MVSD SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER RUDE? YOU BE THE JUDGE!

An incident triggered by a school board member from Salisbury sending an e-mail to the Administrative Assistant at the Salisbury Selectmen’s office included very damaging and rude wording toward one of our Selectman, Ken Ross-Raymond and the Salisbury Education Committee.  I would like share this with the people of the Merrimack Valley School District.

The administrative assistant upon request of the selectmen’s office sent an e-mail to the two Salisbury school board members requesting they attend the selectmen’s meeting on December 18th.  After a second request from the town office an e-mail was sent back to the administrative assistant.  The email was from Mark Hutchins and Mr. Hutchins included Seeyle Longnecker appearing evidently agreeing to the e-mail.  The e-mail sent is a follows: 

November 24, 2013

Subject: RE: Invitation to BOS Meeting - December 18th

Kathie,

The reason neither Seelye nor I has responded to your request to attend the December 18 meeting of the Selectmen is  that we’re both struggling with how to respond.  The selectmen’s request for us to attend the meeting came just one week after the School Board held a special meeting for all of the Selectmen of the district’s towns, specifically for the purpose of bringing the selectmen up to speed on what’s going on in the district and to provide them with an opportunity to speak directly with the entire board and SAU staff about their concerns or issues.  If our selectmen did not take advantage of that opportunity, then that’s their problem and I’m not sure that it’s my or Seelye’s obligation to attend yet another meeting for the Selectmen to express what they should have expressed to the full board.

You should also understand that for the past three years, Ken Ross-Raymond has made it perfectly clear where he stands with respect to our school district.  It appears that his only mission in life now is to discredit the school district and to cut the school budget, without regard to impact on school employees and students.  His repeated “right-to-know” requests are a slap in the face to our  hard-working, conscientious  employees  and your school board, and are mean-spirited  insinuations of wrong-doing and downright cheating and lying.  Ken has even filed complaints with the attorney general’s office and has used the  Concord Monitor frequently, attempting  to “stir the pot”.  Given the confrontation approach that has been taken by Ken, do you wonder why Seelye and I are hesitant to attend a Selectmen’s meeting?

There’s a reason that the David and I stopped attending the so-called “Salisbury Education Committee” meetings.  That reason is because of the confrontation nature of the meetings, the continued abuse that we weathered from certain members of the committee.  Each meeting was the same – berate the board representatives until everyone is tired and the chair ends the meeting.  There was no air of cooperation, no measured and rational discussion of issues, and never any positive discussion about our wonderful school district.  Instead, the meetings were little more than bitch sessions – cut the budget, IB is bad, you’re not teaching the basics and on and on and on.

I expect nothing less out of the December 18 selectmen’s meeting.  Ken Ross-Raymond will start by telling us how much it costs for our school district and how much those costs have gone up in the last 10 years  (because after 14 years on the school board, I apparently  don’t know), how some of our employees are overpaid, how the tax payers need relief, etc., etc., etc.  But there will be no discussion of how well the district does in keeping its cost down; nothing will be mentioned about how our cost per pupil was more than $1400 less than the state average last year; no one will comment  that our transportation costs are substantially less than comparable school districts and especially those that have privatized their transportation system; nobody will care that some of our teachers make several thousand dollars per year less than those at similar experience levels in surrounding schools; it won’t be discussed that our SAU staff went three years in a row without a raise or that our teachers and support staff made similar concessions; nobody will bring up  that we cut our school budget 3 years in row, but that increased costs for health care and retirement (because the state reneged on its contribution to employee retirement cost ) combined with reduced contributions from the state for other programs made our overall budget rise slightly; nobody compliment us for extraordinary job that we have done to keep costs as low as we have while still providing a quality education to our kids.  No, my expectation is that it will just be another bitch session, like so many of the others, and so you can now understand my and Seelye’s resistance to attending.

All that said, I will also say that both Seelye and I recognize our responsibility as school board members to all of  those who entrust their faith in us to make the right decisions for public education in our school district.  For that reason and that reason only, both Seelye and I will attend the December 18 Selectmen’s meeting. 

Mark

In my opinion Mark Hutchins was out of line writing  an e-mail of this type to the Administrative Assistant addressing a Selectman and the Salisbury Education Committee.  Since when is it wrong for selectmen of the town to asks questions.  The selectmen are stewards of our tax money and the Salisbury Education Committee spends it’s time trying to help improve the school system with suggestions.

 I sent a reply to the school board, superintendent and selectmen regarding the situation.

Dear Mr. Godfrey, Chairman School Board; other School Board Members--Carloletta Alicea, Normandie Blake, Lorrie Carey, Audrey Carter, Troy Cowan, Mark Hutchins,   James Lavery, Laura Vincent, Seeyle Longnecker, Will Renauld; and Michael Martin, Superintendent of Merrimack Valley School District.

As a citizen and taxpayer of Salisbury I have had the opportunity to read the e-mail that Mark Hutchins, school board member from Salisbury sent to Kathie Downes, Administrative Assistant to Salisbury  with reference to the selectmen's request that he and Seeyle Longnecker, school board member attend the December 18 selectmen's meeting.  A suggestion I have after reading the e-mail  is that Mr. Hutchins may need to read some positive thinking books, for example "How to Win Friends and Influence People" by Dale Carnegie.  

