School Committee member feels targeted by proposed rules

Date: 1/26/2011

Jan. 26, 2011

By G. Michael Dobbs

Managing Editor

NEWS ANALYSIS

SPRINGFIELD — While one member of the School Committee expressed serious concerns over parts of a new proposed Standards of Professional Practice, another member said the censorship of elected officials is not the intent of the document that would outlines rules and ethics for the committee.

Both School Committee member Antonette Pepe and School Committee Vice Chair Denise Hurst spoke to Reminder Publications the day after the Jan. 21 School Committee meeting conducted at Putnam High School.

Hurst believed initial media reports only focused on one section of the proposed guidelines, which was "unfortunate."

Pepe was particularly concerned with two sections of the guidelines. The first was a section on communication with the media. If adopted by the School Committee, the document would establish the following conditions, among others:

• "The board president or his designee shall be the official spokesperson for the board and can only make statements on actions or positions upon which the board has taken official actions."

• "A board member retains the right to speak to the media as an individual, but must understand than any comment will likely be interpreted by viewers/readers as an official statement by the board."

Pepe believes this section of the document is designed to limit dissention. For any observer of the School Committee, it is clear that particularly Pepe, among other other committee members, is at greatest odds with School Superintendent Dr. Alan Ingram and with Mayor Domenic Sarno, who is chair of the committee.

At a School Committee meeting centering on the committee's evaluation of Ingram last fall, Sarno called a recess in the middle of a very heated exchange between Pepe and Ingram.

Pepe said her criticism is Ingram isn't personal and has commended him on a number of his policies and actions.

Hurst said, "We don't want a gag order. We don't want to muffle any member."

"We were not even remotely thinking about that," she added.

Hurst said the intent was that "when we speak to the media we speak as one voice."

When asked if this part of the document was aimed at her, Pepe replied, "Naturally."

Hurst said that last year when Norman Roldan was the vice chair there was a discussion about adopting new rules, but no action was taken. As the new vice chair, she wanted to bring the committee in line with other ethics reform efforts in local and state government.

She noted the committee has done a lot of work in the past on faculty and student handbooks on conduct and thought the committee should do the same for itself.

On behavior at meetings, the guidelines state:

• "Board members are expected to conduct themselves professionally and ethically during all meetings and public forums: no rude remarks, interruptions, yelling, name calling or disrespectful verbal or body language.

• "If during a public meeting or public forum, a board member conducts himself or herself in a manner that violates this standard, the board president may adjoin the meeting. If a majority of the board disagrees with the adjournment, then the meeting must continue. However the offending board member may be ejected for the remainder of the meeting if the rest of the board unanimously agrees."

Pepe asked who was going to interpret "disrespectful body language."

Hurst does not see rules such as these to be any "stricter" than any that have governed the School Committee in the past, but instead create a "foundation" for future incarnations of the committee.

She believes the new rules are "more logistical" than ones the committee has had in the past.

Although Hurst said the new rules wouldn't offer any "real sanctions" against members, there is a section that deals with complaints between committee members in which the final stage is a reprimand at a public meeting.

Pepe wondered if the City Council operates under such rules and asked why the School Committee should have them if the City Council does not.

Hurst said the next action the committee will take on the proposed rules is to form an ad hoc committee to develop a final draft of the rules for the committee to adopt. Pepe would like to be on that committee. Hurst said there is no timeline as yet set for additional action.

Pepe said this is not the first time that a set of rules defining communications from members has been attempted. In 2008, the School Committee rejected a similar set of rules.

In the 2008 rules, there was a full page describing the interactions between the committee members and the superintendent. Pepe said this new document doesn't include those nor does it set any standards for the behavior of the superintendent toward the committee.

Pepe shared her read of the political reality of the situation by saying, "If the mayor wants it, if the superintendent wants it, they have four votes [on the committee]."