The Future of RIH: October's Board Meeting and the Crucial Election Ahead

There were several interesting developments at the October 16 RIH Board meeting.

Block scheduling: Block scheduling was pulled from the agenda. Dr. Dionisio explained during his update that he pulled it to provide more time for the district to plan for the initiative. Marianna Emmolo gave a different story, stating that it was discussed in the Negotiations Committee, and that the proposal was pulled due to 'divergence of opinion within the Board', and that her committee members (Sullivan, Ansh, Emmolo, Mariani) needed more information such as detailed financial and legal analysis. It is incredibly disappointing that all the conversation about Block Scheduling happened behind closed doors. Who loses out? Members of the public who didn’t get a chance to hear the proposal recommended by the Strategic Plan OR the Board members questions, and ultimately the students, for whom new ideas for improving academics were shot down before they even saw the light of a public presentation.

Superintendent Hiring: The Board voted 5-4 to hire Dr. James Baker as the Interim Superintendent from November 2023 through June 2024. Dr. Baker is a seasoned Superintendent with many years of experience. Tom Bogdansky, Brian DeLaite, Aaron Lorenz, Vivian King and Helen Koulikourdis voted YES. President Judy Sullivan, VP Kim Ansh, Mariana Emmolo and Doreen Mariani voted NO. Bringing in a Superintendent, even an Interim one, with a 5-4 vote is a very disturbing sign for the incoming administrator, who apparently does not have the support of current Board leadership. The transition looks to get off to a bumpy start.

At the end of the meeting, Judy Sullivan made a motion (for the third time in the last three months) to start the process to hire a Superintendent Search firm. For the third time, the motion FAILED. Four YES votes (Sullivan, Ansh, Emmolo and Mariani) voted to hire a search firm now, and five NO votes (Bogdansky, DeLaite, Lorenz, King and Koulikourdis) voted not to hire a search firm now.

To me it makes perfect sense for the new Board seated in January, led by a new President, to start the process to select and hire a search firm and ultimately a Superintendent. Listen to the Board's discussion on this (Link in comment below).

Lack of Support for Judy Sullivan as President: If you read between the lines, you will see something else going on here as well. It is clear that Judy Sullivan is desperately trying to control the Superintendent hiring process while she is still on the Board, as she keeps making motions to push the process forward, even though her motions keep failing. And there are five Board members firmly committed to waiting for a new Board under new leadership.

The drama that transpired during the meeting supports this.

Remember the meeting of September 11, when four Board members (DeLaite, Lorenz, King and Koulikourdis) voted to remove Judy Sullivan as Board President, and Tom Bogdansky gave a long pause before he voted to keep her in place (ultimately being the swing vote which kept her holding the gavel).

At the October 16 meeting, Mr. Bogdansky read a harsh statement about the tremendous damage to our district caused by the dysfunction on the Board this year, and he apologized for his role in it. A short time later, he literally stated “I so want to change my vote” (to remove Ms. Sullivan as President). (links in comments below)

So clearly, a five member majority of the Board does not TRUST and support their President. And that is an excellent reason to postpone the search for a permanent Superintendent, in hopes that this Board will be less dysfunctional under a new leader.

There is a lot at stake in the upcoming election.

Audrey Souders, Melissa Kiel, and Jared Geist have firmly aligned themselves with and are publicly supported by the disruptors like Judy Sullivan and Kim Ansh.

Vivian King, Amy Eilert and Brian DeLaite have clearly aligned themselves with respect for our district administration and proper boardmanship.

The outcome of this election will not only determine who hires the new leader for our district, it will determine the tenor, tone and direction that our school district will take going forward.

Do not support disruptors who will continue down the path of destruction.

I implore you to cast a thoughtful and informed vote.

Video of Bogdansky statement about the damage this Board has done to our district:

Video of Bogdansky I so wanna change my vote:

Video of the Board's discussion on hiring a Superintendent search firm: