Brea Olinda district trustee absent from second school board meeting following arrest

Brea Olinda Unified School District Trustee Christopher Becerra missed a second consecutive school board meeting Thursday night, Jan. 22, following his arrest in December.

Becerra, 42, was arrested Dec. 18 by the Brea Police Department on suspicion of possessing child pornography, annoying or molesting a child, falsifying evidence and bribing, influencing, intimidating or threatening witnesses. As of Thursday, no formal charges had been filed by the Orange County District Attorney’s Office, spokesperson Kimberly Edds said.

School board President Carrie Flanders addressed Becerra’s arrest and continued absence at Thursday’s meeting, saying district leadership moved quickly to respond after learning of the allegations, but is also limited in how it can respond because Beccera is an elected official and not an employee.

“Like many of you, the arrest of Trustee Becerra sent us through a wave of emotions — from shock and disbelief to anger, disappointment and an overwhelming sense of betrayal,” Flanders said at the start of the meeting. “The alleged actions of Trustee Becerra do not reflect the values of this board, our superintendent, district leadership or the dedicated professionals who serve our students every day.”

Flanders said she and Superintendent Brinda Leon met with Becerra after learning of the allegations before his arrest and outlined options for the elected official, including resigning immediately or requesting a leave of absence and that if he misses meetings for three consecutive months, he will have vacated his seat and the board could move to appoint a new trustee to fill the remainder of his term.

Flanders said that despite multiple attempts by her and district officials to contact Becerra since his arrest, there has been “zero communication” with the district, which she called “unbelievable.”

Flanders said the school board has no legal authority to bar Becerra from attending meetings or remove him from office because he was elected by voters. She said if Becerra does not attend the next board meeting in February, he will have missed three consecutive months of meetings, and could be considered as having vacated his seat per code.

Becerra could not immediately be reached for comment Thursday.

The board voted unanimously on Thursday to replace Becerra with Trustee Deanna Miller as the district’s representative to the North Orange County ROP Board. Trustees also agreed to form a closed-session subcommittee composed of the four board members present, excluding Becerra from participating.

Becerra has been notified he is not allowed on any of the district’s campuses, officials said.

This is a developing story, please check back for updates.