Miss A Meeting, Miss A Lot [POLL]

The Blind Brook Board of Education meeting last Monday was just as contentious as the last. Condemnations, accusations and confrontations took attention from the agenda yet again. But the appearance of former board president Monroe Haas, mentioned in the from the previous regular meeting, was just enough powder to set off the keg.

Board President Sheri Zarkower led fellow members Glenn Schuster, Nancy Barr and former president Steve Kaplan in chastising board member Jeff Diamond not only for speculating members of the board were improperly meeting with Superintendent William Stark but also for blogging.

Their signed statement read, in part:

"In addition to the email chain disparaging BOE members and Mr. Stark, and calling into question the integrity of at least two school district employees, we feel Mr. Diamond’s online blog also continues to undermine the board and superintendent, and damages the Blind Brook community." 

even before his election to the school board. .

In the statement, Zarkower, Schuster, Barr and Kaplan suggest Diamond's haplessly leaked emails and unfettered blogging have created a critical situation: 

"What is most disturbing is that the distractions created by both the emails and Mr. Diamond’s ongoing blog are placing a tremendous strain on both the district’s financial situation and human resources."

If that weren't enough, former board president Monroe Haas- back from his vacation in Ireland- had his say about the email scandal that unfolded at the last meeting.

Haas scoffed at allegations he had been involved in a plot of any kind then compared the climate of the current board to that cultivated during the era of communist-hunting Senator Josepn McCarthy and even the propaganda campaigns of Adolph Hitler and Joseph Goebbels.

Haas blamed the "character and venom of some of our community residents" for the deterioration of the board since he stepped down four years ago. 

Also on hand, – a surprise to board member Jeff Diamond who pointed out no vote had been taken to authorize outside counsel. 

Oh, and parent Alyce Mariam accused Jeff Diamond of mocking students with attention-deficit disorder by posting a video on his blog called "Changing American Education Paradigms" by Sir Ken Robinson, PhD.

In the video, Robinson says he believes American children are disproportionately diagnosed and medicated for the disorder in the context of his critique of American public schools. 

Not to be outdone by Haas, Mariam compared the email scandal to Watergate. Mariam said that Diamond was entitled to an opinion about attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder but said "you don't put it in a blog." 

The meeting video is now available on the Blind Brook website, see it here.

As for the next meeting on October 17, I wouldn't miss it.