saugerties boe letter

8/11/2019 Saugerties BOE Letter

1/3

Press Release

page

1

8t25t14

I

am

writing

this as President

of

the Saugerties CSD Board

of

Education

in

order

to clarify

its

position regarding recent public scrutiny and

debate

over

some

new board

members'

claim

that

they

don't

have

enough

back-up

material

in

order to cast votes.

Agenda

packets,

which are hand delivered to each

board member's residence

five to six

days in advance

of each board meeting,

give

the members

ample time

to

research

and/or

request

additional needed

information from

the Administration

prior

to such meeting..

*

District

Policy 1510

sfafes that

for

each meeting, it is

the

responsibility

of the

Superintendent

to

prepare

the agenda during

the

week

prior

to each board

meeting and

review

the same with

the board

president.

The

agenda

shall be distributed

to Board

members

no later

than the Friday

before such

regular

meeting and

contain att back-up

material.

While

the

Administration

makes

every effort

to complete and distribute

copies of the agenda to

all board

members

as early

as

possible

(usually

by Thursday),

that is not always feasible

since

all necessary

or supporting

documentation may not

be available. ln

such case,

there

is a

one-

day delay-but it

remains

timely

nevertheless.

It has been

a long-standing

and

successful

practice

that

when

board members receive

their

packets

on either Thursday

or Friday and find

that they need additional information

or

have

questions

regarding

an item,

they

contact

the

administration

or board

president

to answer their

questions

or

provide

them

(and

other

board members)

with

additional

documentation

(if

available

and

if

the member is

entitled

to

it).

Members are always

provided

with adequate

and

proper

information

prior

to a meeting in order

to

make informed

decisions whether

or

not

to

approve

superintendent recommendations. lt

should

be

noted

that

backup information

to the

agenda is

provided

by

the administration,

not by

board

leadership

as had been indicated in the

Brticle.

I

stress that here

since that contention was the result of a

gratuitous

editorial

comment

inserted

into Ms.

Green's

article.

Notwithstanding the

above, there are times when agenda

items

may

be tabled for further investigation,

clarification

or

additional

information


2/3

Page2

Being a school

board member

is a

multi-faceted

responsibility

and so

it is understandable

that all

new board

members will

have

many

questions.

That

is

why the District

conducts

a six-

hour orientation

meeting

prior

to new board

members taking

office

in

order

to

help them

understand board policies

and procedures.

The

orientation

includes

the

newly elected board

members

as

well as the Superintendent,

Ass't Superintendent,

Business

Manager

and

President

and

Vice-President

of

the Board.

The

procedure

for the appointment

of

personnel

is

addressed

during

the orientatjon,

the

process

is

that

the superintendent

selects

an applicant

based upon

committee

recommendations,

after

which it is

presented

to the

board

for approval.

The

entire

board

has complete

confidence

in

the

administration

and

its

ability

to adequately

perform

its requisite

functions. ln

fact, the board

recently

evaluated

Seth

Turner's

performance

as

exceeding

standards,

a

grade

which

earned

him a

merit raise

(new

members

excepted,

of

course,

as

they did

not

participate

in the

evaluation).

We trust

him to

make the

decisions

called

for in

his

position

as

superintendent,

based

on committee

recommendations

and

the criteria

that

he sets as

his

guide.

Even

so,

there

are times

when

we feel

it necessary

to table certain

motions

for further

investigation

or

for additional

information.

Over the

last several

years,

there

have only been

a few abstentions

from

board

members,

mostly due

to conflict of

interest.

Since board

members

receive

agendas

well

in

advance

of meetings and in an effort to

keep meetings

flowing,

it has been

a

long-standing

practice

that the board

votes

in

blocks.

Consequently,

if a member

has a

question

or

expresses

a concern

with

respect

to

any

motion,

it

is addressed

during the

discussion.

Before closing,

I would

like

to address

Saugerties

lrmes

political

columnist

Hugh

Reynolds'

comments

from

his first-ever

appearance

at

a board

meeting.

His remarks

paint

a

picture of an

eternal

conflict,

the

new challenging

the

old.

I

disagree.

Every board member

has the

right

to

be

an

informed

voter-and

they are.

However,

in this

instance, a

member

can

obtain

that

infornlgfion

prior

to

any

board

meeting.

The

undersigned

agree

with this

letter and

hope

that

we can

now

put

this

issue behind

us


3/3

and

move

on. Thank

you.

Page 3

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