Oh...what a night...Except it wasn't late December, wasn't back in 1963, and it certainly wasn't a special time for anyone. Last night the school board showed the form that reminds us of the Boundary Wars. It was like the Keystone Cops play school board member for the night.
OK...there were some good moments ( very few...more on that to come)....but the fumbling and bumbling which led to incomprehensible decisions was maddening...and embarrassing.
Whalen's Hail Mary
Sadly...this was not a Doug Flutie to Gerald Phelan moment. Not even close. more like fingernails on the chalkboard.
The first major folly came when Al Slane requested that the recommendation to hire another Assistant Principal (read: $ new $100K club member) be considered in a separate motion from the additional teaching and support staff. John Whalen made a motion to approve the hiring. His motion was seconded by Jill Camber-Davidson.
As board members spoke--before the vote--, it was clear that Whalen, Davidson, and Diedrich supported the new assistant principal. Stackhouse (We're a year away), Shimek (We need to try [going without it]) and Slane would vote "NO".
Wait a minute....since ole Seabass McCourt was absent --AGAIN---that would make the vote a tie at 3-3-1. Tie votes fail and the assistant principal would not be hired, saving us $100K.
Tim Culver to the Rescue!
Quasi-board member [we know...that's not possible] Tim Culver practical leapt out of his slouch and cried, "This is a critical decision! I recommend that you table this until the full board is here. I think everyone should own that decision."
We all saw the light bulb go on over John Whalen's head. "Yeah, that's right....um....I move to ...um....table this until the March 22nd board meeting", Whalen stammered.
RIP: Robert's Rules of Order
Roberts' Rules state that a motion to table shall have no discussion. Well...that must be the "modified" Roberts Rules that the school board follows,m because discuss it they did. Al Slane courageously called out Whalen's move for what it was ...a desperate move to hold off until Seabass McCourt could be present. We all know that he'll support anything King Culver wants, thereby breaking the tie. Of course, that would depend on McCourt actually being present for the next board meeting. He's missed 2 of 5 (4o%) in 2010 to go along with missing 25% in 2009.
Uh oh...It seems Jill Davidson will likely not be available for the 3/22 meeting! Gadzooks! Back to a 3-3 tie!
Motion to table fails!
Incredibly, the motion to table the item failed on a 3-3-1 (McCourt!) vote, with Stackhouse, Slane and Camber-Davidson voting AGAINST the notion to table the issue.
Shimek Flip-Flops Worse than John Kerry
...and suddenly the tide turned. Terry Shimek completely reversed everything he has said earlier, and it became clear that he was now fully in favor of supporting the hiring of an additional Assistant Principal. Of course there was a minor Goober Pyle moment when Shimek asked, [Well gee whiz...]can't we hire an administrator for like $40,000? Newsflash Terry...the school board set a policy that basically means we hire assistant principals at a MINIMUM of $75,000 per year. Most make close to $100K.
And that's how it happened, sportsfans...Terry Shimek flipflopped his vote ensuring that King Culver got the additional administrator [ one more minion to control!]...and the taxpayers are now on the hook for yet another salary nearing $100K. With benefits, we're looking at more like $140K per year.
Thanks Terry. Be VERY glad you aren't up for re-election on April 6th.
Oh...and did we mention that Jim McCourt missed yet another school board meeting last night? And this was likely the most important board meeting of the year.
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