Printer-friendly version
Curriculum changes, lack of transparency, and allegations of white supremacy against Mt. Miguel teacher among hot button issues raised
Eckert
Screenshots: Left to Right -- GEA President James Messina and Jason Balistreri, a teacher-librarian, take aim at the governing board for a lack of transparency and trust.By Alexander J Schorr
June 26, 2025 (El Cajon) —The Grossmont Union High School District Governing Board convened for a special meeting at the East County Regional Education Center on Thursday.
Following the controversial firing of 49 credentialed employees, the governing board voted 4 to 1 in favor of the ratification and approval of new job descriptions for a Cybersecurity Engineer, Position Control Analyst, Voltage Technician and Licensed Mental Health Case Workers.
The governing board did not provide a QR code or website link to these key positions on their board agenda page.
The main source of contention from the community this time was the outrage and general lack of respect that community members voiced as a result of information that was revealed in The San Diego Union-Tribune.
That article, which centered on a lack of transparency, Brown Act Violations and alleged collusion, involved the conducting of board business and policy making through private texts and emails without public record or a board majority for most of these decisions.
GEA President James Messina addressed the board directly, stating that they were targeting individuals undesirable to them: “GEA has been speaking out about our plan for months now… not a single community member stakeholder group was consulted on what they thought about this whole entire plan. Now this all makes sense. Apparently the board has been meeting behind closed doors and came up with this plan yourselves.
“This plan does not improve reading scores in the district — doesn’t improve graduation rates for our district — your plan for Grossmont is to target undesirable employees that you deem as ‘disloyal’ to you and have a different political position. That is ridiculous.”
Matthew Norris stated that the board was “playing God with people’s careers.”
He referenced the information in the Union-Tribune directly, and emphasized an uneasiness about the board’s apparent commitment to working with union members.
“I know we have a new superintendent coming in, and I still don’t quite understand why it is that there is such a hurry to cut so many things, and now there is a hurry to create new positions — and you still haven’t consulted with the new superintendent,” Norris said.
He put emphasis on a specific point: “The past really predicts the future, and when I see things going on during the last couple of years, man, the past isn’t looking too hot right now. I don’t have a lot of trust in the past— so I really don’t have a lot of faith in the future with you four.”
Jason Balistreri, a Mount Miguel High School Teacher Librarian, voiced rage against Gary Woods, Scott Eckert (see recall flyer, left), Jim Kelly and Robert Shield directly, and accused them of bias.
Balistreri warned them of future litigation.
“Given this board’s now public pattern of discriminatory [and] retaliatory behavior, I anticipate quite a bit of litigation coming your way,”he said. “Good thing that the district has so many lawyers on call with such legal savvy that they led your disgraced chief of staff [to] write his own personal settlement agreement.
"As described in the district's own investigation, your appointed Chief of Staff was accused of racist conduct, calling students the n-word, and threatening to send them back to Africa. Yet this board waives standard hiring practices, [denied] other applicants, and handed him a top leadership position — because that seems to be your type of meritocracy when it comes to appointments.”
In addition to the suggestion by community members to rescind the cuts in order to avoid future litigation, a woman named Jackie, who didn’t give her last name, voiced her opposition to “the hiring or appointment of any new positions in agenda items ‘c.’ At a time when the Grossmont Union High School District is eliminating librarians, counselors, psychologists, and even classroom teachers, this is not just a budget issue — it's a moral one.
"We’ve seen the damage these cuts can cause: fewer mental health supports, no libraries, larger class sizes— these decisions directly harm students, and now, instead of restoring these vital roles, you're considering adding new positions? That's not leadership, that's misplaced priorities."
Tania Jackson, a librarian, warned the board of a specific litigation facing them in the future, over the possible and controversial usage of a new Ethnic Studies Curriculum.
Jackson stated that the subject “proposed by Dr. Woods from the Independent Institute is aimed at 11th and 12th grade students. It's written for them — I found that on page 20 of the PDF that has the curriculum on a page called ‘Section 1-A: Support US Submission’ document— it's on their website, [and] I found it in just a few minutes of searching.
"Social standards are unique by grade level in California. 9th grade standards are not the same 11th or 12th grade standards, and if it were to implement standards-based curriculum, we should go with one that was already created using the aappropriate age or grade level standards.”
Screenshot (right): Timothy Atkins being represented by an unnamed advocate in public session for a closed session item
The chairman ignored the procedural rules for speaker cards in allowing an advocate for Timothy Atkins to speak for more than the allotted time of three minutes and without a speaker card. Atkins had a representative who brought before the board a description of retaliation against him by those who allegedly cost him his job at Mount Miguel High School.
According to Atkins’ representative, he was allegedly accused of racism and being a white supremacist.
The representative alleged that Atkins’ life has “endured a DEI nightmare in recent months,” taking personal aim at Kiana Kapono, teacher at Mount Miguel High School, and the principal, Christina Terrones.
This item was intended to be addressed during the board’s closed session segment of the meeting, but the majority board decided to include this topic during the open and public session.
The governing board left the room at 7:20 p.m. for a closed session meeting, forcing audience members waited nearly two hours for them to return in order to officially adjourn the meeting.
According to Chris Fite, the board was hosting an investigation of its own over the complaints from Tim Atkins' representative regarding his release from Mount Miguel High School.
Since it was a closed session, no quotes or footage were acquired, however, Fite stated that it was “a whole trial going on in there.”
Trustee Fite claimed that Jim Kelly had called forth “witnesses” on Zoom to discuss the effects of Mount Miguel High School's disciplinary action against Atkins. This apparently did not include Kiana Kapono or Principal Christina Terrones.
The board approved three people for the new program coordinator positions by a 4-1 vote. The board decided to table the topics of employee appointments for the special education program coordinators and the release of one GUHSD certified employee due to disciplinary concerns until the next meeting on July 17.
Recent comments