School board member objects to administrative reorganization

~ Proposed teacher salary plan removed from agenda.

The Cape Girardeau Board of Education voted Monday night to hire three new administrators under a central office reorganization plan proposed by superintendent Dr. David Scala.

The vote was 6-1 behind closed doors. Board member Charles Bertrand opposed the reorganization, but agreed with the rest of the board on filling one of the positions.

Board president Sharon Mueller announced the hirings after the 30-minute closed session.

Scala also had wanted to discuss a teacher salary plan with the board in private, but decided to take it off the agenda after the Southeast Missourian earlier in the day questioned the legality of holding such a closed meeting.

Bertrand voted with the rest of the board to hire a new junior high school assistant principal to fill an upcoming vacancy, but against hiring a new curriculum coordinator and an executive director of administrative services.

Closed-door action

The board's closed-door action followed an open session at which a frustrated Bertrand accused fellow board members of failing to oversee school operations.

"This board is not doing its job," he said in open session as the board considered awarding a new bus contract.

Bertrand said he wanted to know more about the nearly $800,000 proposal before awarding the contract.

"We are just flying by the seat of our pants," he said.

School administrators said some problems existed with the current bus contractor, First Student, including wrong billing information and inaccurate bus routing information.

Bertrand said that was the first he had heard about the problems and wasn't sure why the district was seeking a new bus operator.

Other board members accused Bertrand of trying to "micromanage" district operations. "That's not what we are about," said board member Steven Trautwein.

Regardless of the problems, school officials said the five-year agreement was expiring and the district had to take bids for a new contract.

The board voted 6-1, Bertrand dissenting, to award a three-year contract with the option of a two-year renewal to Laidlaw Education Services, based in Naperville, Ill. The company submitted the low bid.

Prior to the meeting, Bertrand said Scala should unveil any salary plan to the board in open session.

But Scala said he wasn't ready to discuss the plan publicly.

The superintendent said he will propose a new salary schedule later this month to the board and the public.

Discussing the plan behind closed doors would have violated the state's Open Meetings Law, Missouri Press Association lawyer Jean Maneke said.

She said the law allows such closed-door discussions only when they involve the hiring, firing and promotion of specific individuals.

Mueller, the board president, agreed that such a discussion should be held in open session.

"Unless you are talking about a specific person, I think it is kind of illegal," she said late Monday afternoon prior to the meeting.

Scala said he didn't realize such a meeting might be illegal until after the issue was raised by a reporter.

"I want to be upfront about everything," he said.

Communication problem

But Bertrand believes the superintendent has kept board members in the dark on school matters, a charge that Scala denies.

Scala said he regularly e-mails board members about school issues and board agenda items.

Bertrand, a former Texas superintendent, suggested the reorganization plan should have been discussed in open session prior to the board deciding on specific hirings.

"I have never seen an organization operate like this," Bertrand said prior to the meeting.

In closed session, the board voted to hire Theresa Hinkebein as curriculum coordinator, Alan Bruns as assistant junior high school principal and Dennis Heiman for the newly created position of executive director of administrative services.

Hinkebein currently is a literacy coach at Blanchard Elementary School. Bruns is a music teacher in the Jackson School District. Heiman is a high school principal in Iowa and a finalist for Iowa Principal of the Year.

The hirings take effect July 1, Scala said.

mbliss@semissourian.com

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