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Editorial by Rob Alway, Editor-in-Chief
Mason County Central voters face some serious choices at the ballot box on Nov. 5 when it comes to deciding who will be on the Board of Education. One of the candidates, Nicole Birkett, is an employee of the union that represents the school district’s teaching staff. I am sure her intentions are positive but it just doesn’t quite sit right.
Think about this. If elected, she would be sitting on the board that is trusted to represent you, the taxpayers, and make decisions that are in your best interest and, of course, the best interest of the children of our school district. This includes negotiating teachers’ salaries and benefits along with hiring, disciplining and possibly firing teachers. It also includes hiring, disciplining and possibly firing administrators and other staff as well.
While Birkett has stated that she would recuse herself from being involved in such processes that appear to be a conflict of interest, those areas are a major part of what the board of education does. Additionally, while she may not be assigned to a specific committee dealing with such tasks, at some point the entire board of education has to make a determination. This often happens in closed session where privileged information is discussed.
One of the Board of Education write-in candidates is Oscar Davila. His day job is working as chief road patrol deputy for the Mason County Sheriff’s Office. Would you see a conflict of interest if Mr. Davila decided he wanted to run for the County Commission? By the way, that’s something he can’t do, because his employer has rules and policies against such actions.
The Michigan Education Association, however, apparently does not have such rules and policies.
Thomas Morgan, spokesman for the MEA had this to say: “Much like any other local elected official who is employed by an entity or vendor that the public body contracts with, a school board member whose day job is with the Michigan Education Association would not take part in contract negotiations related to MEA members, nor would they vote on such contracts or employment matters involving MEA members, such as disciplinary issues. School board members have many responsibilities beyond employment issues, and she would carry out those duties like any other board member.”
The local Mason County Central Education Association president, Becky Gerhardt, did not respond to questions from MCP nor did Judy Bussey, the local MEA director.
Birkett said: “I would abstain from any votes regarding staff discipline or union agreements, including contract ratifications. However, I would be happy to offer my assistance in researching, communicating, and/or providing any insights I might have from my time working in and for public education.”
The conflict of interest has already caused an issue and there hasn’t even been an election. Recently, Birkett sent out a questionnaire, on behalf of the MEA, to the other three candidates for MCC Board of Education. The candidates were asked to fill out the questionnaires and return them to Birkett — as an MEA representative — so they could be passed along with the local MCC teacher’s union.
Do you see a conflict of interest here?
Now, here’s where voters in the MCC school district need to be vigilant. The other person whose name appears on the ballot is Nicole Sherretz. So, there are two candidates named Nicole on the ballot. Only two names will appear on the ballot but there are three seats. There are two other candidates running as write-in candidates: Stephanie Stakenas and Oscar Davila. When you are voting, choose wisely and review the Q&A that was posted in the MCP. You can read that here.
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