BOE addresses attendance rates

WEBUTUCK — Earlier this week, district taxpayers trickled into the Webutuck High School library for the April 5 Board of Education meeting. Lee Bordick, superintendent of schools, was to present his budget proposal for 2010-11, one of the most challenging budget years school districts in New York state have faced recently. Also in the audience were Webutuck’s two principals, Drew Hopkins and Katy McEnroe, who were scheduled, during executive session, to discuss tenure approvals, which are due April 19.

It was an important night, as the increased attendance in the audience suggested. There was only one problem: Where were the Board of Education trustees?

Board President Dale Culver arrived before 7:30 p.m., the published start of the business meeting. Trustee John Perotti arrived at 7:37 p.m. Several minutes later, Culver informed the public there would be no quorum (four or more of the seven members of the board are required to be in attendance for the board to take any action), due to a myriad of circumstances.

Bordick still presented his budget proposal, and there were several topics of discussion for the public’s benefit, but all action listed on the agenda had to be postponed until the following meeting, next Monday evening, the last scheduled board meeting before the district’s budget has to be approved.

Unfortunately, this wasn’t the first time board trustee attendance numbers have been an issue. Meeting attendance records for each of the school board trustees for the last two years are available online at webutuckschools.org. Those records (see chart for recent numbers) show that nearly half of the seven board members have absenteeism rates of 50 percent or higher.

The minutes for 20 Board of Education meetings have been accepted by the board and posted online for the 2009-10 school year, which began on July 1, 2009. Board members Joe Herald, Andy Jablonsky and Susan Lounsbury have all been absent from more meetings than they’ve attended: Jablonsky has missed 11 and  Herald 13, but Lounsbury has missed 17 of the 20 meetings, including 15 consecutive absences up to the present. The three combined account for more than 85 percent of board absences this year.

Some other things to consider about attendance records over the 2009-10 year:

The board has yet to convene  with all members in attendance. It has met with six members in attendance only twice, one of which was the July 7 reorganization meeting. Three or more members have been absent at eight out of the 20 meetings. A board quorum of four or more trustees is required to open a meeting; as a result, the Jan. 4 meeting was never officially opened as five trustees were absent.

For comparison purposes, the Pine Plains Board of Education was also examined. Over the course of 18 meetings during the 2009-10 school year, JoAnn Wolfe has the most absences with six, followed by Heather Boucher with five and Brian Croghan with three. Karen Lindsay, no longer a board trustee, submitted her letter of resignation late last year after missing seven of eight meetings (board President Helene McQuade said that Lindsay’s job had relocated her out of the district). But Pine Plains as a board fares much better: The full board has met six times this year and there have been only four total absences in the past 10 meetings.

“For the most part, it’s very important that board members show up at meetings,†said board President Dale Culver, adding that it was “embarrassing†when a quorum wasn’t even in attendance.

However, Culver, the only board member who has attended every meeting over the past two years, said that for the most part trustees keep in contact with either him or District Clerk Tracy Trotter if they anticipate missing a meeting. All board members receive a packet of information from the district the Friday before a meeting, and as Herald explained over the phone last week, he uses that packet and constant contact with other board members to keep himself informed and in the loop.

Herald, who is the board’s vice president, acknowledged that he has missed “a fair amount of meetings this year,†and attributed it to a recent promotion at work. He commutes to New York City every day, he added, and making it home in time for meetings is often not possible.

“In some ways it’s harder,†he said when asked what the consequences were of being absent. “Obviously you’re missing the flow of the conversations and the opinions. It does make it harder in that way. But I try to recap everything with Dale regularly, and I think I get a clear picture from him.â€

“He’s never more than an hour away from getting back to me when I call,†Culver said, “and he’s been invaluable to me in working on the superintendent search. Whenever I’ve needed him he’s available.â€

As for Andy Jablonsky, Culver continued on the same line, saying that while he has missed meetings, he is almost always available and on call.

“We’re all human beings,†the board president said, “and if we can’t carry the load and help one or two of our teammates, we aren’t much ourselves.â€

When asked about Lounsbury, Culver said he had spoken to her within the last month, but that she has “private personnel issues†he wouldn’t discuss. He said he didn’t know what her future intentions as a board member were. Neither Jablonsky nor Lounsbury could be reached in time to comment for this article.

While attending meetings is important, Culver was quick to point out that just being in attendance at meetings doesn’t necessarily translate to effectiveness as a public official, and said he feels each board member has the responsibility to weigh their contribution as part of the team and act accordingly.

“Each board member has an obligation to serve our community,†said Culver, “and if they can’t play any role at all, they need to acknowledge that and relinquish their seat.â€

Herald said he has considered the consequences of his new job once he realized it would mean missing meetings and considered his options, which include stepping down.

“That thought has crossed my mind a couple of times during the year,†he acknowledged, but said when he approached other members of the board about it they felt he could still be effective in his position.

Webutuck’s Board of Education guidelines allow that after three consecutive absences, a trustee can be removed by a board majority. But both Culver and Herald stressed that they felt it should ultimately be that individual’s responsibility to make a decision for themselves.

“But if they can’t do it, we should do something more proactive,†Herald added. “If need be, we can take action to assist that person, not punish, and I think it will be something that gets addressed in the next couple of months by the board. Right now the focus is on the budget, and that’s where we should be focused, but that’s definitely something that will come up in the next few months.â€