Antioch Unified board authorizes vice president to contact legal counsel after closed session

The Antioch Unified School District Board of Education met in a special session on June 23 and voted in open session to authorize Vice President Cobo Smith to contact outside legal counsel about an anticipated litigation matter discussed in closed session. Chair called the meeting to order at 07:00 and the board reconvened at 08:12 to report the action.

The Chair said, “The board took action by a majority vote to approve vice president Cobo Smith to contact legal counsel directly regarding this matter discussed in closed session.” The board recorded that Trustees Brown, Hernandez and Cobo Smith voted yes and Trustee Rocha abstained; President Doctor Lathan was not in attendance.

According to the Chair’s announcement, the closed session item was listed under Government Code section 54956.9(d)(2) (anticipated litigation), and the presenter named for the closed session was attorney Scott Holbrook of the law firm Atkinson, Anderson, Loya, Red and Romo. The Chair later stated that Trustee Brown moved the motion and Trustee Hernandez seconded it.

The meeting opened with the Pledge of Allegiance and included a land-acknowledgment reading. Trustee Rocha read the district’s acknowledgment: “Antioch Unified School District acknowledges that we gather on the unceded ancestral homelands of the Bay Miwok people.”

The board also approved the meeting agenda by voice vote earlier in the session and confirmed upcoming meeting dates, noting August 19 and September 9 as future meeting dates before adjourning. The meeting was adjourned after the votes were recorded.

No additional details about the subject of the anticipated litigation were disclosed in open session.