The never ending battle
All during 2019-2021 members on the Board of Education fought for the public to be heard. We have a new board with new leadership. The new president of the board was one who, in the past, often spoke out to have “public comment” at the beginning and end of regular board meetings as well as workshop meetings. This no longer seems to be a priority. This has been pointed out by Mr. Rickard who sits on the board at present.
There is a hearing for the case concerning Ms. Ziegelbauer. A majority of the board wants her off and out of the way. It all began with an investigation. The public was never informed as to the results of that investigation, but the public did pay for it with tax dollars. I am going to assume that that investigation had something to do with Ms. Ziegelbauer and the results weren’t in the favor of the board to dismiss her from service. If there was something, they would have removed her there and then. After that didn’t work another tactic was used. Maybe this tactic will work, this is what has been going on since October. Ms. Ziegelbauer retained counsel and is fighting for her seat.
Everything exploded on October 15, 2021, the first date of the hearing. The board wasn’t expecting to have any public present. The meeting was announced with short notice and it was a weekday morning, they were most likely betting that many couldn’t or wouldn’t show. People did show. The meeting was to begin at 9 AM but Mr. Castricone disappeared with the district’s attorney for quite a while. They were probably trying to figure out how to deal with the public. It was then explained that it would be a closed hearing and there would be no public comment. Mr. Rickard and Ms. Ziegelbauer objected. In the end all voted to allow public comment except for Mr. Castricone who said he would allow it but only at the end of the meeting. That was a good defense on his part because we all know how the executive sessions work, they are always 2 or more hours, so who is going to stick around waiting. The public made many comments and I am sure it made people double think. Mr. Rickard and Ms. Ziegelbauer requested that the hearing be held in public. This was voted down. So, it went behind closed doors. That hearing lasted 6 hours and was cut short, because of an event at the school, and would resume on November 4, 2021, 9 AM.
At the November 4 meeting, once again public comment was denied, this time it was voted down with a 4 to 3 vote. Castricone, Heavner, Cerezo Scully, and Givens with a NO and Horneff, Rickard, and Ziegelbauer with a YES. A recording of what transpired can be heard here.
A member of the public was prepared to speak, Mr. Ziegelbauer, since he was denied, he handed each board member his statement in written form for submission. Mr. Ziegelbauer has graciously shared this document with us, click here to read statement.
The continuation of the hearing was held on November 4, 2021 at 9 AM in the gym of the lower school it lasted 10 hours with no result. The hearing will resume December 15.
So, where does that leave us with the transparency issue? It is clear that the new board is not liking public comment. Someone posted Mr. Ziegelbauer’s statement on Tuxedo Moms and Dads, which garnered comments, that post was taken down and the person who posted it has been banned from the page. Ms. Vaught has posted on the same FB page and the admin told her to stop riling up people with her posts or she would be banned. It looks like some only wanted transparency when it was in their favor.
What this whole mess looks like is that the board is actively trying to remove Ms. Ziegelbauer because of mistakes within the district. It would be easier to remove her and ruin her good standing than to focus on the real issue of student deficiencies and district’s interventions, as well as, staff sharing of confidential information pertaining to a CSE student.
Another thought is that maybe the board has a new direction and only wants members who will resoundingly follow the tide and not cause waves within the waters. That would mean the board would first have to get rid of Ms. Ziegelbauer and then Mr. Rickard. If this is the case, Ms. Ziegelbauer’s term is up in June. The board as it sits right now has an easy 4 vote for everything they want to get through. They could have sit it out and waited until the next election. So, why did they decide to take this path. It’s the most destructive path and I am not too sure what it has solved except for exposure to many things that need to be addressed within the school district and destroying a family.
Or, maybe they are covering up something more. Maybe they are protecting the whistleblowers and Ms. Ziegelbauer is just caught in the net. Was Ms. Scariano caught in the net as well?
References:
TPFYI article “Scandal at the School”: http://tpfyi.com/tp_feature.html
Mr. Ziegelbaurer’s statement: https://kbfortheboe.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/KZ_hearing_statement_Nov4.pdf
Recording of November 4 BOE meeting: https://kbfortheboe.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/November-4-2021-BOE-meeting.m4a