The Big Oak Flat Groveland Unified School Board of Trustees, whose members assumed office last spring pledging to refocus the district’s attention from politics to academics, ironically now finds itself rocked with controversy, threats and legal maneuvers.

At the center of the most recent firestorm is Trustee Michael Malloy, who was the driving force behind last spring’s recall movement that resulted in the election of an entirely new school board.

Since assuming office, Malloy has been the subject of two restraining orders and at least one civil suit. The most recent court order against the controversial trustee comes as a result of alleged threats by Malloy toward interim District Superintendent Mike King, although the restraining order prohibits Malloy from having contact with any district personnel or setting foot on district property.

Last summer, shortly after assuming office, Malloy was hit with a restraining order by Lisa Rico, the former district business manager, after he allegedly threatened to skin her in an email correspondence.

At a special meeting on November 19, a meeting which Malloy was prohibited from attending, three fellow trustees took turns criticizing him and to a lesser extent criticizing fellow trustee Gloria Marler, a staunch Malloy supporter.

Board President Ian Morcott, who was quoted as pledging to make the school district rock, but likely didn’t mean rock in its present sense, labeled Malloy’s behavior unbecoming of a board member, while trustee Paul Spring said that Malloy had stabbed the board in the back and should step down.

Trustee Lori West, in a prepared statement, also demanded Malloy’s resignation. Marler, however, refused to comment except to say that the meeting itself was illegal.

Ironically, it was Malloy whose aggressive behavior endeared him to recall supporters and was a major factor in the eventual election of Morcott, Spring and West, in addition to Marler and himself.

At a school board meeting last spring, Malloy interrupted District Superin-tendent Mari Brabbin with shouts of “liar, liar,” a verbal outburst that drew loud applause from his supporters. On numerous other occasions Malloy interrupted board meetings with lengthy tirades and controversial statements designed to discredit Brabbin and former board members.

Malloy used his business office as a staging area for the collection of signatures forcing the recall election. His group took out full-page ads in a local newspaper accusing school board members of lying.

The local teachers union that supported Malloy’s candidacy to the point of wearing shirts with “Vote for Malloy” emblazoned on the back has not formally retracted its support, although one teacher, Paul Andrews, did call for Malloy’s resignation.

Recall proponent Marian Wolf, a staunch supporter of both Malloy and Marler during the campaign, now admits she had reservations about both becoming board members and added that Malloy was causing the district bad press and should resign.

Ed Quinn, husband of Tenaya Principal MaryAnn Quinn, who briefly served as an interim district superintendent before the hiring of King, stated the community should put pressure on Malloy to step down.

A recent editorial in the Sonora Union Democrat labeled Malloy’s behavior bizarre and also called for his resignation.

Ironically, neither the district nor the other board members have the authority to remove Malloy, and the community is likewise powerless, since a public official elected as a result of a recall cannot himself be recalled.