Two meetings were held in the last business cycle:
- Regular Board Meeting on February 17th.
- New Superintendent search presentations on March 1st.
Details from the meetings follow.
February 17, 2022 School Board Meeting
35 Speakers Participated in Public Comment
- Donna Peace, Krystal Pinto, Bob Betz, Trudy Zampier, Nathan Henkel, Deirdre Henkel, Tony Kubin, Brad Renihan, Larry Nace, Mary Nace, Shawn Greer, Jen Henkel, Bill Hall, Ken Stanley, Michael Burns, commented on support of the Old Warrior Logo. 15 total.
- Tanya Dozier, Liana Feeser, Susan Donnally, Deb Kalina, Ryan Ross, Erin Ross, Rachel Zeleny, Valery Dennis, Megan Gilbert, Jessica Tartanian, Nicole Hammond, Brianne Monroe, Kim Williman, Katy Isennock, Erica Isennock, commented on support for the new logo. 15 total.
- Elizabeth Arpin expressed her desire that the divisiveness at the meetings stop and reminded board members that they are setting an example for kids.
- Amanda Diggs expressed her concern over bullying and hate in Susquehannock High School and wants to see change for marginalized groups.
- Christine Burns shared her thoughts that superintendent search should be internal and external and should be a public process.
- Amy Hall expressed her concern over lack of available substitutes and asked parents to get involved.
- Joe Wilson expressed his concern over continued stress on staff.
Information, Discussion: 8.03 Revisit District Warrior Logo
The Board of Education revisited the District Warrior logo retirement.
Dr. Robert Bryson attempted to provide information on items needing to be replaced/ removed regarding the logo retirement. Samantha Hall questioned what would happen to old items and asked if there could be a way to preserve them.
The board discussed their thoughts on various items and how they are to be removed/replaced/ updated. Danielle Weaver-Watts mentioned perhaps she wasn’t the best at communicating her intentions and some items would not be replaced, but no real mention of what those items were and what and how they would stay. Dr. Lemmon added her thoughts on how items could stay and transition. There was mention of various pop in inserts for old logo items containing plaques like the granite monument at the entrance to the HS. The idea was the monument could stay so long as the plaque with the old logo was replaced. No vote on this action was taken.
Board members provided their perspective on the retired and proposed Warrior logos. Marylee Hall suggested the possibility of a round table discussion where all ideas could be presented and all organizations representing could have their say. This suggestion did not have follow up action from the Board.
Kelly Jarvis read a piece addressing her views of the process of removing the old logo and contested that Covid was used, the lack of transparency, and other various points our Coalition raised during Public Comment. At one point Jarvis remarked she couldn’t find anything on NAGA and had to resort to YouTube to find more information.
President Schefter also defended the previous Board decision to retire the Old Logo. He read a timeline where he mentioned all the times the meetings were virtual and not in person as an odd attempt to show Covid didn’t change the nature of meetings. At one point he suggested that although two people voted differently from the majority, no one complained about the process. Samantha Hall pushed back on this, mentioning that one Board member quit in response to this issue. Schefter countered that it was because of the vote, not the process. The coalition notes that Board member Bruce Bauman, who also voted ‘No” to retire the logo, was not present at this meeting to counter Schefter’s claims.
Samantha Hall discussed an option C where a compromise could be achieved and perhaps the Isennock sisters might be a part of that design. In reaction to this suggestion, Kelly Jarvis very much disagreed and wanted to vote Yes or No that night on the Old logo.
Elizabeth Dauberman said she didn’t see the Old logo coming back, but she also didn’t like the new suggested Logos either. She especially didn’t like the “W” being used instead of an “S.”
Student representative Atticus referred to the Old Logo in his comments as “deemed racist” and racist, three seperate times.
Mike Wolford pushed back on Atticus’ comments and said words matter and “Offensive” isn’t synonymous with “racist.”
President Schefter, with a consensus of the board, proposed an action item be added to the March 17, 2022 agenda to form a transition committee that would put a transition plan in place to look at the retirement of items with the old logo, implementation of a new logo, possibly working with the Isennock family to create a logo that would be a compromise, and developing a timeline for the transition.
