Well, theater lovers enjoyed quite the spectacle this
evening! After the closed session, the
board members entered the boardroom and, like any other meeting, started
greeting the spectators who were in attendance.
I saw Bill Proctor, Terry Huckaby, Rebecca Fox, Joe Adams, and Neal
Howard. Henry Dibrell is in Africa on a
mission trip with the Amobi Okoye Foundation, and Robert Shaw continues to
recover from major surgery. The next
thing I realized, the board members had all vanished! Well, that prompted some chatter, but sure
enough, in about 15 minutes in walk Fox, Adams, Howard and Robert Shaw!
They started the meeting, and took votes on the closed
session items. Apparently, Shaw had not
been present in the closed session, because he recused himself from the appeal
of a grievance because he hadn’t been at the hearing. As the votes were tallied, Mr.
Adams noted that Mr. Dibrell was out of town and, “…Mr. Huckaby and Mr. Proctor
have left the building.”
What does THAT mean?
Did Proctor and Huckaby leave in order to close down the meeting for
lack of a quorum? Did a recovering Bob
Shaw have to be called in to make sure 4 members were present so that the
business of the district could be conducted?
These theatrics are reminiscent of the shenanigans of the
Texas Democrats who high-tailed it to Ardmore, OK to make a political
point. Or similar theatrics in Wisconsin and Indiana. As a taxpayer, this just makes me
MAD. How dare they waste the time of the
district patrons and of the employees present!
How dare they derail the work of the district! Yes, it was “just” a work-study meeting, and
nothing was voted on other than the personnel matters from closed session, but
those are important votes that keep the district moving forward in an orderly
way! They also gave up their chance to
ask questions and discuss the matters that were on the discussion agenda. Since that is the only way that divergent
views and values are factored into the decisions of the board, they failed in
their duty as Trustees to be at the dais and to contribute to the decision. For THEATER! Shame
on them!
Apparently, Proctor and Huckaby each handed the
press a press release, so this was not the case of a spontaneous response to
something that happened at the meeting.
It was a calculated political maneuver to… What??? Well, think about what THEIR agenda is. I think it’s pretty clear they are willing to
throw the work of the district under the bus in order to make a political
point, especially now that there is an election in less than two months. REALLY?? And how embarrassing for Katy ISD. This district used to be the envy of others
all around the State. It is antics like
this that will paint us a laughing stock….
And when we have a reputation as having
a thoroughly dysfunctional school board, what businesses will relocate
here? What great teachers and administrators will want to work here? What people will want their
children educated here? What will happen
to our home values and quality of life?
I'm so confused here I can't make heads or tails, and I'm hoping you can help. Did Proctor and Huckaby walk out because it was inappropriate to take a vote on that issue (offering administrators the 2-year contracts) at THAT TIME, and would it have been possible for them to publicly protest the vote at the time of the meeting? Could they have had the board delay that vote and then stay to take part in OTHER matters? Do you think it's appropriate to ask to grant 2-year contracts to administrators --with cuts coming down the pike (it sounds like Frailey wants to protect his "cronies"-- is THAT the case?)? It's obvious that games are being played, but I'm not familiar enough with how this is supposed to work to make a clear judgment on who is doing what and whether or not it's "o.k."! (I'm the parent of an 8th grader and a 5th grader in Katy ISD schools, and I completed my librarian internship with Katy ISD-- no jobs b/c of the cuts!-- so I feel like I have a horse in this race, and would really like to understand things so I can responsibly participate! I know you have a great deal of experience with Katy ISD and its board-- any help you can offer towards that will be MUCH appreciated!)
ReplyDeleteThis contract renewal process is a normal process that is done around this time of year. If any board member has any objections at all they should discuss those that concern an individual person in closed session.
ReplyDeleteIf the issue is one of not wanting to support a two year contract, then the member should do so in Open session and attempt to influence a majority of the board to agreement with their position.
That is simply the democratic process and nothing evil. What was done here was simply grandstanding to make an issue in time to drum up support to gain a majority of like minded cronies on the board. God help us all if the public buys this crap.