MARYSVILLE — With three new members taking their oaths of office Monday night, the power on the Marysville School Board may have shifted but public outcry still found its way prominently into a three-hour meeting.
After Vicki Gates, Carol Jason and Michael Kundu were sworn in, several parents, a retired teacher and a teacher’s spouse called for two remaining board members and Superintendent Linda Whitehead to resign.
The meeting included a board vote to adopt a school year calendar only through this month, leaving in limbo the remainder of the calendar.
The three new members also asserted themselves, by nominating each other for board leadership posts.
In her first meeting, Gates was elected president, replacing Helen Mount. The school board president runs board meetings and helps set the agenda with the superintendent. Jason was elected vice president, replacing Ron Young, and Kundu was chosen the board’s legislative representative.
To loud applause from an overflow crowd, the new board members voted to suspend rules to allow more than 30 minutes of public testimony, which was highly critical of the holdover board members and Whitehead.
Here’s a snippet of the comments:
Parent Sherley Chester congratulated the new board while chastising the two incumbents and Whitehead: "Your presence on the board is the first step toward healing our community and mending our schools. The three of you are a much-needed ray of hope. Three down, three to go."
Laura Gjovaag, the wife of a district math teacher, told the new board members: "Linda Whitehead is a knife in the side of our teachers. Until that knife is removed, there will be a festering wound in this district. Progress cannot be made until she is gone."
Parent Ken Burkett said the district administration and Whitehead depicted teachers as greedy during the state record 49-day teachers strike. "I can only think that it is greed that keeps her where she is not wanted," he said.
Another parent, diana Mackin, who does not capitalize the first letter of her first name, said scheduling changes blamed on lost enrollment have been chaotic at Marysville Junior High School, and some teachers are being mistreated.
"Right now teachers are holding this district together, but the fear of individual retribution is looming hugely over their heads," she said.
Mount and Young, who could face a recall campaign, acknowledged after the meeting that the constant criticism is hard on them.
"It is always difficult," said Mount, who has been on the board for a decade. "I just need to focus on all the good things we have done over the years."
"I look forward to trying to get over some of these conflicts and work together for some common goals," Young said.
In one of its first votes, the board chose to approve the school calendar only through the end of December. It wants negotiators from the district’s teachers and non-teaching unions to come up with a calendar that is more acceptable to them.
Jason and Mount said they have heard from some parents concerned about Saturday school, which would occur twice under the proposed contract that already has been accepted by the teachers union.
Elaine Hanson, president of the 650-member teachers’ union, the Marysville Education Association, said she was disappointed by the vote because the community needs a clear-cut calendar to plan their lives. Even so, she said the previous board should have adopted the calendar earlier.
The proposed calendar was delayed because of the strike and was negotiated separately from the remainder of the teachers’ contract. It calls for July 16 as the last day of school, shorter winter and spring vacations and two days of Saturday school.
The new board also heard from state auditors who made 10 findings in an audit of the district’s books for the 2001-02 school year. The auditors said the number of findings was highly unusual, and the district needs to change some financial management practices. However, they also said they don’t believe any money was stolen or missing.
Reporter Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446 or stevick@heraldnet.com.
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