Hurley Board of Education discusses meeting attendance, procedures

By MEGAN HUGHES

news@yourdailyglobe.com

Hurley — Board meeting attendance and agenda procedures were the major topics of discussion at a Monday meeting of the Hurley Board of Education, with members discussing concerns about missing meetings and the potential of shifting meeting dates to better suit member schedules.

“When somebody is not here, we really miss you,” said chairperson Leslie Kolesar. “We have a board that discusses things, that has differing opinions and ... different perspectives. When you aren’t here, you are missed.”

She added, “It’s not fair to the board, but it also isn’t fair to yourself when you aren’t here, because when you are absent you are abdicating your vote to whoever is here. You have abdicated your ability to argue either for or against a certain proposal.”

Kolesar explained that the reason for bringing this item to the board’s attention is that one of the board members had requested a revote on the issue of post-retirement benefits.

Kolesar clarified for the audience that the Hurley School Board operates on Robert’s Rules, which say that a board member can request a revote only if he or she had voted on the item in question, on behalf of the winning side of the original vote, and then desired to change that vote to the side that had lost. By this ruling, members who are absent are not able to call for a revote during regular session on items for which they had been absent.

“The reason for that is you don’t want people who were on the losing side of the vote to constantly be bringing back the same items to the board month to month, trying to wear down the other members of the board,” she said.

Kolesar expressed that she felt it was inappropriate for board members to request revotes for this reason, as are requests for the entire board to be present for a specific item, as all that is legally required for a vote to take place is a quorum of the board.

“(Allowing that) encourages people to miss meetings,” she said.

In the event that no action is taken during a meeting on a specific agenda item, Kolesar said that the ruling would default to whatever the current policy is, and no change would be made.

“You don’t get a do-over if nobody makes a motion,” said Kolesar, “And you also don’t get a do-over simply because you weren’t here. Only if you were on the prevailing side of the vote and decide that you want to change your vote to the losing side. It is the only time.”

Another concern that Kolesar addressed was the question of whether there are certain items for which action should be delayed until a full board presence is possible.

“No,” she said. “Our policy and our law both say that all we require is a quorum. I have served on many, many boards, and have never seen one that has said, ‘These issues are so important that we need to have everybody here, and these aren’t as important.’ Everything is important. Who is going to make that call on what is important and what isn’t, and put a policy in place? You will never get everybody to agree on that.”

She used the example of last year’s annual meeting, in which they approved the budget and other similarly important items for the operation of the school. “We didn’t have the full board,” she said. “We voted anyway and approved the budget. There were only four of us.”

Board members also raised questions as to whether attendance hereon would be monitored or enforced.

One potential solution raised by Kolesar and Superintendent Kevin Genisot was to change the method of pay for board members, who are now on salary. They suggested that the topic could be discussed formally at a later meeting.

Board member Andy Laurin also raised concerns about the current schedule of Monday meetings for board members. He said that Mondays tend to be busy nights for events and games, which makes it difficult for board members who are parents to support their children while also trying to attend board meetings.

“The meetings I have missed have always been for my kids’ sporting events,” he said.

According to Kolesar, many members of the administration plan around the Monday meeting. Moreover, she said that, if meetings are rescheduled because of events, that also can cause confusion to the public or to school officials and staff who planned to attend the originally dated session.

Laurin proposed the possibility of changing the regular meeting night, using Wednesday as an example of a good night for meetings, as many of the sports teams and clubs use that as their day off.

After further discussion on both matters, board members did not take any formal action to move the meeting dates or to address meeting procedures. Instead, they opted to add them to the list of agenda items for the October meeting, when they can better explore options and any questions that board members may raise in the meantime.

In other news, the board:

—Discussed several items in closed session, including post-retirement benefits for staff considering retirement for 2025 and beyond. Upon returning to open session, the board voted to allow employees to utilize post-retirement benefits and have money applied to health insurance or a Health Savings Account at a rate of $45 a day for up to 90 days.

—Approved the final reading of Neola policy updates as presented.

—Approved a bid from Republic Services for recycling and trash. The three-year contract is effective immediately. In the past, the school had been overcharged for recycling and trash services by Republic, and the company is working to make amends for the oversight. The board voted to give the company another chance, with the understanding that in three years time, they will place the contract up for bids.

—Approved overdue upgrades for the school’s building automation system.

—Approved the September financial report for August as presented.

—Approved policies and reports for the month of September.

—Approved the consent agenda as presented.