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State Criticizes School Board Members

Posted on: Friday, 29 July 2005, 15:00 CDT

Jul. 29--Training, ethics investigations, and a review of all school board resolutions by the county superintendent are just some of the recommendations the state Department of Education has made in a scathing report on members of the Willingboro Board of Education.

The report, released Wednesday by the department's Office of Compliance Investigation, is the result a complaint filed by now-suspended Superintendent Alonzo Kittrels. He has said he filed it on behalf of several employees who said they had witnessed unethical conduct by board members.

Kittrels, 65, was suspended with pay this month because, board members said, he did not provide them with information on why the district has a $3.1 million budget deficit.

The state report followed a five-day initial review that had investigators poring over documents, including legal bills. State investigators also performed extensive interviews with staff and board members early last month.

Most of the major allegations were made against board President Sarah Holley, who did not return phone calls to her home last night seeking comment.

Holley allegedly pressured staff members for campaign contributions, and when some refused, she tried to have them bumped from their jobs, according to the report. She is also accused of forcing the district to hire her daughter's fiance and then wanting him fired after the couple broke off their engagement.

Additionally, when a district supervisor recommended the board look at black and white candidates for supervisory positions, the report said, "the board president verbally attacked and berated this staff member" after telling her that "she was not allowed to recommend any white candidates."

"It's very embarrassing for the Willingboro community," board member Everline Reid-Smith said. "When individual board members... act in an unprofessional matter, taxpayers and advocates for the district lose faith in elected officials. They should be reprimanded and removed from position."

Board member Robert Smith was also named in the report, accused of sexual harassment. But the report recommended another investigation of Smith because, it stated, the initial investigation was flawed.

The report pointed out that key female staff members who know Smith well had not been interviewed. The report also said it was unusual that the board's attorney had hired an outside investigator. Under district policy, the district's affirmative action officer should have conducted the investigation, according to the report.

The board is expected to discuss the report at a retreat scheduled to begin at 5 tonight at Twin Hills Elementary School.

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Source: The Philadelphia Inquirer

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