After reading and rereading the e-mail I called Ken Ross-Raymond, Selectman,  and he related to me that it was requested Mr. Hutchins and Mrs. Longnecker to attend the December 18 selectmen's  meeting as a member of the salisbury budget committee was not able to attend the meeting between the school board and the selectmen of the school district. And the budget committee member had questions.  Ken also related to me that he had no questions to ask of the board members at the up coming Selectmen's meeting.  

1.  Mark Hutchins and Seeyle Longnecker owe  Kathie Downes an apology.  His e-mail to her was rude, discourteous,  inappropriate, and ignorant in that Mr. Hutchins and Mrs. Longnecker  did not ascertain as to why they were being asked to the Selectmen's meeting.  In my opinion they were assuming.  Mrs. Downes requests were in that she was only doing her job.  These two school board members also need to apologize to Ken Ross-Raymond. As a selectman and taxpayer of the school district, he has the right to ask for any information that he wants to.    

2.  In light of Mark Hutchins attack, and if Seeyle Lonknecker is in agreement with the e-mail Mr. Hutchins sent, then both of these people need to resign from the school board.  They do not represent the characteristics and qualities of people that we want or need in the school district.

3.  As for Mark Hutchins assessment of Ken Ross-Raymond's requests from the school district under the "right to know law", Ken is not the only one that has made requests.  I assume Mr. Hutchins and Mrs. Longnecker classify me the same as Mr. Ross-Raymond.  I have made requests and for good reasons.  It is also my right as a citizen, voter, and taxpayer in the Merrimack Valley School District to ask any question I want.  In my opinion the school district hides behind the "right to know" law when it decides it does not want to answer questions.

4.  Regarding Mark Hutchins reference to Ken Ross-Raymond going to the attorney general's office, I am also one of those people that have filed complaints with the attorney general's office. I have had legal questions and that is what the attorney general's office does for work.  My complaints have been regarding "conflict of interest", nepotism and possible voting violations."  You are a "public" body of people that work for the taxpayers and voters.  We do not work for you.

  If the taxpayers and voters came to the school board  are you willing to give a  list of the total number  of all positions (school board, sau, and school employees) in that people are related?   Can those of you on the school board and in the sau that have relatives as employees in the school district, make an unbiased decision when the decision relates to a relative.  No you cannot!!    I feel that if the school board and sau and other employees of the school district have done nothing that is illegal or unethical, then "the truth will set you free."

5.  As for Mr. Hutchin's statement regarding the cost per pupil is below State average,  I feel that if we can deliver the same level of service for under the State average, we should do so.  What is wrong with that?  Statistics can mean very little.  We all know the figures can be manipulated.

6.  As for the teachers and other employees and the union, do anyone of you really know that "real people in the real world" go with out pay increases, go without healthcare insurance, go without retirement.  The teachers and employees of the school district need to grow up, stop whining and live in the real world with the rest of us.  The population of students has decreased.  What is the  decrease of teachers and other employees in the school district due to the population of students going down each year?

7. Regarding Mr. Hutchins reference to "transportation costs", the only reason we are asking for figures is so we the public can compare costs, school district running the transportation or privatizing it.  What is wrong with this?  What issue does the school board have with us asking for figures.?  If we can give the same level of transportation by privatizing at a lower cost why would we not want to do it??  One of the reasons in my opinion is that there are a number of people in the transportation department that are related to other people in the school district, and the school district appears to be one big happy family of relatives at the taxpayers expense.  No one wants to disturb this situation!  I was really shocked at how many and how closely related people are in the school district.  And how many I could figure were related,  and I know I do not have a real total.  Is hiring relatives illegal, no but is highly unethical in my opinion.  In my opinion the school boards attitude is:  give us the tax dollar, we will spend it and we do not want your opinions.  This attitude shows up at monthly school board meetings.  I have witnessed Mr. Godfrey's biting and sharp remarks intimidating school district citizens at the public at school board meetings.  This is the reason that when I attend a meeting I do not ask questions.  Mr. Godfrey will never have a chance to answer me with biting and sharp remarks.  That is the reason I write and request information.

I am not trying to bring down the school district.  There are many good things that occur.  I listen very closely when I attend the school board meetings.  My question is:  Do the citizens and taxpayers of the MVSD care?   The only thing I am doing is waking up the 8,000 voters of the school district in order that the Annual School Meeting is well attended by other people rather  than the employees, relatives and friends of the school district.  This has been going on for years.  It needs to change.

Sincerely, Louise Andrus, Salisbury 

Now that you have read all of this, I want to give you something to think about.  I looked into the length of time (found that one school board member started over 25 years ago) that some of the school board members have been in their positions in the MVSD.  The length of time reminds me of some people in Congress.  They have been in the positions too many years.   Other people have run for the school board positions, but are usually defeated.   But again this is our fault.  For years we have all allowed a small group of MVSD employees, school board, sau employees and their families and friends to dominate the school meetings.     I believe the time has come for us to start voting these people out of office as their terms expire.  In my opinion with new school board members it would bring new and fresh ideas and may be would break up the present unwillingness of the school board to ask for input and communicate with the citizens of the school district.  Please share this with everyone in the Merrimack Valley School District and let them form their own opinion.  Thank you.