OXFORD – Approximately 600 residents of the Oxford Academy and Central School district voiced their collective concerns about the district’s top administrator last week, when a petition signed by those individuals was presented to the board of education.
The document was presented to school board President Robin DeBrita by Oxford resident Tom Emerson, who waited for nearly three and a half hours to be allowed the opportunity to speak before the board.
Before presenting the petition, Emerson acknowledged that the timing may seem like “closing the barn door after the horse has gotten out,” as the board had already taken action on the item which those who signed the document were so adamantly opposed.
Emerson and a group of other concerned citizens began circulating the petition earlier this year, in an effort to persuade the board to reject Superintendent Randy Squier’s bid for a contract extension. When they learned that the board intended to act on the personnel recommendation at their June 8 meeting, they presented the district’s governing body with a letter detailing their concerns and requesting that the board refrain from taking action on the contract until they received the petition at their July meeting.
The school board decided not to hold off on the item, however, and approved Squier’s new contract. Following that meeting, Emerson said, he and the others who signed the letter “received the board’s fairly lengthy response ... summarily dismissing (their concerns about Squier).”
Undeterred, the ad hoc group pressed on gathering signatures and further documenting their concerns.
“It may seem like beating a dead horse, but we feel there’s a responsibility to those who signed the petition to bring it to the board,” said Fred Bateman, a McDonough resident who helped circulate the petition and phrased the 13-page document presented with it, which detailed the events and situations which had sparked their original concerns.
Upon presenting the document on Aug. 24, Emerson asked the board to consider the community’s concerns and to take action on them by issuing a letter to the superintendent on or before Oct. 1 of this year expressing their intention not to further extend his contract. According to Emerson, an attorney by trade, the board is required to do so per Squier’s current employment agreement.
“We offer our help and our input if you choose to listen and honestly consider it,” he told the board.
DeBrita acknowledged receipt of the petition, and then invited any other community members who would like to speak on the topic to accompany the board into executive session. They had been advised by their legal counsel that they could do so, as the matter pertained to a specific employee’s performance.
Oxford residents Lori Law, Jim Tynan, Todd Hall and Liz Wonka, all signatories of the petition, elected to go into the closed session with the board, as did former board member Mark Roach.
Roach had already spoken during public comment about his belief that change was needed in the district and should be embraced by the community.
“We cannot maintain and accept the status quo,” he said, adding that Oxford could not, as a community, afford to lose sight of its focus on students. “I strongly believe that we are a district that is moving in the right direction.”
The group stayed in the executive session for over an hour. According to Tynan, who said he went into the closed session hoping to persuade the board to address the concerns raised in the petition, “it was a profitable meeting.”
“I think the board listened to us,” he reported. While he said he and the others left with a better understanding of the board’s perspective, Tynan said he is unsure how successful he and the others were at swaying the view of the board.
One thing they were able to reach a consensus on was the need for better communication between the district and its stakeholders.
“They are very open to more of this dialog,” Tynan said.