Credit: Tom Sofield/LevittownNow.com
Telephone and email were used late last week to forward two important issues from committees to the full Neshaminy School Board for a vote at Tuesday night’s meeting, according to two board members.
On Tuesday, the Educational Development Committee covered the topic of moving fifth grade to the middle schools. At the end of the several-hour-long meeting, the committee of three did not make a vote to forward the recommendation onto full board.
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Committee chairwoman Irene Boyle said that she received a call days after the meeting from board members who requested a phone vote. Boyle said fellow committee members Anthony Sposato and Mark Shubin both voted to move the measure onto the full board, but she voted against it.
School board member Ron Rudy said that late in the week Facilities Ad Hoc Committee chairman Stephen Pirritano conducted an email vote asking if the committee should forward the Act 34 spending plan to the full board for a decision on Tuesday.
Boyle did note that just because the committee members voted to forward the recommendation, it does not mean they will vote for it on Tuesday.
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As of Sunday afternoon, both items were on the school board agenda.
Click to access 10-28-14%20A.pdf
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While a vote to forward recommendations is process, it is not required policy, according to district officials.
Residents who heard of the votes questioned on social media why the committee votes were not made at the packed meetings.
Boyle said last week was the first time she had to take a committee vote via a phone call, but was told it was legal and did not violate open meeting laws. She did add that she planned to check on the issue with the Pennsylvania School Board Association.
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Aside from Boyle and Rudy, the other committee members and board President Scott Congdon did not return a request for comment that was sent on Saturday. School board solicitor Thomas Profy III also did not return a call for comment on Friday.
Correction: The phone number LevittownNow.com had for School Board President Scott Congdon was incorrect. The message for comment was mistakenly left on the wrong phone number’s voice mail. Our apologizes to Mr. Congdon.
