GOP calls for end to illegal School Board Meetings

West Hartford Republicans are calling for an end to board of education “retreats” like the one held in July and one planned for November.

“These so-called ‘retreats’ are a disturbing violation of the public trust. They violate the spirit and letter of the Sunshine Laws which require public boards to hold public meetings,” said Lib Spinella, a Republican board member seeking her second term. “Seeing how the Democrats on the board have been operating in the shadows on issues that the public has a right to know about, it’s clear why there is such a lack of trust in government in general. Elected officials need to have their conversations out in the open for the public to see, not behind closed doors.”

The lengthy Meeting Notes from the July retreat include plans to discuss the following at the next retreat:

“Very important for this group [retreat] to have an in-depth conversation about racial imbalance”

“Demographics and their meanings for the schools”

“Expansion of the [school] year, day, number of hours in the [school] day”

Andrew Bannon-Guasp and Ellen Brassil, Republican board candidates, are outraged by the board’s plans to discuss racial imbalance at the next retreat.

“The fact that the Democrats who set the agenda have yet to have an in-depth conversation, debate and vote on this topic in a public meeting, but instead are planning to do so behind closed doors is outrageous,” said Bannon-Guasp. “This [racial imbalance statute] is the single biggest issue facing the board and town. Not only are they planning to discuss this issue behind closed doors in November, but they do not have plans to publicly address this issue until December - after the municipal elections.”

Ms. Brassil, elected to the board in 1997 and 2001, had this to say: “The actions of this board majority are unacceptable. Public information and dialogue help to keep our public officials accountable. The lack of a complete, open and public debate and vote on how, or if, to comply with this antiquated statute shows a lack of regard for the public they were elected to serve. Public officials need to be open in their conversations and show the thought processes that they're basing their decisions on.”

Republicans are also troubled by the apparent use of taxpayer dollars to pay a facilitator for these retreats, the disregard for the board’s bylaws and lack of a transparent process. “The board as a whole should be deciding how to spend their time, how the administration is going to spend their time and how taxpayer dollars are spent,” said Diane Mudge, Republican board member elected in 2007. “The board has never voted to hold these retreats, who would facilitate them or what would be discussed. The nature of the topics under discussion makes these “retreats” problematic, and I believe illegal. There must be a stop to these immediately.”

Complete meeting notes from the July 2009 "retreat" can be viewed by clicking on the attached link. http://www.medpartners.net/retreatnotes.pdf
As noted above, CQE views these "retreats" as little more than illegal meetings. As such, we find most of the content of the meeting notes to be inappropriate and/or not focusing on what's in the best interest of the children who attend our public schools. The board's focus on their own "legacy," and on dimestore marketing ploys litter most of the meeting notes. Some (but clearly not all) of the content viewed as problematic by this writer is highlighted in yellow.