By MIKE CAPUTO
She was accused of what the school board has termed "allegations of impropriety."
McQuade-Kaplan, who was represented by Attorney Robert Manners of Westbury, plans to appeal the school board's decision before state Commissioner of Education Richard Mills.
Manners, who said he was retained by McQuade-Kaplan a half-hour before the hearing started, made the adjournment request just before the school board began the voting process. Board President Brian O'Flaherty denied Manners's request, and suggested that he pursue an appeal for his client.
"We can't grant it - you can't show up last minute," O'Flaherty said. "I don't think it is fair. I don't think it's fair to the taxpayers."
McQuade-Kaplan, who did not attend the meeting, told the Herald on Monday that she never received an official letter of notification on the charges and the hearing. As a result, she said, neither she nor an attorney was properly prepared for a defense. "I was not served," she said. "I waited to be served."
District officials, who were required to notify McQuade-Kaplan within 10 days of the hearing, contended that she was properly informed. A district employee filed a sworn affidavit that he hand-delivered a notification letter to an adult at her address on Oct. 29, 19 days before the hearing.
The school board is required to wait 30 days before appointing a replacement to fill the vacated seat. The status of a potential appointee would depend on the education commissioner's ruling on any appeal by McQuade-Kaplan. In the past, Mills has both upheld and reversed trustee removals.
John Ryan, an attorney hired by the school board to investigate the allegations against McQuade-Kaplan, presented evidence and several witnesses in support of the five charges against her. The first three charges state that she committed "misconduct and/or conduct unbecoming a board member."
According to the first charge, McQuade-Kaplan missed 12 meetings, including four consecutive unexplained absences from May 22 to June 29. In past interviews with the Herald, McQuade-Kaplan maintained that most of her absences were from "impromptu" meetings that were not formally scheduled, and that she had notified the district of medical and personal reasons to excuse her from them.
The second accusation specified that McQuade-Kaplan did not complete three of five required financial courses within a one-year time frame. The charge also noted that McQuade-Kaplan did not submit an expense report related to the courses, and did not reimburse the district for certain expenditures. She has claimed that heavy traffic forced her to initially miss three of the courses, while medical, personal and school board responsibilities prevented her from completing them at a later date. She also contended that the district never informed her of the amount of expenses she incurred.
More charges were added after the allegations were initially addressed in an internal auditor's report released in July. The third detailed McQuade-Kaplan's apparent failure to return a related-party disclosure questionnaire required by the auditor. The fourth accusation stated that McQuade-Kaplan "publicly disclosed confidential and executive session information of the board," which led to the failure of a superintendent search that cost the district more than $30,000.
The final charge, added late last month, accused McQuade-Kaplan of an "abuse of power" when she verbally threatened a field hockey coach at Woodland Middle School. McQuade-Kaplan vehemently denied the incident and said she is suing the coach and Woodland Principal James Lethbridge for libel.
Superintendent Leon Campo testified as a witness on the fourth charge, while Woodland Middle School officials appeared for the fifth accusation.
The school board vote on four of the five charges was 6-0, and on one it was 5-1. There were long stretches of silence as the trustees voted on each charge, and then, when the hearing was adjourned, most members of the audience packed inside the Leon J. Campo Salisbury Center burst into applause.
Afterward, school board members appeared glum. O'Flaherty explained that the decision to vacate McQuade-Kaplan's seat was difficult, but necessary. "It is a sad thing when you have to remove a board member because of the charges, but we need to get on with the educational program and business of the district," he said. "Those are the two priorities right now, and hopefully this is behind us."
Trustee Steve Jacobs expressed bewilderment at the defense attorney's late appearance, and said the school board was left without a choice. "It was unfortunate that the attorney for Peggy McQuade-Kaplan appeared at the end of the proceedings, indicating that he was retained a half hour before the meeting started to request an adjournment without specifics," Jacobs said. "Brian O'Flaherty took the correct action and denied that request.
"As much as it pains me, because I view the McQuade-Kaplan family as friends," Jacobs added, "we really had no choice but to follow the evidence, follow the law and make the decision."
Dawn Kennedy, a Clarke PTSA co-president, said that the removal should be final, and that an appeal would only create additional angst in the community. "We don't respect her anymore," Kennedy said of McQuade-Kaplan. "You need a person that is involved and comes to every single meeting."
Pat Brace, also a Clarke PTSA co-president, said she hopes the school board can now get back to its regular duties. "We didn't need to waste over $31,000 on the [superintendent] search, let alone time and effort put into just investigating this matter when we should be working on leaks, the quality of tracks and sports facilities, the education, the testing and everything else we need to work on for the children," Brace said.
McQuade-Kaplan said she hoped to file an appeal with State Education Commissioner Mills by the end of the week.
"It was a very egregious act on their part," she said of her removal. "Now I am relieved that I can finally let the community know exactly what goes on and what went on."
Comments about this story? MCaputo@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 287.
