Gazette publisher challenges CD officials to end 'Friday specials'

Below are comments that I made at Monday evening's Central Dauphin school board meeting prior to members voting to hire a new Director of Special Education at a salary of $100,000. (I'll post info on what took place at the meeting later this week.)

I’m not before you to object to hiring a Director of Special Education because I’m not knowledgeable enough about special education services offered by the district.

My comments are regarding the governmental process used to do the hiring.

I did a review of recent personnel reports and noted that the Oct. 15 report indicated that the current director had resigned effective Nov. 29, later changed to a Nov. 9 effective date.

No mention of the resignation and soon-to-come hiring was announced to the public during the Oct. 15 board meeting. The first notice of the hiring before the board tonight came on Nov. 2 when the Nov. 5 board meeting agenda was released to the public.

If things go per usual, the hiring will be done with a motion, a second and unanimous vote with no discussion or deliberation by board members.

This is what I call a “Friday special” — notice of a major vote under New Business shows up on Friday with a vote to take place on Monday evening.

This is a process that allows no room for citizen questions or involvement. As far as the board normally having no discussion prior to a vote, you as board members will have to explain that one.

Here are the questions I’d ask if there was time allotted for citizen involvement:

• Why the rush?
• Have parents of students who are in the special education program been given an opportunity to weigh in on the new hire?
• Given the financial constraints facing the district, are that other options for providing oversight of the special education program other than hiring a big-ticket employee?

Here’s the bottom line: If the board wants citizen involvement in the school district’s affairs, the way you govern will need to be tweaked.

I have two suggestions:

I’d like to start a dialogue with board members to make sure everyone is on the same page about the provisions of the state’s Sunshine Law.

I recommend that the board not take a vote on agenda items that appear under New Business so the proposal or issue can be properly introduced and discussed in public by board member and administrators. The earliest a vote could take place is the second time an issue is on an agenda.

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SAVE THE DATE — Citizens for CD Schools, a new group that aims to advance local public education, will be holding a kickoff meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 8 at the Lower Paxton Township Municipal Center on Prince Street.