The Valley Central School Board and administration have come under fire from parents and staff in recent weeks. Recent board meetings have been filled with a great deal of drama and tension.

The first recent controversy began when it was reported that the district planned to follow the recommendations of the administration to deny tenure and terminate a popular staff member. Speaker after speaker at recent meetings have been quick to defend the staff member whose job is reportedly on the line and attempt to paint a picture of threats, retaliation and intimidation within the school district.

To date, there has been no vote on that recommendation, though it is reasonable to speculate that there has been much discussion of this personnel matter under the veil of executive session.

The second issue is the district’s handling of a purported terroristic threat against the Montgomery Elementary School on June 4. The administration made the decision to open school on Monday, June 6, despite the recommendation to the contrary by Village of Montgomery Police, as the investigation was still ongoing at the time. It would be another week before an arrest would be made. Charges were filed on June 13 against an 11 year-old student residing in the district. The matter, now in the hands of family court, was very much unresolved on the morning of June 6, as parents, fresh with the Uvalde, Texas shootings on their minds, faced the fearful decision of whether or not to send their kids to school that day.

Perhaps more disturbing was a school board decision made at a special meeting on June 15. That’s when the board formally waived the requirement to give the public at least 24-hour advance notice when a special meeting is called.

Does the waiver and a shorter public notice period mean that fewer residents will be in the audience when controversial or unpopular decisions are made? Quite possibly.

And does a smaller audience mean less public criticism for those unpopular decisions? Quite likely.

Mostly, it defies the need for transparency that residents deserve and have come to expect from their local school district.