- The Orange County Board of Education Code of Ethics (Policy #2120).
I attended the Orange County Board of Education meeting last Monday evening, primarily to hear the report of recommendations by the CES/HES Merger Task Force.
As the meeting opened, Board Chairman Ted Triebel announced that Debbie Piscitelli and Anne Medenblik would be absent because of family emergencies then went on to say that Liz Brown was absent as well, but without explanation. Not surprisingly, this reminded me of Liz's still unexplained, prolonged absence from Board meetings this past summer.
So, I started looking back at Liz's attendance record, and here is what I found in Board meeting minutes posted to its web page:
- Nov. 19 - Regular Board Meeting - Absent [The minutes are not yet approved, but I was there and she wasn't]
- Nov. 4 - Regular Board Meeting - Present
- Oct. 15 - Regular Board Meeting - "Elizabeth Brown left the meeting at 7:25 p.m."
- Oct. 1 - Regular Board Meeting - "Elizabeth Brown left the meeting at this time" [9:42 pm]
- Sept. 17 - Regular Board Meeting - "Elizabeth Brown left at 10:32 p.m."
- Sept. 13 - HES Community Listening Session - Present
- Sept. 6 - CES Community Listening Session - Absent [I was there, she wasn't]
- Sept.4 - Regular Board Meeting - Present
- Aug. 20 - Regular Board Meeting - "Board member absent: Elizabeth Brown."
- Aug. 6 - Regular Board Meeting - "Board members absent: Elizabeth Brown..."
- July 19 - Regular Board Meeting - "Member absent: Elizabeth Brown."
- July 9 - Regular Board Meeting - "Board member absent: Elizabeth Brown."
- June 18 - Regular Board Meeting - "Elizabeth Brown left the meeting at 9:45 p.m."
So, let's recap: Of the past 13 public Board meetings, Liz Brown has:
- Been entirely absent 6 times
- Left early 4 times, and
- Stayed for an entire meeting only 3 times
The Orange County Board of Education's Code of Ethics says, "A breach of this Code of Ethics by any Board member may result in disciplinary action. This action may result in sanction(s) as approved by the majority of the Orange County Board of Education consistent with legal standards."
The time has come for the Board to live up to its proclaimed ethics and publicly sanction Liz Brown for the her willful violation of the Code she promised to uphold, and for abandoning the school children of Orange County.
3 comments:
Although this is off topic, I need to ask some questions and gain perspective re: the new organization that is focusing on closing the achievement gap in Orange Co. Do I understand correctly that this is led by Keith Cook? I hate to dredge up the past, but I hardly find him a reputable leader considering he plagiarized the commencement speech he gave, denied it and then had the audacity to run for school board again.
Although I agree that the achievement gap is an issue (nation wide), my question is how is the BOE supposed to magically make it go away? The issue of educating the under-served are far more complex and ingrained in our country than most people realize. I think the core problem depends on who you talk to. I guess my point is that ALL children need to behave in school and learn to the best of their ability, not just black children. We have a growing number of Hispanic kids too.
Can someone give me some insight as to what the goal is? We don't need another distraction that will divert attention from the problem of ALL of the schools needing some help.
Thanks - T's M
I heard a rumor that Liz Brown is entertaining a run for County Commission. We all need to remember her lack of commitment to her duties as a board member if she ever runs.
Additionally, I find it frustrating that she espouses passionate rhetoric about the underprivileged children while simultaneously furthering her personal agenda. She clearly is intent on bettering her children's school (softball anyone?) even if it is at the expense of other worthy causes (who needs a bathroom door anyway?).
At the Board meetings that I have attended, Liz Brown's ability to beat a dead horse coupled with her refusal to admit defeat make for very long and unproductive meetings. I can truly empathized with the Board as this is very frustrating. Her presence on the Co. Comm. would really create a very unproductive environment and, needless to say, extra long meetings to accommodate her diatribes.
Anybody up to using their 3 minutes to openly call for her resignation or censure?
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