From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
The Milwaukee School Board agreed Tuesday night to let the clock run out on the question of whether one of its members, Charlene Hardin, should be censured for how she handled a trip to Philadelphia on public funds nine months ago.
The board voted 7-1 to accept a report by a private attorney hired by the board as evidence on the face of it that Hardin violated board rules - although the report was not made public.
Eight months after Journal Sentinel columnist Dan Bice reported that Hardin and a secretary from the Milwaukee High School of the Arts went to Philadelphia for a conference on school safety but did not take part in any of the substantial parts of the event, board members said there wasn't enough time for the process of censuring Hardin to run its course. The trip cost about $2,500.
Board President Peter Blewett said accepting the report by Milwaukee lawyer Dan Vliet was the strongest action the board could take at this point. "The report is a censure," he said.
Yeah, yeah, the report is a censure. Sure it is. Whatever.
...Vliet's report was presented too late for a hearing to be scheduled on censuring Hardin, Blewett said, and a hearing is required before action is taken.
"The board has done what it can," Blewett said. "I'm disappointed that Director Hardin still has not given her side of the story."
Board member Tim Petersons was the one member who voted against accepting Vliet's report. He said later he still wanted to push to schedule a hearing before Hardin's term ends.
Several board members expressed frustration about the slow pace of action on the Hardin matter.
Blewett said the district attorney's office asked that no action be taken by the board until it completed an investigation.
...Board member Jeff Spence said the issue was bigger than Hardin's trip.
"This is about whether or not the public can trust a public body to do its work," he said. "The public is expecting us to do our business in a way that is respectful of them."
He asked, "What does that say to the public" if the board can't take action on the Hardin censure.
If members think they've spared the board embarrassment by avoiding the issue of Hardin's censure, they're wrong.
Spence is right. The issue is bigger than Hardin's trip. That may be why the board just wants the whole matter, and Hardin, to go away.
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