Action Item:
James Holley motioned and Kelly Jarvis seconded to start an External Board Search. The motion passed and a special Board meeting for March 1, 2022 was proposed.
March 1, 2022 Special Board Meeting – Superintendent Search
Public Comment
Krystal Pinto, Nathan Henkel, and Bob Betz all represented the Coalition in Public Comment about the Superintendent Search. All asked for transparency, slowing down, and considering the weight of such a decision.
Marketing Presentations were heard from three agencies SYCSD was interviewing for the Superintendent External Hiring Process. Each firm had a 30 minute time frame to present, followed by 15 minutes for the Board to cross examine and ask questions of each. The firms presented in the following order:
- Lancaster-Lebanon Intermediate Unit 13
The Board of Education received a presentation from the Lancaster-Lebanon Intermediate Unit 13 (IU13) concerning their superintendent search proposal. - Templeton Advantage, LLC
The Board of Education received a presentation from Templeton Advantage, LLC concerning their superintendent search proposal. - Pennsylvania School Board Association
The Board of Education received a presentation from the Pennsylvania School Board Association (PSBA) concerning their superintendent search proposal.
The Coalition notes the time/ research/, and questions made available to the General Public by Marylee Hall, but especially Samantha Hall. Kelly Jarvis did not ask a single question to any of the agencies and only offered one comment about the PSBA website during Board discussions. Elizabeth Dauberman asked zero questions of any agencies and did not participate in any Board deliberations. James Holley asked PSBA one question, with no follow up after and no questions to other agencies.
A lengthy discussion after the presentations ensued. Not all Board members, as mentioned above, participated.
President Schefter started out the discussion by addressing that an action item for voting was made available in this meeting, but he himself did not feel it was something the Board should do.
Danielle Weaver-Watts questioned why she even brought research to the meeting if they were not going to vote.
Samantha Hall, Mike Wolford, and Marylee Hall at various exchanges suggested they did not have enough information to go on and did not feel confident to vote in any direction.
James Holley motioned to select PSBA and Kelly Jarvis seconded.
President Schefter advised the group that if they were not ready to select PSBA, to vote NO instead of abstaining so the motion wouldn’t carry.
With Bruce Bauman absent yet again, the vote resulted in a 4-4 tie and did not carry.
The Coalition notes that Elizabeth Dauberman and Kelly Jarvis voted ‘YES” to select PSBA without asking a single question. James Holley and Danielle Weaver-Watts also voted “YES” and asked only one question. Samntha Hall, Mike Wolford, Marylee Hall and President Schefter all voted “No.” President Schefter remarked that he was most comfortable with PSBA but did not feel it was appropriate to rush new Board members if they needed more time.
Vote to Select PSBA
- Elizabeth Dauberman: YES
- Samantha Hall: NO
- James Holley:YES
- Marylee Hall: NO
- Kelly Jarvis: YES
- Robert Schefter: NO
- Danielle Weaver-Watts: YES
- Mike Wolford: NO
*Bruce Bauman was absent
Danielle Weaver-Watts seemed confused about what a tie meant, and offered to change her vote to “no’ in order to facilitate forward progression. It was explained to her the vote did not carry.
James Holley presented to the Board that he and Schefter have hired employees in the past of this magnitude so the rest should feel confident that they know what to do. Samantha Hall pushed back by saying his point supported the counter argument exactly, that many have not participated in something like this and more time is needed. Mike Wolford openly objected to Holley asking “who else do we need to talk to” as he felt like it discounted community input.
Public Comment
Procedural: 6.01 Procedure for Public Comment
- Krystal Pinto expressed that she would prefer value and quality over quantity in the superintendent search process.
- Bill Hall noted that there were distinct differences between the three organizations.
- Jen Henkel voiced shock that members would not ask any questions of the agencies but would then participate in a selection vote. She cautioned the Board to slow down.
- Nathan Henkel voiced his outrage that the Board narrowly escaped making the same mistake they have been cautioned by the public not to make, rushing into things, again.
- Bob Betz stated that choosing the right recruiter is important and felt that the vote was too rushed and asked how “disconnected is this Board?”