A Night to Forget

For those who weren’t in attendance, Tuesday’s BOE meeting was an embarrassment on so many levels. Thank goodness for the outside counsel’s guidance that prevented the night falling into complete chaos.

It’s clear that the incoming President, who has served one year, and Vice President, three years, are rather inexperienced as evidenced by their inability to run the evening's meeting without constant interruption and not knowing when to call for an Executive Session. Nor were either aware that a President must be named at the evening’s annual Reorganization Meeting and that the President has certain duties that must be performed. Perhaps both consider these minor details in the overall scheme of things and that their teaching experience trumps any knowledge gaps they have with the procedural tasks required to run the board. One thing that is clear is the incoming President's assertion that he, in no uncertain terms, is best suited to lead the board through the challenges that the district faces in the upcoming school year although the basis for his assertion was never given.

It was also troubling that a request to put an important item on the agenda was not accommodated and there wasn’t an explanation on why the item was omitted. And
we can only hope that the way the new President was elected, specifically by violating
policy that provides for public transparency, is not a sign of things to come. One former board member who spoke in opposition to the board's action described their circumventing the policy as underhanded. Will the bickering among board members that was embarrassing to watch continue? How long will the Superintendent, who must be nearing retirement age, want to continue if Tuesday's dysfunction continues and whenever the time comes how easy will it be to find a replacement who wants to step into the that culture? What kind of void will exist if the most senior board member doesn’t run for reelection next year resulting in a 30 year knowledge gap from the departure of her and the former President? And let’s not forget that the newest member, who was only sworn into office earlier that evening, responded in a misleading way about the amount of campaign contributions she received.

Let’s hope that Tuesday evening was an anomaly and residents will continue to hold their heads high to be a part of the West Islip School District.