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Wednesday, January 27, 2010

How Much Free Speech for Board Members?

At last week's BOE  meeting, Dr. Papallo and several Board members expressed their frustration and concern over Steve Colarossi's comments to the Hour about "the waste and inefficiency that has marked the central office."

There was considerable discussion in this website's Comments Section about the validity of  Mr. Colarossi's opinion.  However, one question that has not receive much attention was whether Mr. Colarossi or any board member should be speaking to the press in the first place.

Certain board members strongly believe that the BOE should function as a unified body and that only the Chairperson should should speak to the media on NPS-related matters. In fact the NPS Bylaws state:
Any news releases at the Board of Education level, or public statements, are to come from the Chairperson of the Board of Education, the Board as a whole, or by member(s) of the Board  providing the majority of the Board has gone on record as approving the release or public statement. This refers to all media.
I spoke to Nick Caruso, CABE's Senior Staff Associate for Field Service, who said that this is a "complex issue".

"We have this debate here at CABE, amongst ourselves", said Mr. Caruso.  "Of course, board members do not lose their first ammendement rights when they join the board. Passionate discourse and debate is part of democracy and often makes board motions better."

However, Mr. Caruso said that Boards of Education have authority "only as a whole" and need to be "sensitive to the fact that they are a team."

"If board members speak carelessly without thought, they can jeopardize the ability of the Board to work together," he said.  "Board members have opinions. They don't always have to agree, but they should try present a united public front, especially after descisions are voted on."

Mr. Caruso cautioned that outside groups, like teachers' unions, often benefit when members speak out of turn.  "They don't have to worry about change when there is discord on the board," he said.

In addition, he said that, in the case of Norwalk,  too much public criticizing on the board can send a negative message to potential candidates for superintendent.

Given the nature of their office, BOE members should, of course, be apolitical and work with their fellow board members in a spirit of teamwork and cooperation. Nevertheless, BOE members run and are elected as individuals just like any other elected officials. They have certain points of view and should be free to express them respectfully as individuals.  To expect them to become mute once they've assumed office is a disservice to voters who have elected certain people to office.

Last night, the Board of Education members convened a special "Board Retreat" meeting. "The main thing is to learn how to better function as a board," Board Chair Glenn Iannaccone told me in an e-mail. "We will talk about respecting each others opinions and holding each other accountable as a board. There isn't alot of training for new board members so this serves to answer questions and provide clarifications regarding a board member's dutys."

I decided not to attend. Given the spate of attacks I've witnessed at recent board meetings, it seemed that this retreat would be like marriage counseling where some healing could occur without the prying eyes of the press. Let's hope so.
Posted by Moina Noor
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28 comments:

