Carmel School Board Members Butt Heads Again

October 17, 2018 David Propper

By Anna Young

Carmel School Board member John Curzio was harshly criticized last week by residents and board members outraged by the recent failing of a bond referendum that would have provided updates to district facilities.

After the district’s $25.4 million bond was voted down by less than 200 votes on Oct. 2, residents lined up during last Tuesday’s Board of Education meeting to place blame on Curzio for the second failed bond in as many years. Curzio was the sole board member to vocally oppose the bond that would’ve repaired roofs, made each building ADA compliant, enhanced the old George Fischer Middle School library and build a new bus garage in the Town of Kent.

“I don’t know you, but I find a lot of resentment toward you for what you’ve done to this community,” Kent resident Dori Burke told Curzio. “You’re not much older than my children. You haven’t lived your life yet, you have no children of your own. How can you tell me what I need or what’s best for my family or my children?”

Throughout the meeting, residents requested the board put the bond back up for a vote, stating that Curzio issued false information to the community through robo-calls, mailers and fliers to sway people to vote against the bond. While Curzio said he was not responsible for the robo-calls received by Kent residents, he blamed the board for putting up an “all or nothing ultimatum” proposal, issuing deceiving and misleading information and using “scare tactics” to force residents to approve the bond.

“It is a scare tactic to say that that’s going to go only in the operating budget, that the only alternative is to lay off staff, that the only alternative is to cut programs,” Curzio said. “That’s just not the case.”

Curzio added that he received phone calls from bus drivers who were told they would lose their jobs if the bond failed. Vice president Richard Kreps denied the claims, stressing that no one on the board spoke to any bus drivers or received concerning phone calls from them. Kreps added that he did receive many angry emails about the falsehoods issued by Curzio.

Trustee Tara DeTurris said that she has been harassed in the grocery store by community members who called her names and accused her of trying run seniors out of the town. She said she had to leave the store twice without her groceries and that she is scared shop in her town.

DeTurris stressed that she supported the bond because she felt it was the right thing to do for the students and is tired of being called a bully. She said the board needs to be more civil and improve how they work together.

“You don’t understand that you’re dividing this community,” she said to Curzio. “Instead of going to the newspapers, instead of going to social media, we need to work together. We need to do a better job as the seven of us, not six and one. It doesn’t work like that.”

When a bond last December failed, the board held a removal hearing against Curzio, arguing he violated New York State education law by advocating against it at school board meetings that are videotaped. The removal hearing officer found Curzio committed violations, but the school board opted not to remove him. As a response, Curzio claimed victory.

Carmel resident Judie Mirra told Curzio he put a lot of effort into opposing the bond but has not provided an alternate solution to reach a common goal. She said the students deserve better.

“You’re supposed to be working for our children,” Kent resident Amy Conroy added. “You go out and tell people lies. It’s quite frankly very disappointing.”

Leading up to the vote, Curzio attended Kent board meetings where he shunned the bond proposal and had a booth at Kent Town Day where he dispensed information about it. He stressed the bus garage would have taken a piece of property off Kent’s tax rolls.

“If you’re truly interested in helping control taxes in Kent, I’d recommend you run for the Kent town board,” said Carmel teacher Ryan Dall. “If we continue to cut and continue to lose programs that are very important for our students to have, Carmel is not going to be a place that people seek out. It would be a shame to see that ruined.”

Despite opposition, Curzio said he fully supported the items in the bond, including the roof repair and ADA improvements, and would be open to another referendum. But he remained steadfast that the bus garage should have been a separate proposition on the ballot from the other items put forward to the voters. The board voted 6-1 months ago to bunch every proposal together with Curzio the lone holdout.

“The voters placed their trust in me and I will represent them to the best of my ability,” Curzio said.

Board president Greg Riley indicated the board would need to include repairs in the annual budget, which means those repairs no longer qualify for state aid and would affect programs and staffing. Assistant Superintendent for Business Eric Stark said the district lost 60 percent of state aid for the $12 million repair project and the contract for the proposed property for the bus garage expired when the bond failed.

Kreps said the board would need to discuss what is most financially prudent before any further action is taken to address the needed upgrades. He mentioned putting another bond forward during the annual school budget in May but noted it would not be fiscally responsible to integrate the upgrades into the budget.

“I wouldn’t give up yet,” Kreps said. “But certainly, we will repair these buildings and I’m sure we will do it in the best fiscal way we know how that’s not going to affect the programs or students of this district.”

David Propper