State Denies Board Appeal
A state Department of Education office has denied the Plainfield school board’s appeal of findings that the board attorney recommended his client for interim superintendent and did not tell the full board of his attorney-client relationship.
The DOE Office of Fiscal Accountability and Compliance investigated the matter in August based on a complaint from Assemblyman Jerry Green, who is also chairman of the Plainfield Democratic City Committee. In a report issued Oct. 31, the state office concluded there was a violation. The board’s Dec. 14 appeal was rejected by the office and now the board can either accept the denial or would have had to appeal it by Friday (Jan. 25, 2008).
If the board accepts it, a corrective action plan must be filed to make sure it doesn’t happen again and the board attorney must disclose to the board and public the prior relationship with the interim superintendent.
The conflict arose from a June 8 emergency meeting called after former Schools Superintendent Paula Howard abruptly resigned June 6. Peter E. Carter, now known to be a client of the law firm of Hunt, Hamlin and Ridley in another matter, was hired as interim superintendent in the Friday night meeting and in turn recommended a business administrator/board secretary to replace Victor Demming, who resigned in May.
The minutes of that meeting have yet to be made public and doing so is a condition of board agreement with the findings.
The OFAC relied on interviews taken in August with board President Patricia Barksdale and other school officials and on unpublished June 8 minutes to piece together the findings. Among the disputed findings, board members did not recall any disclosure of the attorney-client relationship between the law firm and Carter. Board member Martin Cox contacted Carter, according to Barksdale’s affidavit, but Carter told the investigators he heard first from Hamlin. Minutes taken at the June 8 meeting include comments in support of Carter from both Hamlin and Terry Ridley.
Another issue, Open Public Meetings Act violations at the June 8 meeting , was apparently cured by the fact that no one objected to the issue by the designated deadline. The emergency meeting was advertised only in one newspaper, not two as required by the Sunshine Law. But because no complaint was filed within 45 days, the actions taken that night were deemed valid.
Carter, interim business administrator Michael Donow and interim assistant superintendent Walter Rusak had all signed on in June to stay through the 2007-08 school year while the board searched for a permanent superintendent and business administrator/board secretary, but all three quit in December over an undisclosed dispute with the board.
Human Resources Director Garnell Bailey is now also serving as interim superintendent, and the board has hired former business administrator/board secretary Gary Ottmann to serve for two years. Ottmann previously held the post for 13 years before leaving for the same title in Wayne. The board is in the final stages of a superintendent search that began last summer under the direction of the Illinois search firm Hazard, Attea, Young and Associates.
The DOE Office of Fiscal Accountability and Compliance investigated the matter in August based on a complaint from Assemblyman Jerry Green, who is also chairman of the Plainfield Democratic City Committee. In a report issued Oct. 31, the state office concluded there was a violation. The board’s Dec. 14 appeal was rejected by the office and now the board can either accept the denial or would have had to appeal it by Friday (Jan. 25, 2008).
If the board accepts it, a corrective action plan must be filed to make sure it doesn’t happen again and the board attorney must disclose to the board and public the prior relationship with the interim superintendent.
The conflict arose from a June 8 emergency meeting called after former Schools Superintendent Paula Howard abruptly resigned June 6. Peter E. Carter, now known to be a client of the law firm of Hunt, Hamlin and Ridley in another matter, was hired as interim superintendent in the Friday night meeting and in turn recommended a business administrator/board secretary to replace Victor Demming, who resigned in May.
The minutes of that meeting have yet to be made public and doing so is a condition of board agreement with the findings.
The OFAC relied on interviews taken in August with board President Patricia Barksdale and other school officials and on unpublished June 8 minutes to piece together the findings. Among the disputed findings, board members did not recall any disclosure of the attorney-client relationship between the law firm and Carter. Board member Martin Cox contacted Carter, according to Barksdale’s affidavit, but Carter told the investigators he heard first from Hamlin. Minutes taken at the June 8 meeting include comments in support of Carter from both Hamlin and Terry Ridley.
Another issue, Open Public Meetings Act violations at the June 8 meeting , was apparently cured by the fact that no one objected to the issue by the designated deadline. The emergency meeting was advertised only in one newspaper, not two as required by the Sunshine Law. But because no complaint was filed within 45 days, the actions taken that night were deemed valid.
Carter, interim business administrator Michael Donow and interim assistant superintendent Walter Rusak had all signed on in June to stay through the 2007-08 school year while the board searched for a permanent superintendent and business administrator/board secretary, but all three quit in December over an undisclosed dispute with the board.
Human Resources Director Garnell Bailey is now also serving as interim superintendent, and the board has hired former business administrator/board secretary Gary Ottmann to serve for two years. Ottmann previously held the post for 13 years before leaving for the same title in Wayne. The board is in the final stages of a superintendent search that began last summer under the direction of the Illinois search firm Hazard, Attea, Young and Associates.
posted by Bernice at 6:43 AM
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