Christopher Peak Photo
Torre (at right): Stop trying to marginalize two “lame ducks.”
Adults and students alike urged school board members Tuesday night to act like grown-ups after hours more of squabbling over the search for a new superintendent.
The rancor — which included member Darnell Goldson being told he was “out of order,” two other members being called “lame ducks,” and Ed Joyner temporarily renouncing his duties as president — looked similar to the infighting at recent meetings, where members have differed on whether internal candidates should have been interviewed, even though a search firm deemed them comparatively unqualified. Once again, at L.W. Beecher School on Tuesday night, the board members attacked each other, deadlocked in an even split, and finally came to some compromise, at Che Dawson’s suggestion.
But the drawn-out discussion earned the school board a particularly brutal lashing from observers, who called the meeting infuriating and embarrassing, as well as an admonition from one of its own members.
Like his predecessor Coral Ortiz before him, non-voting student representative Jacob Spell had to remind his colleagues to act like grown-ups. The senior at Cortlandt V.R. Creed High School said that, given the limited student involvement in the search process, he’d informally polled fellow students. They’re following along with the political drama on the board, he said, and they’re disappointed.
“Many students think there’s a lack of organization. They question how long our school system can go without a permanent superintendent. It looks like things are becoming more about the adults than the students,” Spell said in his report. “A lack of consensus that’s being conveyed by the board, from the student perspective, is discouraging. Because how can we expect consistency every day in class, when the students don’t see that being displayed by the people that expect it from them?
“Going forward, we need to ensure that we are moving in a more realistic and timely manner and making sure that we are choosing only the most qualified candidates,” he continued. “Disagreement is actually a good thing, because through the sum of our differences, hopefully we’ll reach the best outcome for our students. It’s just important that we disagree in a productive manner, so that things can actually get done. At the end of the day, I just want to fight for what’s best for the students, because that’s what I signed up to do.”
Jacob Spell: This process has been more about the adults than the students.
Before Spell weighed in, the board fought from 5:30 – 7:05 p.m about how to restart the superintendent search process.
Over the previous two weeks, board members had sent out competing schedules to the press, but each was soon retracted for not having the full board’s approval. Leading up to Tuesday, the three search subcommittee co-chairs — Goldson, Dawson and Torre — had tried to arrive at some consensus on dates to no avail.
Goldson, outnumbered on the subcommittee, brought his proposal to the full board. According to his calendar, three more forums would be held by Oct. 21, finalists would be picked by Nov. 5, a selection would be made by Nov. 13, and a contract would be negotiated by Nov. 27.
The benefit, he said, was more public participation. Dawson and Torre, in response, suggested everything moved up by two weeks to allow time for background checks and to wrap up the process before the holidays. Both of their terms will also expire at year’s end, leading Goldson to call them “lame duck members.”
Eventually, after an hourlong back-and-forth, Dawson proposed splitting the difference and moving the proposed end date to Nov. 20. Goldson agreed, and the entire board approved it unanimously.
“If the Congress actually debated this way and actually came up with something, we’d be a much better country,” Joyner commented, right after the vote. “Next item on the agenda — “
“Mr. President,” Goldson interjected, “I’m not finished with the superintendent update.”
In a second motion, which would take up another half-hour of consideration, Goldson proposed that the search committee be expanded. Four union reps, an alder and a parent had all been approved already, but Goldson wanted to include Jamell Cotto, the incoming school board member recently approved by the alders; one more parent; and — controversially — two picks from Mayor Toni Harp, essentially as stand-ins until they’d replace Dawson and Torre.
Harp seconded the motion.
On this issue, the Board of Education split into the two camps that have been divided since the beginning of the process: Goldson and Harp, who’ve eased the process for internal applicants, against Joyner and Torre, who prefer the most experienced outsider. One group didn’t want the other to tip a hiring decision by packing the panel.
Goldson argued that the mayor should get extra say, because of the constituencies she represented. “She’s been elected by and reelected by the citizens of 30 wards in this city,” he said. At one point, Harp whispered to Goldson that he should remove the language because she didn’t want to be attacked about this. But on the microphone, she defended the motion by noting that the committee was just advisory, and that the school board would still get the final say.
Torre argued: “Until Dec. 31, at 11:59:59 p.m., Mr. Dawson and I are full members of this board, and we will exercise our responsibilities until that very last moment. So if the mayor wants to name some people in our places, as she has the right to do and she will be doing, they can come on some other way.”
And Joyner, who had railed against the mayor’s previous presidency on the board as a power grab, said that all the members are equal representatives. He added that he’d also been elected to represent half the city.
Joyner proposed that all the school board members be allowed to appoint one additional member, if the mayor was going to get two. That was shot down, in a tie 3 – 3 vote.
After Dawson asked several follow-up questions about what constituent group that Harp felt was missing, Goldson amended the motion. The mayor would still get two picks, but they wouldn’t necessarily be the next school board appointees and that they’d have to be medical professionals or experts in socio-emotional learning. Dawson switched sides, and on another vote, the motion passed 4 – 2.
Teacher Leslie Blatteau reads from the New Haven Educators Collective’s open letter.
The board also heard from the Educators Collective, a group of teachers who prepared a statement about what they’d like to see in the next superintendent. They argue that New Haven schools should spend less money on outside consultants, partnerships with charter organizations, and standardized-test prep, and more money on teachers, nurses, and guidance counselors, and trauma specialists helping students succeed. Click here to read the full statement, and here for a previous story and WNHH radio interview about the group’s positions.
After the votes, Florence Caldwell, a mainstay who usually preaches about maintaining civility at board meetings, said she was deeply upset by the way the board had conducted the meeting.
“Tonight was an embarrassment to parents,” she said. “The display that was done tonight doesn’t even befit you as board members. This meeting took two hours longer than what it should have taken.”
Gary Highsmith for schools superintendent .