Liberty Elementary board hires executive director of special services, votes to enter executive session on superintendent review and legal advice

The Liberty Elementary School District Governing Board on Aug. 5 unanimously approved the hiring of Dr. Bridal Avila as the district's executive director of special services and later voted 3-2 to convene two combined executive sessions to obtain legal advice on contract and policy questions and to discuss the interim superintendent's performance review.

Board members approved Dr. Avila's appointment without discussion. The motion to hire passed on a 5-0 vote. After the vote the board welcomed Avila to the district; she did not make an extended public statement.

The board then considered agenda items 3.1 and 3.4 together. Board Member Schmidt questioned whether the board could legally evaluate the interim superintendent under item 3.4 because the district has not adopted the evaluation instrument required by board policy. "Policy 2-201 says that the governing board shall select the evaluation tool used to conduct the superintendent's annual performance," Schmidt said. "We have not done that. So I'm not sure how we can evaluate him if we have not adopted the tool in which to do that." Schmidt also cited provisions in the superintendent's contract stating evaluations must follow board policies and mutually developed goals.

President Michael Todd responded that the language for the executive session items was provided by legal as "boilerplate" to allow discussion and consultation with counsel; he said legal had suggested combining the items for efficiency. After discussion, Vice President Kenyon moved to convene the executive sessions for legal advice on the interim superintendent's contractual duties, legal requirements for closing or terminating an International Baccalaureate (IB) program, open meeting law questions about board communications, and the interim superintendent's performance review. The motion was seconded and carried 3-2, with Schmidt and Zimmerman voting no and Kenyon, Schenzioni and Todd voting yes.

The board recessed into executive session at about 6:38 p.m. and returned to general session at about 8:06 p.m. No formal action was taken in open session on items 3.2, 3.5 or 3.6, and board leadership indicated no additional votes were needed on those items.

During general-session board comments after the executive session, members asked staff to place several items on future agendas, including discussion of board norms and best practices and safety procedures related to meeting end times. Staff said they would coordinate with board members to prepare language and schedule those items.

Votes at a glance: - Approval of special meeting agenda (item 1.3): passed 5-0. - Approval of Dr. Bridal Avila as executive director of special services (personnel action): passed 5-0. - Motion to convene combined executive sessions for legal advice and the interim superintendent performance review (items 3.1 and 3.4): passed 3-2 (Kenyon, Schenzioni, Todd yes; Schmidt, Zimmerman no).

The board announced upcoming regular meetings on Aug. 11, Aug. 25, Sept. 8 and Sept. 22, and adjourned the special meeting at 8:10 p.m.