Open Letter to the ICSD Board of Education, and the ICSD Community-at-Large As ICSD community members, we would like to confirm that the Board of Education ("BOE") of the ICSD conducted an appropriately independent, neutral, and diligent review of the workplace-related claims raised in the Urgent Appeal for NYS Education Department intervention for Accountability, Justice and Fairness in the Matter of Brown, Brown & the Board of Education, Ithaca City School District, dated January 5, 2021, as filed by Peyi Soyinka-Airewele et al. with the New York State Commissioner of Education, on or about January 5, 2021 (the “Appeal”. We have reviewed related press coverage of the Appeal, including the article, “Allegations Against ICSD Superintendent Emerge After Resignation,” by Tanner Harding, in the Ithaca Times, published January 13, 2021, and accessed electronically on Ithaca.com on January 14, 2021 (hereafter, the “Bradwell Interview’), and “Complaints, Letter of Allegations Emerge in Wake of ICSD Superintendent Brown's, Resignation,” by Matt Butler, in the Ithaca Voice, published January 13, 2021, and accessed electronically on ithacavoice.com on January 14, 2021, both of which contain statements by the ICSD Board of Education (“BOE”) stating that the BOE has “thoroughly reviewed” the Appeal and “found ‘many of the claims to be without merit and others to be outside of the purview of school district business..” (see Bradwell interview). There is a material difference between a “review” and an “investigation.” We respectfully request that the BOE provide more transparency about the methods/processes they used in conducting their “thorough review,” and we request increased transparency regarding the BOE’s decision making process and the specific grounds on which each claim was deemed either meritless, or outside the purview of ICSD business. We understand that personnel issues frequently are, and should remain, confidential. If the BOE cites confidentiality in declining to provide the specific grounds on which the below claims were either deemed without merit or outside their purview, we request information about how the investigative process was conducted. © Was an actual investigation into the specific claim below undertaken by the BOE? © How was the investigation conducted ~ did the BOE engage an external investigator? Was the investigation led by a committee of independent directors? © Who did the investigator or committee interview (by title or area of expertise, not by name)? © What “best practices” were followed during this investigation? We aim to ensure that the stated “thorough review’ did, in fact, include an actual investigation, conducted in accordance with best practices. ‘Accordingly, we respectfully request that the following information be made public: |. Re: Investigation of Claim Regarding Superintendent Brown’s Alleged Usage of ICSD- funded Administrative Assistant Job Offer to Curry Favor for Personal Gain. The Appeal asserts Dr. Brown misused his hiring authority in discussing the possibility of an ICSD job with an individual (hereinafter referred to as “E.K.”) who was working in the office appointed to serve as law guardian of Dr. Brown’s children. Specifically, the Appeal alleges that Dr. Brown deliberately offeredE.K. a position as his Administrative Assistant in an attempt to influence the law guardians, decisionmaking for his personal gain, prior to her actual resignation from the Law Guardian office. This claim merits investigation, as it crosses over from “personal” to "professional" allegation when the tool allegedly used by Dr. Brown to gain personal advantage was an ICSD-funded administrative assistant position, reporting directly to him. In other words, was there a time period when E.K. continued working at the Law Guardian office, after she was informed about the potential to apply/interview for this Administrative Assistant position? During this time period, did E.K. continue to work on Law Guardian matters affecting Dr. Brown’s case? '* Confirmation that the BOE sought out, and received, from E.K. and the Law Guardian, the dates ‘on which any potential job opening at ICSD was first discussed with E.K., and the date on which E.K. resigned from her position at the Law Guardian Office; and, ‘* Anexplanation of why the BOE deemed this particular claim either meritless or “outside of the Board of Education's purview” (per Bradwell interview). |, Investigation of Claims Regarding Superintendent Brown’s Alleged Failure to Disclose Conflicts of Interest OR Board’s Potential Mishandling of Actual Conflict of Interest ‘The Appeal asserts that Superintendent Brown failed to disclose his conflict of interest with E.K. to “all members of the school board when it approved the hiring of [E.K..” It is possible that he properly complied with any existing disclosure rules by, perhaps, disclosing to an established Committee of the BOE charged with evaluating such conflicts; the Appeal simply asserts that not “all” members were aware, including BOE President Robert Ainslie. The Appeal states that E.K. has “admitted under oath to starting and continuing a romantic relationship with her boss, Superintendent Luvelle Brown, shortly after she was employed as his Administrative Assistant.” The timeline of when the romantic relationship began is important. Was this covered during the BOE’s investigation/review, so that the BOE could understand all the potential conflicts of interest at stake? ‘© What investigative steps did the BOE take to determine whether one or more conflicts of interest existed? ifa conflict existed, did Superintendent Brown in fact disclose it to a Committee of BOE Members? Please describe the investigative process the BOE used to reach its conclusion that this particular claim was either meritless or “outside of the Board of Education’s purview” (per Bradwell interview)? ‘© What steps did the BOE take to deem it appropriate for Superintendent Brown to hire E.K. as his administrative assistant, if one or more conflicts of interest existed and were disclosed? Why