A Gary school advisory board member called Tuesday’s quarterly meeting “a sham” and contended the district’s state-appointed manager lacked the authority to schedule the meetings and determine whether they are virtual or in-person.
Akilia McCain, vice president of the advisory board urged her colleagues not to attend the meeting, but board president Robert Buggs said McCain never consulted him and he planned to attend the 5 p.m. meeting.
“I will be there and some parents will be there, too,” Buggs said Tuesday. He said district manager Paige McNulty canceled the meeting after receiving McCain’s email and later called him to say she would arrange for the meeting to be held in its usual location at the Gary Area Career Center.
McNulty, who typically offers school updates and reports to advisory board members along with chief financial officer Nicole Wolverton and chief academic officer Kimberly Bradley, apparently wasn’t planning on attending in person.
Chelsea Whittington, spokeswoman for the district, said concerns for safety due to the COVID-19 pandemic led the district to conduct larger community meetings virtually.
“Once it is safe to gather in larger groups, more meetings and events will be planned in which everyone can participate safely,” Whittington said.
McCain, the wife of Deputy Mayor Trent McCain, urged her colleagues to plan an in-person meeting on their own during the first week of October.
“Parents deserve an opportunity to redress their grievances in person,” McCain said. “The advisory board and Dr. McNulty have an obligation to sit there and listen.”
A 2018 state law stripped authority from the Gary School Board and vested it with the state Distressed Unit Appeal Board which contracted a private education management company, MGT Consulting, to run the district because of its shaky financial status.
The law allowed the advisory board to meet four times a year and fill its own vacancies. Voters elect members to the board, which has led to some confusion over its role.
Carole Carlson is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
