Sparks Fly Over D99 Nepotism Policy

The decision to table discussion of changes to the district's nepotism policy caused tensions to mount during Monday night's board meeting, leading to heated exchanges between board members during and after the meeting.

Towards the end of the meeting, Board President Bill White used his authority to remove the item from the meeting's agenda. White said he was pulling the agenda item until the district's attorneys were present and all seven members of the board had been brought up to speed on the policy. Only two members of the current board were on the board the last time changes were made to the policy in 2009.

“For any particular board member to make a substantive comment regarding the proposed policy change before all seven of us are on the same page is inappropriate and premature,” White said.

The move was contested by fellow board member Terry Pavesich, who felt she had the right to voice her opinion on the matter. White replied that if Pavesich was allowed to make a comment, other board members would also have the right to reply, and the point of pulling the agenda item was to avoid a discussion on the policy without the district's attorneys being present.

Pavesich questioned the need for attorneys to be present in order to discuss the item and further questioned the need for the policy to be addressed at all. White replied the question was irrelevant until all of the board members were working with the same background information on the matter.

“It is my opinion that five members of this board are incapable of answering that question without being briefed by our attorney regarding the original policy,” White said. “That is my opinion and I'm standing by it.”

After the meeting, Pavesich remained incensed by what she perceived as a “gag” order by White, Triblocal reports.

According to Triblocal, Pavesich commented on board vice president Debbie Boyle and board member Keith Matune's perceived conflicts of interest. Boyle's brother is the head football coach at , and according to Pavesich, Matune is a member of a teachers union which she feels can indirectly be construed as a personal financial gain.

Triblocal also reports Pavesich “berated Boyle with a profanity-laced comment” in the presence of the superintendent, board members and a reporter after the meeting. Boyle refused to comment directly on what Pavesich said.

If changes were made to the policy, board members would still be unable to vote or discuss matters that could be considered a conflict of interest. However, the changes to the policy would remove a requirement that forces board members to disclose any relatives they may have that are employed by the district.