West Contra Costa Unified to get legal opinion on board president appointment

In response to an outcry at several school board meetings this month, West Contra Costa Unified will be getting a legal opinion on the board’s Dec. 15 decision to appoint board member Otheree Christian as president over Jamela Smith-Folds, which critics say circumvented typical board procedures.

At the time, Jamela Smith-Folds held the position of clerk for the five-person board under Mister Phillips, whose one-year term as board president was up. The board’s bylaws call for the clerk to replace the outgoing president and for a vote to determine the new clerk. This format is supposed to be followed except in “unusual or exceptional cases,” according to the bylaws. However, the bylaws also give board members “the ultimate discretion to elect or not elect any board member for any office.”

Phillips, at the Dec. 15 meeting, nominated Christian to be president, who voted for himself along with Phillips and board member Leslie Reckler.

Community members at school board meetings this month questioned the legality of the board’s decision. They also pointed out that Phillips, himself, was passed over as board president in 2018 when he was clerk, and decried the decision of the board at the time.

School board member Demetrio Gonzalez-Hoy at Wednesday’s school board meeting said he and Christian had requested Superintendent Chris Hurst “get a legal on the topic of the board president election process,” which Hurst will present at the next regular school board meeting Feb. 2. Hurst also brought on professional registered parliamentarians to oversee future meetings.