I was going over my notes on the June 6, 2007 Regular Board Meeting when something struck me as odd. So I called two other witnesses to confirm my observation.
What caught my attention was the comment made by Board President Jane Wojtkiewicz, that a change had been made to the list of administrators referred to in the memorandum. I was then expecting to hear the names of those two administrators as well as the new “aggregate sum” amount to be voted on. Neither was forthcoming!
The publicly posted agenda for this meeting included the following “New Business” item.
| “# 288-06/07, Recommendation to Approve Administrators’ Compensation and Contracts 2007-2008.” |
Later on in the Agenda document one finds:
| “ Board of Education Memorandum #288-06/07, Recommendation to Approve Administrators’ Compensation and Contracts 2007-2008 Contact Person: Dr. Kathleen Williams, Superintendent It is the recommendation of the Superintendent to approve administrative contracts and compensation as presented to the board for the 2007-2008 school year in the aggregate sum of $930,323.68 for the following individuals: Dr. Scott Clay Ms. Lynn Glickman Mr. Eric Henry Mr. Scott Herrmann Mr. Nick Maldonado Mr. Larry Mishkin Ms. Katherine Ruh Ms. Judith Satkiewicz Ms. Kristen Ulery...” |
So, what did they do?
The Board, in my opinion blatantly ignored their responsibility to inform the public of vital financial information prior to a vote.
Here's how it happened.
The Board properly announced in the June 6, 2007 Agenda that there would be a “New Business” item to be voted on.
Board President Wojtkiewicz adjourned the Board to closed session to discuss among other things, item “# 288-07/07, Recommendation to Approve Administrators’ Compensation and Contracts 2007-2008.”
As you can see from the quotation from the June 6th Board Agenda presented above, nine names appeared on the list, along with an aggregate sum amount.
Following the closed session, President Wojtkiewicz announced that two members of that list had been removed. The remaining administrators names were not made public nor were the adjusted aggregate dollars. Was there public discussion or explanation of the changes? No!
President Wojtkiewicz immediately asked for a roll-call vote. The recommendation passed unanimously (7-0).
Excuuuuuuuuuuse me?
That little maneuver was a good example of the smoke & mirror Board Governance here in EMSD63.
The proper procedure as I understand it is:
The Board must first publicly and clearly state in writing the language of the modified agenda item prior to vote, so that the public knows exactly what the Board Members will be voting on.
The public must then be given an adequate and timely notice of the change, with a reasonable opportunity to review the amended proposal. That means that the new agenda item must be placed in written form for 48 hours prior to the vote for public inspection.
Finally, the public must be given a reasonable opportunity to comment on this new agenda item.
This did not happen!
One could argue that this incident is a clear violation of the "Open Meeting Act."
Was this a mistake? I doubt it. EMSD63's Superintendent Williams and President Wojtkiewicz have won awards for their management and leadership acumen. No, I think they just believed no one was watching. Even members of the press were absent. The Superintendent and President apparently intended to "fast track" the Administrative pay raises by passing that memorandum, no matter what, that night. And, knowing they had the votes based on the results of last April's election, they just did it!
That's the way things are done in East Maine School District #63.
Why? Because they can!
But that’s just my opinion!
Kenneth J. Butterly
1 comment:
The two names omitted were the two administrators who left District 63. Yes, that should have been stated. However, this is typical that Our BOE omits simple but important information. The Board Members and 63 Administration, I believe, speak so that the public can't follow. (We are all guests at these BOE meetings. We are reminded of this on a regular basis when only allowed to comment for three minutes at the beginning of a meeting.) Keep the taxpayer, the parents, and the stakeholder in the dark but at the same time BOE and Administration can say it was discussed in public. Cleaver and , I would say, not exactly a moral concept.
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