By MIKE CAPUTO
On Oct. 28, the school board held a special meeting to address what have been described by the district as "allegations of impropriety" directed at Trustee Peggy McQuade-Kaplan. John Ryan, an independent attorney hired by the school board to investigate, detailed a variety of charges against McQuade-Kaplan at the meeting.
According to Ryan, McQuade-Kaplan allegedly missed 12 meetings during her first term, which violates a state education policy allowing a maximum of three absences for school board members. She was also charged with not completing a course in school finances - mandated for school board members across the state after an embezzlement scandal in the Roslyn school district in 2005 - and for not filing a required related-party questionnaire, Ryan said.
Ryan advised the Board of Education to hold a hearing that would give both sides an opportunity to present their cases. The school board voted 4-2 to hold the hearing, and later approved its scheduling for Nov. 17 at 6:30 p.m. in the Leon J. Campo Salisbury Center. McQuade-Kaplan has the right to request an adjournment, which could push the meeting back to December.
"We moved the process along, which is exactly what I wanted to get done today," said school board President Brian O'Flaherty. "I don't want to have any more delays. The quicker we get this behind us, the better off we will be."
McQuade-Kaplan, who was invited but not present at the special meeting, said she was being treated at St. Francis Hospital for a serious heart condition.
In a recent interview with the Herald, she maintained that most of her absences were from "impromptu" meetings that were not formally scheduled, and that she had valid medical and personal reasons to miss them. Several absences were attributable to religious observances or family commitments, she said. McQuade-Kaplan told the Herald on Tuesday that she believes the charges against her are discriminatory, and that she has been in contact with the state's Human Rights Commission to discuss possible action.
The allegations of "impropriety" against McQuade-Kaplan are a separate issue, according to school officials, but she said she believes the district is targeting her because of accusations that she tampered with last year's failed superintendent search. McQuade-Kaplan said she has asked various state agencies to conduct an investigation of the superintendent search, which ended without the hiring of a new leader for the district.
"A request for investigations has been made, and we are just awaiting a decision before we take other appropriate action," McQuade-Kaplan said.
Trustee Al Semonella, who voted against holding a hearing, said that McQuade-Kaplan was never given a chance to plead her case. "I have been involved with this since the beginning," Semonella said. "I called it a witch hunt before, and I will call it a witch hunt again. She was never given the proper forum to speak."
Semonella made repeated requests to speak in McQuade-Kaplan's defense during the special meeting, but was denied. O'Flaherty said the purpose of the meeting was to determine how to move forward, and that the hearing on Nov. 17 would allow interested parties to offer testimony.
McQuade-Kaplan has hired an attorney, but has not yet decided whether she will request an adjournment of the hearing. If the school board votes to remove her from her seat, she said, she will appeal the decision in court.
Trustee Abby Rothschild-Kaplan said she voted for the hearing so McQuade-Kaplan can be heard, and stressed that her colleague and "friend" must be "presumed innocent until proven guilty."
"We, the Board of Education, have a fiduciary responsibility to the entire community, as well as 8,000 children, to do the right thing for everyone concerned," Rothschild-Kaplan said at the meeting. "My hope is that Peggy can prove that all the allegations are false, and my vote tonight is to give her due process and allow her the right to a hearing. I was not elected to abstain or table motions, but to represent the entire community, and I feel that I am doing the right thing for everyone concerned."
East Meadow resident Donna LaScala said that school board members who violate board policies should be removed immediately. "They should learn the meaning and definition of the word 'trustee,' because inherent in that word is the word 'trust,' and it is not there," LaScala said. "It is obviously not there."
Like many other residents who attended the special meeting, LaScala expressed frustration with the situation. "This whole thing is aggravating this community to such a degree because they have wasted time, they have wasted money and they are not doing our children any good whatsoever," LaScala said. "The kids are being hurt and the taxpayers are being hurt. It's not fair."
Comments about this story? MCaputo@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 287.
