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When board members vote ‘no’
In April, two local schools boards, Madison and Middletown, split on votes relating to personnel in the district and in both cases the dissenting board members declined to explain why they had voted “no.”
Madison board members Brian McGuire and David French cast “no” votes against drug testing employees and suspending the contract of a teacher as a reduction in force due to the elimination of the athletic director position and Middletown split on votes when board President the Rev. Greg Tyus and Vice President Katie McNeil voted against personnel actions that included the hiring of new football coach Jason Krause.
All four board members declined to comment on why they had voted no, giving vague answers about not agreeing with the decisions or concerns that it would affect the district’s academic achievements.
McNeil submitted a letter to the editor that will run Tuesday explaining her decision to vote no. According to the letter, McNeil disagreed with the process to hire the new coach and a “growing frustration” that the district is not being open about how much it costs to bring in coaches.
As elected officials, board members are representing the constituents when they cast votes on school issues. Since the recent “no” votes, some community members have expressed disappointment that board members did not tell the public why they voted the way they did and some are drawing their own conclusions from the board members’ silence.
All of these were personnel issues and most of them concerned specific employees not large groups.
Do you think board members should cast “no” votes without explaining the reasons to the public? Should they always say why they vote the way they do or are there some circumstances where it is appropriate to keep their reasons to themselves?
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