Beverly Meyer, the attorney whose report was key to Superintendent Rhonda Corr being placed on paid leave, met with school board members and DPS attorney Jyllian Bradshaw in a closed executive session Tuesday night.
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Bradshaw would not comment on whether the executive session was about Corr. Asked about the district disciplinary process for the exiled superintendent, Bradshaw said hearings were “in the process of being rescheduled,” the same answer she gave last month.
David Duwel, one of Corr’s attorneys, confirmed there had been no official change in her case.
Facilities task force
Two speakers criticized the school district for trying to hold meetings of its facilities task force in private.
“I feel as if our board is moving in a direction without any type of engagement from our community,” DPS parent Cameron Walker said. “You shake your heads, nod and smile, and then you make decisions that really have a negative impact on the students and our community.”
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There was no scheduled discussion of the task force Tuesday night . School board member Karen Wick-Gagnet said there has been no additional movement by the task force, which disbanded its first meeting before it began after a dispute over public access.
Wick-Gagnet said asking school board members to take a stand on whether the meetings should be open or closed “is not appropriate right now” because the situation is pending.
Board action
The school board approved a new three-year contract with DPS’ clerical employees union. The district has now reached agreement with nine of its 11 bargaining units. Still operating under expired contracts from last year are bus drivers and the Building and Construction Trades Council.
The board promoted Richard Wright II from associate director to executive director of safety and security, replacing Jamie Bullens, who resigned in December. Wright has been with DPS for just over four years.
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Also Tuesday, as DPS continues to evaluate its facilities, the board approved a $13,700 contract to appraise the market value of five district sites — Gardendale, Longfellow, the former Patterson-Kennedy, district headquarters downtown, and two buildings across from headquarters on Ludlow Street.
Procedural issues
With four new members, including William Harris as president, the school board has talked about the need to make DPS meetings more efficient. The board just eliminated its once-a-month strategic planning meetings and is also trying to shorten its remaining two monthly meetings, which have lasted as long as four hours.
But that led to objections from school board member Sheila Taylor. Harris interrupted a pair of consultants making a long presentation on DPS’ student technology, asking the pair to wrap up and share the rest of their information with the district’s technology department.
YEAR IN REVIEW: Top Ohio, Dayton education stories of 2017
Taylor told Harris she “totally disagreed” with his decision, saying it went beyond efficiency and was not “community friendly.”
“If we have a presentation that we’ve been waiting on for quite some time, then I feel that’s what I’m here for, to hear it,” Taylor said after the 30-minute presentation. “Many dollars were invested in this consultation and it was also the topic of several meetings.”
The board had to re-do a vote on one recurring monthly issue after two members misunderstood board practice on teacher resignations.
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Taylor also complained about the school board consolidating all of its personnel, contract and financial items into a single “consent agenda” vote, saying that should be a matter for board discussion. Acting Superintendent Elizabeth Lolli said the move is a time-saver, and emphasized that board members can call for any item to be pulled out of the consent agenda for a separate vote.
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