East Quogue Board Of Education Criticized For Lack Of Transparency

Skip Heaney of East Quogue—a former Southampton Town supervisor and school board candidate—gave his Board of Education a belated New Year’s resolution to work toward in 2017: Become more transparent. Mr. Heaney said during a board meeting Tuesday night that it was troubling that the five-member board rarely discussed agenda items in public. “Not everything qualifies as executive session,” Mr. Heaney said. Executive sessions, in which public boards are allowed to meet privately, away from the public, are limited to discussions pertaining to legal matters and personnel issues, according to the New York State Open Meetings Law. Holding a blue photo copy of Tuesday night’s agenda, Mr. Heaney pointed out that it was a disservice to the public that the document isn’t typically posted online ahead of the meeting for taxpayers and parents in the district to read before coming to the meeting each month. Specifically, Mr. Heaney pointed to an agenda item—which was approved by the board later that night—that called for the Board of Education to submit an application to change the way the building administration is run. Currently Robert Long is serving as the single-school district’s superintendent and principal, and the variance would make his combined position official. Mr. Long has been serving in the combined role since former Superintendent Les Black resigned in May 2015 after heavy criticism from parents for the school district’s dire financial standing. Mr. Heaney said it was peculiar to him that Tuesday night was the first time Mr. Long’s position was discussed in public in months and that the board approved an agenda item on it during the meeting. “I don’t know how some of these things get on the agendas,” Mr. Heaney said. Cynthia McNamara, vice president of the Board of Education, agreed with Mr. Heaney. “The last time this was publicly discussed was May of last year and that’s when the public asked us to have a public discussion on this before we made the permanent positions,” Ms. McNamara said of the agenda item, which she voted against. “We have not discussed this variance since Ms. [Jessica] Stalters joined the Board of Education … I just want to point out that this agenda—nobody in the public knows this is taking place tonight because it’s not posted anywhere. That in itself is a problem.”As Ms. McNamara began to get heated, Mr. Long and School Board President Patricia Tuzzolo stood up for the board’s practices. “We’ve had discussions with the community and they had strong support about the change in position,” Ms. Tuzzolo said, pointing out that she feels the board does its part to be transparent with the community. Mr. Long added that there is always opportunities for discussion at public meetings and parents with additional concerns can approach him in his office.