HODGDON, Maine — An employee grievance between SAD 70 and one of its school bus drivers was denied by the school board Monday evening following a lengthy executive session.
The school board voted 8-2, with one abstention to uphold the denial of grievance, based on discretion given to the superintendent to alter bus routes found in Article 4, Section 2 of the Teamsters’ contract. Board members Maureen Friel, Jared Carter, Mark Ganzel, Tom Horton, Angela Howland, Estela Lane, Tracy Rockwell and Darlene Theriault voted in favor of the measure, while board members Gordon Ledger and Joel Oliver opposed. Board member Lisa Dangerfield abstained.
Details of the grievance were not discussed in open session and neither the administration, nor the school board has commented on the matter as it involves employees in the district.
However, on the social media website Facebook, bus driver Clarissa Porter posted photos stating she was removed from a bus run by a school board member and was seeking to be reinstated to her original bus route. Early Tuesday morning, Porter posted a photo thanking people for their support.
Porter did not speak at Monday’s meeting and could not be reached by presstime to comment on the matter.
At Monday evening’s school board meeting, about 40 people, including many children, attended with several individuals speaking during the public comments section of the agenda. Prior to the comments being made, Lane, the board chairman, spelled out the guidelines for making comments and stated only items that were on the agenda were open for discussion.
“I know many of you are here for the public comment time, but there are some parameters,” Lane said. “You can comment on things that are on the agenda. We ask that you refrain from making comments that might be considered gossip. We ask you not to make derogatory remarks about others and to not use any kind of vulgar language.
“We will not be discussing anything that is part of the executive session or grievance,” Lane added.
Despite Lane’s specifying the rules of public comments, those in attendance used the opportunity to address the Porter situation anyway.
“I am here on behalf of Clarissa Porter and getting her original (bus) run back,” said Jennifer Little of Linneus. “I feel she is a very good bus driver. When my children first started going to Mill Pond, they hated riding the bus. Clarissa eased their minds.”
Hal Britton of Houlton, a substitute bus driver for the district, relayed a story of a young boy who rode on his bus that was eager to get to school to have breakfast.
“A minute or two (waiting) here or there makes an awful difference to the students who are hungry,” Britton said. “That is why there is writing in there (district policy) that says a bus doesn’t have to wait.”
Lane cut Britton off stating he was “getting very close to what you shouldn’t be talking about during public comments.”
Terry Dangerfield tried to address the board, acknowledging that he was the individual that made the complaint and started to state his case for why the complaint was made. Lane stopped the conversation and closed the public comment portion of the meeting.
In other agenda items, the school board:
• Agreed to raise hot lunch prices, at the request of the state, to $2.35 at Mill Pond School and $2.60 at Hodgdon High School. The increase is 10 cents over last year’s prices. Teachers meals will be $3.85.
• Listened to a presentation from teacher Lura Griffin on how the district was using technology with its “Response To Intervention” program.
• Learned that Joe Fagnant had been selected as the Jobs for Maine Grads instructor for the district.
The next regular meeting of the SAD 70 school board is scheduled for Monday, Aug. 11 at 7 p.m.