School board emails reveal squabbling

WINSTED — On Thursday, Oct. 7, The Winsted Journal inspected some of the many emails written by Board of Education members pertaining to the Journal’s recent Freedom of Information (FOI) request.

Specifically, the Journal inspected a stack of more than 600 pages, which included only emails printed out by board member Richard Dutton.

The emails, which were written from and to various board members, contained board dialogue and discussion on a personnel matter, opinions on the Board of Selectmen and a discussion concerning the removal of former Board of Education Chairman Kathleen O’Brien.

Hanecak situation

Despite board bylaws stating that “...personnel issues and other sensitive subjects should never be discussed online,” starting in January, the board discussed via email Superintendent of Schools Blaise Salerno’s signing off on Holly Hanecak’s application to be a substitute teacher and a substitute paraprofessional for the district.

Holly Hanecak is the wife of board member Joe Hanecak.

In an email dated Jan. 28, Salerno wrote to the board that he discussed Holly Hanecak’s application with board attorney Mark Sommaruga.

“There is no district policy or ethics rule that will prevent this,” Salerno wrote.

In an email on Jan. 30, O’Brien objected to the appointment.

“This district doesn’t [have policies] but the town does,” O’Brien wrote. “This is really inappropriate! There are literally dozens of other school districts around the area that Holly can substitute in. Many of which pay more than we do. It matters not whether or not it is allowed. The question is whether it appears inappropriate. While it may or may not be so, it appears that you only gave Holly the job only to garner Joe’s support for attaining control over special education in the high school. To me, this is morally corrupt. I am surprised that you did this.”

Board member Susan Hoffnagle responded negatively to O’Brien’s email.

“Morally corrupt? Whether it is a good idea or not, it is worth discussing,” Hoffnagle wrote. “The suggestion that this was done by a vote seems pretty far fetched. Blaise originally was not even an advocate of the idea of taking over special education. Your note seems to be a bit of an overreaction response to losing an ordinary course vote of the board. Sorry, but I did have to react to such an overblown accusation.”

O’Brien insisted that the hiring was inappropriate.

“Susan: Stop. You know what this looks like,” O’Brien wrote. “It is not appropriate. Why would Blaise risk more bad press for this board? We have been through enough. Please stop arguing over minutia and focus on what is in the best interest of the students. Look at the larger picture. Not the Smaller.”

Board member Christine Royer then joined in the fray with her email on Feb. 1

“Kathy: What is not appropriate is your accusation regarding the hiring process and your tone and response to Susan,” Royer wrote. “This board does not serve at your discretion. We all serve here as equals for the benefit for Winchester. If you were truly focused on the best interest of the students, your miffy shot across Joe’s bow and Blaise’s would have never been fired. Please lead by example or let us find someone else more competent to lead.”

The dialog between O’Brien and Royer continued on Feb. 2.

“Chris: This board has never worked at my discretion, check the voting record,” O’Brien wrote. “It is unethical for a member of the Board of Education to get paid by the board, directly or indirectly. [Board member Carol Palomba] had to stop working as a substitute nurse for this very issue. You just don’t do this. You know this.”

Royer wrote in response: “Kathy: It is your prerogative to call a special meeting to discuss the specific hiring or we can vote to not approve the hiring at a regularly scheduled meeting. However, to circulate an accusatory email is what grates the most and what seems to be the most unethical, and honestly, hypocritical.”

Eventually, on March 15, Dutton emailed the board that he wanted to create a policy concerning hiring relatives of the Board of Education for the district.

He added that he was told by Joe Hanecak that Holly Hanecak did not complete an application for a position in the school district.

MBR discussion

While the Board of Education voted to pursue a lawsuit against the Board of Selectmen in April, the hostility between the boards began back in January.

On Jan. 8, both Chairman O’Brien and Mayor Candy Perez debated over an email regarding the Minimum Budget Requirement [MBR] written by Judith Lohman, the chief analyst for the Connecticut General Assembly.

