Trustee Mann Under Fire for E-mail Attacks

While ESUHSD Trustee Craig Mann levied charges against his former employer Terry Gregory for purported ethics violations, Mann himself has been criticized by teachers district-wide for unprofessional behavior regarding an e-mail sent to Andrew Hill librarian and former ESTA vice-president Julie Pratico. Pratico sent an e-mail questioning the placement of Silver Creek High School’s Dr. Ana Lomas at Andrew Hill High School, a move district officials claimed would be temporary, though curiously disrupting administrative teams at two school sites.

“Dr. Lomas stated that she and the other administrators serve at the beck and call of the DO. Is this administrative change yet another decision made without consulting those most affected?” Pratico writes, “You may not want input for all of your decisions, but surely, consideration for a strong staff, a successful school, and student achievement plays some small role in your Cabinet's actions.”

The e-mail, addressed to Dr. Zendejas but copied to board members, echoed the growing sentiments teachers across the district have felt about the “top-down” management style of the current administration. Within hours, Mann sent this contentious reply to Pratico:

Ms. Pratico,

Yes, absolutely, Dr. Ana Lomas is the best choice. My advice for you is to focus your finite energies on doing your job, which when I last checked is not managing the district. You and the others that spent (wasted) the last year savagely attacking the Supt and Board need to reflect on why you come to work each day. If your purpose for being with the district is not laser focused on helping each and every student achieve the highest degrees of academic, personal and social success, I suggest you help our students out & change careers. I don't have another moment to waste on those in this district engaged in the politics of personal destruction and hate.

I hope we are very, very clear

Best regards

Craig Mann

Governing Board Member
East Side Union HSD

The full text of both letters, published in the ESTA Panorama, became the focus of discussion amongst teachers at each site. At one of the public budget meetings held by Board President J. Manuel Herrera and attended by Mann, a teacher alluded to Mann’s e-mail as she questioned how free teachers were to exchange ideas in a public forum when a board member openly attacks ESTA members through e-mail. A flustered Herrera offered no comment.

This was not the first incendiary e-mail Mann sent to a teacher this year. In September, Mann attacked Oak Grove teacher Rick Caton in response to a letter originally sent (but unpublished) to the Mercury News and reprinted in the Panorama. Team Unruly received a copy of Mann’s reply. In that e-mail, Mann defended himself against charges of credit card misappropriation, repeatedly telling Caton the credit card charges were a matter of public record and he could go “check it out”. He failed to mention that Zendejas and Mann directed then-district CFO Doug Emerson to suppress the report from the state agency that reviewed Mann’s credit card use, which only became public at the end of October after ESTA filed and won a suit to release the document under the Freedom of Information Act. The e-mail to Caton contained similar vitriolic language, particularly in the closing, where Mann asks Caton to crawl out of the “Swift Boat Veterans for Truth Swamp and come up for air,” ending with the spiteful sentiment, “Yes there’s hope, even for you.”

Mann’s e-mail practices seem to extend beyond direct attacks. Wendy Stegeman, ESTA site president at Andrew Hill, received a ghosted e-mail from a sender who stole her identity and used her name. The e-mail was addressed to the “Grand Dragoness of the ESTA KKKLAN,” and went on to use similar phrases found in the Pratico and Caton e-mails. The e-mail was sent the night after ESTA held a press conference to announce the release of the credit card report Mann and Zendejas allegedly suppressed. Team Unruly received a copy of that e-mail too. A quick comparison to an e-mail sent to us from an anonymous hotmail sender named “bob” confirmed that both e-mails came from the same person. A Team Unruly investigation discovered that the sender went to the Mercury News website, clicked on the “send this story to a friend” function on particular articles dealing with Craig Mann, and entered false information in the “from” dialogue box. Another piece of evidence linking Mann to the e-mails was the sender carbon copying the e-mails to John Fensterwald, The San Jose Mercury News editorialist (see our editorials on John Fensterwald, the information minister). The Metro recently ran a story on the incident, which you can read here:

Team Unruly wonders how Mann can serve the interests of all the constituencies in the East Side when he blatantly attacks teachers and union members. The irony of an elected official sending scathing e-mails attacking employees to tell them to stop engaging in “the politics of hate” is not lost on Team Unruly. We hope Mann comes to his senses, realizes that he has been elected to serve the needs of parents, students, and teachers, and offers a public apology soon. If not, the ESUHSD Board of Trustees need to consider the possibility of censure.

Team Unruly hopes we are very, very clear.