NEW HANOVER COUNTY — A nearly censured New Hanover County school board member is still trying to influence policy changes despite being barred from the policy committee, though his proposal didn’t gain much traction at the committee’s Tuesday meeting.
READ MORE: ‘Muzzle me’: School board penalizes Perry, stops short of censure
School board and policy committee members Pete Wildeboer, Judy Justice and Melissa Mason chose to largely forgo a policy package on code of ethics and committee assignments submitted by David Perry.
Perry was recently removed from committee assignments — including the policy committee — for a four-month period at the behest of the board at a hearing last week. The board found Perry had violated the board’s code of ethics and breached confidentiality by disclosing information about a student appeal hearing outside of closed session.
Despite being removed from the policy committee, Perry requested being allowed to speak before the body at its Tuesday meeting. Wildeboer, committee chair, ultimately denied it, but agreed to bring Perry’s proposals forth himself.
“I shared with him that during my two years on the policy committee, I do not remember having a call-to-audience type format at any time, but I would check with the other two policy chairs in the last two years, Ms. Mason and Ms. [Josie] Barnhart,” Wildeboer said.
Wildeboer was only recently given the discretion on whether to allow non-committee members the right to speak at meetings. The issue was brought up at the board’s Aug. 5 meeting through a proposed amendment to policy 2330. The amendment stated any board member behind proposed policy changes was entitled to speak about them at the policy committee meeting. Board member Pat Bradford took issue with the allowance, making a motion to strike it, with Barnhart seconding it.
Board member Tim Merrick pushed back at the time, noting the entire policy was giving “too much power” to subdue speech. Without an advocate behind a proposal, it was more likely to die in committee, he claimed, with Justice agreeing.
Mason ultimately supported the amendment. However, Bradford then suggested the language be changed from “shall” be invited to speak to “may” be invited to speak, leaving the decision up to committee chairs. Mason voted in favor of the change.
Perry criticized her decision, specifically calling Mason’s words “hypocrisy,” in a Facebook post. He also noted he would still be requesting to speak at the Tuesday policy committee meeting.
On Tuesday, Wildeboer told the group Perry had contacted him on Saturday. He denied his request, though he noted the committee would discuss Perry’s proposal without him there. Wildeboer also read aloud an email from Perry accompanying the proposal.
“Because I will not be allowed to be available to answer nuanced questions that might normally, naturally, arise during discussion of my proposal, I believe this decision is not in the best interest of the school district,” Perry wrote in his letter to Wildeboer.
Nevertheless, Perry detailed his policy package in his letter and noted it was intended to be viewed altogether and not as individual changes. Impacted policies included 2210 (duties of officers), 2120 (code of ethics) and 2230 (board committees) forward at the meeting.
The main changes include how committee assignments are given out, a responsibility of the chair and something Perry has criticized Mason’s handling of in the past.
“I agree that this is indeed a power and duty of the chairperson, but just this year, there have been disagreements between the board members on how quickly initial committee assignments need to be made by the chairperson, and under the circumstances, when the chairperson may alter these assignments,” Perry wrote.
He proposed the chair be responsible for assigning not just the committee members, but also the chair of each committee. He also suggested the assignments be finalized “no later than the first regular board meeting following the chairperson’s election.”
“A member of a committee cannot perform their duties with integrity and conviction required if their continued membership on that committee is subject to the whims of the chairperson, they should not have to fear that if they vote their conscience, but contrary to the opinion of the chairperson, that they could lose their membership on that committee,” Perry wrote.
Perry’s proposal stipulated appointees shall remain on their committees for the remainder of the chairperson’s term, unless:
- The board member resigns from their position or membership on that committee
- The committee has been eliminated
- The board member has been disciplined for a violation of the code of ethics, pursuant to the procedures outlined in Policy 2120
Perry also suggested moving the section regarding consequences of violating the code of ethics from policy 2210, duties of officers, to policy 2120, the code of ethics policy.
Justice indicated the only one of Perry’s changes she supported was the 30-day window for committee assignments. Though she suggested a motion be made by the committee to continue discussion, it was not forthcoming.
Mason suggested the policy stay in committee instead of moving on to the full board, mainly to clean up amendments regarding the board’s elimination of other committees, but also to potentially discuss Perry’s suggestions.
In his letter, Perry also commented on policy changes to 2210 proposed by Wildeboer: “We need to recognize the chairperson is not our boss, but our leader as individually elected board members. We take orders only from the electorate.”
The changes serve as codifications of the board chair’s abilities and responsibilities compiled from applicable policies throughout the board’s manual. The ones currently outlined in policy 2210 include:
- Preside over meetings
- Preserve order at all times
- Appoint board standing committee members and chairpersons;
- Serve as ex-officio member of all board standing committees;
- Appoint board representatives to board advisory committees and outside commissions, committees, and boards;
- Call special meetings
- Sign official system documents
With Wildeboer’s changes, the policy expands the following duties, also stating the chairperson has a right to ensure meetings are conducted in a fair and orderly manner. Other additions include:
- Representing the board – the chairperson serves as the primary spokesperson for the board, both internally and externally, and may be delegated to represent the district at various events and sign official system documents as the chairperson
- Ensuring accountability – the chairperson helps ensure that the board and the superintendent are accountable for their decisions and actions
- Facilitating communication – the chairperson fosters communication between board members, the superintendent and the community
- Maintaining decorum – the chairperson ensures that board meetings are conducted with professionalism and respect, creating a positive environment for discussions
- The chairperson has the authority to delegate his/her duties that they deem appropriate
Wildeboer also suggested adding agenda planning to the list, giving the chair the ability to place items on either a monthly board meeting, agenda review or assign items to committees as defined in policy.
Current policy states the chair must place an item on the agenda within two meetings if two board members bring it forward. Chair Mason actually broke this policy in April after failing to place a discussion of the banned book “Stamped” on the May 2 agenda; she sent it to the curriculum committee instead. Under Wildeboer’s policy change, Mason’s actions would have fallen within policy.
However, it was Mason who called out the agenda planning provision. She noted similar language was part of another policy reviewed by the board at its Aug. 5 meeting; the board chose not to approve that measure there.
“Should we take that out of this, if we didn’t have it to the other policy, just so there’s that consistency?”
The other board members agreed, and the current policy on agenda planning will stay put, per their recommendation.
Reach journalist Brenna Flanagan at brenna@localdailymedia.com.
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