Remember Chicken Little, and her hysterical cry? The sky is falling!!! The sky is falling!!! That doomsday mentality has permeated our school board, and the issues have nothing to do with what the directors should be focusing on - educating our children.
The inappropriate behavior of several members, and their supporters, has dramatized the need for a more definitive Code of Ethics, one that is not based on the foxes watching the henhouse. And the board majority's one-sided mishandling of those issues shows how they continue to put politics ahead of all else.
Apparently Chicken Little never met Linda Martin. As part of the board's 5-4 majority, the sky isn't falling on her head. Everything is sunny and just peachy-keen, since she circumvented the district's weak ethics code by having parents she described as "wonderful" hand out her campaign material inside school buildings, on windshields in the parking lots, and at school events. Martin first denied it, but when confronted by staff who saw it, she then hid behind Linda's Loophole: it's OK because parents are not school employees.
Martin then violated state election laws by handing out vote-for-me rulers without the required "paid for by" disclosure. But the sun continues to shine on Linda Martin. Her board buddies took no action. No criticism at public meetings. No calls for an investigation. No talk of resignation. And no wonder. Martin is part of that self-protective majority, with President Kelly Van Valkenburgh, Kathy Mosley, Nancy Tirjan, and Zane Stauffer. The everything-is-peachy-keen folks who brought you Integrated Math, hidden survey results, and non-mythical 50+ percent tax increases.
Compare that to the sky-is-falling hysteria that swept the old guard when director Paul Stepanoff, who is not their buddy, responded to blogs smearing him and his family by challenging the anonymous bloggers to meet him face to face. Did I mention that Stepanoff is part of the group that had revealed the overbudgeting, overspending, and overhiring that led to those huge tax increases? Stepanoff's angry reaction blog was inappropriate, but the over-the-top, politically-motivated overreaction by the majority was even worse. They loudly postured about ousting Stepanoff from the board, despite the fact that only the State Senate can remove an elected official.
Mosley, and a small group of parents, engaged in what appeared to some to be an orchestrated attack at the October 25 board meeting. First, audience members professed to be "shocked" at Stepanoff's blog, without any mention of the ones that attacked him. Next, they charged that he had leaked details of the support staff union negotiations to this column. Finally, Mosley chimed in. But Mosley already knew that it wasn't so. She had made the same accusation at the executive session just prior to the meeting, and Director of Human Resources Nancianne Edwards corrected her, pointing out that it wasn't a board member leaking, but the union.
The truth is, I never spoke with Stepanoff, or the union. Or Mosley. But she still made her accusation, going even further by charging that Stepanoff was jeopardizing the entire negotiations, and could cause a strike. The sky is falling!
Mosley's own campaign talked of working together, and common goals, yet she has been the single most divisive factor. She has used board meetings to criticize other directors. She campaigned strongly for Linda Martin, but ignores her abuses. She demanded an investigation of Stepanoff's blog, plus his resignation, but totally resists investigating the blogs that attacked him and his family. In fact, she admits backing off her resignation demand after she learned all of the facts. Kathy - investigations should be done before the call for punishment, not after.
It should also be noted that Stepanoff did his blogging on his own time, using his own computer. Martin unethically campaigned on school property, during school hours. Mosley used school board meetings, which should be dedicated to educational issues, to criticize her political opponents, despite hypocritically writing in May that she was "concerned that the current climate of negativity and exaggeration of issues may lead us down the path of dysfunction as both a district and a community".
And how low can certain people go? The anti-Stepanoff retribution wasn't limited to official meetings. The New Jersey State Police received an anonymous tip that Stepanoff was illegally carrying firearms. The complainant knew his home and work addresses, phone numbers, and cars. But they never mentioned that he has a permit. Then PA state police got an anonymous complaint that Stepanoff's dogs barked too much. The trooper who responded found that the neighboring houses are so far away that he couldn't even see them. The sky is falling!
People who ignore history are bound to repeat it. Superintendent Andrejko is doing her part by bolstering the Administrative Rules and Regulations to prevent any electioneering on school property. Mosley talks about creating a "customs manual" to provide specific guidelines for board members, but has presented nothing. And, as Martin so "wonderfully" proved, any rule can be circumvented. It all comes down to the character of the people on the board.
Music Man Murphy
For those who missed last week's column, a Music Man is a politician who invents issues to scare residents. Like Richland's Patrick Murphy. The Music Man who sang "overdevelopment", but voted to provide water service to 13 developments. Who campaigned against waivers and variances even though his own house received seven. Who lost the election for supervisor in a landslide. Voters rejected his deceptions, but the band plays on...
It's the same old song. Murphy now tells us that Richland residents feel that the number one township issue is "child predator enforcement" because, he claims (without citing a source), "Every week there are a handful of undetected child predators apprehended". Another Murphy scare. According to Police Chief Larry Cerami, all six registered sex offenders who have tried to move into restricted areas of the township have been denied. Most important, no sex offender (child or otherwise) has re-offended in Richland since the police department was formed in 1998.