1776 was bold. SLO County school boards must be too | Opinion

As a Brit, I feel compelled to note that 2026 marks the 250th anniversary of the American colonists telling the British Crown to get lost. The astonishing part is not that the colonists complained. Everyone complains. What’s astonishing is that they actually did something about it! They beat a richer, better-armed establishment by choosing backbone over caution.

Which is awkward, because that is exactly the temperament SLO County’s education leaders now seem to lack. When school performance sags or misconduct surfaces, too many reach not for courage, but for counsel. Not for sunlight, but for closed session. Not for standards, but for settlements. A county that exists because bold people once refused to be managed should not be governed by people who manage everything.

Start with results. Roughly 60% of our K-12 students do not meet math standards and about 45% do not meet literacy standards. Yet we are urged to trust the process. Trying is lovely. Results are better.

Call me old-fashioned, but taxpayers might expect that the people running our schools have absorbed at least the basic lessons of Plato and Socrates. Academic rigor and moral virtue are the whole point, not optional extras.

‘Gross misconduct’ has cost taxpayer millions of dollars

Academic failure is not the only rot. The harder rot is cultural, a system that meets gross misconduct with the same reflex every time. Lawyer up. Retreat to closed session. Make the problem disappear with paperwork and other people’s money.

Lucia Mar’s bus driver case involved accusations of sexual abuse of a 9-year-old special needs student in 2017 and ended with a $10 million settlement.

Paso Robles had the case of Jeremy Monn, a teacher convicted of having sex with a 16-year-old student in 2017, with Paso paying $1 million as part of the settlement.

San Luis Coastal saw a Morro Bay High coach take a plea and be sentenced in 2021 for sex with a student. In a separate case, a SLO High student teacher was accused of inappropriately contacting and allegedly “grooming” a female student.

Then came the recent Paso Robles High principal saga. Months of reported alcohol abuse concerns, including first-hand accounts that she appeared to be under the influence at graduation, followed by an on-campus arrest for driving to work at more than three times the legal limit.

Different crimes but the moral pattern is constant. Adults fail. Children suffer. The institution protects itself first. Resignations are framed as “moving on.” Reassignments are sold as “best for everyone.” Settlements are treated like weather. Unfortunate, but nobody’s fault. Different officials, same ending.

A billion dollar investment

Meanwhile, taxpayers are not just funding failure. They are underwriting it. If Paso’s next school bond passes, over the last decade we will have authorized spending nearly a billion dollars, countywide, on school bonds. Proof that hope is not just a virtue, it is a tax category.

That is compounded by paying out at least $12 million dollars in settlements over the last few years. That is not a rounding error. That is an ‘F’ rated financial report card.

Which brings us to leadership. Trust begins with standards that are clear, fair and enforced. Not just for curriculum but for conduct. President Eisenhower had it right: “The supreme quality for leadership is unquestionably integrity.”

Integrity is not what you demonstrate when the lawyers are hovering and the easy option is a quiet deal. Brave leadership means taking on vested interests. Putting parents and children ahead of unions and internal politics. Impeccable leadership means no excuses, no exceptions and no closed-session magic tricks.

In SLO County, the man paid to set that tone across all school districts is County Superintendent of Schools Jim Brescia.

He called for the 2023 Paso Robles school district special election to fill a school board seat after petitioners objected to the appointment of Trustee Kenney Enney.

Brescia will say, correctly, that once the petition to remove Trustee Enney was certified, he was legally required to call the election. Fine. But leadership is what happens before the statute forces your hand.

Why was the Paso Robles school district allowed to be hijacked by the loudest activists in the room, with a district employee, Carey Alford Scof, using school email and computers to organize and promote the petition, which was clearly reflected in emails requested under the Public Records Act.

Such conduct violates California’s bans on using public resources for campaigns — something Brescia should have made clear.

The consequences?

The special election landed Paso Robles taxpayers with a $307,000 bill, Enney was elected with a clear mandate and Ms. Alford Scof resigned. That is not governance. That is expensive theater.

Brescia then muddies the water further by funding trustee candidates who are personal friends and backed by unions that superintendents negotiate against. Referees should not wear colors for any side.

How to hold districts accountable

So here is the proposal. Before public schools borrow another dollar, their boards should prove they can govern with principle and a clear moral code. Publish an annual ledger of settlement costs and legal fees. Adopt a countywide rule that gross misconduct triggers independent review and a public summary.

In 1776 the colonists did not lawyer up, they stood up and changed history. Our education leaders need to find the same mettle or they will eventually be removed. Just as Benjamin Franklin’s son, William, was. He chose the status quo over accountability. Exile was his performance review.

Clive Pinder hosts “CeaseFire” on KVEC 920AM/96.5 FM and writes at clivepinder.substack.com.