Public criticizes Antioch school trustee for censure attempt in bullying scandal

“You need to be ashamed of yourself,” said Frances Green.

“This is unacceptable,” said Devin Williams.

“I openly express my dismay with this resolution,” said Olga Smith.

One by one, members of the public spoke to Antioch Unified School District trustees on Wednesday slamming Board Vice President Mary Rocha’s motion to censure Board President Antonio Hernandez.

Rocha’s motion to censure Hernandez follows a report by the NBC Bay Area Investigative Unit in April, in which four workers accused the school district’s facilities and maintenance director Ken Turnage of bullying them. All four filed formal complaints with the district. According to one complaint, Turnage directed multiple employees to move another employee's desk to a roof to humiliate him publicly. The incident used school resources and took place on district time.

The employees told NBC Bay Area they believe Antioch Unified Superintendent Stephanie Anello turned a blind eye to their bullying complaints because she and her husband are close friends with Turnage. Neither Anello nor Turnage have responded to NBC Bay Area’s multiple requests for comment.  

After NBC Bay Area’s initial report, Hernandez called for Anello’s resignation. He expressed concern that the board has been unable to properly evaluate Anello for years.

Anello has since been on medical leave. Additionally, the district placed Turnage on administration leave and hired a third-party investigator to review the workers’ complaints.

Earlier this month, NBC Bay Area found the school district determined the desk incident was a prank intended to “lighten the mood.” Five employees who NBC Bay Area spoke with, including two directly involved in the investigation, blasted the findings.

During an earlier school board meeting, Rocha accused Hernandez of putting the district’s reputation in jeopardy with his public criticisms.

On Wednesday, her attempts to formally censure Hernandez were tabled indefinitely. Board President Hernandez and Trustee Jag Lathan voted no. Vice President Rocha voted yes. Trustee Gary Hack and Clyde Lewis abstained from voting but said they stand by board processes.

“This is not an easy thing for me to do,” explained Rocha responding to public comment. “Because I admire this man [referring to Hernandez] and I don’t care what you say…”

At this point, some members of the public began chanting “Hey, hey, ho, ho, Rocha has got to go.” Hernandez brought down the gavel asking them to allow Rocha to voice her accusations against him.

Rocha went on to say, “I respect this individual as the future and I see it, but we do have rules and policies that we follow, and this is the issue that I’m dealing with. It took me a while to decide whether I had the guts to come up here because I knew what the outcome would be."

Rocha read from her documents accusing Hernandez of improperly trying to evaluate the superintendent in a public forum outside the closed session arena. She also accused him of using his public Facebook account to post confidential district correspondence. She said he also held an unsanctioned public meetings about the bullying scandal in school board chambers.

“I stand by everything I said,” said Hernandez, “This is the public’s school district. This is the public’s building. You all have every right to use it. To say you can’t…[Rocha is] missing the point.”

Hernandez went on to say Rocha’s accusations were inaccurate and “sloppy” as they stated his actions as a school board trustee violated HIPAA, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, which protects patient privacy.

Hernandez’s family member spoke during public comment saying they believe those specific accusations by Rocha were an attempt to harm Hernandez's future medical career. He’s currently a Stanford graduate student who's also pursuing a medical degree from UC Davis. Trustee Lewis also said HIPAA does not apply in a school board setting.

“You don’t even know what’s in that resolution, [Trustee Rocha]. You don’t know how much that hurts,” said Daniel Hernandez, Antonio’s sibling.

“This is unacceptable,” said resident Devin Williams. “The fact that this whole bullying thing took place, and the fact that [President Hernandez] is now being censured is kind of ironic because you’re fighting against bullying. But the fact that [Hernandez] spoke up…you’ve been bullied against now.”

To catch up on all of NBC Bay Area's reporting on the Antioch Unified worker bullying scandal, visit nbcbayarea.com/bullyingcase.