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Transparency, safety and staffing dominate Wrightstown school board public comment
Summary
Multiple members of the public and district staff used the board’s public-comment period to press for greater transparency on hiring, ask why a director role was approved without a job description or salary, report an alleged assault at a meeting, and warn of low staff morale and fear among teachers.
Public comment at the Wrightstown Community School District board meeting spanned multiple speakers and recurring themes: concern about rushed personnel approvals, questions about costs tied to leadership changes, a safety incident at a prior meeting, and staff anxiety.
Jennifer VandeHei, the first commenter, criticized the board’s recent approval of a director of teaching and learning “without key details such as job description and salary,” saying the decision conflicted with earlier statements about improving communication and transparency. She told the board several members had requested more information and asked why this approval moved forward without those details.
Other commenters raised related issues. Jason Garrett asked who ordered a recent investigation and whether the district had incurred roughly $100,000 in additional salary costs tied to a short-notice leadership change. Dalton Piper said there should be “no assault in the school” and asked the board to address conduct and accountability. Kimberly Jenkins told the board she had received no follow-up after reporting an object thrown toward her and urged clearer security measures at meetings.
Several speakers identified themselves as teachers or described staff concerns. A teacher who spoke during the public-comment period said staff feel ‘‘on edge’’ and expressed a loss of trust in the board and administration, listing pay and job security as issues and urging full-time paraprofessional positions and higher wages for support staff.
Board president (the presiding officer) responded at several points by reminding the public of meeting decorum rules and the board’s obligations under policy. The board did not take substantive action on the public comments during the meeting; policy and process items referenced by speakers were acknowledged and, in some cases, routed to staff for follow-up.
The board’s subsequent agenda included items about records requests, personnel reports and an administrative update; those items carried related operational details later in the meeting.
