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Residents press Meridian board on transparency, staffing shortages and Open Meetings Act compliance
Summary
Multiple residents urged the board to improve transparency and address staffing shortages; one attendee alleged the meeting violated the Open Meetings Act and another said aides shortages sometimes leave students without required support.
A string of public commenters at the March 4 meeting urged the Meridian board to address transparency, staffing and program concerns. John Seper alleged the meeting violated the Open Meetings Act, saying "remote viewing does not meet that act requirement." Rob Hanna criticized the meeting’s openness and asked whether many of the 27-plus positions added since COVID were administrative rather than teacher roles, asking the board to encourage instructional change by moving to a 1–4 grading scale: "Grading scale should be 1-4, we need to encourage students to do more."
Other commenters raised personnel and program concerns. Elizabeth Faxon asked why past budget oversight had not prevented overspending and noted a shortage of aides at Highland Elementary School. Tina Brick said there are not enough paraeducators for backup and that "sometimes students go without the aide they require." Caroline Montana raised several issues including an ESL teacher who reportedly does not speak Spanish and concerns about transparency. The board did not respond in detail to each comment in the public minutes; the record records comments and the names of speakers but not extended responses from members.
