Are school board members just plain bored?

Serving on a volunteer board is as much a responsibility as it is a privilege. In the case of the North East Central School District (better known as Webutuck), those elected to sit on that board took an oath to do their best to ensure the school community has all of the tools it needs to thrive. When they ran for office they committed themselves to that goal and set forth to work for the schools, the teachers, staff and administrators, the students and anyone else connected to or impacted by policies made at Webutuck. To meet that end, those school board members need to begin by doing one simple thing — they need to attend Board of Education (BOE) meetings.

It sounds simple, but for a number of school board members it’s clearly not. According to minutes from 20 BOE meetings from the 2009-10 academic year, three board members stand out for their poor attendance records. The worst record belongs to Susan Lounsbury, who missed 17 of 20 meetings — an astonishingly high number of meetings to miss considering all of the discussions and debates, presentations and policies that must have been bandied about the board room in her absence.

Although Lounsbury was unreachable for comment on her absences, the fact is no matter the reason, if she can’t honor her commitment she should step down. Honestly, what is the point of sitting on a board that meets without you — that discusses, plans and votes without your input? Why hold on to a position where you are essentially no more than a shadow in an empty seat? Who is benefiting from that? The taxpayers aren’t, the students aren’t, the teachers, staff and administrators aren’t and neither is the board itself. Regardless of why, Lounsbury is not doing the community any favors by holding onto her seat when there could be an active, thoughtful and constructive person sitting in her stead.

Following in her less-than-favorable footsteps are board members Joe Herald (the BOE’s vice-president), missing 13 meetings, and Andy Jablonsky, missing 11. While not as bad as missing 17 of 20, they still have pretty shabby attendance records for positions they volunteered to do. Yes, like Lounsbury, they want to help the Webutuck district succeed and thrive, but that’s hard to do from a distance. Participation is really essential here.

Again, Jablonsky could not be reached for a comment as to why he’s missed so many meetings, but is that even the point? As far as Herald goes, a new promotion at his job in the city has been consuming his time. It’s understandable, but that doesn’t make it acceptable. Both men need to rethink if they, too, should be serving on the board when other, more reliable replacements could serve instead.

Board of Education President Dale Culver said both men call him regularly for insight into what’s occurred at the meetings, which is commendable, but is it enough? The public voted for representatives to sit on the board, at meetings, to look after district business and student welfare. The question is, can that be done to the fullest extent without a full board? The answer is no; otherwise the board would not consist of seven members but would instead be smaller, with fewer voices representing the community.

Culver called the combined 85 percent of absences this year that the three members account for “embarrassing,� especially when there’s not even a quorum at the meetings. We call it irresponsible.

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