“While this is one interpretation of the statute, there are others,” O’Brien wrote in response to Lohman’s email, which was not included in Dutton’s email records. “My reading of it is somewhat different from what is represented here. In addition, the legislature is sure to address this in the coming months. Reducing spending on education at this time is not in the best interest of the children or our town. Running a more efficient program is.”

Mayor Perez wrote an email in response to O’Brien.

“Kathy: I just passed [Lohman’s email] along and I wasn’t making a judgment,” Perez wrote. “As a matter of fact, I hesitated passing it along for this very reason, but knew that if I didn’t I would be chastised for withholding information. Why do you always have to make comments that are antagonistic in nature?”

“Candy: I do not consider my response antagonistic, rather realistic,” O’Brien wrote. “It is a mistake to depend on the information as delivered here as a number of groups are pressuring the legislature to find a way to continue funding education at the current level. No increase has been required for two years, yet the costs continue to go up...I don’t want you or the other members of the Board of Selectmen to expect huge savings this year. If we do this right and we meet the service needs of all of our children there won’t be any significant savings. Rather, high school class sizes will increase and elementary class sizes will decrease.”

On April 15, the Board of Selectmen voted to cut $2,820,561 from the school’s budget.

Email reactions from Board of Education members were angry, including a message on April 15 from board member James DiVita.

“It was hard to digest the results from the last meeting at Town Hall,” DiVita wrote. “One would have to apply reconstruction prints so we, the Board of Education, can maintain our presented budget. Shame on Lisa Smith! The education system has helped her...”

In response to DiVita, Dutton wrote that the meeting was unpleasant:

“[Selectman Ken Fracasso] used the 2009 MBR which we had anticipated. He then went to cite further education cuts based on fewer kids in the school system. The meeting was a vendetta.”

Dutton then wrote an email to Hoffnagle concerning the meeting.

“I sense that the Board of Education is facing some real hostility from the Board of Selectmen majority,” Dutton wrote. “I believe that for many months we have been providing accurate financial information to the Board of Selectmen. The only area of concern to me is the lag between the time we approve the monthly financial report and the actual time it gets to [Finance Director Henry Centrella] and the selectmen. Yet, Fracasso gets up and states to the world that the Board of Selectmen is not getting timely accurate reports. They are getting revenge for these perceived sins...I sense that Kathy will push to sue them in some fashion. That will guarantee that the hostility continues.”

According to an email written by DiVita on June 22, the hostility poured over into a local Democratic party committee meeting.

“I was at [the meeting] last night, Candy indicated that she would not run for Board of Selectmen this upcoming election,” DiVita wrote. “She also said that Susan and I should step down and not run. She was really critical of the Board of Education and its present slate.”

O’Brien resignation

Board chairman O’Brien formally submitted her resignation from the board on Aug. 9, two days before a scheduled meeting was to be held to discuss her removal.

According to emails written by Board of Education members, dissatisfaction with O’Brien began long before she resigned.

On June 3, board member Hoffnagle wrote to Dutton that she received an accusatory email from O’Brien.

“She accused me of scheming,” Hoffnagle wrote. “I responded to her in what I believed to be a forthright manner and mentioned persuasive rumors about her relationship with Clay. Interesting that she wrote to me and not to [Royer] who is far more outspoken.”

In response, Dutton wrote: “Sorry to hear that you took some heat from Kathy...the rumors have been the elephant in the room for a long time, but she must have been aware of them long before this.”

On July 29, Dutton wrote to Royer and Hoffnagle: “Susan, Mimi [nickname for Valyo] and I talked about the board chairman position and have worked out an approach. I would like to go over with you this in person or by phone. It needs to be well planned.”

In the next few emails, Dutton and Royer go over plans to ask O’Brien to resign.

On Aug. 2, Dutton wrote that he scheduled a meeting for that night.

“I am preparing for the meeting tonight,” Dutton wrote. “First, we start by stating that we have heard via newspapers and gossip that she is not going to run again. We know that she has another two years on her term, as we do. We will ask if she is going to resign from board. We will tell her that we represent a group of board members who have asked us that you resign immediately from the board chairman. I don’t want to define the group involved.”

