Schools

Tensions Rise as GVSD Board Talks Trip to New Orleans

A discussion about traveling to a school conference resulted in some emotional outbursts at Monday's school board meeting.

Tensions were high at the Great Valley School District meeting Monday night, when a board discussion regarding a trip to New Orleans for a conference resulted in raised voices and a heated debate about what the roll of a school board member really is.

The evening started with public comment regarding the school board’s proposed trip to New Orleans for the National School Board Association Conference in April 2014. The conference, which, according to board members, was on the table for discussion as part of the mandate that school board members should participate in professional development and ongoing education, is estimated to cost roughly $2,000 per board member, according to school board member Dave Barratt. The discussion item was to decide if the board would send representatives and, if so, how many.

Members of the public expressed their desire for the board to consider scrapping the idea or, at least, picking a small number of members to attend the conference.

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“I think [attending this conference] sends the wrong message,” resident Bill Dwyer said during public session. “The administration has worked hard to get costs down and in line, and now with new teacher contracts coming up, attending a meeting would send the wrong message.”

Citing community member expressing their desires to keep spending down for the district, board member Ted Leisenring said he opposed sending anyone to New Orleans.

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“I’m not against our board sending representatives to learn something, but we’ve already sent a number of our board members to Hershey [for the Pennsylvania School Board Association leadership conference],” he said. “That’s where you get to meet your peers. I think, given our economic situation, this trip … is not a good idea for our board.”

Board member Stephanie Gunderson said she supported sending board members to New Orleans, but wanted the issue to spark a larger conversation about continuing education among board members.

“If we want to be a leading district in the state, we have to look nationally … we can’t just look in our backyard,” she said. “I think it’s short-sighted to just discuss the one conference when I’m dying for a conversation about what our responsibilities are when elected.”

The conversation grew heated when, after a motion was made to scrap the New Orleans trip altogether, board member Ellen Behrle, said that she felt the board needed to do more than just “come in, sit and vote.”

“We have a commitment to the community, the children and the schools and the majority of that … have to do with things outside of this or that committee meeting,” she said. “I’m there and I know else on the board is there. If you’re going to look at the commitment of a board member, it goes far beyond sitting at a meeting.

Board member Phillip Foret took exception to Behrle’s comments.

“I got two five or six meetings a month for this school board … and I don’t know why you measure the commitment of this board to what they do outside their obligations,” he said. “You’re questioning the commitment of members of this board … can you please stop doing it? We’re all giving our all to this district.”

Things calmed down after the motion to cancel the trip was voted down 5-3. The school board eventually passed a measure to send two board members to the national conference in a 5-3 vote. 

The actual cost of the event and the board members attending the trip are not known at this time, though the school district currently has $7,500 in its budget for travel.


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