VB School Board meets in closed session to try to get Frazier to quit

About 50 members of the public had to wait two hours before the Van Buren Public Schools Board of Education finally started its special session to rescind the May 3 election.
When the meeting opened at 7 p.m., the board immediately left the room for a closed-door session with its attorney, which appeared to be a session to try to get Trustee Sherry Frazier to resign from the board.
As reason for the closed door, the agenda cited Open Meetings Act Section 8(a): “To consider the dismissal, suspension, or disciplining of, or to hear complaints or charges brought against, or to consider a periodic personnel evaluation of, a public officer, employee, staff member, or individual agent, if the named person requests a closed hearing…”
This seemed to be in response to a Jan. 28 argument between Frazier and School Supt. Michael Van Tassel, who called police complaining that Frazier was going to attack him. A week later Van Tassel told police he would not prosecute.
After about an hour behind closed doors, Trustee Frazier came out of the meeting and took her place at the empty board table. The audience applauded her.
She shook her head at the applause and said, “It didn’t go well, but I’m not going to take it anymore. I am going to say it in public. This is not about me. It’s about doing what is best for the Van Buren students.”
A woman in the audience added, “… and staff,” and Frazier nodded her head.
As time wore on, former school board Trustee Scott Russell sat down in a chair next to Frazier at the vacant board table and they chatted until the board returned about an hour later.
As members of the audience talked to each other and milled around, parent spokesman Rick Rytman got up and addressed the audience, suggesting when they start making statements to the board to let every statement be heard.
“Don’t holler and clap even if you want to or they’ll use that to shut it down,” Rytman said and Pam Johnson called him a “bully.”
“She called me a bully, in public,” Rytman said in surprise. Later, he said that comment shows what happens here: If you speak your mind, you get called names.
Johnson is the secretary to School Supt. Mike Van Tassel and for that evening’s meeting she moved her desk from the audience, where it has been located for years, to a far corner of the room against the wall behind the board table.
During the two-hour closed-door session when people were talking to each other and walking around the room, Johnson repeatedly sent text messages to someone the audience assumed was her boss who did not attend that night’s meeting.
After almost an hour had passed, the new editions of the Independent, that had been printed a few hours earlier, were distributed to the audience. Johnson had banned all Independents from the administration building some months back, but she said nothing about the newspapers being distributed.
When the board reconvened at about 9:06 p.m., president Mikulski invited members of the audience to make comments.
Michael Gentz questioned why a Tele-Town Hall had been set up instead of another session with an open floor like the one held at the auditorium on the gun issue. He asked how much it was costing the district and Mikulski said he would have to ask the superintendent. Gentz said he would be unable to attend the Tele-Town Hall and asked if information gleaned there will close discussion on certain matters. Mikulski said there are things they can’t discuss.
Mike Campbell, band teacher at BHS, spoke much longer than speakers are generally allowed, praising Supt. Van Tassel, calling him a person with extremely high ethics and vision. He said he never had a more thorough evaluation than when Van Tassel did it and then he spent a whole period giving him tips on how to improve his teaching. “And, it’s not just because I am band director.” (Members of the audience laughed at that statement because Van Tassel spent many years as the VBPS band director.) Campbell said Van Tassel raised the bar for teaching.
Tony Spitznagel asked if his child does well on her tests does that mean her teachers will get fired? He got no answer and he asked about the superintendent’s abscence. Mikulski said the superintendent “wasn’t available tonight.” He asked about why a person inside this [administration] building was calling for a boycott of a local business and was not reprimanded. [He obviously referred to Pam Johnson who put the suggestion to boycott Egan’s Pub on Facebook because one of the owners spoke up at a meeting.] Spitznagel said Detroit Public Schools are hurting for money and they are not calling for boycotts of local businesses.
“Nobody wants to step up and do the right thing,” Spitznagel said.
Amy Pierce, who said she had three kids in the district with the youngest in Gifted and Talented at Savage. She said the Van Buren Schools are an exceptional learning environment right in her backyard. She questioned why any parents would take their students to other schools. She spoke of her frequent conversations with Supt. Van Tassel and said last week she shared with him her daughter’s college entrance essay. Pierce said the district is in a “stagnant state of disarray” and, “We cannot afford any more of this.” She talked about the many news stories about the district and said, “The press doesn’t care about us. It’s our problem to solve as a community.”
A man called out, “How do you get Van Tassel to talk to you?”
Rick Rytman also asked for the cost of the Tele-Town Hall and noted that there are two sides to the current situation, with one side saying “everything’s wonderful” and the other saying, “something’s horribly wrong.”
He said they don’t want to be pointing fingers but to do something about it. He asked if a full investigation was done at Savage before the report was sent to the state. He said he understands the investigation is ongoing and maybe it will find the report isn’t as accurate as was thought. He said other people, including some of those in the audience, may have information that would help.
“Be sure to give due process,” he said. “Did it rise to the level of cheating or they just didn’t follow standards and it didn’t rise to the level of cheating?”
Philip Miller, who said he was a graduate of BHS, spoke of the state of the schools’ personnel and their effect on the community. He said the administrative bodies give glowing reports of education in the Van Buren Schools, but the district is in the bottom one-third of performance in the region and even fails to meet the middle of the pack. He said the scores and the controversy drags the entire tax base of the community down.
He pointed out that the members of the crowd in the room waited for two hours to hear what the board has to say. Miller said Van Tassel has a multiple-year contract and the value of his contract is honored if he is dismissed. In a few months his contract will be extended for another year if the board does nothing to stop it.
“Does this board still have confidence in this superintendent?” Miller asked. “Make it public. It’s incumbent upon you to decide.”
He said the board conglomerated in clear violation of the Open Meetings Act to write a letter that accuses the public of being embarrassing. He said the problems have come to light because of a series of gaffes, including the gun in school, bomb threats, and teachers taken off their jobs.
Miller said the board needs to come up with answers and not just be covering up for the superintendent.
“Be real. Get this shit done!” he concluded. The crowd erupted in applause.
Kim Kowalski said she has been looking at board minutes and on June 15, 2015 Diane Kullis gave a report on NWEA test data and said the math and reading scores showed significant growth. There were questions in the minutes from members of the audience asking how the tests were administered and who monitored the tests. Jeff Moore stated, “There is no way to beat the test.”
There was nothing in the minutes about M-Step until Nov. 9. She asked at what point was the board told of the M-Step results. She noted that some of Van Tassel’s letters on line aren’t dated.
Mikulski said the school district got the results in October.
Kowalski asked when the board got a report on the test held in May and Mikulski said the board never had a formal report.
“When was the board informed?” Kowalski pressed and Mikulski said he didn’t remember.
A teacher in the audience told the Independent that the school district first got information in July on the test that was held in May.
Another man, sitting on the floor in the audience with others asked questions about the Savage PTSO clique.
At the very end of the meeting, as Mikulski asked for a motion to adjourn, Frazier said she had a statement.
“As your elected official, I have always respected two-way communication,” Frazier said. “I will continue to serve on this board. A formal statement will be available at the next board meeting.”
The next meeting is set for 7 p.m., Monday, Feb. 22, at the BHS cafeteria.