What we need to know about the Joplin R-8 board selection

The process for the selection of a new member of the Joplin R-8 Board of Education has begun and even more important than the identity of that new board member is the message that the selection will tell us about our current board.

From what I am hearing from people who have contacted the state auditor and provided information to help with the ongoing audit, one thing is becoming increasingly clear.

The audit, whenever it is presented, is going to serve as an indictment of the Board of Education.

Seven people have had the opportunity to put an end to the excesses of the C. J. Huff Administration. Instead of taking action they have silently sat by and voted 7-0 over and over again to enable a superintendent whose mercurial, narcissistic personality and inability to tolerate even respectful differences of opinion have led the district on the road to financial ruin.

C. J. Huff is not the one who is directly responsible to the taxpayers. The board of education was elected to represent us. In case after case, this is not what has happened.

Consider these examples:

-The board, by a 7-0 vote of course, approved a comprehensive five-year improvement plan that acknowledged that the reserve fund was going to be in single digits, but never made any efforts to cut down on excessive spending. No efforts were made to cut down on travel, the number of $50,000 plus employees working at the central administration office tripled, and most notoriously, the district has been put in a position of having to borrow $45 million, with approximately $20 million of that amount falling into the category described by CFO Paul Barr as "might-as-well" spending.Now we are in a position where we have almost no reserve fund.

-Twenty percent of the five-year improvement plan was devoted to improving the district's public relations. Much of this has been done by building a public relations and special events type of thinking that has resulted in even more expense and p. r. nightmares like the six-and-a-half-mile ribbon.

-The board allowed C. J. Huff and his former assistant superintendent Angie Besendorfer to create a climate of fear that has contributed greatly to more than 300 teachers leaving the school district in the past three years. Board members have remained slavishly committed to a chain-of-command that keeps them high above the fray while allowing Huff to know quickly which administrators, teachers, and non-certified staff to target.

-All part-time reading teacher positions were eliminated while the position of events coordinator had to be immediately filled. And the events coordinator receives more money than teachers.

-During the last board meeting, Board President Annie Sharp quickly cut off an attempt by board member Debbie Fort to get information about the parking fees at the high school. Tell the people to contact the principal, Sharp said. So much for public relations.

The problems that exist in the Joplin R-8 School District have occurred, in large part, because the board members have allowed themselves to be manipulated by an integrity-challenged superintendent who has lied to them repeatedly (board members have acknowledged this), but he doesn't make them do any heavy thinking and he feeds them at taxpayers' expense once a month.

The choice of a board member to replace Dawn Sticklen is important, though that person will only serve until April. Just as important as who is chosen, however, are what criteria the current board members think should be used to select the new board member.

Are they looking for a fresh viewpoint to improve the board or will it be business as usual?