2 Richland School Board members accused of ‘derailing again,’ straying from set agenda
Even after a lengthy workshop last week with a school board leadership expert, two Richland School Board members were still trying this week to rush action through.
At Tuesday night’s regular meeting, board members Semi Bird and Audra Byrd attempted to, seemingly out of the blue, pass motions ratifying the board’s draft mission statement and create a task force that would focus on “continuous improvements.”
Neither action was on the agenda.
Bird’s motion to create a task force was voted down, 3-2, with Audra Byrd the sole backer. And Byrd’s motion on the mission statement was seconded by Bird but never was voted on by the full board.
Bird chalked up their disagreements about spur-of-the-moment motions to “miscommunication.”
But after Byrd motioned to pass their mission statement during a discussion on board updates near the start of the meeting, Board President Jill Oldson said she was caught off guard.
“I’m a bit taken aback in the fact that a motion is being made on something that we have not even really discussed other than 15 minutes in a board workshop that we did,” Oldson said.
“We’re derailing again. We’re not focusing on the things that we need to focus on as a board in order to move the district in a direction. We’re focused on checking off boxes that we think we need to accomplish,” she added.
While she agreed with the concept of eventually passing the statement, Oldson said it was not an appropriate time for Byrd to bring up a motion.
Toward the end of the 4-hour board meeting that ended about 10:30 p.m., Bird motioned with little warning to create a “continuous improvement task force.” He said it would act as a working group, made up of various stakeholders, to recommend policy to improve the board and district in a “grass roots” fashion.
This concept had even less discussion compared with the mission statement. But Byrd seconded the motion to bring it to a vote.
Oldson said she felt that work already fell under the bailiwick of the school board.
Bird’s motion came as the board was discussing the agenda for its next meeting.
“This is not teamwork,” said board member Rick Jansons. “It won’t get lost if we make it a future agenda item to talk about it, and have time for input. This is a motion to do something that we haven’t thought about, except for maybe 3 or 4 minutes now. So, I’m voting no.”
Superintendent Shelley Redinger said she has worried that the school board is taking too much action too quickly, and that the quality of its work could suffer. The board’s disorganized fashion has also effected the administration’s ability to follow through on their objectives, she said.
“I’m just worried we’re kind of getting that cart before the horse,” she said, referring to the need to complete the mission statement first.
Executive session Friday
The school board plans another special meeting at 9 a.m. Friday, March 11, when the board will move immediately into a closed-door executive session to discuss “complaints or charges against a public officer or employee.”
The district did not provide the Herald or the public with more information about the complaint, how long the session will last or if action will be taken afterward.
