Sparks fly at Sullivan West school board meeting

By JANET NOBLE

LAKE HUNTINGTON, NY — “Welcome to the loony bin,” someone in the audience muttered. With that the board of education meeting of the Sullivan West Central School District came to order on Wednesday, August 27, with a six-page agenda to set policy and procedure for the new school year. It would prove to be a long night.

Newly elected board president Arthur Norden declared his intention to lead open and transparent meetings by inviting public comment from the floor. Of the 60 people in attendance, most were angered by rumors that the Lake Huntington High School campus might close. New board member Noel van Swol came under attack immediately because he’s on record favoring the closure of the high school and the reopening of the Narrowsburg and Delaware Valley schools.

When someone suggested that a report on district problems be made public, a frisson of tension went through the board. Before that issue was addressed, however, the meeting got bogged down in procedural issues. By 10:00 p.m., the board had only reached page two of the agenda and tempers began to fray.

Finally, the report came up. A year ago, in order to alleviate ill will in the community caused by lay-offs and school closings, Assemblywoman Aileen Gunther secured money for the district to hire consultant Robert Pierce to take an impartial look at the problems plaguing the district since the merger and construction of the new high school. His mandate was to discover what went wrong and why, and find the best way for the district to solve its problems and move forward.

Not all board members had had time to sufficiently study the Pierce report; nevertheless, some wanted it released immediately to public and press. Norden and others on the board were in favor of taking more time to consider it. Norden was reminded of his promise to be open with the public in all things. It was agreed that the report would be released as soon as board members had all gone over it carefully.

When the motion was broached to invite Dr. Martin Handler, superintendent of BOCES, to Lake Huntington for his input, there was loud adverse reaction from the audience. After much discussion, the board agreed to invite him to come to a meeting to give his opinions on the various problems facing the school, as he did express a willingness to do so.

At midnight, with the board on page three of the agenda, an elderly woman in the audience rose to beg them not to close the Lake Huntington campus because she attends music concerts there and loves them. None of the board members directly answered the question of whether the board was considering selling the high school.

The last thorny issue before the board was the motion to retain the legal services of the firm Shaw & Perelson, which has represented the school district for at least nine years. Board member Anna Neimann spoke in favor of the firm, saying their billing over the years has been very fair and they’ve served the district well.

Not so, said Norden. He claimed that David Shaw appointed another lawyer to represent the district in its litigation with construction companies involved with building the high school, and that litigation has dragged on for three years at a cost of nearly $1 million. Norden wanted to hire John Miller of Bond, Schoeneck & King, a law firm in Syracuse.

Some board members felt this new firm was being rammed through without appropriate consideration for procedure and respect for the work done by Shaw. A heated discussion turned nasty as a member shouted, “Something’s fishy here!” and Norden and Neimann accused each other of conflicts of interest and desire for personal gain. van Swol jumped in on the side of Norden.

It was agreed to hire Bond, Schoeneck & King on a month-to-month basis and direct the administration to begin a “request for proposal” to find a permanent firm, which might turn out to be Bond, Schoeneck & King.

At 12:45 a.m. when the meeting adjourned, there were only nine audience members left.