Guilderland Board of Education members are scheduled to hold a retreat next month to work out their differences, but some internal tensions spilled out into public before they could get away.
Near the close of the board’s Tuesday, Oct. 22, meeting, Colleen O’Connell, former board president, expressed her frustrations about three of her eight fellow board members who had not turned in a questionnaire distributed for the November retreat two weeks after the due date. A facilitator asked board members to complete the multiple choice-style survey, which O’Connell admitted was “quite lengthy,” to help prepare for the retreat.
“If people aren’t even willing to do the work beforehand and look at this survey, I am not sure why this is a good use of six hours of my time in November,” O’Connell said. “I think we desperately need a retreat, but I don’t think people are committed to it, so I am questioning why we are having it.”
Superintendent Marie Wiles, however, said there was only one questionnaire outstanding as of the Tuesday night meeting.
The planned retreat would be held over two nights next month, over a total of six hours, on district property. The district also hired a facilitator to lead the meetings who charges a fee of $150 per hour.
Wiles said the board has held a retreat for several years, even before her tenure. This year, the retreat will focus on the board doing a self-evaluation.
At the meeting, O’Connell continued to blast some fellow board members, without naming names, who she claimed are regularly not prepared for meetings.
“I think there is a lack of commitment by a number of people on this board,” O’Connell said. “Some members of this board do not respond to school email, which makes it very difficult to schedule things, which means people have to get on the phone.”
Board President Barbara Fraterrigo, a longtime member, said the retreat would be used to discuss such concerns.
“From my standpoint, I think it is those kind of issues that we will be dealing with in the retreat process itself,” Fraterrigo said.
Board member Gloria Towle-Hilt agreed with O’Connell and said having board members not complete the survey makes the body appear uncommitted.
“We all need to ask ourselves how committed are we to this, because the survey was important for setting the groundwork for it. If that’s not important, then we need to think seriously why we are paying a facilitator and reserving two nights … if we are not serious about this,” Towle-Hilt said. “We have to have this, but we also have to do it 100 percent. We are here as a board, we are not here as individuals.”
O’Connell said Wiles “repeatedly” expressed in emails the questionnaires were required for the facilitator to begin research and preparation for the retreat.
“I don’t care if you are a veteran member of this board, a middle member, or a new member — we are adults.” O’Connell said. “We give our kids deadlines all the time in school. That is what we expect of kids, but we are not even expecting that of ourselves.”
O’Connell said she believes the retreat would be a “waste of time.” Fraterrigo reasserted the meeting would be good to work out frustrations, but also said newer members might not be as accustomed to their responsibilities.
“I think it is the learning curve … and as you go on in years you become more confident, you become more reliable I think,” she said, “so I don’t have any problems with continuing on with having the sessions.”
O’Connell also claimed some board members have been abstaining from participating in negotiations with the district’s unions, along with other topics, during executive session. The board is allowed to discuss certain matters, such as contract negotiations, privately in an executive session.
“You are not elected to be abstaining,” she said, “so this is not the first time that this has come up.”
When Fraterrigo asked if there was a consensus to continue with the retreat, O’Connell said she might not attend.
“I am not committing to be there,” O’Connell said. “I’ll think about it.”