The Final Collapse of Pres. O'Brien's Year

The meeting of April 21, 2008 had all of the usual elements of confusion and dissent that have characterized the BOE meetings under Pres. O'Brien with an extra special layer of grimness due to the weekend news in the paper about the Klaus/Olson naughtiness. NOT ONE indication of remorse or apology or promise to seek the truth, be honest with the public and hold people accountable for their actions. There is no doubt that Pres. O'Brien, has used his position as President of the BOE and his employment with the Weld Riley law firm (the ECASD's legal counsel!!) to delay the disclosure of the fake/forged/illegal documents that were prepared in July/August 2007, shown to the BOE in the Fall of 2007, and withheld from public view for nearly 6 months! It is sickening how the actions of a very few people at the very top of the ECASD leadership have brought shame and harm to our school district.

As I have said repeatedly, as critical as I have been about Klaus and Olson in the past, I had NEVER suspected that they would be as greedy, unethical and capable of illegal doings as seems to be the case now. In the same way, in spite of my criticism of Pres. O'Brien and the glaring conflict of interest that has existed with his employer, I never believed that he would use his power as the BOE Pres. in conjunction with his legal knowledge and employment with Weld Riley to perpetrate the kind of senseless and damaging obstruction and failure to obey Open Meetings Laws statutes. Please go to the Open Meetings Laws label on this blog (on the right side the topics are listed) to read more about information I have posted in the past. In addition there is lots of information about Conflict of Interest in a separate Label/Topic. Sad, sad, sad....

Back to the meeting...

The meeting began at 6:00 p.m. with a Work Session dedicated to discussing the recommendations from the Little Red Study Committee (LRSC). Comm. Craig stepped forward with some information that she prepared that would be a prototype for "considerations for future citizen committees." She suggested that the ECASD could do something similar to the City of EC in that citizens who are interested in serving on such committees could "apply" and their names be kept on file and when citizen participants are needed they could be contacted. (I completely agree and actually suggested this during my own campaign a year ago as a way to increase citizen participation.) She also had an outline of other possible parameters for these committees such as having 7 members, etc... I will see if I can get an e-file of this document and post it on the blog. BOE members seemed receptive to this idea with comments that defining the "charge" and timeline of the committee would be crucial. Also, committees could bring in a variety of other "resource" people to contribute knowledge and expertise without having to add 12 additional voting members which could create huge and unproductive committees. BOE members agreed that Parent Advisory Committee (PAC) participation was crucial, Administrative members would be non-voting, the committees would be facilitated by an outside party with specific experience, etc... Very good exchange of ideas among board members. But we need followup on all of this to make it a reality!!

Then G. Butler presented 3 possible scenarios/actions/committees that could be pursued to accomplish the LRSC recommendations. The first was to create an advisory committee to "provide annual recommendations to the BOE regarding demographic trends, boundary issues, capacity updates, and other relevant data. This will allow for long range predictability of attendance areas, facility needs, and programmatic equity. The committee feels that this is a dynamic and critical component of district-wide planning." Yippee!! Yahoo!! I am all for this. Long overdue. BOE members agreed with this with several suggestions. Comm. Cummins expressed concern that this committee would need to be in consultation with the Montessori Governing Board that is kind of doing something similar as they work to find their "home". Comm. Craig held up a report from a committee several years ago, the Elementary Management Committee that could be a good example and provide some expertise now. Timeframe for beginning this would be to start forming the committee by the end of June to have it ready to go with new Supt. Heilmann.

Next was a discussion of the committee to move the Montessori program. The motion reads that "options should be presented to the BOE by Sept. 2008" but given all that is going on now, I am not sure if this will happen. A confusing exchange between Comm. Cummins and Craig and Butler when she asked "What is the decision for next year?" Butler: "It is about to be decided." Craig: "Has the Governing Board been consulted?" Butler: "They will not be left out." Well, if the decision is almost made, but they will not be left out, does that mean they have not YET been consulted? I dunno. A decision is due to the BOE on Sept. 15, 2008.

Finally, a discussion about using the nature trails at Little Red for the community and as a site for science curriculum opportunities. Again, kinda confusing. I think it ended up splitting into 2 charges; one for the community use of the trails and the second for the curricular part. Comm. Craig suggested seeking lots of community partners like the Sierra Club, Parks and Rec, UWEC, etc... Comm. Faanes suggested broadening the curricular piece to the middle and high school science departments. Butler announced that a neighbor had offered to clear trails and keep them maintained. Charlie Kramer indicated that NO facilities indoors (toilets) would be available as the well would be decommissioned. Results of this effort would come to the BOE no later than Nov. 17th 2008.

End of Work Session.

The Regular Meeting was opened and there were NO announcements from Closed Session. Yeah, that certainly has been the pattern.

Newly elected Board member Adam Shiel was introduced but would not be voting on any issues today.

Communications consisted of an announcement from Jim Leary that he is exploring the 2 hour delay option for inclement weather. He also has had conversation with Brian Levin-Stankewiz (sp?), the UWEC Chancellor, about having him come to a BOE meeting and discuss partnership possibilities. Chancellor Stankewiz is available June 2nd and could come before the meeting at 6:30 p.m. or at 7. Comm. Kneer suggested he come at 7 so he could be on PAC TV and that way the BOE "could show that we are interacting with the community." I swear on a Bible. After all the crap hitting the fan with the Klaus/Olson "troubles" Chancellor Stankewiz is, no doubt, triple booking his calendar for June 2nd so he does not have to be seen within 10 miles of the ECASD BOE.

