July 30th, 2013 by WCBC Radio
Calling the August 5th deadline set by the Allegany County Commissioners an “arbitrary date” – Board of Education member Mike Llewellyn did say that he hopes the two sides can avoid ending up in court over their latest dispute. The current debate centers on how much access to closed/or executive school board sessions should be available to the ex-officio member. The position, since it was created in the 1970’s, is occupied by a sitting County Commissioner and is currently held by Commissioner Bill Valentine. Some school board members aren’t comfortable with the commissioner sitting in on student hearings and personnel issues, while the commissioners maintain that the laws on the books make no such restrictions on the seat. A letter from the commissioners forcing the issue was sent to the school board last week, indicating that if the issue isn’t resolved by August 5th- the county will pursue legal action against the board. Llewellyn says that he believes there might be other laws in the state that may dictate exactly who can and cannot sit in on certain sensitive issues involving students and personnel. Bottom line, he says, is that there is no desire to go to court- and that he hopes ongoing talks between County Attorney Bill Rudd and School Board Attorney Gary Hanna can lead to a workable compromise…
.jpg)
