‘Going kind of nuclear.’ Turlock Unified sues school board member to force him to mask
Turlock Unified School District officials have filed a lawsuit to force board member Jeffrey Cortinas to wear a mask at meetings or participate remotely.
The lawsuit, filed Feb. 2 by Turlock Unified School District and the rest of the school board, asks the court to order Cortinas to comply with public health rules. Cortinas repeatedly has refused to wear a face covering during meetings, causing the board to bar student representatives and student honorees from participating in a November meeting, to cancel a meeting in January and ultimately to vote to meet virtually, among other actions.
A hearing on the lawsuit is scheduled for June 6, court documents show. The school board is scheduled to meet six times before then.
The district and school board claim Cortinas has endangered meeting attendees’ health and safety and could lead to the district being fined for failing to enforce public health rules. They say the board won’t be able to return to in-person meetings or “safely conduct its meetings without interruption” unless the court fulfills their request.
“The Board desires to return to in-person meetings as soon as possible,” the lawsuit states.
The board has met virtually since Jan. 10. It must vote every 30 days to continue online meetings. The board’s next meeting is scheduled for Feb. 15.
In an email Friday, Cortinas said he’s trying to work with the district. “Hopefully we can come to a mutual resolution, so we can get our focus back on the kids,” he said.
Board President Lori Carlson and Turlock Unified spokeswoman Marie Russell said by email Friday that they’re not able to comment on pending litigation. The district “remains committed to providing a safe environment for students and staff to preserve full-time, in-person learning,” Russell said by email.
Carlson and Russell did not respond to questions about whether the board had to vote to pursue the lawsuit, and if so, when. The school board met virtually Feb. 1, the night before the lawsuit was filed. Draft meeting minutes show Cortinas was present.
Disagreements began in October 2020
Court documents say the issues between district officials and Cortinas began in October 2020 when Cortinas told Assistant Superintendent Barney Gordon that he could not wear a face mask due to a medical condition.
Gordon asked Cortinas to wear a face shield with a drape and offered to bring one to the meeting, according to the documents. Cortinas indicated he wouldn’t wear an alternative face covering at board meetings, and Gordon said they’d find “another solution,” the documents say.
Cortinas “regularly refused” to wear a face covering throughout the 2020-21 school year, the documents say. From August to November 2021, however, Cortinas wore a mask during board meetings, as required by the California Department of Public Health and the Stanislaus County public health officer, according to court documents.
On Nov. 2, 2021, the documents say, Cortinas arrived at a board meeting without a mask, and when given one by Gordon, “defiantly got up from his seat, walked over to the trashcan, and threw the mask away.”
Cortinas met with Superintendent Dana Trevethan Nov. 12 and wore a mask for the 90-minute meeting in her office, according to the documents.
He attended the board’s Nov. 16 meeting unmasked. That caused Carlson to ask student board representatives to leave and direct student honorees to not come.
California did not have a statewide mask order at the time, and Stanislaus County’s mask mandate expired the day before. Ongoing mask requirements for K-12 school settings applied to school board meetings only if students attended on behalf of the district, according to the school board.
In a resolution it passed at a special meeting about two weeks later, the board affirmed its definition of school board meetings as school settings and committed to upholding public health guidelines.
The day before the board’s December meeting, documents say, Cortinas agreed to participate from a separate room, using technology provided by the district. A few hours before the meeting started, Cortinas “insisted” that he participate from a different campus location, using a personal device, and said he would attend the meeting in person if denied, according to court documents.
When the meeting started, he couldn’t access information emailed to him to participate remotely, the documents say. Cortinas then entered the boardroom and stayed for about 25 minutes unmasked. His colleagues did not acknowledge he was flouting the rule. He participated from a separate room for the rest of the meeting.
In January, Cortinas refused to wear a mask or alternative face shield and drape and would not participate from a separate room, the documents say. The Jan. 4 meeting was canceled.
The board called a special, virtual meeting Jan. 10 to authorize meeting remotely.
The district is required to enforce public health orders and could be fined by California Division of Occupational Safety and Health if it does not, according to the court documents.
Reflection of national debates
Stephen Routh, a former political science professor at California State University, Stanislaus, said he would be “utterly boggled” if the court doesn’t rule in the school board’s favor.
Boards typically resolve issues like this internally, said Routh, who is now associate dean of the College of the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at Stanislaus State. To bring a lawsuit is serious and “extraordinary,” he said.
“That’s going kind of nuclear,” Routh said.
The disagreements between the board and Cortinas reflect national arguments over individual rights vs. public health.
“From a political science perspective,” Routh said, “this is just a manifestation of the current dynamics in American politics.”
Cortinas was elected in 2018 for trustee area 6. His term finishes this year, according to the board’s website. The Bee was not able to confirm Friday night whether Cortinas intends to run for reelection.