Dutton then cited a special meeting scheduled by the Board of Selectmen in late July to discuss the long delayed school district financial audit from school year 2009-10.

While the selectmen invited the full Board of Education to the meeting, Dutton wrote that O’Brien advised members of the board not to attend.

“Six members [of the Board of Education] did attend,” Dutton wrote. “We mostly listened but we did ask some questions and made some comments. Your absence was noted. We came away with solutions to the audit problem. [This meeting] was critically important to the town’s financial progress and the Board of Education should make this issue its highest priority. We have not seen anything from you as to your position on this subject and proposed action.”

In response, Royer wrote of her concerns with O’Brien to Dutton.

“My main concerns with the Board Chairman is the direction the district is going in, the ongoing communication glitches between the Board of Education and the Board of Selectmen, the lack of focus on student achievements and district goals,” Royer wrote. “I want to start with a clean slate with the new superintendent. Ultimately, the current style of ignoring the barbs has hurt us and has hurt the kids. The Board of Selectmen has turned the community against us and we need to put a stop to that. We cannot move forward without new leadership.”

Later on in the day, O’Brien wrote to Hoffnagle and other members of the board: “I am meeting with [Dutton] and [Royer] at Town Hall this evening for some mysterious reason. [Dutton] reserved a room in Town Hall for this purpose, despite not [having a meeting quorum]. It could be construed as a meeting and a violation of FOIA.”

After the meeting was held, Dutton wrote to Hoffnagle, “Not a pleasant session, she plans to resign post-election.”

In response, Hoffnagle wrote, “Still would rather work behind the scenes than give Marsha and James another opportunity to hammer us.”

On Aug. 3, Board member Carol Palomba wrote to Dutton and other members of the board that she objected to his method of ejecting O’Brien out as chairman.

“I heard you were thinking about putting Kathy out as chairman, this is a terrible way to do it,” Palomba wrote. “If you want to remove her with only three to four months left [before elections], we will have an election with a different board. At this point I do not know why you do not wait. You did not remove Blaise when he was most certainly to blame for a lot of the stuff at central office regarding hiring practices. If you are going to have a vote to remove Kathy, then you should also say that the central office should go because they are the ones not doing their jobs at this point.”

Dutton proceeded to write to Hoffnagle and Royer that “I apologize to all for requesting a room in Town Hall.”

In response to Palomba, Dutton wrote, “Carol, thanks for your thoughts. We chose that route in hopes of a private discussion. Instead, the press turned up at the end.”

On Aug. 3, DiVita wrote to Dutton in support of getting O’Brien to resign.

“Doc: Like we used to say in the military as we were stationed at a base, a change in command indicated that some new person were coming in to take command,” DiVita wrote. “In with the new and out with the old. We always, as you know, went with the new. Kathy needs to step down for the good and welfare of the Board of Education. She will be stubborn in her resolve. We need to assure that the superintendent is made aware of the new direction that must be accomplished. Kathy has been in this situation before. She feels no one likes her. She should leave and that way all feelings will stop. Amen.”

DiVita then went on to criticize the local press.

“Any mention of a meeting made in our Town Hall is always subject to open communication,” DiVita wrote. “As you know, it is opening yourself to the public by way of those who work and carry out business there. [It’s] a public gossip area. No form of meeting is left unattended to. Reporters know this and are constantly stopping by or calling for information to make news. That’s how papers are sold.”

On Aug. 5, Hoffnagle wrote to Royer and Dutton about O’Brien’s planned resignation.

“If I had my druthers, I would rather that [O’Brien] didn’t resign because it gives six openings to six candidates,” Hoffnagle wrote. “It guarantees the election of, trying to think of the Harry Potter term, the one that shall not be named.”

Dutton wrote to Hoffnagle and Royer in response that “My only target was to have her resign as chair. I never said anything about her resigning from the board. I don’t have another candidate in my pocket, and I don’t want to default and have the selectmen put in JR. I support a letter to [O’Brien] asking her to remain on the board.”