El Dorado County board of ed seeks some say in how superintendent could be disciplined

By Kathryn Reed

El Dorado County Office of Education’s board has called for a special meeting with the sole agenda item being a discussion about Superintendent Jeremy Meyers.

Meyers is an elected official, so the board does not have control over any discipline or sanctions.

“On the surface, and my reading of the Education Code and of the law we don’t have any authority to have those kinds of policies about the superintendent,” board member Heidi Weiland told Lake Tahoe News.

This means Meyers was allowed to continue to earn his $196,837 a year salary when he was on house arrest for five days, it means the board’s not being able to mandate he get any type of treatment or that members have oversight of it, nor can the board even discuss the situation in closed session because he is not an employee.

Because the board doesn’t meet in July, the Aug. 27 meeting was the first time the board had met since Meyers was cited June 9 by the California Highway Patrol for driving under the influence. Meyers usually attends all board meetings, but he was not at the Aug. 27 meeting. No reason was given for his absence.

It was at last week’s meeting that Weiland requested the Sept. 15 special meeting, to which her colleagues agreed, though none of them spoke to the issue.

The unadopted minutes from the Aug. 27 meeting summarize Weiland’s desire for the special meeting to have discussions include “but not limited to laws pertinent to the relationship between the elected superintendent and the elected board, the elected board’s ability to put in place systems or protections, and legal counsel as it relates to a possible conflict of interest.”

The current attorney, who works on a contract basis, works for the board and county office of ed so there is a potential conflict.

Board member Georgie Knight told Lake Tahoe News, “It needs to be very public out there what we can and cannot do. It’s important we know what our roles are and then adjust whatever that might be.”

She said if the board thought programs were being compromised or kids put at risk, then the board likely would have called for a special meeting sooner.

Board member Rich Fischer, who represents Tahoe on the board and is the vice president, did not return a phone call.

Requests to speak to Meyers are deferred to his criminal attorney.

While Meyers let the board know of his DUI shortly after it occurred, the public didn’t become aware of it until last month when he had to be booked into the El Dorado County jail in Placerville as part of his sentencing agreement.

Meyers eventually pleaded no contest to driving under the influence at just more than the legal limit. His five-day jail sentence was converted to house arrest. He is on probation and must complete court-mandated courses.

A California Highway Patrol officer found Meyers asleep in a construction zone on Highway 49 at 2:45pm June 9. He had attended a board meeting earlier that Tuesday that lasted about 15 minutes and ended at 11:59am. People who were at the meeting said he did not appear to be impaired.

Meyers’ blood alcohol level, according the CHP report, was 0.15 percent – nearly twice the legal limit. In addition to DUI, he was cited for being in possession of hydrocodone, a synthetic narcotic often prescribed for pain. It is along the lines of vicodin. That charge was later dropped when he produced the prescription.

Meyers, who is a long-distance runner, seriously hurt his foot about a year ago.

Instead of being taken directly to jail, Meyers was released to the custody of his wife. While the CHP has the authority to make that judgment call, others in law enforcement have told Lake Tahoe News it is “highly unusual” for that to have occurred.

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Notes:

·      The special meeting is Sept. 15 at 1pm in Placerville at the county education office.