Boos erupted Tuesday night in the Board of Education room at 25 Churchill Ave. after Superintendent Don Austin engaged in a verbal confrontation with Palo Alto High School board representative Dylan Chen.
The altercation followed a contentious debate regarding union contract negotiations, in which Chen criticized the board’s initial stance of lowering the budget by citing a conversation he had with board members prior to the open session.
In response to Chen, Austin said Chen had misrepresented the conversation, eliciting jeers.
“What you [Chen] just did misrepresented around 90% of the discussion,” Austin said. “Since you want to share this private conversation, I’m happy to do that … but misrepresenting what was said when Mr. [Assistant Superintendent Trent] Bahadursingh and I sat there with all of you and had our conversation is just really not acceptable. You can all boo all you want, but I’m telling you what the conversation was in that room and he misrepresented it grossly and I cannot let that stand.”
Then in response, Chen said his comments did indeed represent the discussion.
“I find it shameful that our district administration goes to the lengths to mischaracterize honest conversation when a student is trying to reflect student opinion and how that will have an impact on the student body,” Chen said. “I find it shameful, Dr. Austin, and I will ask you to correct your comments.”
After the meeting recess, Austin briefly returned and then left indefinitely.
The verbal standoff surprised many teachers at the board meeting, many of whom spoke with Chen in solidarity during the meeting recess. This is backdropped by the larger conflict between educators and the district amid budget cuts and layoffs, including the possible layoffs of copy technicians at Paly and Gunn.
According to economics teacher Eric Bloom, who attended the board meeting and teaches Chen, the confrontation created an inappropriate power imbalance.
“My first reaction was, ‘Why is the adult, the head of the school district, the pinnacle of power in this place, speaking to a student in that way?’” Bloom said.
AP Capstone teacher Lucy Filppu said that she commends Chen’s actions.
“I especially want to thank Dylan Chen,” Filppu said. “It is very hard to call out lack of trust. It is very hard to speak truth to a huge power, a bullying power.”
According to Chen, the other two student board representatives, Aishwarya Balasubramaniam and Angelise Chang, who both participated in the conversation Chen spoke about, believe that Chen’s comments were correct.
“Both of [the two other student board representatives] told me they believe that I have accurately represented the conversation … and they also told me they’re willing to corroborate my claim if needed,” Chen said. “I do still wish that Dr. Austin can correct his comments. His comments were inaccurate and hurtful, and I think it will be a positive step in the future if Dr. Austin can retract and correct those comments.”
Even so, Chen said he hopes to proceed with a neutral relationship with Austin.
“I hope I can continue to work with Dr. Austin professionally,” Chen said. “There are many important issues, including most prevalently, mental health, that require cooperation between student leaders in the district.”
According to school board vice president Rowena Chiu, who faced backlash last year after reposting a social media post targeting a district employee, understanding power dynamics is important for good discourse.
“I myself was called out for my own abuse of a power [and] distance between myself as a board trustee and district member of staff,” Chiu said. “In that context, whether the power distance is between a board trustee and a district member of staff, or a superintendent and a board member student, I ask that we remember to be kind to one another and to think of kindness before we speak.”
Bloom said that he hopes that the incident will not serve as an example for other adults in the district.
“That’s not the way grown-ups are supposed to be treating students in Palo Alto,” Bloom said. “Maybe more people do, because that’s the way Don Austin treats the people he works with. If he can treat students like that, how does he treat people behind closed doors?”
The full conflict can be found at 3:15:07 of the livestream.
