Oh Yeah! Even MORE Shenanigans!

A funny thing happened on the way to hiring the Aquatics Facility Manager....

First of all...the district pushed hard (and of course the school board agreed) to running parallel processes: the district would recruit for an Aquatics Facility Manager (aka Pool Manager) even while the job description was still being formulated.
That's right....the district was trying to hire someone for a job description that was still very draft. Oh...and no salary had been discussed. Well aren't they just the models of efficiency!

Act 1 - the OPEN meeting agenda
On Monday May 10, the school board had as an agenda item, the finalized job description and salary for said Pool Manager:

7.10 Aquatics Program and Facility Manager Job Description
Meeting: 05/10/2010 REGULAR SCHOOL BOARD MEETING (Revised)

The proposed starting pay is $21.78 per hour or $45,302 per year.

Act 2 - the OPEN meeting decision

During the school board meeting, the board voted 5-2 (Whalen and McCourt voting "NO", i.e. wanting the higher salary) to approve the job description for the aquatics program and facility manager, but lowered the salary to $19.23 per hour, or $40,000 per year .

Act 3 - the CLOSED meeting Shenanigans

Now fast forward to Thursday May 13.

Suddenly a "Special" school board meeting is announced for next Wednesday, May 19, only this time the meeting is closed to the public.

Agenda for 05/19/2010

SPECIAL SCHOOL BOARD MEETING,

8:00 p.m. at the High School, 888 Grove St., Sun Prairie.

3. Closed Session
3.01 Go into closed session for the purpose of considering the employment and compensation of an Aquatics Facility Manager [Wis. Stats. 19.85(1)(c)].

So clearly they had/have a fish on the line, so to speak, all along. 'Cause we KNOW they didn't just recruit, interview and decide to make an offer between Monday and Thursday...right?

So...what happens when NORMALLY makes a new hire. You know...that is all dealt with by the Director of Human Resources...right. They type up an offer letter, and welcome the person on board...right?

Not so fast, Everlast! Why on earth would the school board have to have any meeting at all--let alone a closed session---to discuss the hiring of a new staff member? What exactly is there to "discuss" about the compensation? Perhaps we could see that some concerns may have been raised regarding the potential candidate...concerns which should appropriately be aired only behind closed doors. But "compensation"? Those are OUR tax dollars you're playing with. And the only reason for closed doors when discussing compensation is...well...shenanigans.

Oh...golly gee...you don't suppose that the "fish on the line" noticed that the salary was reduced and has said, "Thanks, but I wanted the $45K"...do you? What does that tell you about this wonderful "parallel process" idea? Perhaps in the future, you don't even POST a position until the job description is complete and the salary is cast in stone.

And so, the school board has to have a closed session, so the public can't make any comments when they completely reverse their decision of May 10, and re-up the offer to 45K.

And who decided that this salary was even negotiable? It's not like we're making a pitch to hire Steve Jobs! We're hiring a Pool Manager.

Consider Captain Picard's take...