AVOSSA TO BOARD MEMBER: ‘BE VERY CAREFUL’
McQuinn should ‘be very careful’ commenting on me, superintendent says.
Palm Beach County Schools Superintendent Robert Avossa told a school board member Friday that he will no longer meet with her without his private attorney present and warned that she “will be held accountable” for making negative comments about him.
In an email from Avossa to board member Barbara McQuinn shortly after midnight Friday, he accused her of “continued posturing” and warned her to “be very careful about comments you’re making about me to community members.” He did not elaborate about the alleged comments.
“Given your recent comments at the board meeting and continued posturing in public and private conversations you’ve had with community members and staff in private . ... I will not meet with you in person unless it’s absolutely necessary and only with my attorney present,” he wrote.
“Moving forward,” he added, “please submit all requests for information through the board office — be very careful about comments you’re making about
me to community members — they are being relayed back to me — you will be held accountable for them.”
Reached Monday, Avossa declined to comment on the email. In an interview, McQuinn acknowledged receiving the message. She said she didn’t respond to Avossa, but that the email from him had been “a punch to the gut.”
“That’s not how I do things,” she said. “I’ve made it very clear that I’m supportive of his continued leadership of the district. I also promised in my campaign that I was going to watch the dollars.”
Avossa’s relationship with board members has been strained by his surprise announcement this month that he would resign in June to take a job at a Palm Beach
Gardens publishing company.
It’s not clear what board-meeting comments Avossa was referring to in his email, but at a Feb. 14 board meeting, McQuinn raised the question of whether board members should replace Avossa with an interim superintendent while they search for a permanent replacement.