Other Communications were that the Human Growth and Development committee is missing a BOE member and anyone interested should apply to Fred W. Also on May 3 there is a Governance Workshop put on by WASB and if any other BOE members are interested they can ride with Comm. Craig. NOTE: If one thing goes right for our district next year, it would be the use of Board Governance to manage the work and priorities of the BOE!!! Also was communicated that the BOE will meet in Closed Session with legal counsel tonight. I hope it is NOT the Weld Riley counsel that appears to have given us really lousy, and no doubt, very expensive legal advice on how to continue hiding BOE business from the taxpaying public.

Deputy Gregg asked for 3 BOE members to facilitate student representative interviews. Comm. Kneer, Cummins and Shiel volunteered.

Public Comments consisted of Bev Christiansen, head of the classified staff union objecting to the Employment Report that indicated that it contained 2 classified staff positions that were proposed for elimination without public input and discussion. I guess the proposal was to cut them effective May 30th but they are budgeted until the end of the year. She asked that the Employment Report NOT be approved.

After that there ensued a completely ridiculous, confusing and lengthy process regarding the approval of the Consent Agenda which included the Minutes from last meeting and the Employment report. Again, this was really confusing and not completely audible to audience members but the gist of it was:

Pres. O'Brien moved to approve the Consent Agenda. Comm. Craig indicated that the Minutes did not reflect the BOE's decision last time to postpone a decision about 2 employees and since then the BOE has received some kind of letter from one of the individuals. Therefore the last 2 layoffs on page 4 of the Employment Report should be removed. Comm. Cummins moved to amend the Minutes to properly reflect the discussion. Kling said that a letter had been received from legal counsel (ours? or theirs?) and Cummins said that today an additional letter was received requesting a BOE hearing. Kling said that 30 days notice was required but Cummins indicated that there is still time and that the Board should err on the side of seeing the entirelty of the information. Comm. Faanes suggested the matter could be taken up at the May 7th meeting. Comm. Kneer said that "the community has asked us to eliminate positions" which was followed by loud booing. Pres. O'Brien said that that kind of behavior will not be tolerated (but, I guess, faking and hiding documents is OK). Comm. Craid indicated that this was "extremely extenuating circumstances". Cummins made a "friendly amendment" that the Minutes should reflect the change but it failed because Kneer, O'Brien and Wogahn voted "NO". Comm. Wogahn looked extremely confused about what the heck was going on and at the reaction to his "NO" vote since previously he seemed OK with the delay. Cummins then asked O'Brien to recuse himself due to Conflict of Interest. O'Brien refused saying he was elected to represent the citizens of the district and it is his duty and obligation to serve unless there is a direct violation of the statute. (How about the numerous statutes that require elected officials to conduct the business of Government without secrecy?) Cummins said that was fine as long as the Weld Riley firm will not be used to defend the district against any legal action brought in this case.

Comm. Craig diplomatically said that "it is ultimately up to the individual" and moved that 2 separate motions be voted on. This motion was approved unanimously. Next motion: to approve Minutes as amended: unanimous approval. Next Motion: to accept the Employment Report: NO's by Cummins, Craig and Faanes which, I think, left the Employment Report without Approval and therefore the new Superintendent could not be hired. Hmmmmm... New motion to reconsider removing the last 2 positions from the Employment Report: approved unanimously. Take it from me, you had to be there to fully appreciate the drama.

The Financial Report was approved unanimously, the Payroll report was approved with abstentions from O'Brien and Faanes due to spousal employment. Budget Adjustments: unanimous. CESA 10 contract: unanimous, but shouldn't Mary Kneer have abstained since I think she is the Chair of this Committee and might even get a stipend for her service?? Is it too much to ask that after all the complications this board has had with Conflict of Interest that they draft a policy and get a little In Service about this topic??

The Regular Committee meeting was opened and the Senior Citizen Pass proposal passed unanimously. The CINC proposal also passed unanimously with blessings from Dan V, that using Fund Balance for the first year start up is reasonable. The proposal to move the Middle School Sports program to Fund 80 passed unanimously as well with discussion about competing against existing community or private school programs, the cost of the ECASD programs being higher than others due to coach costs and "higher quality" and addressing some of the potential time problems for other students arriving from other school locations to participate.

Then there was a presentation of the Middle School Exploratory Wheel program structure changing from a quarter to a semester plan. This seemed to be solving a scheduling problem for many travelling teachers who offer these elective courses. BOE members had some questions but I did not detect any large concerns.

Then, the moment we were all waiting for: the presentation of the award to Pres. O'Brien for all his service to the district in 9 years. Mary Kneer was beaming and gushing. O'Brien quoting some saying n the Library of Congress in Washington DC about "Society's greatest duty is the education of its youth." He remembered a time spent with some students when he opened it up for questions because "I really like answering questions." (Just not questions from reporters about things you have been hiding for 6 months, I guess.) He graciously thanked the teachers of the district and those that have presented at Board meetings as he says he learned a lot. He was confident that Dr. Heilmann will lead the district to "a better place" and encouraged people to "work together and work with respect". How about respect for ethics and accountability and transparency which are necessary for good government?

Adjourn! The BOE then went into Closed Session with the legal beagles to try to sort out this pile of crap that former and current leaders have left on the doorstep of the ECASD.