Region One board struggles with the Pingpank report

FALLS VILLAGE — The Region One Board of Education voted Monday, Jan. 3, to direct regional Superintendent Patricia Chamberlain to provide the board with a plan of action to address the concerns raised in last month’s report from attorney Jeffrey C. Pingpank on the circumstances surrounding the August resignations of the principal and vice principal of Housatonic Valley Regional High School.

Comments from board members and from the public on the Pingpank report reinforced the attorney’s observation in the report’s introduction:

“For every person who advocated one position, there was another person who took the opposite view.�

The report, which mentioned Assistant Superintendent Diane Goncalves by name several times and recommended she be asked to “moderate her behavior,� inspired a letter from Claudia Parsons of Salisbury, who read her letter into the record during the first of two opportunities for public comment during the two-and-a-half hour meeting.

Parsons said she believes Pingpank’s “portrayal of Ms. Goncalves does not do her justice and presents her in a negative light.�

She went on to relate her experience with Goncalves in the context of her stepson, who has Down syndrome. Parsons credited Goncalves’ work at the Gengras Center in West Hartford with helping her stepson grow into “a confident adult.�

“If you believe only what you have heard of her in the press or through the rumor mill, you do not know her at all,� Parsons said.

But Lawrence Van Valkenburgh of West Cornwall also submitted a letter, decrying what he called Goncalves’ “ferocious lack of professionalism.�

“Ask yourselves if you would hire Pat Chamberlain and Diane Goncalves today. Ask yourselves if they are the best individuals to bring this school system to meeting its goals.�

The fissures were apparent among board members. Phil Hart, representing Cornwall, said he believed the board should identify “certain themes and the people they belong to, and get those people to respond.�

Gale Toensing, the board member from Falls Village, criticized critics of the report; accused Goncalves of attempting to “delegitimize the report by smearing the investigator’s ethics;� and said that the board has “abdicated some of our responsibility and shares some of the blame.�

She urged that the board implement the six recommendations from the Pingpank report and hold Chamberlain to a schedule for making the changes.

Jill Gibbons, the board member from Salisbury, said, “that there are some who try to dismiss it [the report] only speaks to its accuracy.

“Let us act accordingly, from our best selves.�

Toensing suggested forming a committee that would include members of the public, board members, administrators and teachers to review the report and come up with a plan.

Hart demurred, saying, “I’m not sure we need one more group of people to interpret the report.�

He advocated asking the relevant groups — faculty, high school administrators and the Central Office — to report back to the board on those sections of the report that concern them.

“Not to defend themselves, but to get suggestions for improvement,� Hart added. “Not to argue about the report.�

In the public comment section that followed, Amy Wynn of Falls Village wondered why anyone who was reluctant to speak to Pingpank for fear of retaliation would do so now. “I’m not sure the format you’re proposing is going to encourage dissenting opinions.�

Jacqueline Rice of Salisbury, who is a math teacher at the high school, blamed the previous administration (of former Principal Gretchen Foster) for the divisions at the school.

“Now a few faculty members, board members and community members want to keep it going.

“Leave us alone,� continued Rice, clearly stirred. “Stop the witch hunt and let us do our job.�

And Roberta Scott of Falls Village added, “You can’t ignore the problem. The taxpayers are angry and ashamed of the Board of Ed. You have to look at yourselves.�

Note: Toensing announced she was holding a meeting at the Falls Village Town Hall Thursday, Jan. 6, at 7 p.m. to meet with townspeople and receive their input.