Despite telling school district officials last week that he “expects to attend the next board meeting on July 7,” Michael Shane Ellis was absent yet again from Tuesday’s meeting of the Long Beach Unified School District. Mr. Ellis can now add liar to the growing list of ill-suited nouns associated with his tarnished reputation in the local community.
Elected to the school board to represent the interests of students, parents, teachers and the community in School District 3, Mr. Ellis has consistently abdicated his responsibilities and brought scandal to his office. He has been the focus of drunk driving incidents, extended absences from school board business, a home eviction, and varying calls for his resignation.
As of last week, Mr. Ellis had missed five of the last six school board meetings, and a total of 20% since he took office in June of 2006. He has now missed six of the last seven meetings.
There was no mention of Mr. Ellis’ absence by either colleagues or members of the public on Tuesday.
As someone passionate about education who’s interested in the public will being executed, I fully expect Mr. Ellis to, at the minimum, be present at school board meetings. After all, Tuesday’s session only lasted 50 minutes. The 3rd School District includes some of the most underserved populations in the city, and they deserve much better than this.