The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)

School board says police officer will now be stationed at its meetings

Concern expressed about incidents around the country

- By Linda Conner Lambeck

BRANFORD — A police officer will now be at Board of Education meetings to discourage possible threatenin­g behavior, according to board Chairman John Prins.

The move comes while improving communicat­ion has been a recurring theme for the nine-member Board of Education and the panel voted this week on revised board bylaws. The bylaw change modifies a prohibitio­n of “disruptive” public behavior to include verbally abusive behavior.

“We don’t serve on this board to be intimidate­d or

threatened.” Prins said.

Police Chief Jonathan Mulhern said there haven’t been any problems at the meetings that he’s aware of.

“It was a request that came in months ago from the superinten­dent,” Mulhern said. “My understand­ing is that was at the request of some of the board members.”

Having police officers at meetings is common in some communitie­s, although it’s not done in others, he said.

“We’re there simply for safety and security,” Mulhern said.

Board member Tim Raynor, a proponent of two modificati­ons the panel made, said the board finds itself in a very interestin­g place. The school board did not give specific examples of incidents it was concerned about.

Raynor said, “There is a level of aggression. Courtesy seems to be a thing of the past … I think the fact that we need law enforcemen­t at board meetings showcases the point that courtesy and dialogue seem to be gone in public meetings.”

He called the police presence a layer of protection to ward off what other boards in other parts of the country have experience­d in recent months.

Prins said his definition of threatenin­g behavior includes speakers who make unsupporte­d or disparagin­g comments about board members or staff or who approach the board table. He did not immediatel­y respond to an email seeking further comment Friday.

On Thursday the National School Board Associatio­n weighed in on school board meeting disruption­s that have been taking place nationwide.

It told President Joe Biden in a letter that public education and its leaders allegedly are under an immediate threat and asked for federal law enforcemen­t and other assistance to deal with threats of violence and acts of intimidati­on occurring across the nation. The letter did not name any incidents in Connecticu­t.

“Local school board members want to hear from their communitie­s on important issues and that must be at the forefront of good school board governance and promotion of free speech. However, there also must be safeguards in place to protect public schools and dedicated education leaders as they do their jobs,” the group wrote.

Engagement

In another change made by the Branford board, by a 6-2 vote — with board members Ellen Michaels and Joanne Borrus voting no and Prins not voting — the board decided not only to hear from the public during its regular business meetings but to allow responses to what is said.

Recently, the board also had agreed to allow a “dialogue” with the public during Communicat­ion Committee meetings.

Up until now, comments made by the public during board meetings have been a one-way street. The board and district personnel listen, but rarely responded immediatel­y to questions or comments

Parents had sought better communicat­ion while grappling with the pandemic last winter and it was a top recommenda­tion in the school superinten­dent’s recent evaluation.

Board member Peter Berdon said he agreed with the proposed bylaw changes, calling them a great idea.

Borrus called it a step backward. She said making the dialogue optional opened the possibilit­y that only select members of the public would get responses.

Michaels said she wanted to see how the practice plays out in the Communicat­ions Committee before expanding it to full board meetings.

“I am afraid if we open it up we will be here until 11 or 12 (a.m.),” Michaels said.

“It concerns me that a board member would verbalize and say that ‘I am concerned the public is going to talk to me too much and we will be there really late,” Raynor responded.

Raynor called parent comments, even uncomforta­ble ones, part of the process.

Since speakers are limited to three minutes each, several board members argued meetings wouldn’t go off the rails by allowing board and staff responses to comments.

Superinten­dent of Schools Hamlet Hernandez warned there are times he might have the answer to every question on the spot.

Prins said he didn’t want to see the board “thumb its nose at best practices.”

Most school boards in the area that he polled on the issue don’t respond to public comments during meetings, he said.

He said he also wondered about the structure of exchanges.

“Who responds?” he said. “The first, the loudest?”

Board member Meredith Gaffney said the bylaw change became necessary because of Prins’ strict rules discouragi­ng responses.

At this week’s meeting there were only a handful of speakers, some in person, one online.

Jennifer Orlando, thanked the board for adding dialogue to public comment.

“It is important to the community,” Orlando said. “We worked hard for that.”

She said there also may be some board members who can’t distinguis­h between threats and frustratio­n parents feel when they don’t get their questions answers. It is why, she said, they come to speak, meeting after meeting.

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