Flyer could lead to disciplinary action

Sept. 26, 2006

By Michael Rovito

Frontiersman

PALMER - A Mat-Su School District employee is facing disciplinary action after distributing what the district calls political literature through the school's mail system, reaching teachers and other district employees, a school official said Tuesday.

Chief school administrator Bob Doyle said the flyers are political in nature, and therefore cannot be distributed in teacher mailboxes.

&#8220It's trying to influence the outcome of the election, which is inappropriate,” Doyle said.

The documents were distributed by a building representative from the Matanuska Susitna Education Association, Doyle said. The teacher's union typically has a representative in each building who keeps employees up to date on union events.

Doyle refused to name the employee, because the investigation is ongoing.

George Stuart, MSEA president, said the documents only made it into the mailboxes at the district building for an hour due to an oversight by the building representative.

When told the school district was looking into taking disciplinary measures and had reported the incident to the Alaska Public Offices Commission, Stuart said he was unaware the document had created that much controversy.

&#8220We (are) very careful to do it after the school day,” Stuart said, referring to what he said is the time allowed to distribute such documents.

The document includes an excerpt of an e-mail conversation between school board member Cheryl Turner and the husband of an unnamed teacher. Written in black ink at the top of the flyer is the sentence, &#8220Cheryl Turner is on School Board. She supports Tamie Miller.”

Stuart said the e-mail was provided to the union by the man with whom Turner was corresponding and, he said, shows Turner's position on outsourcing.

The district last year decided to contract janitorial services, a move that was controversial.

The MSEA supports school board candidates Jim Colver and Sarah Welton, Stuart said, and released the documents to show Turner and candidate Donald Zoerb's positions on certain issues.

According to the documents, in the e-mail Turner said that, because of increasing costs, the district was forced to outsource &#8220laborious duties” into the private sector.

&#8220They can do the job and provide an income suitable to the responsibilities being asked,” Turner wrote.

Turner also stated in the e-mail that she hopes to switch the nutrition services department to the private sector as well.

Turner said by phone Tuesday that the e-mail conversation was edited and put on the flyer without her knowledge. Her frustration was apparent as she described the history between herself and the teachers union.

&#8220I'm sick to death of this,” Turner said. &#8220I wish these people would lay off. I'm only one vote.”

Turner said this isn't the first time the union has come at her over various issues, citing past mailings from MSEA with no return address bashing her.

Other pages of the flyer show recommendations from the Audit and Finance Advisory Committee, with the phrase &#8220Donald Zoerb is in this committee,” scrawled at the top.

The committee, which Zoerb - a candidate for school board - has sat on for three years, is made up of a small group of local financial executives who identify issues and make recommendations, Zoerb said. The document featured on the flyer deals with privatization, incentive-based compensations, unfunded PERS/TRS liability, life insurance and vacation accruals.

Zoerb said Tuesday that he found out about the flyers that morning and thinks there may have been a lapse of judgment leading to their distribution. He added that he is not holding anything against union president George Stuart, who school officials say authorized the distribution of the flyers.

&#8220I know George somewhat,” Zoerb said. &#8220He strikes me as a good, straight shooter.”

The school district will turn its attention to an investigation into exactly what happened and why.

&#8220We're going to have a follow-up meeting with the head of the union and the employee,” Doyle said.

An official from the Alaska Public Offices Commission said the office had determined the documents do not appear political in nature and have recommend the district handle the matter internally.

Contact Michael Rovito at 352-2252 or michael.rovito@frontiersman.com.