East Bay school board member steps down as president
Lisa Brizendine, president of the Oakley Union Elementary School District Board, resigned and apologized Thursday, one day after she and fellow trustees were caught making flippant remarks about parents minutes before a meeting when they thought their microphones were turned off.
Board members were preparing for the meeting and discussing some social media posts and letters when Brizendine brought up the growing criticism they’ve faced over closed schools, suggesting parents want them reopened so they can get their babysitters back.
“They forget that there’s real people behind those letters they are writing,” said Brizendine, who works as a technology educator in Brentwood. “We are real community members; we have kids or have known kids who have gone to those schools, so we have a vested interest in this process and they don’t know what goes on behind the scene and it’s unfortunate they want to pick on us because they want their babysitters back.”
When the trustees realized their meeting had gone live as parents joined the Webex conference, they clammed up.
“Nuh-uh,” Brizendine said in apparent disbelief. “Great,” another trustee chimed in.
The live mic moment came at a time of growing strain between school board trustees and parents weary of the coronavirus pandemic and desperately wanting schools to reopen. Hundreds of parents had tuned into the board meeting hoping to learn of a reopening plan.
An Oakley mother videotaped the meeting and uploaded it Wednesday night on YouTube, where parents who saw it became outraged. They took to social media and began a petition, which by noon Friday had garnered more than 5,000 signatures calling for all the trustees to resign.
Oakley Mayor Sue Higgins on Friday also called for the entire board to resign in an email to constituents. Though noting the city does not have jurisdiction over the school board, she asked the remaining trustees to not hesitate to “follow suit.”
“There shouldn’t have even been a hesitation in doing so,” she wrote. “Your community has listened to your comments, and now listen to ours. Step down. Let our community come together once again.”
Brizendine, a former Oakley teacher first elected in 2016, issued a statement Friday to this news organization apologizing for her comments before Wednesday’s board meeting:
“I want to address the statement that I made during the OUESD board meeting on 2/17/2021. In my response to a situation, I talked about how some people don’t realize that we, as the board, are people; I then made a flippant comment that ‘they want their babysitters back.’ I think in some respects, I said that because I, too, want desperately for schools to open. I am raising a 10-year-old with special needs, and having him home during this pandemic, while also holding down two jobs to support my family, has been a huge stress. I suffer with many of the same things that parents are going through, from mental health issues to regression. My remark was callous and uncalled for and for that I am truly sorry. As a 30-year resident of Oakley, I have always championed the kids in the community from Boy Scouts, to PTA service, to my own teaching career.
“I became a member of the board to serve, which is what I did for the last four years. I tendered my resignation because I don’t want to be a part of something that would negatively impact my community. The students, staff and families deserve the very best, there is much work that needs to be done to reopen our schools safely and I will be praying that we as a community can move past this incident together and that our children always remain in focus.”
Brizendine, whose name no longer is listed on the Oakley Union Elementary School District website, had just been reelected to represent Area 1 and her term was not set to expire until 2024. Area 2 is also vacant, but candidates had begun interviewing for that seat, though one dropped out following Wednesday’s board comments mocking parents.
If another trustee resigns, the president of the county board of education can appoint members of the county board of education to the Oakley board until new members are elected or appointed in accordance with California education code.
Superintendent Greg Hetrick issued an apology Thursday, saying in part that “the comments made were not in alignment with our vision and are definitely not what any of us stand for as leaders.”
Other trustees did not return messages this week asking for comment.
Theboardissettomeetagain March 10 when it is expected to decide whether to reopen schools under a hybrid learning schedule.
Meanwhile, members of the Reopen California Schools coalition will stage a protest of Oakley trustees and make a push to allow five-day-a-week in-person learning and youth sports at schools at noon today at Oakley Civic Center near the Police Department at 3231 Main St., Oakley.