UPDATE: in response to a public records request, the Salinas Union High School District has provided the Coalition for Fair Employment in Construction with every report submitted by its compliance contractor related to performance of the Project Labor Agreement on the Rancho San Juan High School project. The reports are compiled into one PDF document here: Salinas Union High School District Project Labor Agreement Reports - Rancho San Juan High School.

In September 2015, the elected board of the Salinas Union High School District voted to require construction companies to sign a Project Labor Agreement with unions to work on New High School #5 (now known as Rancho San Juan High School). The school is supposed to open this summer - a year behind schedule - after numerous controversies that the district has tried to keep quiet.

It turns out the Salinas Union High School District has been paying a construction management firm for three years to monitor this project and determine whether the Project Labor Agreement is fulfilling its contractual promises. The reports are not made available to the public.

Why the secrecy? The Coalition for Fair Employment in Construction (CFEC) has decided to submit a request for these reports, so that everyone who lives in Salinas and in California can find out more about the performance of this Project Labor Agreement. We contend these reports are a matter of public record. Here's the request, submitted today (May 21, 2019):

URGENT: Public Records Act Request re Debacle at New High School

Superintendent Burns: Public Records Request for Compliance Evaluations of Project Labor Agreement on Rancho San Juan High School (New High School #5)

Dear Superintendent Burns:

This is a request for public records.

Please email to me every report submitted by your contractor RGM & Associates to the Salinas Union High School District related to performance of the Project Labor Agreement on the Rancho San Juan High School project.

We have a copy of what is apparently the first report from RGM dated September 15, 2016, but nothing else. They were supposed to have been submitted every month.

Thank you for your attention to this matter. The public needs to know whether this labor contract negotiated between the school district and the unions actually met the promises outlined in the contract. We are experts at dealing with this type of request and expect them in the time laid out in state law (10 working days) and sent electronically.

Sincerely,

 
Eric Christen
Executive Director
Coalition for Fair Employment in Construction