Partisan Cliques On The School Board

To the Editor:

Whenever I was a candidate for a position on the Board of Education or was interviewed by the board to fill a vacant seat, the question was invariably asked what I thought was the most pressing problem facing the BOE. My response was always how the Board of Education functions and its responsibility to conduct its business in an honest and transparent fashion and to fully understand its powers and duties under state and local law. I stated that individual issues facing the BOE would eventually get resolved, but if the board loses its way in operating properly, the results would be at best, ineffectiveness and in the worst case, divisiveness and internal strife. It is apparent that the current BOE is moving toward that worst case scenario.

The recent and ongoing debacle involving the secretive assault of BOE member Kathy Fetchick in an attempt to control her views and actions by staging a partisan executive session “evaluation” of this board member and denying her the right to hold such session in public view is a blatant example of how far the BOE has strayed from its mandated duties and responsibilities.

The current BOE has become fragmented into cliques and “think-alike” groups who almost always support each other in their group. Examine the voting record of these members during the past year or two and you will find that the members of these cliques vote in unison on nearly every issue. Once you are a member of your buddy group, you dare not vote in opposition for fear of offending your buddies. Whatever happened to seven members on a Board of Education with seven different perspectives?

The internal politics in place on the BOE and the obvious lack of leadership in its chairperson to stem the formation of these partisan cliques and to encourage individual thought among its members will continue to erode at the ability for this important body to function in a fair, honest, open, and effective manner.

The taxpaying public is losing respect for a Board of Ed that, by its actions, precipitates a Freedom of Information (FOI) hearing by one of its own members. If the BOE is unable or unwilling to protect the rights of one of its members, then how can we be confident in their interest to be fair to us? The individuals who, through their quest for power and dominance, have caused this embarrassing circumstance should practice what we teach our first graders....work and play well with others.

George Caracciolo

Schoolhouse Hill Road, Newtown                                  June 25, 2010