Turmoil on OJR School Board

5 members vote to oust McCreary as vice president

“I have detected a strong undertone of severe overreach by Mrs. McCreary.” Matthew Fitzgerald, Owen J. Roberts School Board member

SOUTH COVENTRY » In an hour-long debate chock full of innuendo, unnamed “offenses,” accusations of everything from retaliation for a vote to one board member throwing things at others during a committee meeting, a divided Owen J. Roberts School voted 5-3 Monday to remove Heather McCreary as the board’s vice president.

The item was not on the board agenda for the March 19 meeting and, according to a video of the meeting posted on the district’s website, several speakers from the audience accused the board, and specifically board President Melissa Booth, of a lack of transparency and “behaving like children.”

It began with Booth’s announcement that “in the best interests of the school district, community and funding taxpayers to re-align the lead-

ership” and would be modifying McCreary’s committee assignments.

Booth also announced she would favor a motion to remove McCreary as board vice president.

That motion was provided by board member Douglas Hughes and seconded by Matthew Fitzgerald, who was appointed to a board vacancy during a contentious meeting on Feb. 26.

Another vote at that meeting, the failed motion to hire a new athletic and co-curricular activities director, seems to be tangled up in the decision to remove McCreary — at least that’s what her comments indicated she believes happened.

McCreary said the “issues” Booth raised in justifying her action had never been brought up prior to the Feb. 26 meeting when she was “the most vocal vote” against hiring Brent Chenger as the district’s new athletic director at a salary of $126,000.

She said at the Feb. 26 meeting, and reiterated several times at the March 19 meeting, that she had problems with the process by which Chenger became a candidate for the job.

Booth said McCreary had violated policy on several matters, including violating “confidentiality” and

“Mrs. Wolfe, who has berated members of the public repeatedly here in this room and in addressing us board members, will she be your new vice president Mrs. Booth?” Heather McCreary, Owen J. Roberts School Board member

“failing to honor the sanctity of executive session” from which the public can be excluded for specific reasons.

An audience member shouted “what’s your hidden agenda?” leading Booth to summon the security officer and then say, without apparent irony, “this is not about trying to squelch anyone’s right to voice an opinion.”

Further muddying the water was the absence of board member Karel Minor, whom Booth said had been given the option of participating in the meeting via conference call “but chose not to.”

But McCreary said the email from Booth, which she read aloud into the record, had said the action would be to “modify my committee assignments and reserve possible further action for a future public session.”

“So this is all brand new news to me,” McCreary said.

She clashed with school board Solicitor Clarence Kegel, challenging his loyalty to the board and trying to delay the vote when he could not produce the case he cited justifying Booth’s actions — a case he had not provided to any other members of the board either.

“Is your duty and loyalty to the entire school board, or to Mrs. Booth?” McCreary asked. “Who authorized you to do this research? Not the entire board.”

Kegel replied that he is authorized to consult with the superintendent and board president.

“We’re not here for a legal debate,” he said.

To which McCreary replied that did not explain his failure to provide his citation for other members of the board. “This is pretty important Clarence,” she said.

Some board members, particularly Lisa Huzzard and Cathie Whitlock, said they were not familiar with the issues Booth was citing, which brought the board to a vote on whether they could be discussed openly as they dealt with personnel matters but a vote to remove an elected officer from her post on the school board is not a subject which can be discussed behind closed doors in an executive session.

Ultimately they decided to forgo further detail, but not before Fitzgerald said in the short time since he was appointed, and spoke with administrators and other board members, as well as members of the community, “I have detected a strong undertone of severe overreach by Mrs. McCreary.”

“So after my very vocal vote, you went around and gathered information about what a horrible person I am?” McCreary responded.

“This does not bode well. If you don’t vote in lock step, people will go around and make stuff up, trying to say things to support the fact that they want you to say yes to everything that comes your way,” she said.

“I have a very strong moral compass,” Fitzgerald replied. “This was not information I sought out, but it was brought to me by concerned people.”

McCreary then made a motion to table the vote on her removal, citing Minor’s absence, saying the full board should be present for such a vote, a point made several times by board member Leslie Proffitt as well. But McCreary, Proffitt and Whitlock were the only members to support tabling the matter and the board went ahead to vote.

“I wonder, Mrs. Booth, will (board member Pamela Clouser Wolfe) also have committee assignments modified given that she threw things at Mr. Minor, myself and Mrs. Whitlock at the building and grounds committee?”

Booth provided no response.

“Mrs. Wolfe, who has berated members of the public repeatedly here in this room and in addressing us board members, will she be your new vice president Mrs. Booth?” McCreary asked.

Wolfe said she would decline such a nomination.

“This is very hard,” Huzzard said before voting. “It’s simple, you vote to push me out or not,” said McCreary, “when I’ve supported you for finance committee chairman.”

“This is very sad that we can’t get our act together to do what we’re here to do,” Whitlock told the board. “If we vote on this now, we’re only going to create more alienation amongst the group. This board needs a retreat ASAP so we can hammer out some things that make us function as

“This board needs a retreat ASAP so we can hammer out some things that make us function as adults.” Cathie Whitlock, Owen J. Roberts School Board member

“This is not about trying to squelch anyone’s right to voice an opinion.” Melissa Booth, Owen J. Roberts School Board President

adults. We have to do something before we completely splinter this board and it won’t be able to function for the rest of anybody’s term.”

Like the vote to table, only McCreary, Proffitt and Whitlock voted against removing McCreary as vice president.

“You’re elected officials but you’re behaving like children, said one speaker from the audience who did not provide her name. “You would not accept this behavior from any of our students.”

“The conduct of this board is entirely embarrassing,” said Warwick Township resident John Diehl. “It’s almost like you cooked this up before the meeting with the intent of putting who you wanted in the vice president spot. Whoever takes it now, it’s already tainted.”

Ultimately, that question remains to be answered.

As the acrimony continued, the board ultimately voted 7-1 to table a vote on appointing a new board vice president.

The next schedule school board meeting is Monday, April 23.