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COZ'
CORNER
By
Jerry Cosby
From
November 22, 2006 issue
Board
drags district to all-time low
The public
crucifixion of Perry School's superintendent Doug
Williams, carried out last week by four of the
seven elected members of the district's board, has
set an all-time low in local school
governance.
The so-called
public meeting had just as well been carried out
behind closed doors as four closed minds certainly
sat behind that boardroom table the night of Nov.
13.
The railroading
out of Williams by the gang of four - namely Susan
Adams, Nancy Walsh, Barbara Thompson and Rubie
Alexander - was undoubtedly cooked up well before
that meeting, leaving one to wonder if private
sessions were conducted in violation of open-door
laws.
We learned at
the meeting that the three remaining board members
were advised only that morning that the item would
be placed on the agenda. .
We also learned
that whatever comments the three outsiders made
were quite obviously falling on deaf
ears.
Board president
Adams, in quick succession, shot down motions that
would have allowed time for a more orderly approach
to the topic and public input.
Adding to the
debacle were two outbursts by Walsh aimed at people
in the audience.
In one she
scolded - calling out by name - the wife of an
assistant superintendent seated in the meeting
room.
In another, she
advised television reporter Ray Cortopassi to
disbelieve any words being spoken to him in the
back of the room by district public information
spokesperson Karen Cantou.
Mind you, the
rude and abrasive board member interrupted her own
litany of sins allegedly committed by the
superintendent in order to embarrass the two.
Her allegations
against Williams' behavior increased in intensity
and volume as she ranted on.
And then there's
the sad case of Alexander.
The black
community activist is considered the swing vote on
the board, although tilt might be a better
description. On the majority of contentious items
she's in the camp of triumphant Adams, Walsh and
Thompson.
Alexander is
obviously still upset over a play presented by
Perry Meridian High School students last year
wherein a racial slur was used.
In her brief but
stilted remarks at last week's meeting, she alluded
as well to other perceived prejudicial conditions
existing in district schools.
All such sins
must rest on the shoulders of the headman,
according to her.
Alexander must
have a terribly short memory regarding Williams and
the race issue. It was at his instigation that the
Northern District obtained a seat on the Perry
board, in the person of the late Jesse
Jude.
He's been a hard
and fast supporter of Perry's fall back-to-school
festival held at a northside IPS middle
school.
He has mentored
a black student in the Alternative School program
each semester since its inception.
He has met on
countless occasions with parents, clergymen and
business leaders from the black
community.
He has also
steadily advanced through the system, the career of
black educator Dennis Nichols, including principal
ships at two elementaries and leading to his most
recent title as an assistant superintendent - now
acting superintendent following Williams'
dismissal.
Yet, Alexander
entered that meeting room firmly ensconced as a
member of the gang of four.
The questions
therefore beg: had the entire board conducted an
open and honest discussion on Williams' continuance
as superintendent, could not the opinion of such as
Alexander been swayed toward a more reasonable and
just outcome?
And would it not
have been possible to bring about changes in the
superintendent's leadership style while he
continued to lead?
And would not
the public have been better served and left with a
feeling that at least the democratic process had
been observed and executed?
Would the
resultant wages due on Williams' unexpired contract
- now estimated as an amount in excess of $700,000
- be a somewhat less bitter pill for forlorn Perry
Township taxpayers to swallow?
Would the public
be less resentful of the wages to be paid his
replacement?
And finally,
would there have been any need for duplicate legal
services being bought and paid for out of school
funds through the hiring of a board attorney?
The school
district currently has an attorney under contract
It's rather obvious the hiring of another legal
eagle was simply brought about - again on an
earlier 4-3 vote - to augment the scheme to dump
Williams.
If there's a
lesson to be learned by we civilians, it's that
school board elections are terribly
important.
Twenty-some odd
votes cast another way last May and the
straight-thinking Lee Robbins would have defeated
gang of four member Thompson.
No one denies
the right of this school board to determine who
will lead the district.
However,
everyone should rise up in outrage when personal
agendas trump fair and just processes that result
in shameful, tasteless crucifixions and the
unnecessary spending of public monies.
This entire
township stands in mortified shame.
Jerry Cosby is
former editor and publisher of the Spotlight. He
writes this occasional column for the Spotlight
newspaper.
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