  1. Its too bad you didnt attend, I don't want the type of training Mr Iannaccone suggests for the new board members, I WANT TO KNOW that someone is looking out for the taxpayer and the students, not that here is some kind of unified-speak that ignores what the electorate voted for! If Mr Iannacone would show a little leadership and defend the board members against personal attacks from other board members they might get a little more done. Instead Ms Rivas is allowed to make unsubstanciated accusations of racism because the new members are not in lock step with "this is how we always did it" kind of thinking. Well I for one do not want the BOE to do it the way they have always done it...look where its gotten us! I expect the lone member of past "group-thinkers" to act like a sore looser, I don't expect the chairman to sit there like a lox and play the "why can't we all get along song"
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  2. I agree with the philosophy that the BOE needs to work together and play nice in the sandbox. However, the remarks that Rivas has been getting away with needs to be addressed. If the BOE should have one voice - this should hold true for Rivas as well. She can keep her accusations of racism to herself and get on with the business at hand. Once again, she needs to be reminded that there's equality in education for ALL children. Stop playing the race card -- we're tired of it.
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  3. What this really says to me is that the Board is out of hand. Bylaws should always be followed, and Steve did not follow them. If he wants to change the bylaws, then change them first, but abide by them while they are in effect. He owes an apology to the interim superintendent and the other board members.
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  4. Steve Colarossi is an unprofessional board member and he should be removed from the board immediately! His comments to the "Hour" were inappropiate and the taxpayers of Norwalk should reconsider his appointment as a new board member. What can we do to have him removed from the board immediately? He has his own agenda and that is not the what this district needs right now. Moina, please tell us what can be done about this very serious problem?
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  5. This last comment ("Steve Colarossi is an unprofessional board member") is preposterous. He was elected to the Board for a four-year term and in the absence of some kind of illegal conduct he cannot be removed, so drop that sideshow. His "agenda" is the one he ran on (and he got the highest vote total of all the 8 candidates on the ballot, so the "taxpayers" obviously liked what they saw). The REAL "very serious problem" here is the group-think among the mediocrities who have mismanaged our school system for the last 10 years (such as Ms. Rivas), not the presence of Steve Colarossi and his efforts to improve things. I'd rather have a Board member who raises a ruckus in an effort to improve our schools than a bunch of incompetents singing "kumbaya" as our kids aren't educated and our taxpayers' dollars are wasted. Keep up the good work, Steve.
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  6. Steve Colarossi has every right to speak his mind! He is an individual and doesn't need to drink the BOE kool aid to become one of them. I voted for him so he can speak for me. I believed in what he stood for as a candidate and now that he is doing what he said - more power to you buddy!

    As for the rest of the BOE, what are they afraid of? They are the ones who causing division between the new and the old.

    To the old BOE members - We, the voters, elected all new BOE members for a reason! So let Steve speak!
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  7. Dear 5:33pm, the real serious problem is you and people like you who think the way you do. Mr. Colarossi is the only board member who is actually interested in improving the district.

    His actions were exactly what the Norwalk voters were looking for in a BOE member - COMMUNICATION!!!
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  8. To JillCooks, I totally agree with you about the unsubstantiated accusations that Ms. Rivas is continually making, along with her tone of voice. I'm surprised the Board tolerates this because it really projects a very poor image of the Board, the District and the schools. If I was an applicant for the Superintendent's position, I would politely say "No thanks". If I was a parent deciding where to send my child to school and watched one of those videos, I'd send my kids to private schools or homeschool. And quite truthfully, if I was poor and a member of the minority groups, after continually hearing Ms. Rivas accuse the Board and apparently everyone that crosses her path of racism and cultural discrimination, I would get the heck out of Dodge. Why would a parent want to send their child or children to a school system where one of the Board members was continually claiming there was continual discrimination? Sad, very, very sad.
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  9. Anon 9:07--What I find "sad, very, very sad" is that you find it logically follows to pair the word "poor" with the term "minority." In your esteemed opinion, are all minorities necessarily poor in Norwalk? Are all Ms. Rivas' supporters "poor"? Are you calling Ms. Rivas minority and poor? Please clarify. I find your commentary smacks of elitism. And by the way, I'm Hispanic and NOT poor, but I feel Ms. Rivas, even in her earthy and unvarnished way, does her level best to speak for our community. And maybe Ms. Rivas does need to come out strong in her comments. After all, not so long ago, Mr. Chiaramonte made his xenophobic speech railing against people who needed documents translated on the NPS website in languages other than English and Spanish. Do we value diversity here in Norwalk, or is it just a social convention we don when we think others can see our identity and public face? Just wondering.
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  10. commentor 9:24, your decision to "misunderstand" the term poor, and try to make your point about racism is beneath this forum. Poor can mean: not having riches or possessions OR low in quality or value. When you say "Im Hispanic and NOT poor" which do YOU mean? Ms. Rivas has accused concerned parents that attend BOE meetings of wearing hoods...now THAT is a poor example of representing all parents.
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  11. We wife & I are working parents. We don’t have time to attend every Board of Ed meeting, every Committee meeting and every budget hearing— sure, we email officials when something affects our kids is on their agendas, but almost no one has ever responded (Colarossi does respond to emails).
    So, for people like us, it’s important to know what our elected officials think about the issues that are before them.
    So, we think the question shouldn’t be whether Colarossi should speak to the press, BUT WHY DON’T ALL THE OTHER BOARD OF ED MEMBERS FEEL THE SAME OBLIGATION TO THE PUBLIC TO LET US KNOW WHERE THEY STAND.
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  12. The point is that Steve Colarossi should talk to the Board first. As a Board member, he should not stand alone with his criticisms. Yes, he has a right to freedom of speech, but he has a greater responsibility to the Board if it includes negative comments about NPS.

