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Yelling, a threat and profanity audible during closed-door session

Thursday, July 18, 2002

By Carmen J. Lee and Eleanor Chute, Post-Gazette Education Writers

In their first meeting since three foundations suspended funding, Pittsburgh Board of Education members worked hard last night to be on their best behavior.

It lasted about two hours.

	Schools superintendent John Thompson answers questions from board president Jean Fink last night. (Martha Rial, Post-Gazette)

Then, the board went into a private personnel session, and the decorum disappeared.

Yelling, a threat and profanity could be heard through the closed doors in a scene reminiscent of the more public battles that had led the Grable Foundation, The Heinz Endowments and the Pittsburgh Foundation to decide last week that they were withholding more than $3.5 million to the school district until the board members and Superintendent John Thompson could learn to get along better.

The personnel session began quietly enough, but after about a half hour, an argument broke out over a recommendation Thompson had made on a job candidate.

Board member Randall Taylor, a member of the minority faction on the sharply divided board, could be heard arguing with other members that Thompson should be allowed to hire whom he wants to head the district's Literacy Plus program. The program's director resigned recently, in part because of her dismay at board members' recent behavior.

Taylor also yelled that other members were "in denial" and expressed dismay over a recent New York Times article on the district's difficulties.

Outside the meeting, Taylor said he was frustrated that majority faction members tried to scuttle the Thompson candidate and said it showed they were engaging in "more of the same type of micromanaging" that they been guilty of in the past.

The majority members didn't take Taylor's accusations quietly.

Board President Jean Fink could be heard during the closed meeting saying, "Bullshit, Randall," and at one point adding, "Should I dump this water on your head to get your attention?"

	Board President Jean Fink raises a question at last night's meeting. At left is Vice President Darlene Harris. (Martha Rial, Post-Gazette)

The meeting ended about five or 10 minutes after the noisy argument began.

Thompson declined to comment when he left the meeting.

Board member Darlene Harris, another majority faction member, said the meeting had been calm until Taylor "went wild."

"How do you work together when you can't even talk?" she complained.

In the parking lot after the meeting, Fink said she was "baffled" by Taylor's remarks, and said board members had simply questioned Thompson about his recommendation when Taylor launched his attack.

"What happened shouldn't go on. It happens periodically. It was uncalled for," she said.

The tone had been much calmer hours earlier at the public agenda review meeting.

The board was even buoyed by some good news about a federal grant.

Staff member Sandra Stewart told the board that the district has won an additional $4 million in federal money for the Head Start program, enabling it to provide the program in the North Side, West End and Southwest regions of the city.

That means the city school district will receive a total of $9 million a year for Head Start preschool program and be able to offer it to about 500 more children and their families, bringing the total to 1,300.

The board was under especially close scrutiny last night from reporters, photographers and television camera operators because of the foundations' unprecedented action and Mayor Tom Murphy's followup announcement that he would set up a task force of business executives, university officials and financial experts to work on improving educational quality and leadership in the city schools.

Thompson set the tone of the meeting. Dressed in a blue-gray suit, light blue shirt and burgundy tie and pocket handkerchief, he was as crisp and professional as his attire.

"We'd like to start with the Pittsburgh-Mount Oliver Intermediate Unit agenda first. Is that all right, Madame President?" he asked Fink.

When that discussion was finished, Thompson looked at her again and said, "Madame President, that concludes the Pittsburgh-Mount Oliver Intermediate Unit agenda. We'd now like to start on the committee on education."

Even though board members made efforts not to wrangle, that didn't mean they'd turned over a new leaf.

Harris, who makes no apologies for her habit of asking a lot of questions during board committee meetings, stayed true to form last night.

Her rhythm was interrupted only once when she had to chuckle and ask Thompson, "Could you let someone else ask questions and come back to me while I fix my glasses?"

Majority member Theresa Colaizzi, also known for her pointed questioning, bore in on Thompson about his plans for another employee rally to mark the beginning of the school year, similar to one the district conducted last year at Mellon Arena.

"I asked you in February if you had intentions of doing that again and I never got an answer," Colaizzi said, turning to Thompson. "How is it going to be paid for, if we are paying for it? This is all new to me and I'd appreciate an answer."

Thompson leaned forward, closed his eyes and put his forehead in his hands before finally answering in a deliberate tone: "We are planning a back-to-school event on Aug. 30. All the funding used will be outside money. I thought you had received the information ..."

Fink remained calm until she reached an item that showed the district was committed to paying a group of college teaching interns $6,000 stipends instead of $5,000, the amount in a contract she had signed.

It turned out that district principals as a group had asked for the increase so they could be more competitive with other school districts, but the change hadn't been brought before the board.

"Other people in the district can't go off making promises, not in the contract," Fink said angrily. "Somewhere along the line, someone screwed up, ladies and gentlemen. ... This is how we get ourselves in trouble."

Minority faction members Mark Brentley Sr. and Taylor pointed out the college students were expecting $6,000.

"I ask you, Madame President, to keep the amount at $6,000. Let's not put a cloud over this great program. We can add a few extra dollars," Brentley said.

"I'm not trying to put a cloud over anything," Fink said. "I can't just ignore a contract. I'm not sure how legally we resolve this. I guess there were too many hands in the soup."

That was Fink's only flareup until the personnel session -- which returned the board to the behavior it has become infamous for.