No apology to staff offended by board member’s emails

FALLS VILLAGE — The Region One Board of Education voted to deny the grievance filed by Marie Wilbur and Michelle Curtis over a Dec. 6, 2011, email from Falls Village board representative Gale Toensing.The decision was made at a special board meeting Friday, Feb. 3, at Housatonic Valley Regional High School.The board was split, with Marilyn Yerks of Sharon, Laura Freund of North Canaan and Scooter Tedder of Salisbury voting to deny the grievance and board Chairman Phil Hart (Cornwall) and Vice Chairman Jonathan Moore (Kent) voting to accept. Toensing abstained. Board attorney Gary Brochu offered Toensing the option of not being seated early on in the meeting; Toensing declined, and did not speak throughout the meeting.Hart issued his own personal apology to Wilbur and Curtis.Wilbur and Curtis were represented by Tim Oppenheimer (attorney for the American federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, or AFSCME) and Housatonic’s union representative, Julie Lang.The complaint alleged that Toensing violated the discipline and workplace safety provisions of the current contract between Region One and the non-certified employees represented by AFSCME. Wilbur and Curtis work in the Regional Schools Services Center, aka the Central Office. This office is in charge of administrative chores for the regional school district and is on the campus of the high school. The regional superintendent, assistant superintendent and regional business manager are part of the Central Office.At issue are emails between Toensing and Wilbur about the former’s registration for a November conference of the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education. Toensing was inquiring why she was not registered, and Wilbur responded that she had not received the requests.Wilbur’s grievance complains Toensing’s email was “falsely accusing the grievant, and reprimanding her for not responding to her emails when the grievant did not receive said emails.”Oppenheimer said “the long and short of it” was Toensing claimed to have sent three emails about the conference that Wilbur said were not received. On Dec. 6, Toensing sent “a longer one that we see as a reprimand.”The emails are posted on The Lakeville Journal’s website at www.tricornernews.com. In them, Wilbur was “accused of incompetence, insubordination, not performing her duties and perhaps lying,” said Oppenheimer.The situation was bad enough, he continued, that on Dec. 6 Wilbur was so upset she had Curtis drive her to the hospital, where she incurred $600 in medical expenses.“Our view is that this is intolerable and unacceptable.”The grievance also alleges Toensing violated board bylaws and several sections of the Connecticut Code of Ethics for Boards of Education.By way of redress, the complaint asks for a public apology from Toensing, removal of any reference to the matter from either employee’s file, compensation to Wilbur for the medical bills and restoration of paid time for both employees from the hospital trip.The Feb. 3 meeting was the third stage of the grievance process — the first being with the employee’s immediate supervisor (Region One Assistant Superintendent Diane Goncalves)and the second with the superintendent, Patricia Chamberlain. At both steps the grievance was denied.In Chamberlain’s Jan. 13 letter explaining her decision, the superintendent, while not disputing the “factual allegations,” said Wilbur, “while she may be upset and unhappy with the actions of Ms. Toensing, has not been disciplined by anyone employed by the Board of Education, nor by the Board of Education itself.“No actions have been taken against Ms. Wilbur nor has any reprimand or other written material been placed in her personnel file. Nor has the Board of Education, as indicated by a review of its meeting minutes, authorized Ms. Toensing to discipline or reprimand Ms. Wilbur.”The letter also states that “a quick review by this office has not disclosed any health or safety regulations that are applicable to this situation.”Oppenheimer asked if a search for the missing emails, of Toensing asking to be registered for the CABE conference, had been made. Chamberlain said a “universal check” of RSSC computers had been made and no emails found. (Toensing shared her own set of the emails with The Lakeville Journal; they are online at www.tricornernews.com along with the set of emails shared by the Regional Schools Services Center.)Attorney Brochu said the issue for the board was whether there was a violation of the collective bargaining agreement.Freund, while saying she understood how Wilbur could have found Toensing’s complaints intimidating, said she did not see a violation of the contract.And Tedder noted the board’s agenda for the regular meeting of Feb. 6 includes communications between the Central Office and board members and that Hart had made a reference to difficulties at the last board meeting.Hart said, “There’s no getting around the fact that the actions of an individual reflect on the board. I totally disagree with what [Toensing] did.”Moore said he agreed with the union’s position and that Wilbur had been put in a position where she perceived she was being reprimanded.After the vote, Wilbur said she did not wish to go to the next and final stage or arbitration. She read a statement saying she had been bullied, intimidated and her character defamed, and asked again that the board “acknowledge the conduct.”Oppenheimer added that the decision on arbitration rests with the union, not the grievant.