Lawsuit says Sacramento school district made teacher layoff decision behind closed doors
The city teachers union filed a lawsuit against the Sacramento City Unified School District on Monday, claiming the district unlawfully engaged in discussions regarding budget cuts in closed session meetings in recent months.
The Sacramento City Teachers Association lawsuit claims the financially-troubled district violated California’s open meeting law, which details the provisions of when and how the public can be excluded from closed session meetings, and what can be discussed during those meetings.
The teachers union said the district had closed session meetings in February and March, and then adopted resolutions for layoffs that relied on discussions around budgetary matters. The district voted to lay off 163 teachers in recent weeks in an effort to identify a $35 million budget gap and prevent a state takeover.
The provisions in the Ralph M. Brown Act allow for closed session meetings, but mandates discussion of “general budgetary matters in open session so that the board’s deliberations are open to the public and available for public scrutiny and input,” according to the lawsuit filed in Sacramento Superior Court.
The district denies the union’s allegations and said the focus should be on saving the district of 48,000 students from a state takeover.
“Although the district does not believe it has violated the Brown Act, we take these allegations seriously and will provide an appropriate response through the legal process,” read a statement from the district. “In the meantime, we will continue encouraging SCTA leaders to come to the table and commence negotiations that are focused on saving our schools.”
The union said the decision to lay off teachers should be “null and void.”
“If the district is to be believed, the school board is making huge decisions that will impact the CONTINUE READING: Teachers union lawsuit says layoff call made in closed session | The Sacramento Bee
