Loren Martell finally reviewed our meeting two Monday’s ago at which I’d hoped we would begin to negotiate a potential sale of Central to Tischer Creek Building Company. Its vintage Martell.
Like John Ramos the week before Loren pointed a finger at our past Chair Judy Seliga-Punyko who is imitating old school board members like me and Rich Paulson by showing up to school board meetings and offering her opinions on votes she can no longer participate in.
Mr. Ramos noted how envious our former Chair was of the DPSA school board which she imagined to have idyllic meetings with no dissent. Many of Judy’s complaints about Edison were echoed yesterday in the Trib by Ms. Holte, a former ISD 709 Headstart teacher, whose classrooms I regularly read to during my first stint on the school Board.
I mentioned my gibberish in my first post of the day. It seems to be catching among school board members – current and ex.
I was most interested to actually read Judy’s comments which Loren Martell scrupulously quoted in his column: First I’ll simply give them to you as they tumbled out of her mouth causing me “an epic instance of eye rolling.” Then I’ll follow up Judy’s comments with my own dissection. I hope you are not squeamish at the site of blood.
Here’s Judy unplugged:
“First of all…I’m confused how three of the minority can force a vote on a resolution that’s already been voted on…I think that’s actually illegal…Also, when we are talking about Edison, I’d be really curious: where’s the money coming from? Who is Tischer Creek? Where’s that money coming from? Where’s the transparency in that? No one got a chance to vote for it. They built another school and no one voted for it. They’re building a high school: none of us voted for it. I just want to say, it’d be really interesting if our school board was able to put teachers and parents that were supportive of ISD 709 on their Board and run the district. I think you would see a big difference in support of the school district. I would love to have that kind of Board…Sitting where you’re sitting, I saw a lot of people coming in here and speaking–it’s a lot of the same people from Let Duluth Vote…the bullying that’s happening right now has been really vicious. Just what we put up with, from the same people, for the most part…Stick to your guns! Hold tight! You shouldn’t even have to vote on this!”
Loren followed this quote by saying of Judy: “I’ll just say that it was jaw-dropping to hear the most aggressive pusher of the Red Plan–a half billion dollar educational fiasco jammed down our throats without a vote–complain that she didn’t have a vote on Edison’s school.”
No Kidding. Loren also says: “I wish I had the space to pick this diatribe apart, piece by piece”
No, no Loren. Let me have that pleasure:
Says Judy:
“First of all…I’m confused how three of the minority can force a vote on a resolution that’s already been voted on.”
The answer is two fold. 1. School District policy designates Robert’s Rules of Order as our guide for discussions. 2. a State statute allows three members of any elective organization to call a meeting and set the agenda.
Judy’s understanding of Parliamentary procedure has always been limited because for eight years she enjoyed being in a powerful majority that mercilessly ignored the procedural rights of the minority to debate. Here she butchers Roberts Rules by failing to realize that one rule no longer applies at the beginning of a new meeting. That rule requires that a defeated motion can only be brought back to life (during a meeting) by someone who voted against it. In Judy’s eyes our bringing the subject of the sale up again violated this rule because the three of us had all voted in the minority for the negotiations.
But this was 1. a new meeting and 2. it was a different resolution. Taken to its extreme Judy’s understanding of Robert’s Rules would prevent any elective body from ever changing its mind. I’m sure Judy would object to a “no return” policy at the Mall but not evidently at a school board meeting.
Judy compounds her ignorance by adding:
“I think that’s actually illegal”
I guess I should point out a sliver of Judy’s history. She turned microphones off on public speakers, once tried to arrest a school board colleague and later wasted $200,000 in a futile year-long attempt to remove a board member.
Judy continues:
“Also, when we are talking about Edison, I’d be really curious: where’s the money coming from? Who is Tischer Creek? Where’s that money coming from? Where’s the transparency in that? No one got a chance to vote for it…..”
After serving eight years as a school board member Judy fails to grasp what most school board members across the state understand. The money for building charter schools comes from Minnesota taxpayers drawn up by elected state legislators. Those laws forbid Charters to own buildings but set out a procedure by which a non profit corporation can own and lease facilities paid for with Minnesota’s income and sales taxes. Such financing relieves city’s like Duluth of having their property taxes used to build charter school facilities.
Judy then asks,
“Where’s the transparency in that? No one got a chance to vote on it.
As Loren points out this is the pot calling the kettle black. Judy opposed letting Duluth voters weigh in on a Red Plan referendum.
As for transparency Edison and Tischer Creek have to report all of their work to the Minnesota Department of Education. Judy’s allies long ago gave away the Duluth School Board’s sponsorship of Edison and thus any right to weigh in on the Charter’s plans. Its a little too late to grouse about that now.
In fact, Charter School Board meetings are open to the public as Member Sandstad made plain by encouraging members of the public to attend the next DPSA meeting and raise hell about their plans at Snowflake. I wonder if her significant other takes a similar view as the City’s legal adviser to the Planning Commission that is reviewing the Snowflake development?
And talk about impractical, Judy’s complaint that
“No one got a chance to vote for it…”
could theoretically require all state voters to approve charter schools in Pengilly, or Luverne or St. Paul or East Pumpkin Corners whenever one of Minnesota’s 165 charters decides to set up a school.
Judy rattles on in that vein repeating herself
“They built another school and no one voted for it. They’re building a high school: none of us voted for it.”
Then as John Ramos noted Judy speaks wistfully about how glorious it must be not to have to put with public scrutiny.
“I just want to say, it’d be really interesting if our school board was able to put teachers and parents that were supportive of ISD 709 on their Board and run the district. I think you would see a big difference in support of the school district. I would love to have that kind of Board…Sitting where you’re sitting,”
In ways I’m still learning about our school district has been run and continues to be run by being able
“to put teachers and parents that were supportive of ISD 709 on their Board and run the district.”
I’ve noted a strange little committee called the Quality Steering Committee which both Chair Seliga-Punyko and the Superintendent have bent over backward to keep undesirable school board members from attending which, echoing Judy, I suspect is illegal. This was par for the course. Minority Board members were kept out of agenda settings sessions and once I was illegally prevented from sitting in on teacher contract negotiations.
As for Judy’s wistful desire to remove critics from her deliberations,
“I think you would see a big difference in support of the school district. I would love to have that kind of Board…Sitting where you’re sitting.”
Who would Judy exclude? Folks like these:
“I saw a lot of people coming in here and speaking–it’s a lot of the same people from Let Duluth Vote…the bullying that’s happening right now has been really vicious. Just what we put up with, from the same people, for the most part”
Judy was seeing ghosts. Art and I organized “Let Duluth Vote” and we didn’t recognize the names of most of the speakers or emailers or letter-to-the-editor writers who wanted us to take the Central sales money and run.
Judy is right about one thing, “the bullying that’s happening right now has been really vicious.” I’m still waiting for permission to upload a post about it.
