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Second lawsuit against Orange Unified filed alleging school board members broke state law

April 1, 2023

For the second time in a month, a parent sued the Orange Unified School District and its school board over alleged violations of state law.

Parent Gregory Pleasants, who has one child in the district and another slated to attend in the coming school year, filed a lawsuit in Orange County Superior Court on March 20, citing similar complaints to that of parents Alexander and Sarah Brewsaugh in a March 13 lawsuit against the district and board.

The new lawsuit alleges three separate violations of the Ralph M. Brown Act, California’s open meeting law.

According to the lawsuit, the board majority violated the Brown Act because it allegedly failed to give sufficient notice for its Jan. 5 meeting, it did not adequately describe on the agenda what was to be discussed during the closed session and members “engaged in serial meetings” and agreed on what actions they planned to take prior to that meeting — before the public had a chance to learn what was happening and offer input.

At that Jan. 5 special meeting, called by board President Rick Ledesma the day before, Ledesma and three other members of the board voted to fire the superintendent, Gunn Marie Hansen, and hire an interim superintendent who had worked in Southern California but was retired and living in another state. The board also placed another top administrator, Cathleen Corella, on paid leave and appointed a local high school principal, Craig Abercrombie, to fill in for her.

At the time the special meeting was called, students and teachers were off for the holidays; Hansen and Corella were reportedly out of the country.

Ledesma declined to comment Friday, March 31, on the new lawsuit.

But he previously, in response to questions about the other lawsuit filed by the Brewsaughs, disputed that he and his colleagues violated the Brown Act.

Ledesma acknowledged having been in touch before the Jan. 5 meeting with fellow board members Angie Rumsey and John Ortega but not Madison Miner. Since he did not communicate with four of the seven members, which would constitute a majority, Ledesma said the board did not violate the Brown Act.

The four trustees, who surprised their three other colleagues when they voted to fire Hansen and place Corella on leave, form a conservative majority block on the board.

The new lawsuit alleges that the board majority “orchestrated the events of the Board meeting privately, without public input,” prior to the Jan. 5 meeting. Replacements were lined up for Hansen’s and Corella’s jobs, and both had been contacted by Ledesma the day before.

It alleges that Rumsey “met and had a discussion” with the interim superintendent before he was named and that Miner had interviews with the people who were appointed to fill in for Hansen and Corella “before they were named.”

Rumsey could not be reached for comment. In a text message Friday, Miner said she spoke with the new interim superintendent, Edward Velasquez, and Abercrombie a week after their appointments on Jan. 5, and not before that special meeting. Velasquez has since left the district and returned to his home in Idaho.

The board recently appointed an acting superintendent from within the district. Hansen, meanwhile, is the new superintendent at the Westminster School District.

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Orange County Register

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Second lawsuit against Orange Unified filed alleging school board members broke state law

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