WATSONVILLE—The Pajaro Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees on Wednesday considered several changes to board bylaws that regulate attendance at meetings, student trustees and allowing anonymous public comment during public meetings.
There was no action taken. The proposed changes will return to the board during its May 26 meeting.
“Tonight is our opportunity to discuss options and provide direction,” Board President Jennifer Holm said.
If approved, trustees who miss meetings could lose all or part of the $400 monthly stipend they receive. Missing too many might mean they lose the full medical benefits for themselves and their families.
That discussion follows revelations that Trustee Georgia Acosta has missed 28 board meetings since 2016, by far the most of her fellow trustees, and of the dozens of elected officials surveyed in a May 14 Pajaronian story. That investigation found that few board bylaws provide a penalty for missed meetings.
“If a board member misses a certain amount of meetings, I think they should lose their benefits in addition to the loss of their stipend,” Trustee Kim De Serpa said.
The student trustee could cast a “preferential vote” before the other trustees vote, although the Ralph M. Brown Act prohibits their vote from counting when the trustees make their official vote.
This change would also require the student to go through California School Board Association training, and to familiarize themselves with the agenda information. In addition, the superintendent and board president would work with the student in preparing to make their vote.
Also discussed Wednesday was whether the district should continue to allow the public to submit anonymous comments for public meetings.
That became common practice when public board meetings began to be held virtually under Covid-19 restrictions.
Without a name attached, comments often devolved into defamatory, bullying and harsh language, Holm said. If the change to that bylaw is approved on May 26, people wishing to comment anonymously will have to give their name and email address to the board secretary.
The board is also considering changes to the amount of time to be given for public comment.
Current rules allow two minutes per comment, with an unlimited amount of time for each agenda item. That can be a problem for some of the more controversial issues. In 2008, for example, when the board was considering several large budget cuts, more than 80 people signed up to speak, and each was given three minutes. At 240 minutes, the board listened to more than four hours of comments.
More recently, district spokeswoman Alicia Jimenez read more than 10 hours of public comment after Superintendent Michelle Rodriguez was abruptly terminated.
If approved, each speaker will be given two minutes to speak, with 30 minutes given to each item. That number could be increased to one hour for more controversial items.
The trustees are also considering rules laying out how, and when, the trustees can contact and use legal counsel.