    Steve, it is interesting that you have so many tete-a-tetes with the administrator's union president. Did you forward the e-mail to him from the other administrators on Tuesday night? How do you feel now that so many of the administrators do not want to be held responsible for the union letter? Would you care to comment on that?
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  13. I'm truly amazed at how quickly fellow citizens are willing to attack other citizens by critiquing every single word of every single sentence without taking into account the context of the message. Granted, some potential poor choice or words were used...look, I used the word "poor!" That being said, How many times have you written or said something that was in the heat of the moment yet proved to be slightly not what you had intended to say? It is easy to get misunderstood when you do not have the literary skills of a novelist yet we feel compelled to jump all over someone because they rushed through responding to a blog instead of having the editor proofread it first for meaning.
    I have to say, while the Ms. Rivas may have stepped over many lines with her comments and quickness to play the race card, she has not perpetuated this by continuing the rant in these blogs...at least none she has claimed responsibility for by showing her name. For those of you who will misunderstand that last sentence, that was by no means defending her either.
    I think one of the things that Steve could have done better with his criticism of central office and the interim Superintendent is that he probably should have made those statements at an NPS board meeting and not to a paper, but then again, we are all humans. We all make mistakes, bnot that I'm saying he made a mistake, we all have families and lives outside of the board meetings. I think this will be a learning experience for Steve but at the same time, look at the support he is also garnering because of it.
    It is obvious the level of frustration but many citizens is directly being played out through Steve...that is not to say that Steve doesn't also contribute his own personal feelings about it at the same time. Just keep in mind this notion: If you think Steve is creating a divide or muddying the water within the school board, you really haven't been paying attention to the previous few years.
    I'm not a supporter nor in opposition to Steve. I'm merely neutral. I think some of the things the board should have done in the past few months is to 1. wait to hire the new Superintendent before filling the other vacant positions(to allow the new boss to pick his own staff), 2. require discussion of hiring candidates at all board meetings, even if it extends toe meeting(these are things that we want to see happen so no back-room deals occur like the tech and elem. education director positions) 3. change the website as often as needed when new information needs to be disseminated to the public(I hate to say this but the tech. dir. must not have a clue at all by allowing Ralph V.'s name to still be listed as the tech. dir. instead of his on the website, after all, he has his doctorate, you know.)
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  14. so much for proofreading!!
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  15. Here's my frustration - With all these distractions, this BOE can't accomplish anything worthwhile. What are you working toward? Do you have goals? Here's a novel idea - Go back to the Cambridge Report, open it, read it and prioritize the goals of the District. We have no Superintendent, looming budget debates and a host of other challenges. Plenty of issues to work on, just pick one or two... It's amazing how good you can feel when you're actually accomplishing something.

    After Election Day people were saying that this Board has a ton of work to do. So guess what -- get to work! Leave your differences at the door and work toward fixing a school system that is broken - for all the kids of Norwalk. Let's stop talking about the race division and work together for our kids' future. Yes, that would be ALL the children of Norwalk...
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  16. 9:43,

    This is 8:28 and 8:31 saying "well said."
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  17. This isn't about speech, it's about money.

    During the years when there wasn't a single Republican on the Board, the schools spent tens of millions of dollars on no-bid contracts for legal services, administrator searches, special ed. consulting, auditing and who-knows-what-else.

