Complaint Filed on Trustee Emery Leave Policy Vote

Summary of Complaint

Today the Carlsbad Education Alliance submitted a formal complaint with the Carlsbad Unified School District for violations of California's open meeting laws (known as the Brown Act), as well as numerous violations of state laws and board policies on conflicts of interest and trustee compensation - all of which occurred during a single discussion and vote at the May 21, 2025 Board Meeting.

The vote related to a request by Trustee Alison Emery, a teacher in the Solana Beach Elementary District, to activate a policy which provides teachers who serve on education-related boards with up to 20 days of additional paid leave "without loss of compensation" to perform their board duties. Trustee Emery initially requested the policy be added back at the February 12, 2025 Board Meeting where she discussed her potential need to take off from her teaching job for trustee activities like school site visits and board trainings. The Board agreed bring the policy back for discussion at a future meeting.

At the May 21, 2025 Board Meeting, the agenda included a revision to Administrative Regulation 4161 on Employee Leave for "Service on Education Boards and Committees." During the meeting, staff explained that the policy would allow for a trustee in CUSD working as a teacher in another district to take time off and have their district request reimbursement from CUSD for the cost of a substitute teacher and other administrative costs. The trustees then discussed the pros and cons of such a policy, including whether it would be fair for Trustee Emery to receive additional paid leave from her employer - reimbursed by CUSD - while other trustees would not.

Ultimately, the Board approved the policy in a 3-2 vote, with Trustee Emery voting yes. Several problems immediately arose, the first of which was that the written version of AR 4161 in the agenda was a different policy than what Trustee Emery had requested in February and what the Board discussed and voted on at the May 21st meeting. The written policy provided the opposite benefit - that a teacher in CUSD serving on a board outside CUSD would be able to take extra paid leave and ask their board to reimburse CUSD for their absence. It is unclear if the mistake was accidental or intentional, but either way, the Board violated Section 54954.2 of the Brown Act for failing to provide a brief description of each item on the agenda and taking action on an item which was not on the agenda. Although the Board was aware of the actual item for discussion and the meaning of the vote, the public believed the opposite policy was being discussed. The complaint requires the Board to void the previous vote and take a subsequent vote on the issues.

Trustee Emery's decision to vote on the policy - which provides her with a financial benefit in terms of additional paid leave and no loss of retirement contributions for that leave - violated state and board conflict-of-interest laws which prohibits voting on contracts in which the trustee has a financial interest. Without her vote, the policy would not have been approved.

Finally, the policy approved by the trustees also violates Education Code 35120 on maximum compensation for trustees, as CUSD currently pays trustees the maximum compensation of $400/month, and allowing Trustee Emery to receive additional compensation of any amount as part of her duties as a trustee would exceed the maximum compensation.

A full copy of the complaint is attached below. The Board now must investigate the conflict of interest violations, and has 30 days to respond to the Brown Act violations. P.S. - as we warned back in November before the elections, there is a reason you don't elect teachers to serve on school boards. Trustee Emery's first request as a trustee was to pass a policy to benefit her financially and potentially benefit other teachers by incentivizing them to leave their classrooms with substitutes so they can serve on school boards. Do students benefit from any of this? Of course not.