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Region 1 lawsuit adds insult to injury for taxpayers
As a final insult to taxpayers in Region 1, on the eve of the fourth attempt to pass a budget, it has become public knowledge that Diane Goncalves, assistant superintendent, has filed a lawsuit against Gale Toensing, Falls Village’s representative on the Region 1 Board of Education.
If anyone needs proof of why this budget must be defeated until the situation with administrative contracts is worked out, this is it.
For voters on the fence, please ponder these recent occurrences:
Despite being informed early by taxpayers that administrative salaries are a problem, former board Chairman Phil Hart and current Chairman Jonathan Moore continued to ignore taxpayers’ requests. They were so brazen, they even scheduled a special meeting of the board for after the first vote because they knew they were sending a budget that would be defeated.
Three votes later, they still refuse to listen to the public’s concern: “It’s not the total dollars, it’s the administrative contracts.”
An audiotape indicates Mr. Hart lied about knowledge of the suit against Superintendent Patricia Chamberlain. He has since resigned as chairman, but still serves on the board.
Lucille Paige, executive secretary to Ms. Chamberlain, filed a lawsuit against the superintendent, claiming retaliation for her testimony during the Pingpank report. For more than 20 years, Ms. Paige has had an unblemished record.
Please watch the unedited video of the last board meeting on the CATV 6 YouTube page, to see a board with no ideas, no leadership, and no intention of doing more than submitting the exact same budget that was just crushed at the polls.
The lawsuit against Ms. Toensing.
Three votes, three rejections, two lawsuits, a board that is isolated from the taxpayers it serves, a committee of local board chairmen as isolated and removed from the public as the regional board, a shrinking student population, static academic achievement, the board ignoring a report (Pingpank) it authorized, and a new contract for administrators calling for around $1 million over the next three years.
This administration and its majority bloc on the board need to be replaced. Voting no on the budget will allow the district to continue to operate on the same budget as last year, and keep the new administrative contract from being finalized. Voters also should replace board members in November. This is the only option for taxpayers, as the majority bloc on this board is incapable of action to reverse this region’s spiral down into complete mayhem.
Enough already. Vote no on the Region 1 budget again on July 23.
Marshall Miles
Salisbury
