The San Bernardino County Board of Education voted Nov. 10 to engage Liebert Cassidy Whitmore to conduct an independent review of an Aug. 22, 2025, email from deputy county counsel and then approved a full waiver of attorney-client privilege for that communication.

The motion to select the firm followed weeks of public pressure and internal debate over the removal of a previously scheduled first reading of board policy 116.7 (conflict of interest). Members of the public and several board members said removing the item after a unanimous vote to bring it back had deprived the public of a lawful opportunity to see and discuss the policy.

During public comment Antoinette, a community member, said the omission was deliberate and that the removal "falls squarely into the Brown Act noncompliance," arguing the board had "silenced the corrective step." Superintendent Ted Alejandre and county counsel responded that the draft policy required additional legal review and that counsel needed time to address copyright and other technical issues before returning the matter to the board for first reading.

Board President Doctor Dowdy Rogers framed the measure on the agenda as the tool the board had requested earlier: to solicit independent review and provide clarity about the counsel opinion. After discussion the motion to select Liebert Cassidy Whitmore passed; the board then considered whether the earlier limited waiver of privilege (for the purpose of obtaining a second opinion) should be broadened. County counsel explained the September action had limited the waiver to a second-opinion review; the Nov. 10 motion extended that waiver to full public release of the communication. That motion carried with one abstention.

The actions close a chapter of public requests for transparency but do not resolve the underlying allegation about why the conflict-of-interest item was removed. Several public commenters had urged immediate release; others argued that the board should ensure any contract language and the scope of work return for board approval. Superintendent Alejandre said there was no urgency to a vacancy process and that the firm would be engaged only if the board approved next steps.

What happens next: Liebert Cassidy Whitmore will prepare an independent analysis of the 08/22/2025 email for the board; the board asked staff to return any contract for review before execution and the president was authorized to execute documents necessary to complete the procurement once the board has approved the final engagement.

Quotes from the meeting illustrate the divide over process and transparency. Antoinette told the board: "When a standing board action is omitted, the accuracy of the minutes collapses, and the record itself becomes defective." Superintendent Alejandre responded that county counsel had requested additional time and that the item was referred to December to allow for counsel review.

The board did not vote on the substantive conflict-of-interest policy at the Nov. 10 meeting; that policy and related competitive-bid contract information remain on the list of items to return to a future agenda.