Gateway school district sued; group asks judge to stop board from hiring superintendent

A citizens committee has filed a lawsuit in Shasta County Superior Court against the Gateway Unified School District, asking a judge to force its board of trustees to follow its own policies in hiring a new superintendent.

The board voted Jan. 18 to bypass the procedure, known as board policy 2120, for hiring a new superintendent. That process would include recruiting for a superintendent, screening applicants and conducting interviews.

Emails obtained through a California Public Records Act request indicate that the board's president, Cherrill Clifford in December signed a contract to hire Bryan Caples of Redding as the district's superintendent, without first obtaining board approval.

Caples has had his administrative and teaching credential suspended by the state Commission on Teacher Credentialing.

In addition to the district, the suit filed by the Gateway Citizens Committee also names the three trustees who voted to bypass board policy, namely Clifford and Elias and Lindsi Haynes.

Neither Clifford or Elias and Lindsi Haynes could be reached for comment on Thursday afternoon.

The trustees have had other legal threats leveled against them during the past month. For the past several weeks the district has not had an attorney to represent it, but the board was set to meet Friday to consider hiring a law firm.

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The suit filed Thursday also asks a judge to issue an injunction prohibiting the district from hiring a superintendent until the court rules on the overall lawsuit.

Thursday's filing notes that Clifford had already bypassed board policy when she signed the contract to hire Caples on Dec. 30, 2022.

"President Clifford is, clearly, unwilling to follow the policies that determine how the board is to proceed when selecting a superintendent," the lawsuit says.

The lawsuit asks the court to quickly make a ruling because the trustees could hire a new superintendent, possibly Caples, at its Feb. 15 meeting.

"No amount of monetary damages or other legal remedy can adequately compensate petitioner for the irreparable harm that will occur from the violation of law described in this petition," the lawsuit says. "Petitioner has no plain, speedy or adequate remedy at law, in that unless respondents are commanded to set aside their decision to 'bypass' policy 2120, respondents will install a superintendent via an arbitrary and capricious selection process."

The Gateway district has been in turmoil since the board voted Dec. 20 to fire longtime Superintendent Jim Harrell, with Clifford and the Hayneses voting for his ouster. Trustees Phil Lewis and Dale Wallace voted against removing Harrell.

Community members have complained during trustee meetings that they have not been told why Harrell was fired. According to board minutes, Harrell told board members that under his contract, the board could not terminate him without cause and it would "hear from his attorney."

Since then, the board has heard from several attorneys.

On Jan. 4, the board voted to have Lindsi Haynes take charge of recruiting a new superintendent. But a lawyer for the California Teacher's Association sent a letter to the board notifying trustees that they violated the state's open meeting law by taking public comment after the board voted on the issue.

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The CTA lawyer said the board should have taken public comment before a vote.

In response to the CTA letter, the board unanimously agreed Jan. 12 to rescind the vote to appoint Lindsi Haynes to spearhead superintendent recruitment. At the same meeting, the board voted an "unconditional commitment to cease, desist from and not repeat alleged violations" of the open meeting law, known as the Brown Act.

During a Jan. 18 meeting, the board voted to bypass its policy in hiring a new superintendent, which prompted Redding attorney Adam Pressman, hired by the citizen's committee, to warn the trustees at the meeting that their actions violated the law.

However, the board voted 3-2 at that meeting to bypass the policy, with Clifford and the Hayneses voting for the measure and Wallace and Lewis against.

A week after the Jan. 18 meeting, a lawyer for the Freedom From Religion Foundation sent the board a letter telling trustees that they violated the U.S. Constitution when it held a prayer before its meeting. The letter says a prayer at meetings violates the First Amendment mandate of keeping church and state separate.

The board voted 3-2 at the Jan. 18 to pray before the meeting, with Wallace and Lewis voting against the proposal.

Pressman also sent a letter to the district on Jan. 23 demanding the board rescind its vote on bypassing board policy 2120 on hiring a superintendent or face possible legal action. The legal threat bore fruit Thursday when Pressman filed the lawsuit.

This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: Gateway school district sued over superintendent hiring