The International Falls School Board and administration in June dropped the ball in its handling of an incident that not only risked the safety of students, but also risked the district’s liability and credibility.
On Monday, the board and the school administrator need to pick up the ball and finalize the non-renewal of Bill Mason as the school’s golf coach.
We want to stress our opinion is not personal and isn’t about Mason. We believe Mason felt he was doing a good thing by providing a ride to a stranger who appeared to need one. But he showed extremely poor judgment in doing so when he was charged with ensuring the safety of this community’s children. Instead, he could have given the man money for a ride or offered to call someone to give him a ride.
The fact no one was hurt or injured, for which we should all be grateful, isn’t the point. They could have been — and that goes for students, Mason and the stranger. No one wants to think bad people hurt children, but they do. People employed by our school district must keep the safety of students at the forefront at all times. Mason put this school district and the taxpayers who support it at risk of being sued should the van have been involved in an accident and the stranger injured and filed suit against the district.
But even beyond Mason’s action is the poor handling of the situation by the school board and its administration. It’s troubling the board allowed the June hearing to proceed the way it did, and we suspect it may have been a violation of the Minnesota Open Meeting Law. The hearing was closed at Mason’s request, which is allowed under the law. However, Mason asked it be opened after some members of the public, including the representative of this newspaper, left the meeting, and the board did so.
Instead, the board should have hit the pause button when Mason reversed his decision, adjourned the meeting and conducted the hearing at another time after appropriate public notice was given.
The Open Meeting Law is intended to protect the public’s right to access government activities. In this case, the public had the clear impression the hearing would be closed for its full course, and it was misled when the hearing was opened. Government bodies like the school board should always lean toward open access to the public, especially in instances like this that draw interest and concern by the public.
Clearly, nothing would have been delayed by ending the meeting and conducting the hearing at another time, with public notice. Especially since the board agreed with Superintendent Nordy Nelson that the issue should be allowed to settle for nearly two months before taking action.
Instead, swift and strong decisions send a clear and powerful message and allow the community and the people involved in the incident to move forward. Delaying the decision accomplished nothing.
Monday is the time to do the right thing for this school district and its students by finalizing the non-renewal of Mason as golf coach and posting the position for others to seek.