    Amazingly, the best vendor always turned out to be someone friendly with the Superintendent.

    Amazingly, despite these vendors' inability or unwillingness to do their work properly, the Board each year voted to renew their contracts with no public debate.

    Merely by responding to citizen emails and letting the press know about Board agendas, Steve Colarossi has ended this gravy train. This is why Rivas is so infuriated, and this is why so many of his opponents take time out of their busy days to anonymously slander him around town and on internet boards like these.
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  18. Bylaws and traditions that fly in the face of good government and commensense should be ignored. CABE knows alot when it comes to working within the box and can indeed by quite helpful on some questions -- but not this one.

    Also, those bylaws do not prohibit Board members from speaking to the press or their constituents as long as it is clear that the views presented are those of the individual Board member. This, by the way, is standard practice for any elected body.

    Our BOE is made up of nine elected officials who, of course, must answer to the state, which simply means they must abide by state laws and mandates. Their main responsibility is to the taxpayers and parents who elected them. And these constituents deserve to know where each and every member stands on the issues that come before the Board.

    By the way, the bylaws in question were created during the years when BOE elections were basically non-competitive. Prior to changes in the Charter, Board members rarely bothered to respond to anyone; they didn't have to since their re-election was virtually guaranteed.

    What I find strange is that some Board members still believe it is not necessary for them to communicate their views to the public. Last week, an active parent called my home and left a message about an education issue. She was truly surprised when I returned the call.
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  19. Elected officials not only have the right to express their views in public, but an obligation to communicate directly with those who elected them. Elected officials work for the voters, not for an internal Board communication policy. However as a matter of good government, they should make clear their views are personal (not reflective of the Board as a whole) plus they should strive to be good team members.
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  20. Well said Fred!!!
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  21. The thing that I find alarming is the knee jerk reaction by the Interim Superintendent and other BOE members to the fact that Collarossi made his comments to The Hour and not actually address the actual issue he was talking about. So are we to assume by their words and actions that everything is running 100% perfectly at Central Office? Or is Central Office above any sort of questioning?

    Finally, Collarossi did not criticize Central Office or the people who work there. He merely pointed out there are inefficiencies.
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  22. 9:56 - You are so right! Those who want to protect the central office are diverting attention from the real issues of possible inefficiency (incompetence?) and turning it toward criticism for a board member who dared tell the truth. There should be 9 such board members.
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  23. 1:55, Don't be ridiculous. Colorassi doesn't know what he is talking about. The truth will out in the end.
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  24. 7:10 - Please elaborate on what the truth is.
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  25. Dear 7:10 a.m.-- I guess you've never looked at the school budget. There is lots of inefficiency in it. Have you never read any of the posts about this on YourCt.com? Dont you think it's weird that Stamford spends less on lawyers than our school department does? Dont you wonder why all our schools dont recyle? Do you think its right that the schools and the school groups are not held accountable for their own photocopying? These aren't lies-- these are facts-- facts that the oldtimers on the Board of Ed ignored for years.
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  26. Colorassi is making many freshman mistakes. His hubris will catch up with him.
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  27. to January 28th 6:52 a.m. - ...in reference to the last part of your post..."3. change the website as often as needed when new information needs to be disseminated to the public(I hate to say this but the tech. dir. must not have a clue at all by allowing Ralph V.'s name to still be listed as the tech. dir. instead of his on the website"...
    THE BOARD LAYED OFF THE PR position...whom do you think should now be in charge of tending to the web site??? It's easy to criticize when you are unaware of the actual labor involved
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  28. The public just cracks me up in Norwalk. Cut the office support down to a skeleton crew but expect top notch service and communication. I'm a secretary and I can barely find the time to go to the ladies room or to take a lunch during the day because I now work for so many people. Go get a clue people. I pay taxes here too. You can't run a system on the backs of so few support staff.
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