Since the planning meeting of August 9th, the Board has met four times for emergency or special meetings, setting a school meetings record. At each of these emergency meetings, the Board had no public discussion. All the emergency meetings were for personnel matters. At each of these meetings, Board President Ellerbe spoke so low as to be barely audible. Mocking the law, his motions called for executive sessions for "personal business." The district has made no effort to have any pubic discussion regarding the requirements or search parameters for an interim superintendent or a permanent superintendent. One parent told FNYN, "What are they waiting for, Xmas. The longer they wait, the harder it will be to find somebody good." Another said, "Am I glad I'm moving. At first I felt sad about leaving, but my family comes first."

Planning Meeting of August 9th

The planning meeting of August 9th set the tentative tax rate for the 2000/2001 school year.

At 8:10 p.m. the Board went into executive session for an "item of negotiation with the Food Services Unit." During the executive session, the district’s shadow clerk, Denise Elmore, brought copies of a Notice of Claim into the Board room. It is not known if the Board discussed this item in executive session, as they never announced it.

After the meeting, Board member Grover, furnished FNYN with a chart illustrating the tax rate. (Go to chart). Kishore Kuncham, the district’s finance man, was asked by FNYN if he was going to bond the thirty six million dollar construction bond all at once. He said, "I’m going to bond it, as I need it, within the requirements of the law." Kuncham was also asked why the Pride (the Board’s newsletter) icon on the district’s home page, still connected to the Village of Freeport’s so called web site. Kuncham responded that it wasn’t supposed to and that he would take care of it. As of August 23rd, the Board of Education Pride icon still did not link to the Board’s newsletter. Kuncham was also asked why Freeport High School Student Assignments, FHS Homework Site and the other school items were being maintained on the "Village" web site, not on the district web site. Kuncham explained that they did belong there and that all the school information was to be in the district web. He said that he would take care of it. This still has not been done.

August 15th Special Meeting

Once again, Board President Ellerbe mocked the NYS Open Meetings Law by calling for an executive session for "Personal Business." Former Village Trustee candidate, Anna Mohammed, arrived at the Board meeting at around 7:45 p.m. and found the doors locked. At the conclusion of the executive session at 9:50 p.m., Ellerbe was asked why the District Clerk was again locking the doors, while the meeting was in session. Ellerbe ignored the question, however, Board member Grover said that the doors were not supposed to be locked and that he would investigate the situation.

August 17th

Your reporter made a personal appearance at the district administration building and inquired if there were any other meetings scheduled before the posted 7:30 p.m. Special meeting of August 22nd. The receptionist called upstairs to the executive offices and reported that the only meeting was for the 22nd.

August 21st Special Meeting - Monday

The Board held an illegal meeting at six p.m. While the meeting was posted on the district web site, none of the other required notices were posted on any district building, including the Administration building. For some unexplained reason, the notice announcing Tuesday’s special 7:30 p.m. meeting of August 22nd had disappeared from the building.

August 22nd Special Meeting - Tuesday

Your reporter arrived at the district administration building at 7:25 in time for what he thought would be the calling to order of evening’s special Board meeting. Incredibly, the meeting had already begun. The notice on the administration building now announced that the meeting was to begin at 6:30 p.m., not the original 7:30 p.m. The notice on the district web site, announcing the meeting, had disappeared. When the meeting reconvened into open session, your reporter asked Ellerbe when they had changed the meeting time. Ellerbe remained silent, while the district’s renegade Records Access Officer and Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum, Tony Ciaglia, sat quietly with a smirk on his face.

When the District Clerk Bediako was asked why Monday’s meeting was not posted on the Administration building, she explained mistakenly, that "The meeting was posted on web site and that was all that was necessary."

In the parking lot, after the meeting, your reporter asked Board VP John Muscara why Monday’s meeting was not posted on the building saying, "Come on John, you know that notice should have been there." Muscara, exhibiting a newly found spirit of cooperation and respect for the law, replied, "I know it was supposed to be there. I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen again."