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Sunday, November 10, 1996 Page: 8
School board majority’s main concern is power
This is a response from Hazleton Area Parent Teacher Association Council to
the article which appeared in The Times Leader on Sunday, Oct. 27, 1996,
regarding comments made by former school board president Mike DeCosmo. We
would like to address a few of the issues that appeared in the articleThe
first issue is directed at the entire board. Why do you think there has to be
a majority and a minority on the school board? Why aren’t issues addressed on
an individual basis? It appears to us that the purpose of a majority on this
school board is only to have total control of all district affairs.
When this board was sworn in last December, the first thing that the
“majority” did was to pass several resolutions which directly affected the
administration’s power. Is this the purpose of a majority? Who is more
qualified to make decisions regarding the daily operation of a school
district? It is our understanding that the purpose of a school board is to act
on the recommendations of the superintendent.
Mr. DeCosmo, after almost a year in office, you are suddenly concerned with
“moving the district ahead educationally, and, of course, balancing the
budget.”
Concerning the budget: Why weren’t you present at all the finance committee
meetings when they met to formulate this year’s budget? We have requested, on
several occasions, an appointment to review the finished line-item budget,
which we have been told by the State Center for Local Government Services is
public record. We have yet to be given the opportunity to do this.
What about this comment? “I had certain people who were far more concerned
about being in the majority and playing politics with the hiring process.”
Weren’t you one of them? You were in office only three months before you
“struck a deal” with the board, a deal which now cost you your credibility in
this community.
You also wished the board would have had more input about who was hired.
You claimed you had no idea about the qualifications of the people hired. Why
did you vote for them? Why didn’t you research the qualifications of those
being considered?
When asked about voting on the hirings, you said you “didn’t want to make
it look like you had anything personal against these people” and that your
majority was more “above board.” You, as a board member, have the right to ask
these questions and receive answers so that you could make an informed
decision.
You called the backpack policy a “dismal result.” You were on the board
when the backpack committee was formed. An informed school board director
would have known that there were four parents on the committee and three
students. Where were you?
In the article, you state that you expect to be back in the majority by the
beginning of the year and that your goal for your three remaining years is to
do “anything to get four other honest, hardworking board members who can work
together to make the HASD a district we can be proud of.”
What a scary thought! The people want the school board directors who are,
first and foremost, loyal to the entire community and most importantly, the
students who have no voice in the legislative arena, not someone who is guilty
of being loyal “first” to their family and friends.
As far as the 27-mill tax increase that you felt you needed to address,
that budget was not the result of the board, or any one individual who was
forced to pass it, but a culmination of decisions made by the preceding board
and their lack of fiscal responsibility for the future of the school district.
If that increase hadn’t occurred, there would not have been a balanced
budget that year.
After sitting at School Board meetings month after month, it has become
very frustrating to watch decisions being made that are not always in the best
interests of the students or the community, but in the best interest of school
board members. Public outcry has absolutely NO impact on any decisions that
are made.
Mr. DeCosmo, your attempt at restoring your credibility and establishing
yourself as head of yet another new majority will fail. As far as we are
concerned, the overall lack of trust which is present in the community is
going to continue until we have representation on the School Board by people
whose only motivation is to give our children the best education they can
possibly receive while still being financially responsible to the people of
our community.
Hazleton PTA Council