by Alex Brooks
The Hoosick Falls School Board meeting was moved to the High School auditorium in anticipation of a large turnout of citizens, and indeed, there were 100 or more people there when the meeting started.
These people had come to express their support for HFCS bus driver Leo Surdam, who was suspended from his job after a December 8 incident on his bus.
[private]School Board President Greg Laurin was not present, so the unenviable task of chairing the meeting fell to Vice-President Rick Ferrannini. TV cameras were rolling as Ferrannini told the crowd, “We understand why you are here, but we cannot discuss this issue in public, and no public comment on this issue will be allowed.”
He then asked Superintendent Ken Facin to give the public a summary of the laws which constrain the board.
Facin said State law prohibits unauthorized release of information about students or employees which would be personally identifiable. He said he is compelled by law to report any situation where there could be an allegation of child abuse. He said the Superintendent is not to act in a unilateral way in this matter – the investigation and hearing will be conducted by an independent, objective person not affiliated with the school board.
Facin said, “I think it’s important that the privacy rights of students and employees are not compromised.” He said he had seen statements made publicly that disparaged the school. He made a plea to the audience: “Please don’t tear your school apart.” He said if people feel the need to criticize the school’s handling of this matter, to send their comments to him rather than saying things publicly. He pledged to read all the comments sent to him, and to pass them on to the school board. He put his e-mail address up on the screen. It is: facink@hoosickfallscsd.org.
Not surprisingly, the assembled citizens were unhappy and restive about not getting to have their say about reinstating Surdam. One said, “These people have questions that deserve to be answered, even if we don’t mention names.”
Ferrannini repeated that the Board cannot discuss the matter. He asked the people to “have faith in us as your elected school board to do this in a fair and impartial manner.”
Some of the citizens then made statements about bullying at the school, and asked what the board is doing about it. A Senior at the high school said, “This is about where you stand on bullying. You cannot let the bully bully you.”
Former Board member Don Skott said he has seen an anti-bullying commercial that shows bullying on a school bus, and he wondered while watching it, where was the bus driver? “Here in Hoosick Falls, our bus drivers took action.” There was a loud round of applause after this comment.
The mother of a student said, “What are you guys doing about bullying? My son has been bullied a number of times.” She said if more people stand up for what’s right, the world would be a better place.
Ferrannini thanked her for the comment, but asked that comments be confined to agenda items. In response to this, a member of the audience noted that the agenda contained an item about two people being hired as bus attendants, and asked why are they necessary? Ferrannini said the Board does not want to get into a back and forth argument about these matters, but assured people that their concerns are being heard.
Ferrannini brought the public comment session to a close soon after that, and most of the crowd left the auditorium at that point, and as they were leaving some shouted out their dissatisfaction with the Board’s response. One said, “I support him 100%.” The crowd stayed in the lobby for quite along time after that, talking among themselves.
The Board then went on with their regular meeting for a short time, and then went into an executive session, which lasted about an hour. After returning from the executive session, they appointed attorney Craig Crist, of the Albany firm Dreyer Boyajian LLP, to conduct a hearing on charges “against a certain individual employed by the Hoosick Falls Central School District.”
A question about how long it takes to do an investigation, hold a hearing, and make recommendations about disciplinary action was referred to the District’s Attorney William Ryan, who said it typically takes 30 to 60 days.[/private]