As I stood up to leave the Mineola School Board meeting of June 2, the woman in front of me grumbled disgustedly, "another night where people talk and talk and say nothing." Amen sister. Earlier, someone else said that in the hotly contested three months that preceded the election "no one said anything about the kids." Wait a minute...I attended my first school board meeting in outrage that the district would cut full-time teacher aides from the classroom to the detriment of the kids. I started asking questions and, as time went on, I was more and more appalled by what I learned. The problems start at the top. What I learned is that there is a consistent pattern of money being shifted out of the classrooms into the pockets of the administration. What I learned is that the district operates under a cloud of fear, intimidation and retaliation that seeks to keep "malcontents" (like me) quiet. I didn't speak up at last night's meeting because I wanted to hear the community speak. I heard good people argue as to whether the pre-schoolers or the high schoolers should bear the pain of budget cuts and user fees. How sad. I applauded the two school board members who voted a resounding "no" to the contingency budget, and who said that the voters should have had the chance to vote a second budget. Dissent! A hopeful sign. When I had asked at a budget hearing only two months ago whether the proposed budget (which I knew was a bad deal), could possibly be changed, I was met with a resounding "no."

Here goes folks: I believe that the superintendent has controlled our schools and our board for too long. A majority of the board is still under this control, thankfully, some are beginning to fight back, but this year it is too late. Sure, the superintendent is giving up about $10,000 of his own salary and perks, but it is also too little too late. It is still less than the over $15,000 he received in a car allowance alone in the first three years of this contract. This same board extended his contract for another five years - all while an assistant superintendent is charged with stealing almost $100,000 from the district under his watch. Nobody mentioned John Jackson last night - or that the administration's failure with regard to Jackson was the real cause of our defeated budget - and the cause of more loss to the kids. So the cycle goes on, the children will continue to pay the price for the flaws in our school governance. In my humble opinion, the biggest flaw is the iron fist that governs our administration, and sadly still, our school board.

Here is the last thing I learned: the community elects the board, who is supposed to represent us, not the wishes of the superintendent. The superintendent works for, and answers to, us - not the other way around.

Maria Bradley

(Note: Mineola School Board member John McGrath was initially the only trustee to vote against adopting a contingency budget. However, trustee Steve Siwinski did not vote for what was presented.)