CASD school board disrespects residents for no good reason
By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times
CALN — I’ve been to a lot of Board of Education meetings over the years, some compelling, some downright boring, but until Tuesday night, I’ve never been to one that could be described with one word:
Shameful.
The Coatesville Area School District Board of Education endured (I wish I could use the word listened, but I don’t think I can in fairness) three hours of public comment beseeching its members not to accept the resignations of disgraced Superintendent Richard Como and Coatesville Area High School Athletic Director James Donato.
And then, without discussion or comment, passed the entire agenda, without pulling out the resignations as a separate discussion area (or for that matter, the hiring of a new Director of Business Administration, Ronald Kabonick, for $165,000 — and with the school district in fairly dire financial shape, the qualifications and background of the man being hired to navigate the looming financial mess should have been addressed).
Even if every other action was appropriate by the board last night — and pretty much every action last night wasn’t — that move showed an utter lack of respect for the taxpayers, students, parents and staff of the school district. Frankly, in ways more insidious and painful, it was more disrespectful than the alleged text messages Como, Donato and their “crew” exchanged.
The Coatesville Area School District Board of Education lost control of Tuesday night’s meeting, much as it appears to have lost control of the school district.
Somehow, the board’s president, Neil Campbell didn’t see it that way, telling our Kyle Carozza:
“I’ll tell you right now, if I felt I did something wrong, I’d step down immediately,” he said. “I know that I’m doing the best for this community. They may not know it right now, but they will down the road, and that is part of the healing process.”
Is it that Campbell just doesn’t get it, or are we missing something here?
What, exactly, is right when there’s more than a thousand angry people in the room and just two of their elected officials speak to the issue? When not one question is answered? When Campbell totally lost control of the meeting – much as he and his colleagues have totally lost control of the district?
Setting aside the fact that not firing Como and Donato is an atrocious choice, legally and morally, these folks deserve to see and hear discussion from their elected officials on the matter. Democracy is built on this sort of open airing of issues, and it was shut down completely last night. There was no give and take, just carefully lawyer-prepared statements issued by Campbell.
Everyone — even the board members — deserved more. Whoever charted that course gave exceptionally poor advice, continuing a pattern of exceptionally poor advice in recent months.
Now, as to the substance.
Does firing Como and Donato prevent either from collecting pensions (Como right away, Donato at some later date)? No. Does it require a lengthy, possibly messy process to terminate the pair? Yes.
The justification for not doing so is cost and not putting the district through additional stress and pain. This is a rationalization for not doing the right thing. Instead of taking action that strongly and boldly says that this sort of behavior can’t and won’t be tolerated, this board is taking the easy way out.
This is the wrong lesson to be teaching our kids. What if a high school student had done something similar, used racial epithets in school, but his dad happened to be a high-powered attorney? Would the district just give him a stern talking to instead of the suspension district policies require? That, too, would be cheaper and more expedient. And also wrong.
So, it’s hard to argue this isn’t an immoral and terrible life lesson for the students, who are being told “sorry, we won’t stand up for you — it’s too expensive and inconvenient.”
Of course, that’s probably not much worse than the way the district and board essentially said last night, “Thanks for your input, we’re going to ignore it completely, and what we think is right, because we know better.”
Obviously, one might argue that if they truly knew better, they might not have allowed members of the administration to act like a bunch of sophomoric frat boys for years without doing anything about it.
But does firing the duo truly open the door to all sorts of legal issues? Maybe. But does not firing them also open the district to all sorts of other litigation — some of which could be filed under civil rights actions in Federal Court (a much more expensive proposition for the school district)? Also, maybe.
So where’s the big advantage here?
It does make you wonder whether the real motivation is to prevent Como and Donato from bringing forward other deep, dark and nasty stuff in a hearing — we know Chester County District Attorney Tom Hogan was investigating the district before the texts came to light. It sure seemed like a lot of residents were thinking the same thing, based on last night.
And yes, the board botched things about as seriously as you can — from a general failure of oversight and long-term financial mismanagement to some of the worst communications I’ve ever seen from elected officials — including, amazingly, a battle in the media with Hogan over whether or not they were allowed to discuss things with the public. Campbell and colleagues say they weren’t; Hogan emphatically says they were. It’s no wonder why folks feel there’s been a cover-up, between the district allowing Como to post a deeply disingenuous letter on the district Web site about his departure — not typically the kind of thing one allows someone you just allegedly threatened with termination – to the fact that so many stories just don’t seem to line up.
It was pretty clear that thousands of people want the entire school board out, but they don’t seem to have any intention of leaving on their own. And frankly, having the entire board resign would lead to a state takeover and an even bigger mess than the district faces now.
With elections coming in little more than a month, those residents who feel a change is in order can do a little something about it.
After last night, I have a better chance of being elected the next Pope than Dr. Tonya Thames Taylor has in getting reelected in Region I. Aside from her “wandering” account of the events of the last month, her conduct during last night’s meeting — leaving the dais for extended periods and appearing to smile and laugh while having side conversations as residents pleaded with the board not to accept Como and Donato’s resignations — have sealed her fate. It is safe to assume that either Robert Beckershoff, a Republican, or Deborah Thompson, a Democrat, will be sworn into that seat in December.
In Region II, Joseph Dunn is not seeking reelection, meaning another new member come December, either Republican Stu Deets or Democrat Alain Foster.
Region III incumbent Laurie Knecht is running with newcomer Kim Mammel as Republicans. Current board member William Sweigart is not seeking reelection. Since there are no Democratic candidates on the ballot, the only way to prevent Knecht from being reelected would be a write-in campaign, which tends to be a longshot.
At minimum, there will be two new faces on the board, and if voters are truly disturbed by the events of the last month, potentially four new members.
And while it would take a total of five new members to make significant changes, this would be a start.
You also have the right to insist that the search for a new superintendent be done properly and be led by someone from the outside.
Based on a strong track record of success in this area, one need look no further than the Chester County Intermediate Unit, which has led widely-praised superintendent searches in districts such as Great Valley and Unionville. The CCIU now helps districts around the state and region — but provides this service for free only to districts in the county. They also conduct a transparent and inclusive process — speaking with taxpayers, parents, students and staff about priorities.
We would hope that process yields a new leader from outside the district. Much as Coatesville Chief Jack Laufer has rapidly improved what was a scandal-ridden and morale-strapped Coatesville City Police force, a new, proven leader from outside the district would be a much-needed breath of fresh air.
But none of this will happen if the residents of the district do not insist upon it. You must show up at board meetings, ask questions, and demand accountability. And you must show up on Election Day.
You can make the changes you want, get the school district you want and deserve, but you must be stubborn, persistent and determined.
