Catskill ‘special’ BOE meeting causes more confusion

CATSKILL, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- The Catskill Board of Education held a “special” meeting on Wednesday night, after parents demanded answers regarding some recent staffing changes in their schools.  Yet, most were left more confused and upset than ever. “We have questions. We want answers from him, tonight,” said parent, Jessica Birk.

Parents in Catskill showed up with a load of questions and low expectations. “I expect a lot of silence from the board, unfortunately,” said President of the Catskill Parent Student Association, Sara Veron.

At the request of the public and nearly 400 signatures on a petition, the Catskill Board of Education agreed to meet with them, sort of. “We're making an exception to give a unique experience to members of the community where you can talk to us in an intimate setting, rather than have you come up and ask us a bunch of questions. Which we are legally obligated not to answer because of privacy concerns and all that,” said Jeffrey Holliday, President of the Catskill Board of Education.

The board agreed to take five people one by one, into a private executive session to discuss what's been happening with staffing issues in Catskill.

The one big catch is that none of the five could talk about what was said behind closed doors. “I want to tell the rest of the community what was said in there, but I can't,” said Birk.

And this man was another who was allowed to talk to the board. “You know, there's a lot of people here that I think wanted to be heard, you know? I'm sure some of the stuff that I brought up back there, I'm sure the other people that were there brought up the same thing. So, why can't you just let everybody know what it is?” questioned parent Charles Holtz.

If the point of this meeting was to tamp down the public's frustration, it had the opposite effect. “The wording said that we were invited into executive session like we were actually going to be able to communicate things,” said Veron.

Only one board member opposed the special session, Joeseph Izzo. “The question is, who may participate in the executive session and are guests permitted? No, executive sessions are considered confidential.” Izzo questioned whether this “gag order” on those who met with the board is legally binding. “If the school attorney says to those individuals, they're not allowed to speak but doesn't quote a specific rule or law that says they can't speak I'm not sure if that in fact denies them the right to speak.”

And like that the meeting was over. “No board action tonight other than our executive session,” said Holliday.