More than 100 residents — many angry with the Board of Education’s handling of Superintendent Judy Palmer’s contract — attended the board’s public hearing on the issue Wednesday.
When it was over, many were more angry than when they arrived.
That’s because the board refused to answer any questions from those who signed up to speak at the hearing.
The call of the meeting was to “receive comments pursuant to an elector’s petition” asking the board to “enter into good faith negotiations” with Palmer.
Palmer did not attend the meeting.
“The board will hear only comments and will not answer any questions,” board chairman Rose McKinnon said.
Each speaker was limited to two minutes. Many were cut off at the end of that limit.
McKinnon also interrupted several speakers deemed to be too critical of the board and whose comments she said veered from the topic of the hearing.
One of those was Patty Severson, a former board chairman who has been vocal in her support of Palmer.
“I am very angry with the actions of this board,” she said. “You have been riddled with secrecy for the past eight weeks, you have refused to answer any questions and your actions toward Dr. Palmer have been unethical and cruel.”
Because of a lack of information from the board as to what is going on, residents have been forced to draw their own conclusions, Severson said, and those conclusion include the perception that there is an effort underway to unseat the superintendent.
In May the board, after a lengthy executive session, voided Palmer’s contract, because of a legal technicality in its language that would have automatically renewed the contract.
On June 30, the day the contract expired, the board extended it until July 31 to allow an evaluation of the superintendent to take place. But board members reportedly only received the evaluation packets Tuesday night at the board’s monthly meeting, leading some to question whether the July 31 deadline can be met.
“We aren’t allowed to ask questions, so all we can do is comment on rumors,” said parent Allison Caferty.
One of those rumors is that the board intends to replace Palmer with retired Seymour superintendent Eugene Coppola, she said, despite the petition submitted to the board with hundreds of signatures urging the elected officials to keep Palmer on.
“All of us are here to support Dr. Judy Palmer,” Caferty said.
Selectman Dave McKane questioned why the school board refused to answer questions. The Board of Selectmen, upon which he now sits, and the Planning and Zoning Commission, of which he is a former member, both voluntarily answer questions during hearings, he said.
“It has always been the practice [of both boards] to field questions,” he said. “What are you afraid of?”
The friction between the board and the community is bad for both, Oxford Center School teacher Nancy Cersonsky said.
“I have taught many of your children and I know that you care about education,” she told the board. “We shouldn’t be at loggerheads but we are.”
Clearly mistakes have been made on how the issue has been handled, she said, and the board should owe up to those mistakes and move on.
“We need to stop being so adversary,” she said. “I think you arrived at the wrong decision but with the right intentions.”
