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After the successful recall of former Sunol Glen school board trustees Ryan Jergensen and Linda Hurley, a temporary quorum made up of Trustee Peter (Ted) Romo and two Alameda County Board of Education trustees repealed the district’s contentious flag resolution on Wednesday.
In its place will be an updated resolution that limits the main flagpole at Sunol Glen School to only fly the U.S. and state flag — same as the previous resolution — but allows teachers and staff to fly their own flags and banners throughout the school site, which was not allowed under the old resolution.
“At its heart, it’s reasonable,” Romo said during the July 24 board meeting. “It’s balanced and it addresses the needs and desires of all groups in the Sunol Glen community.”
The special session was considerably different than past meetings for various reasons. It was the first meeting following the July 2 recall election where a majority of participating residents voted to remove Jergensen and Hurley from the three-member board.
It was also Shay Galletti’s first meeting as the new superintendent and principal of Sunol Glen.
Per education code, Alameda County Office of Education Board President Cheryl Cook-Kallio of Pleasanton has appointed herself and Alameda County Area 4 Trustee Aisha Knowles to temporarily serve on the Sunol board until the seats are filled. Both have already been sworn in to the Sunol board.
Cook-Kallio said she was honored to work with Galletti and Romo to better serve the students of Sunol.
“I know it is a very special place,” she said. “I did appoint myself, not lightly, because … I am your trustee in Area 7 so, you are my people also. You are the people I take care of as part of my responsibilities on the county Board of Education.”
Cook-Kallio also said she has a personal history with the school because her older children attended the small-town school from kindergarten to eighth grade.
Sunol teacher Rebecca Radulovich said during public comment that while she saw people on Facebook sharing their concerns over two county board trustees serving on the Sunol board, she actually taught both of Cook-Kallio’s kids and said she knows the county board president will do what’s best for the school.
“Cheryl brought a lot to Sunol,” Radulovich said. “She’s really no stranger, plus she knows the ed code inside and out … whatever comes up in the next few months, you’ve got an expert here. I just want everyone in the community to feel at ease that the school is in really good hands.”
Cook-Kallio said she chose Knowles because she is the county trustee for most of the other unincorporated areas of Alameda County and she has been in the community and knows its needs.
“I am thankful for the opportunity to serve in this role,” Knowles said. “It’s nice to be back in the Sunol community and I look forward to doing whatever is necessary in support of students here so they can begin the new school year in a positive manner.”
Cook-Kallio also assured the community that the county office did its research to make sure it was following state education code exactly throughout the whole procedure of filling the empty seats following the successful recall.
“It is our job to provide stability so that you can start school, you can do things that you need to do to make sure that your school is operating,” she said. “What we want is what’s best for the students and we will turn this back over to the Sunol community as quickly as we possibly can.”
Thomas Knutsen, an attorney from the Dublin-based Knutsen Law Offices who represented Jergensen and Hurley in a failed lawsuit that tried to get the county registrar’s office to stop the recall process after alleging election code errors, spoke during public comment to question the appointment process for the temporary Sunol board members.
“I think you should slow down a little bit,” he said. “It would be naive to think that this town is not still divided and if there is going to be any effort to heal whatever wounds that may exist, it’s not going to come from the outside.”
He added that while he meant no disrespect to the two county board members, he didn’t think they had any “skin in the game,” which is why he suggested the board form a committee of citizens who would decide two temporary trustees who are also Sunol residents or to put the two seats on the November election ballot.
Romo noted that from his understanding, placing both seats on the November ballot wouldn’t be possible time-wise, per the law.
Instead, the board unanimously agreed to solicit applications from the community for the long-term seat set to expire in 2026, which is temporarily being filled by Knowles.
Romo said the goal would be to consider potential candidates at the next board meeting in August. He was appointed by the board majority to serve on a one-person subcommittee to work with Galletti on using a rubric to determine whether or not the applicants are eligible for board membership and who would be the best fit to fill the seat for the next two years.
Cook-Kallio would remain on the Sunol board until the two-year term expires and a new trustee is elected this November.
Apart from some procedural items, one of the first main decisions this new temporary board made was repealing the infamous flag resolution that brought in local and national attention to the small town after Hurley and Jergensen approved it last September.
The resolution stated the district and its lone school could only fly the U.S. and state flag on the school’s flagpole, which both Hurley and Jergensen argued was a way for the district to avoid potential lawsuits from people who wanted to fly their own flags, while others said it was a move to make members of the LBGTQ+ community feel unwelcome because it effectively disallowed displays of the Pride flag.
The newly approved resolution will keep the language of only allowing the two flags on the flagpole, but will also allow the district to authorize expressions of support in the form of flags or banners on the school grounds, which represent the interests of the district, including supporting marginalized communities.
Peggy Carpenter, a longtime Sunol resident, former trustee and teacher, said during the July 24 meeting that the old resolution was unnecessary, hurtful to many and embarrassing to many people in the community for being the only school in the county to pass such a flag resolution, which was a sentiment that resonated with others in the room.
It was also one of the first meetings where nobody who previously supported the old resolution spoke.
“Get rid of this draconian resolution and let’s go for the more moderate (one),” Radulovich said in her comments.
Radulovich pointed out that the majority of people — including people who supported the old resolution — who spoke at the May 14 board meeting had actually agreed with the updated resolution and thought it was time to finally reach a compromise. The previous board had not brought back Romo’s updated resolution since that May 14 meeting, which is why it returned Wednesday.
“Both sides agree, let’s keep it off of the flagpole,” she said. “But all of those wonderful flag holders that you gave the teachers … they can go back to putting (personal flags) back on their flag holders. Whether it’s kindness, or climate change or pride (flags), they can fly outside their classroom.”
Former Sunol trustee Denise Kent Romo, who is married to current Trustee Romo, also said that in addition to reaching a compromise, the new flag resolution will allow for more students and community members to feel welcome.
“I would like to see this resolution approved so that teachers will not have to have anxiety wondering if they will be caught using unauthorized teaching materials, teachers and staff will not have to have their first amendment rights challenged and because (supporting) our marginalized LGBTQ+ students is just the right thing to do,” she said.
In other business
* The board approved a resolution that represents the district’s support for the school’s teachers and staff following almost a year of animosity and divisiveness.
Kent Romo said the resolution reflects the desire to form a positive relationship with teachers and staff.
“It acknowledges the challenges, chaos and workplace toxicity that most teachers and staff faced over the last year,” she said. “It reinforces that this current board going forward recognizes and respects their professionalism, talent and experience as valued members of the school community.”
* The board unanimously agreed to bring back Fagen Friedman & Fulfrost LLP as the district’s legal counsel, which many in the community said during public comment was the right move because of the legal team’s long history with and knowledge of Sunol.
“They were the district’s legal counsel for over a decade until this past fall when the prior (school) board determined to change the course with respect to outside counsel,” Romo said.
He said services would be based on hourly rates and work actually performed and that they are not firing any other legal counsels for bond or facilities, they are simply allowing the re-engaging with Fagen Friedman & Fulfrost LLP — which is also known as F3.
“F3 provides knowledge and institutional history with this district,” Romo said.
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