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John Kalish addressed the School Board during Tuesday's meeting. PHOTO/KEN JACKSON
The Osceola County School Board voted Tuesday to censure Board member Jon Arguello, based on the findings of an investigation into harassing comments he made against the head of a local charity and frequent School District business partner.
By a 3-2 vote, the Board agreed to send the findings of an investigation brought by A Hero For Kids’ John Kalish to the Governors’ Office for review.
It’s the second such finding against Arguello that’s going to Tallahassee. On Feb. 1, he was censured after an investigation found he breached Board rules regarding conduct toward a School District vendor.
There were multiple requests from the public, including Kalish, the person who asked for the investigation, to send the findings to the Governor. Kalish brought the 1,000 pages of interviews and evidence in the case, and asks the findings be sent to the State Attorney’s Office and Florida Department of Law Enforcement for possible criminal investigation.
There were four other investigations involving Arguello brought up Tuesday, two against him and two he brought. In each, investigators found insufficient evidence that School District rule 2.70, which governs most forms of harassment and malfeasance, was broken. The Board voted to officially closed those inquiries.
The arbitrator did find that Arguello violated a separate District rule, Policy 2.20, which prohibits exerting undue influence to district employees, when he investigated the impending retirement situation of a longtime maintenance employee. Mark Cavinee asked for much the same Kalish did – an investigation for criminal activity.
“The evidence suggest he violated numerous rules,” Cavinee said, noting Arguello’s conduct could lead to further legal action against the School District.
As he has often done at Board meetings, Arguello had the last word during the meeting, reading a statement he said he had prepared, “Knowing what the Board would do.”
He called the findings “fake allegations and a sham investigation based on the desired outcomes.”
“The community comes to speak out on issues, and the single common denominator was a failure to act by the district. These people should be censured, not me,” he said, referring to the rest of the board’s “gangster-like behavior.”
“What are we doing well in this district? They’ve turned this process into a joke. The investigation was nothing but theater, based on who was interviewed. They are wasting (taxpayer) money.”
School Board Attorney Frank Kruppenbacher, phoning into the meeting, said District rules dictate all allegations that are brought in currently must be investigated. As one of the investigations involved a homeowners’ association disagreement, which had nothing to do with the School Board, fellow Board Member Julius Melendez asked if there could be a pre-screening process for future similar cases to make sure there’s standing to move forward.
