FUESD trustees replace board president

The Fallbrook Union Elementary School District board held a special afternoon meeting Friday, June 11; Board President Caron Lieber said she was asked not to attend.

The purpose of the closed session was to discuss potential litigation, but no action by the board was announced. However, the board – sans Lieber – voted to take away Lieber’s position as president.

The board met for its regular meeting on Monday evening, June 21, and the new board president was Suzanne Lundin. Leiber let the board know she wasn’t very pleased with the action during the opening minutes of the meeting.

“I would like to be given a chance to respond,” she said, adding that she was concerned the board did it in private.

Superintendent Candace Singh said the public questions about the apparent lack of transparency about the change was something the board was not allowed to comment about at the meeting.

The board went on to approve everything else on the agenda unanimously, including the 2021-2022 budget and adoption of the three-year state mandated Local Control and Accountability plan for the district.

However, when it came time to adjourn to a closed session, there was uncertainty. Board member Ricardo Favela said he was exhausted and not feeling well – and asked about the meeting being tabled.

Lundin hesitated in agreeing, noting that two groups of legal counsel were in attendance to make presentations to the board about litigation. Then, Lundin said she was reluctant to proceed with the meeting because she didn’t have time to read and adequately comprehend a 327-page report to the board. Lieber joined Lundin and Favela in voting to table the closed session. Susan Liebes and JoAnn Lopez voted against tabling the session.