Contention marks Sullivan West meeting

Last-minute agenda items, BOCES irk members

By JANET NOBLE

LAKE HUNTINGTON, NY - Several issues once again led to a heated atmosphere at the Sullivan West school board meeting. As with the past meeting, the agenda for October was very long. “We’re rolling with the punches right now,” said President Arthur Norden, by way of explaining the appearance of so many sudden agenda addendums and the consequent length of their meetings.

Those addendums proved to be a bone of contention among some board members who felt it was unfair to post an agenda and then, often just a day before the meeting, tack on addendums. This practice, they said, left members and the public little or no opportunity to research the issues. In the opinion of board member Catherine Novak, “It goes against our policy of open board meetings and transparency.”

Board member Anna Neimann said, “There used to be a policy for addendums.” The deadline for adding issues to the agenda was always Friday before meetings.

Norden defended the amount of addendums. He said the public would not want the board to table a topic when timing was essential, such as with the issue of teacher hires. He agreed that board members and the public need time to become prepared. The board asked the policy committee to find the best way to handle revisions to agendas and streamline the process.

The matter of teacher contracts was one such agenda item. As it stands now, a new teacher with four years of experience elsewhere is hired at a yearly salary of $42,376. A teacher who has been employed in the district for four years earns $39,890 yearly. Board members indicated they needed time to study data before making any decision about starting salaries. The issue was tabled. Superintendent Alan Derry said, “There are always anomalies in salary scales,” and agreed to put together some information for the board.

On the matter of finding a new superintendent to replace him, Derry strongly advised the board to move as quickly as possible, because there is a lot of competition for good candidates. Norden suggested that the board formulate a profile of the kind of superintendent they wanted. “Go right to the headhunters,” said Derry, stressing the need for speed. A search committee was formed to do so.

A bit later came the item that proved to be the most contentious one on the agenda. The board was asked to authorize Norden to “exercise a cooperative agreement with BOCES for the purpose of requesting approval from voters to a proposal from BOCES superintendent Dr. Martin Handler to provide additional space and improve the facilities for its programs and services by acquiring the White Sulphur Springs Elementary School from the Liberty Central School District at a cost of $810,000.” This item had been voted on at the last meeting but the language needed to be reworked.

Some board members had hoped that Handler would agree to use space in the Lake Huntington high school building. Handler claimed that he couldn’t do that. Many of the students are severely challenged, both mentally and physically, and the distance to Lake Huntington would create a transportation nightmare. “Our facilities are pristine compared to what he’s got now,” persisted van Swol, referring to the White Sulphur Springs School. “I find it fiscally irresponsible to vote to spend another $5 million to renovate yet another building when we already have renovated buildings standing empty.”

Neimann spoke in favor of sending it to residents for a vote. “If you vote no, you’ll be hurting kids who need BOCES. We should give the people a chance to vote to help students most in need of help.”

Rick Lander said, “Some of the students who go to BOCES are ours. If we vote no, we’ve done a disservice to those students.” van Swol held to his hard line, accusing those who took the opposite position of “hiding behind the students.” The measure was defeated, thereby denying the public the opportunity to vote on the issue. As for Handler and BOCES, since expansion is necessary, the White Sulphur Springs School will be leased.