Chester County school board probes employee ‘grievance;’ 100 people pack Monday meeting

Chester County school district officials plan to further probe at least one undisclosed employee grievance, according to action taken during Monday night’s three-hour school board meeting.

Board officials said they could not discuss the grievance publicly and have not said who filed the complaint or complaints. The board has also not said who the grievance is about.

Initially during Monday’s meeting, trustee Richard Hughes said he believed the grievance should be “public,” not discussed in private.

But board Vice Chair Sandra Stroman made a motion to hold the employee grievance discussion in executive session. Denise Lawson, chair of the board, said, “I don’t think we can do that.”

An attorney for the school district said the board should hold the grievance hearing in private because that was requested by the person whom the complaint is against. Stroman’s motion then passed unanimously. Public bodies – such as school boards and government councils – are allowed to meet in private for some reasons related to personnel discussions.

Several parents in Chester County said they weren’t happy Monday night when they weren’t allowed to speak during the school board meeting – the bulk of which took place behind closed doors while board members again spent several hours talking to an attorney about employment matters and at least one employee grievance.

Monday’s meeting – packed with about 100 people – was the third of its kind this month. It came on the heels of Chester County schools Superintendent Agnes Slayman’s return to work last Wednesday after a few weeks of unexplained “personal leave.”

Slayman has not acknowledged several phone calls and emails from The Herald this month. On Monday, Slayman refused to talk to The Herald after the board meeting.

Board members and other district officials have refused to offer specifics about Slayman’s recent personal leave, including whether she was paid while on leave and whether her leave was her choice or a request from board members.

Chester parent Calvin Clark called the school board’s recent private meetings –and some other government actions in Chester – “back-door politics.”

He and other parents attended Monday’s meeting hoping to address the board. One parent told The Herald she had hoped to talk about a recent incident with her son at Chester High School. Some others, such as Clark, said they wanted to raise concerns with the district over its recent decision to swap Chester County Sheriff’s Office deputies for private security guards on school grounds.

“It’s been pulled right out from underneath their feet,” said Clark, a retired police officer and former police chief in Bowman. He said he feels there’s been a wave of political resistance against Sheriff Alex Underwood’s authority since he was elected in 2012. Clark said he’s concerned politics surrounding the Chester County Council has spilled into school board and city of Chester business.

But, Clark wasn’t able to speak during Monday’s public hearing. A public hearing was advertised but board policy requires people sign up one week in advance – something apparently not widely known among concerned parents.

One person who had signed up in advance did not appear before the board Monday. Lawson told The Herald the person had signed up with the intent to talk about the school security issue.

The board chairwoman said she aims to abide by the school district’s policy to require people to sign up one week ahead of time to be heard during public hearings. To open the floor for people who attend the meeting but did not sign up would be a disservice to people who gave advance notice and followed rules, Lawson said after Monday’s meeting.

School board members hear comments during the public hearing, follow up on the issue or topic, and respond at a later time, she said. The public hearing is not intended to be a back-and-forth between speakers and board members, she said.

In response to the standing-room-only board meeting room on Monday, Lawson said she appreciates parents and residents who want to be involved with the school district.

In board action Monday, members voted unanimously to talk in private executive session about the employee grievance and to receive advice from attorneys about a “personnel contractual matter.”

During the public portion of the meeting, board members unanimously approved hiring a new employee. Lawson said that person is a teacher who is needed to help serve over-crowded classrooms.

The board also voted to not accept a district recommendation that another employee be released from their employment, Lawson said. That employee, she said, is also a teacher. She said the board could not go into specifics about those personnel decisions, including identifying either teacher.

This story was originally published September 21, 2015 at 11:43 PM with the headline "Chester County school board probes employee ‘grievance;’ 100 people pack Monday meeting."