comments to new points. But that’s not what happened. The president just summarily cut off discussion. There was no way she could have known if there would have been new discussion,” Ewert said.

Although a public hearing was held in November, the board did not discuss FAME’s audit — and the questionable findings — until December.

“Now, in the first meeting since the audit was discussed, people wanted to talk about whether the charter should be renewed in light of that information. I just don’t see the harm in it,” Ewert said.

One of those individuals who had expected to speak, Fremont school board member Larry Sweeney, said he did not have time to review the audit before the December meeting.

“I wouldn’t go there and say something on the fly if I haven’t seen something, especially something as complicated as (an audit),” he said.

A desire to expedite meetings is not reason to deny people from speaking, he said.

“If (members) don’t want to spend their time in meetings, they should have thought about that before running for the board. If they don’t have time to listen to public comment, then they’re not representing the people,” Sweeney said.

The county Board of Education plans to hold another public hearing March 9 to review whether FAME has implemented the changes asked of it.