With the school board election done the truth about the appointment of Brian Brooks to the Kennewick School Board can be told.
Community members have written letters to the Tri-City Herald expressing their belief that Brooks was the most qualified for the position so the board selected him on merit.
Reality is quite different.
On August 15, after interviewing six applicants for the open position the four board members recessed to consider the qualifications of the individuals out of public view. Superintendent Dave Bond was also present at the meeting.
Board president Dawn Adams opened with her opinion that the three applicants not running for school board (Jan Fraley, Colleen Freshley and Michele Morgan) should be removed from consideration for the open position. Her reason was that giving one of these applicants an opportunity to serve on the board for even a few months would enable them to gain experience which would threaten her re-election in 2013.
Jan Fraley, an applicant not running for school board had stated during her interview that she might consider running for the school board in the future.
Bond advised the board that appointing a candidate currently running for the board (Brian Brooks, Ben Messinger and Uby Creek) would give the appearance of a board endorsement which would confer an advantage to that candidate.
Board member Kathy White agreed that non-candidates should be considered for the interim position since they had applied in good faith believing they would be considered.
Several rounds of votes were taken. At first, there was no weight given to the vote. Adams just wanted the four board members to vote for three applicants. It was suggested the votes should be weighted – 1st, 2nd and 3rd place. This was too confusing to Adams and who insisted board members just vote for three. Applicants Jan Fraley and Colleen Freshley were immediately eliminated because they received only one vote each. The remaining votes were inconclusive so then the four board members were asked to place a value (1st, 2nd and 3rd) on their votes. That’s how Brooks emerged as the winner. Board member White who voted for Jan Fraley and Coleen Freshley had no influence at this point as her choices were off the table. The tone had been set by Adams with her opening declaration which assured the non-candidates would not receive fair consideration.
Some may choose to believe school board members are motivated by what is best for students and the community but when decisions are made behind closed doors true motivations are not apparent. Self-interest and politics can and do sway decision making.
Clearly the outcome fulfilled the objectives of the board majority by preserving Adams’ security on the board and meeting the need for a successor to Lynn Fielding who would maintain support of district goals advocated by the board majority.
For more information click on the following links:
http://ksdcitizens.org/2011/08/17/ksd-school-board-triumvirate-maintains-status-quo/
http://ksdcitizens.org/2011/08/19/ksd-school-board-triumvirate-responds/
http://ksdcitizens.org/2011/08/28/an-open-letter-to-kennewick-school-board-member-heather-kintzley/
http://ksdcitizens.org/2011/09/18/nefarious/
http://ksdcitizens.org/2011/10/04/kennewick-school-board-member-and-a-conflict-of-interest/
