Conflict simmers over inaction at June meeting

McCOOK, Nebraska -- Conflicts are still simmering among McCook Board of Education members after a June 11 hearing, as one member alleged Monday night that district policies were violated and another maintained there was no conflict of interest on his part.

Shane Messersmith, member of the McCook Board of Education, brought a discussion item forward at the regular McCook Board of Education meeting Monday concerning the June 11 hearing of a teacher accused of allowing underage drinking at her home.

At that hearing, after six hours of testimony was presented, board members convened in closed session for another three and half hours before re-convening in open session for a vote. The motion to reprimand the teacher and for her to complete a corrective plan of action failed 3 to 3, with three members, Messersmith, Diane Lyons and Larry Shields voting in favor of it and Tom Bredvick, Sandy Krysl and Teresa Thomas voting against it. Because of the split vote, no action was taken. No other vote was taken.

Messersmith said Monday night that several McCook Public School Board of Education policies were violated during that hearing, including not giving the Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission a written statement on a conflict of interest concerning a school board member involved with the hearing (Policy 202.02) and that the interviews school administrators conducted with the teacher were not recorded (Appendix A - Grievance procedure).

He said policies were also disregarded when a complaint was filed July 2013 to the State of Nebraska Commissioner of Education by board president Tom Bredvick and Superintendent Grant Norgaard.

This complaint, filed July 13, includes an abbreviated version of the hearing testimony, the outcome of the vote following the hearing and notarized statements from Bredvick, Sandy Krysl and Teresa Thomas, the three board members who voted against the motion to reprimand the teacher. They are identified under their signatures as a member of the McCook School Board.

Messersmith told the board he was not happy with the outcome of the June 11 hearing, but felt the democratic process had been followed.

"At that point at 3:30 a.m. on June 12, a decision was made," he said. "Was it the outcome I wanted? No, but it was a decision that the board made ... at that point I felt the responsibilities of the Board of Education were over."

"The complaint filed after the hearing is a total disrespect of the democratic process. It also sends a clear message to every teacher, patron and kids in our school district that our policies mean nothing."

Board member Lyons spoke after Messersmith and acknowledged the conflict that has lingered between board members since the hearing. She suggested that an mediator work with the board to resolve issues.

She also cited that a conflict of interest existed at the June 11 hearing.

"At the hearing concerning (the teacher) on June 11, one of the school board members who sat in judgment and voted had a child that was at the party in question," Lyons said. "I learned this after the hearing and it was confirmed to me later by Superintendent Norgaard. If I'd had a child at that party and had knowledge about the party from that child, I would have excused myself from the hearing and from voting. It would be the only right and decent thing to do."

Lyons also expressed her concerns about the complaint filed by Bredvick and Norgaard and said it was incorrect, as it insinuated that it was filed as a unified board and it was not, as evidenced by the split vote at the hearing.

"It was untrue that we were unified with decision when we had a 3-3 vote on the motion. No one made a motion to terminate (the teacher) at that hearing as reflected by our minutes," Lyons said. "It is too bad that this sad incident continues on, especially where the livelihood of a veteran teacher, the morale of our teaching staff, and the ability of this board to work together is jeopardized."

The notarized affidavits in the complaint from Bredvick, Krysl and Thomas are nearly identical in that they state they voted against the motion presented at the June 11 hearing as they could not support retaining a teacher even under the reprimand found in the decision. They found the teacher had violated state statutes, standards of morality and professional standards and their affidavits state that if the motion had included termination, as recommended by the administration, their vote would have been yes.

Board member Larry Shields also commented on the complaint and said that the "three of us did not have a chance to explain ourselves" and did not get an opportunity to do so.

Messersmith said after Monday's meeting that despite his request to be notified, he was not contacted concerning the filing of the complaint or when the investigator followed up on the complaint.

Sandy Krysl then spoke and said it was unfortunate that a separation has occurred on the board since the June 11 hearing. The complaint could have been filed by anyone, Krysl contended and that she went online and "figured it out."

"If you do not contact them, they don't contact you," she said about talking to investigators about the complaint.

Her attached statement to the complaint was "not the wrong thing to do." Mediation is a good idea, she continued, but did not believe it would resolve anything before the state gave its decision on the complaint.

Teresa Thomas reiterated Krysl's claim that investigators following up on the complaint do not contact people but wait to be contacted. She said she included her affidavit on the complaint as she "felt that I needed to explain my vote, wanted to make it clear."

Bredvick admitted that one of his children was present at the party involving the teacher in question. But Bredvick maintained that this was not a conflict of interest as he never discussed the party with his child. "We talked about everything else," Bredvick said, such as ACTs and scholarships but he "did not have discussions with this child about this case."

When filing the complaint, Bredvick said the democratic process was maintained and as a taxpayer and individual he had the right to file it. Bredvick said he chose to file as he "was tired of hearing from the community that I voted against the reprimand, to protect kids." By filing the
complaint, he was able to clarify his position, Bredvick said.

As for using a mediator, time will heal a lot of conflicts, he said but did not comment directly if he would attend a mediation session. After the meeting, when asked if he was open to mediation, Bredvick said he was "committed to rebuilding relationships on the board" but wanted to allow the complaint process to finish.

A finding from the state concerning the complaint is expected sometime in 2014.

Earlier in the meeting, during the public participation portion, several patrons spoke about the June 11 hearing discussion item that was slated on the agenda, including Michelle Armstrong. Armstrong said there were other issues that needed to be focused on and that it was time to move on. Although she personally was disappointed with the outcome of the hearing, she said the public is entrusting the board and administration to "do the right thing."

"We need to move forward, and be proactive and not reactive," she told the board.

Retired McCook High School teacher Paul Forch also spoke and said he was friends with the teacher. He added that although she may have made a "hiccup in her judgement," by not kicking out students she found in her basement that may have been drinking, "everyone of those kids saw the sun come up the next morning."

"She looked out for their safety and I applaud her for it," he said.