From the Buffalo News -
Lancaster school board tells bus drivers not to talk at meeting
Lee, you were there, weren't you? Is this how it really went down?
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From the Buffalo News -
Lancaster school board tells bus drivers not to talk at meeting
Lee, you were there, weren't you? Is this how it really went down?
Yes I was there.Quote:
Originally Posted by gorja
As you are aware, I record the town and school board meetings. Being at the Monday evening’s school board meeting I will transcribe verbatim what Board of Education president Marie MacKay stated before opening the public hearing session.
“I know that people like to bring issues up before the Board of Education (BOE). I know many of you (bus drivers) are here tonight for different reasons. I just want to point out that the public hearing is to address the board, but not to address the board regarding personnel issues.”
“If there are some of you thinking about speaking to us publically about personnel issues, as a board we cannot address personnel issues; in public forum. I ask that when you come up to the podium that you are respectful and keep in mind that we are not here as a board to address personnel issues.”
“Also, in addressing the board you have five minutes to do so. After the five minutes, depending on the question that is asked, if we can answer it we will answer it. If we cannot answer the question because we may need to go back and do more research, we will then come back at another time and answer that question.”
Public hearing
The first individual to address the board at the public hearing was Karen Shafer. Shafer is one of the individuals that has filed discrimination charges against Transportation Supervisor Robert Mowry.
Shafer: “I would like to be respectful to the board and Dr. Vallely. But I believe what I am to bring forward may be a violation of what you (MacKay) just said, and I don’t mean it to be a violation. I did not understand that this may not be able to be presented.”
BOE president MacKay: “Once again I am going to ask that if you are going to mention somebody, if you are going to mention anything about performance, we are not going to address that. We ask that you respect us and not bring that forward to the board.”
BOE member Kenneth Graber: “If it is a complaint about anything other than what the board is doing… you can complain about us all you want… but if it is about any particular employee it should be directed to Superintendent Vallely or one of his administrative assistants. Technically, it cannot be made public. We as a BOE cannot act upon it. There is no utility to bring it up here. It such a time comes when the BOE has to eventually act upon it Dr. Vallely will present it to us. If you have a complaint about our policies or something the board is doing, please go right ahead.”
Shafer: “So then you advise me to meet privately with Dr. Vallely?”
Graber: “If that’s the nature of what you want to say, feel free to say it, but it should be done privately or whoever you may designate”
Shafer: “Thank you.”
Graber: “Please understand that as a body we are interested in hearing what the public has to say, but that is the appropriate way of doing it.”
Shafer: “Thank you.”
Comment
Considering a second individual addressed the board, a bus driver himself for 35 years, and complemented the other bus drivers for the service they provide for the students and parents, I find the Buffalo News headline ‘Lancaster school board tells bus drivers not to talk at meting’ misleading.
At no time did the board tell the attendees that they could not comment on any subject matter, but that the BOE would not answer questions on personnel matters. The board did advise that there was a way to broach the subject and get answers, but did not restrict those wishing to make comments from doing so.
Mrs. Shafer did act respectfully, choose not to proceed and mention names, under the board would not answer personell related questions, and declared she would follow the advise of the BOE in bringing the matter to the district administration. At no time was Mrs. Shafer told she could not talk.
The Buff news changed the title of their article to - "Lancaster school board prevents bus drivers from airing complaints about supervisor at meeting"
Well now, that changes the whole connotation - NOT!Quote:
Originally Posted by gorja
The BOE advised aattendees that they would not speak or answer questions on a personnel matter, advised Ms. Shafer if she wanted to pursue the personnel matter further to talk to an administrator, and asked that they comment respectfully when and if making a public comment. They were not prevented, not told not to speak. That is my perception and the same way the matter is handled at a town board meeting.
The bottom line is that the school board handled the situation no differently than a town or village board would. Personnel issues are spoke of privately not in a public forum
I agree they handled this situation properly.
The phrase “They should have known better” comes into play perfectly here. This meeting was going to be a witch-hunt and the bus drivers that attended the meeting should have known first-hand as school district employees and/or through their union that the Board of Education’s policy is not to openly discuss personnel matters.
This appeared to be a set up where the media was forewarned and were present looking for controversy that never took place.
Attending school district meetings regularly and generally seeing only a handful of residents stay for the entire meeting, it was puzzling to see all the attendees present and trying to understand why they were there. There was nothing on the agenda that would have caused so many unfamiliar faces to attend. It was when BOE president Marie MacKay before the start of the public hearing announced the districts guideline policy that the board would respond to questions or comments on a personnel matter.
MacKay requested those addressing the board to be respectful when making their comments. Respectful they were to the point that they verbally agreed to meet with administrators on the matter in private.
While the Lancaster Bee choose not to print anything on the matter as it turned out to be much about nothing, the Buffalo News thought otherwise – for whatever reason. It will be interesting to see how the Lancaster Source handles it.