There were plenty of attendees at the Wednesday evening Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School Board meeting clad in red t-shirts, a symbol of support for teachers.
One of those wearing a red shirt was Stephanie Hunt. She has spoken at previous school board meetings, but pulled no punches in her remarks before the board during public comment.
Board policy says any public comments must relate to an item on the board’s agenda for that meeting. Hunt chose the hiring of a new Chief Financial Officer (CFO) as the agenda item relating to her comments.
Hunt began by saying she is appearing before the board on behalf of teachers and staff, arguing “this administration has taken the board’s lead and spread the toxic work environment from this building to our schools.”
She took the board to task for not passing a normally routine renewal of top administrators contracts. She was particularly critical of the district’s treatment of former CFO Katy Dowling.
“The new CFO has done nothing to deserve my concern, however, thanks to the direction that things have been going within the walls of this building, and our board, I struggle to understand what the pressing need was to replace a woman who had fully committed herself to that position and our district,” said Hunt. She also pointed to the work Dowling did in support of the recently-passed renewal of a funding referendum for HSE Schools.
Hunt also pointed to a recent interview Superintendent Patrick Mapes recorded with WFYI radio reporter Rachel Fradette, saying HSE Schools would be “full transparent” and not run from scandals. Hunt argues HSE has not been transparent.
The seating arrangements for board meetings have changed since Patrick Mapes was hired as the new superintendent, and Hunt pointed to that, asserting “this board has re-arranged to sit the (board) president next to Mr. Mapes, the removal of our teachers association president from her spot at the table, a clear attempt to put the teachers in their place, and the removal of the final piece of the last (administrator) makes it clear who is really running this show.”
No school officials responded to Hunt’s remarks.
There was no live-stream video of Wednesday’s board session due to technical issues, but the video recording is now available online.