Emotions are mixed this week among members of the Compton Unified School District Board of Education over their treatment of Superintendent Kaye Burnside, while public opinion appears to be solidly against the board, as expressed by the large number of community comments posted on Compton’s Hub City Livin’ website.

The seven-member, all-Black Compton Board of Education voted in May to put Burnside on administrative leave while they investigate allegations that she violated a board policy by using her school district-issued credit card for personal transactions.

I was in error last week when I wrote that Burnside was put on administrative leave without pay, for she is, in fact, being paid while on her mandatory, board-imposed leave. I was told that her leave was without pay by representatives of the National Alliance of Black School Educators and the California Assn. of African American Superintendents and Administrators when they approached me and asked me to write about Burnside’s troubles with the school district.

The pay or non-pay status of the leave never came up during my discussions with Burnside, and it was she who told me she was on paid leave after she read the error in last week’s story.

I need to clear up this matter early in this piece because it loomed large in my discussions this week with the board members, particularly with board member Marjorie Shipp, who voted against putting Burnside on administrative leave.

“I believe it to be an injustice to Dr. Burnside, and I voted against putting her on administrative leave,” Shipp said. “So, now we’re paying the salary for two superintendents — that of Dr. Burnside and the one taking her place — as well as $450 an hour to a lawyer to investigate her credit card use, which could have been done without forcing her to take leave.”

Board member Emma Sharif said she voted against putting Burnside on leave, but declined to elaborate as to her reasons, saying: “It is inappropriate for me to discuss this, as it is a ‘personnel matter’ and I don’t have all my facts right now.”

Board member Fred Easter also voted to keep Burnside on the job. “I did not support putting Dr. Burnside on leave because I believe everyone deserves the opportunity to be treated fairly. I have deep respect for her. From the day she came to Compton, I’ve always regarded her as an outstanding educator who moved this district forward in the direction we wanted it to go. She was improving our children’s education and doing what needed to be done to meet those goals.

“I hope we are not violating her rights,” Easter continued. “We all make judgmental mistakes and we don’t have to destroy each other over them. I just hope this is over real soon so we can get back to the business of educating our kids.”

Board member Sarita Zurita, who voted in favor of putting Burnside on administrative leave, said: “I’m not trying to hurt anybody.” Zurita is the daughter of former Compton City Council member Delores Zurita, who was arrested, indicted, tried and exonerated in 2004 for credit card misuse crimes, for which former Mayor Omar Bradley was sent to prison.

Sarita Zurita said: “I’ve lived through this. I know what it’s like and I assure you I wouldn’t do to a Black woman what they did to my mother. I feel sorry about what’s happening to Dr. Burnside.” When asked if her vote was influenced by fellow board member Micah Ali’s rumored anti-Burnside leadership role on the board, Zurita said: “I don’t trust anybody! I’ve learned better. It was my mother’s trust in ‘a leader’ that got her in trouble. I’ve been through it and I’m more objective about people, especially people who claim to lead.”

Ali, who by most accounts is considered to be the villain in this story, said he voted to put Burnside on leave “to give way to an investigation of this matter.” He denied being the ringleader against Burnside, as many in the community have labeled him, and pointed out that Mae Thomas was the board member who made the motion to sideline Burnside.

“There are a lot of rumors going around that I do not support the Black administrators and that I am disrespectful to Black women, and that just is not true. I have always supported Black women,” Ali said. “I’m not getting any joy out of what is happening to Dr. Burnside.”

Ali is probably not getting any joy out of wildfire-like rumors that he made an offensive comment to Burnside, that he has a friend or associate waiting in the wings to replace her as superintendent and that he is in cahoots with a reportedly resurgent Omar Bradley. His lengthy denials to all of this can be summed up, thus: “There is no truth to any of these rumors.”

Thomas, the board member who made the motion against Burnside, did not return calls for an interview, and Margie Garrett, another member who voted against Burnside, did not respond to interview requests either.

Burnside maintains that the maligned manner in which she used her district-issued credit card was a well-known common practice among superintendents and board members long before she arrived two and a half years ago. Her attorney submitted a public records request last week for all credit card and expense reports of Compton school superintendents and board members, going back 10 years.