Moreno schools public criticism policy retooled The change would conform with a recent court ruling in favor

of the Mexican Political Association. AMITA SHARMA Publication Date: July 22, 1997 Page: B01 Section: LOCAL Zone: MORENO VALLEY; ALL ZONES

MORENO VALLEY Public criticism of Moreno Valley Unified School District employees during school board meetings is about to officially become fair game, according to a revamped district policy. The change removes a provision in a policy that allowed the board to ban public complaints against an employee, either by name or reference, during open session of a board meeting. The board president also had the power to order the removal of anyone who refused to comply with that rule. The revised policy goes before the board for approval at the Aug. 12 public meeting. The change was triggered last August when U.S. District Court Judge Robert J. Timlin issued an injunction blocking the enforcement of the policy after he ruled it akin to censorship. Despite the district's decision to make its policy consistent with Timlin's ruling, Superintendent David Andrews said he would like to see guidelines in place that ensure that First Amendment rights are balanced by a degree of protection for district employees from scurrilous attacks. Andrews said he plans to seek the aid of the California School Board Association to devise a policy dealing with public comments at meetings that take the reputation of employees into account. He also wants state lawmakers to get involved in promoting legislation that restricts slanderous comments against employees at public meetings. "We buy into public criticism when we get into positions like this but we do not get into this business for people to accuse us of being sexual perverts or lying or stealing," Andrews said Monday. "There has to be some middle ground." Timlin's ruling last summer stemmed from a lawsuit filed by Mexican Political Association state President Victoria Baca who was removed from a Moreno Valley board meeting in May 1996 for criticizing Superintendent Andrews and Vista Heights Middle School Principal David Kuzmich for their management of race relations. As Baca was led out of the meeting by a sheriff's sergeant, her parting remark was, "You're all child abusers." Baca hailed the policy change Monday as a meaningful step toward ensuring that the

public hears both sides of an issue. She said the Moreno Valley board meetings were notorious as forums for administrators to "give laudatory speeches" about one another but ignored what she called "incompetent leadership." Baca said it was MPA's tactic to name employees whom members felt deserved criticism. "It was unfortunate that we had to violate a policy to exercise our First Amendment rights . . . ," she said. "It's important for anybody, especially parents, to be able to address the school board they elect and have them listen to their complaints. It's important for other parents to find out what's going on in their schools." But MPA and other activists who are outspoken at board meetings have drawn their own share of criticism from school districts. MPA recently was named as a "disruptive" group at Inland area board meetings by three Riverside County school districts in a survey by the Association of California School Administrators. Moreno Valley was one of the districts that requested the survey.

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