By Brian McBride
Associate Editor

Amid tension between two at-odds Osceola County School Board members, the governing body Tuesday – with the help of a state facilitator – worked on improving communication and relationships among its policy-setters.

It was the second such meeting in six months where board members were given the opportunity to open the lines of communication; Carolyn Kitchens, a Florida Association of School Boards facilitator, conducted the workshop.

Whether the workshop improved relations among some board members wasn’t exactly clear.

“Only time is going to tell if anything was accomplished,” School Board member Cindy Hartig said.

The workshop came after comments were made regarding Hartig by recently re-elected board member Jay Wheeler in an e-mail blast. Wheeler, who writes weekly personal and School Board updates and sends them to those who sign up for them, last week wrote that Hartig “needs to be under the care of a mental health professional.”

Wheeler further stated Hartig was “mean, unhappy and unbalanced,” and later told a WFTV broadcast news reporter in a segment that aired Oct. 5 that Hartig was “crazy.”

One of the issues, which Wheeler raised during the workshop, was that Hartig had made 29 public records requests of his e-mails.

When he asked if she was going to cease doing so, Hartig said she had made public records requests before being elected to the board and it was her right to continue doing so.

That didn’t sit well with Wheeler.

“Act like a board member!” he snapped at her.

A second major issue discussed was Hartig’s recent alleged interference in two separate cases between principals and parents and their children, not following the proper chain of School District command. Hartig claimed at the workshop that she tried to follow procedure, but that the principals involved were not honest with her or with parents.

Wheeler at the workshop accused Hartig of not trusting administrators to do their jobs.

“I would probably do that again if we are talking about the safety of a student,” Hartig said.

Kitchens quickly interjected and said the board’s only duty was policy-making and couldn’t flex its muscle outside of the boardroom. That, she said, was illegal.

Such reporting, Kitchens said, had to be handled systematically, with the superintendent being bought into the mix.

Superintendent Michael Grego said the School District is always trying to handle conflict better.

“I want you to feel comfortable that things are being taken care of,” Grego said.

Nationwide studies showed, Kitchens said, that when a board performs well with respect to its duties, the school district’s students also performed better. Some warning signs showing a School Board was losing sight of the district vision, she said, was when it begins to focus less on bettering students and more on adult issues.

“When there is not an open exchange of ideas, you have a problem,” Kitchens said. “You just have to figure it out how to make it work.”

Board member David Stone, who will be leaving the board in November after losing in the Aug. 24 election to challenger Barbara Horn, weighed in, saying members needed to “check their egos at the door.”

“It’s not about winning an argument, it’s about understanding what’s best,” he said.

On Wednesday, School Board Chairman John McKay said he believed that the conflict between Wheeler and Hartig might be headed to a resolution.

“I think some of it was put to bed last night,” he said.

The workshop did allow board members to realize that they need to hold each other to higher standards and that members need to work together better to avoid running off quality staff with its bickering, Wheeler said.

As for Hartig, Wheeler said he took nothing personal.

“I’m willing to move on,” he said. “I can put this behind me. There is a lot to be happy and joyful about (in the School District).

Hartig said she truly believed that Wheeler wanted a “dynamic board” but that the “ball was in his court.”

She said there had to be better dialogue.

“We might not agree, but at least we can understand each other,” she said.

McKay said that if he were re-elected in November, he’d like to see another team-building workshop around January.

“Just to keep on the top of the situation,” McKay said.