Teachers Union Seeks Trustee Apology

The Fullerton Elementary Teachers Assn. is asking for a public apology from the school board for what it describes as “unquestionably rude and hostile” treatment of a school counselor.

At a recent public hearing about the Fullerton School District’s counseling services, counselor Marne Nettinga, who works at Orangethorpe Elementary School, was asked questions about her job.

Trustee Kim Ann Guth asked Nettinga several questions, demanding yes or no answers. Her tone startled Nettinga, prompting board President Anthony M. Valla to tell Guth to “be polite.”

At the meeting, Guth, who opposes counseling services in the schools, said she does not want children to be psychoanalyzed and given advice for personal or family problems.

Counselors replied that they do not psychoanalyze the students but do encourage them to develop organizational and anger management skills if their parents approve.

The four other trustees praised the counselors’ work.

The questioning from Guth outraged the teachers union and its president, Anita Smiley, who wrote a letter to the board this week asking for the apology. In it, she described Guth’s behavior as “poor, abusive and inexcusable.”

Nettinga said she would accept an apology from Guth.

Guth could not be reached for comment Wednesday.