GUEST EDITORIAL
A recent spectacle at the Ozark R-VI School Board meeting created quite a contrast with one just a few months ago. A board member, Guy Callaway, moved out of the school district and, according to the board, didn’t tell anyone. He conveniently announced his vacancy right when it appeared to be too late for his seat to be added to the April ballot for the public to choose his replacement. This meant that the Board would appoint a replacement for him instead. As evidence indicates that he moved out of the school district months ago, he SHOULD have announced his resignation in time to allow his position to go on the April ballot. This was wrong. It also smacks of Board elitism. (“We will choose his replacement, thank you very much. We don’t need the public’s help!”) In an effort to distance themselves from this perception of elitism, one board member proposed that when advertising his vacancy to the public for them to apply for appointment to his position, the announcement be preceded with a statement to the effect that the Board regretted that his position was vacated too late for it to be placed on the April ballot and that they affirm their support for the public choosing Board members whenever possible. The reaction was surreal! Despite the fact that this preface said nothing about the reason Mr. Callaway resigned, despite the fact that it said nothing about the possibility that Mr. Callaway could have resigned earlier, despite the fact that it offered no implication of Mr. Callaway’s fault but instead merely affirmed the Board’s accountability to the public, the Board members freaked out! All other Board members were quick to read this as a criticism of Mr. Callaway (who, according to all evidence, appears to have erred here). They were quick to refuse any statement that might appear to implicate one of their own. They were quick to suggest that the only statement that should ever be made about Mr. Callaway’s service was to honor his devoted service to the community. [To see their responses, begin around 6:00 at 2025-01-09 Ozark School Board Special Meeting to discuss vacancy, application, appointment procedure.]
Now let’s roll back a few months to June 2023 when another Board member, Christina Tonsing, scheduled “listening sessions” with whatever members of the public were interested in sharing their thoughts with her. The Board cautioned her that she lacked authority to speak for the Board. (She knew that already and wasn’t attempting to do that.) They cautioned her that talking to the public could leave the District subject to lawsuit. (Not true.) They cautioned her that she could be personally liable in this lawsuit. (Again, not true.) When those attempts didn’t dissuade her, they issued her a formal reprimand which they read before the public at their open session board meeting. [To hear it, begin around 4:35 at Ozark, MO School Board Meeting 06 29 2023 . To hear the “clarification” of the letter the following month, begin around 4:34 at Ozark, Mo School Board Meeting Open Session.]
So the pattern is thus: If one of their own does wrong, they rally to ensure no one ever speaks of this in public. If a disfavored Board member does right (i.e., takes seriously her responsibility to represent the community), they publicly reprimand her.
NOTE: The best explanation for why the Board is so quick to come to Mr. Callaway’s defense is that many of the Board members knew of his absence. Some of them even knew his plan before he enacted it. (It had already reached public awareness that he was delaying for this purpose before he did it.) They are guilty of complicity in his scheme. Anything that even suggests criticism of his timing implicates them as well. The irony here is that the proposed statement offered no real allusion to his guilt. It sidestepped that point to merely reaffirm the Board’s commitment to public accountability. And the board utterly refused to do that.
Attachments area
2025-01-09 Ozark School Board Special Meeting to discuss vacancy, application, appointment procedure
More about the Ozark school board’s unbalanced perspectives here.
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