[Postscript: I am told there WERE fireworks, about 10:30, brought on by a Board member -- hopefully we'll get more later.]
Plainfield was a busy place Tuesday night, with meetings of the PMUA commissioners, City Council (on Tuesday, owing to the MLK holiday) and the regularly scheduled Board of Ed meeting.
Having been bombarded with chain emails and Facebook messages, I decided to check out the BOE meeting. A teacher friend said 'fireworks' were expected.
I prepped by picking up a copy of the 50-page agenda from the Plainfield Public Library. (Olddoc compared it to a 'short novel'; reading through it, I was thinking more 'War and Peace'.)
The meeting was slated for 7:00 PM. The auditorium at the Administration building (Jefferson School) was jam-packed, with some folks standing in the outer hall. This thinned out somewhat after the dance, choral and instrumental presentations by students from the new PAAS academy and award to 'students of the month' from each of the district's schools.
The PAAS performances were all very good, but I have to say the instrumental selection -- entirely by drums and percussion -- was electrifying, kudos to the group and their instructor/leader.
At 9:30, after presentations to the Board on partnerships with Rutgers and Union County College, we finally got to privilege of the floor. If there were to be fireworks, this is where you would look for them.
Former Board member and community activist Rasheed Abdul-Haqq was first to the mike and excoriated the Board for appealing the ruling in the case of dismissed longtime employee Paul Graves (he was ordered reinstated with full back pay) instead of rehiring him. Abdul-Haqq was seconded by the vice president of PEA, the teachers union.
Katherine Cardona, president of the PEA, then approached the mike with several questions. After using up her allotted three minutes, she was granted an extension to finish.
The gist of her questions was to ask why the minutes of the contentious November 17 meeting were not online, and to suggest that the documents on 'a post' (evidently a reference to Maria Pelllum's blog, see here) 'make clear that the Board knew what it was doing' (in rescinding the contracts of Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 2 and then immediately rehiring them under different titles), closing by saying, 'We're not going to stand for a coverup'.
There was applause from the hundred or so still in the auditorium, mostly teachers and supporters.
That was it?
Evidently.
At the beginning of the meeting, I chatted for a few moments about the unresolved certifications situation with someone else who has been following it closely.
We both have the same questions we feel are yet unanswered: When Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 2 were first hired back in July 2008, was the Board told by Dr. Gallon that they were certified for these positions without any backup info offered, or were Board members told they could check out the personnel files at the Board office before a vote was taken? And if the latter, did Board members perform their due diligence and check out the records? Did those records contain documents stating Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 2 were 'eligible' for the certifications, and if so, who issued those documents?
Simple stuff, you would think.
Same questions the state's fraud investigation is trying to get to the bottom of.
But they were not fated to be answered last night.
Not seeing the prospect of any more fireworks, I left at 10:00 PM. The meeting lumbered on; the Board hadn't even gotten to the resolutions.
Who knows what time THEY got to go home.
-- Dan Damon [follow]
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3 comments:
I'm so glad someone finally brought up the plight of Paul Graves. I don't know how the district can ignore an arbitration ruling twice. He will be paid sooner or later but the injustice done to this Plainfield resident is unconscionable. The so called "community minded" board members stabbed him in the back as well when they chose to terminate him in the first place and they won't lift a finger to correct the wrong. When will unfairness ever cease!
The board of Ed should take lessons from the city council on how to run a meeting.
The city council meeting moved along and was quite useful.
Actually, because you left you did not see the community ask to have Dr. Gallon RICEd. (I know, I was one of the community members asking for it.) You also didn't see the motion made by Ms. Campbell and Lenny Cathcart trying to shut her down. And most of all, you didn't see Dr. Gallon leave out the back door to be greeted by Arnold Diaz. So, did you miss alot, yeah, you did.
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