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Public commenter and board members push for clearer personnel listings on McGuffey agendas
Summary
A local resident and multiple board members pressed the McGuffey School District to restore public listings of personnel moves, coaches and club rosters on agendas; the board discussed legal exceptions and agreed to pursue a more consistent approach next month.
During both agenda-item public comment and later discussion, Vicky Jordan of Buffalo Township told the board she was frustrated that personnel and coach lists were inconsistently included on the district agenda and urged the board to restore full listings so taxpayers can "know who is coming and going."
"You're silencing our voices. You're withholding information from us," Jordan said, arguing that the district should provide public lists of clubs, coaches and personnel changes so residents can review them.
Board members responded to Jordan's concern. Miss Fry (Western Area Career and Technology Center representative) and other board members said they favored public transparency "if there's no law that says we can't." Fry urged the board to reach a majority consensus on whether to include names on the regular agenda and to consider verbiage that would allow an employee to request that their name be withheld in cases where the law requires confidentiality.
The chair cautioned that legal exceptions exist: "There are certain items that we cannot put that name for," the chair said, and recommended consulting the solicitor to clarify when names must be withheld. The board discussed taking a procedural vote at a future meeting to establish a consistent practice; several members asked that names be included where legally permissible and that the administration and solicitor prepare appropriate language.
Nut graf: The dispute centers on balancing transparency for taxpayers against legal and privacy limits on what personnel information can be published. The issue affected votes earlier in the meeting: one member moved to table the list of high school clubs and activity fundraisers specifically so that the list could be made public and reviewed before approval.
Action and next steps: The board carried a motion to table at least one item so the list could be made public; it also directed administrators and the solicitor to prepare guidance and potential agenda language so the board can consider a formal vote at a later meeting.
