Dublin Parents Claim Unfair School Board Process, Texts Uncovered

DUBLIN, CA — Concerned parents in Dublin planned to speak out at Tuesday's Dublin Unified School District board meeting following the outcome of the trustee area redistricting.

Mary Garvey Washington, a parent and employee in the district, felt the process of redrawing the maps was not transparent.

“Three members of the board have potentially violated the Brown Act and have succeeded in eliminating a political rival through behind-the-scenes manipulation of the map process,” she told Patch.

The Dublin Elementary Parent Faculty Club shared Garvey Washington’s post on its Facebook page, calling on the community to ask the board if there was complete transparency in the map adjustment process.

The post included 347 pages of public records Garvey Washington said she retrieved, including text messages she claimed proved a “conspiracy to draw districts that intentionally pitted duly elected trustees against each other.”

“People should care because this was done in private when the process is supposed to be public and transparent,” she said.

See Related: DUSD To Redraw Trustee District Areas: How To Share Your Thoughts

At its Feb. 22 meeting, the district board of trustees voted 3-2 to adopt this new boundary map. Several meetings were held beforehand to discuss different scenarios.

Patch reached out to the school district and received the following response.

“The District is aware of the social posts presenting findings from a recent RFP request. We are reviewing the situation, and have no additional comment this time."

Patch also contacted each trustee.

Below is trustee Kristin Pelham's response.

"I was very disappointed in the outcome of the trustee map vote. There were multiple other legally compliant, balanced maps that did not draw Trustee Rouse and I into the same area. I think the option that was chosen by the 3 east side trustees is a disservice to the voters in west Dublin who elected both Trustee Rouse and I. Those voters should be able to decide if we are both able to continue to serve on the board, not a few people who do not live in either of our current areas."

Trustee Gabi Blackman referred Patch to board President Dan Cherrier for comment.

Patch has not received additional responses.

The board meeting takes place at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at 7471 Larkdale Ave. Watch a livestream here.