was this particular claim deemed either meritless or “outside of the Board of Education’s purview’ (per Bradwell Interview)? ll. Investigation of Claims Regarding Work Environment in Administrative Group {fit is true that E.K. was having a romantic relationship with her boss, Superintendent Brown, one assumes he would have, at a minimum, disclosed the existence of this relationship to the BOE.If true, does the BOE believe that Superintendent Brown's decision to continue a romantic relationship with his subordinate presented other workplace concerns, ranging from ethics, to “tone at the top,” to collateral impacts on other employees in the office? * Were any BOE members aware of the existence of this alleged relationship ~ if so, did they disclose this to the entire Board? * Did the BOE establish an oversight process to regularly check in with Superintendent Brown's other subordinates, to confirm that the work environment remained healthy and productive? Or, to ask how the existence of the alleged romantic relationship between supervisor/employee was affecting them — did it make them feel uncomfortable, or negatively impact workplace morale? ‘+ What steps did the BOE take to ensure that an appropriately independent performance review/compensation process was in place for E.K,, if she was in fact engaged in a romantic relationship with her boss, Superintendent Brown? (importantly, each of these questions assumes the veracity of the Appeal's claims regarding the existence of E.K.’s romantic relationship with her boss, Superintendent Brown ~ if this relationship did not in fact exist, we withdraw the above questions.) IV. Investigation of Claims that ICSD Attorney Crossed Ethical Lines in Rejecting Ms. Brown's Request for her Children’s School Records ‘The Appeal alleges that Attorney Kate Reid initially refused Ms. Brown's request for access to her children’s school records, but later reversed her decision upon receipt of a demand from Ms. Brown's attorney. The Appeal alleges that Attorney Reid blurred the lines between serving the personal interests ‘of Superintendent Brown, and the interests of ICSD. The Appeal provides no explanation as to why Attorney Reid initially rejected the request, nor why she allegedly reversed her decision. ‘* What investigation did the BOE do to deem this claim meritless or “outside the Board of Education's purview"? Was any discussion undertaken with Ms. Reid’s law firm to determine whether Ms. Reid had acted ethically and appropriately on this issue? © Did the BOE receive any guidance or assistance from Attorney Reid, or her law firm, in the course of responding to the claims underlying the Appeal? If so, was that appropriate, in li the apparent conflict of interest evidenced by the complaints against Attorney Reid in the Appeal? V. Concerns that Community Members Feel intimidated by BOE ‘Some community members have had experiences where Dr. Brown, or a BOE member, used accusations of racism/implicit bias to deflect the community member's complaints on substantive issues. This approach is most recently evidenced by Dr. Brown's confusing reference to a “caste system” when questioned about his alleged professional misconduct by the Ithaca Voice.* + in the 1/13 Ithaca Voice article, Superintendent Brown responds to questions about the Appeals allegations of professional misconduct against him by stating, among other things, It's a caste system, where people feel likeWe hope the BOE agrees that we should strive for an environment where all concerns are received with ‘an open mind, rather than a reflexive defense of and deference to the Superintendent. VI. Concerns Regarding BOE’s Oversight of Superintendent Brown We are aware of a subsequent statement, published by Ms. Brown and the author of the Appeal, which further alleges that several BOE members maintain close personal friendships with Superintendent Brown. Of course, there is nothing inherently wrong with professional friendships, and its frequently productive for the executive managers of an organization to maintain friendly/social relationships with ‘oversight boards. There are times, however, where a heightened degree of independence must be assured to avoid even the appearance of non-neutrality. We ask whether any of these relationships between Dr. Brown and particular BOE members was so significant as to potentially impair the impartiality of one or more Board members. How did the Board ensure independence and transparency of process — did the BOE engage an external investigator? Or, was an independent committee of BOE members formed to investigate and render the decisions that all of the Appeal claims were either meritless, or outside the purview of ICSD business? If so, were any of the BOE members which Ms. Brown requested be recused from the process serve on this committee? Did any BOE members recuse themselves from the investigative process? From the deliberations? From. voting on this matter? Please describe the BOE’s approach to the investigative process in this matter — which “best practices” were followed? Ultimately, the BOE has an obligation to the ICSD, its students, staff and other stakeholders to protect, the interests of the school district above the personal interests of its Superintendent. We also strongly believe that both Superintendent Brown and the BOE are entitled to an opportunity to provide their side, before any conclusions are drawn about the claims raised in the Appeal. We respectfully suggest that answers to the above questions will provide the ICSD community with sufficient facts to confirm that the ICSD BOE discharged its investigative duties in good faith, and with due care, in light of the gravity of the workplace-related claims raised in the Appeal. Respectfully Submitted on January 25, 2021 [Signatures Follow on Next Page] they can talk about someone else’s personal life, someone else's children...Talk about it, write about it, make Judgments about itn a public domain. From my perspective, that’s completely inappropriate and off-limits.”Signed: Teachers Aide Lou DePo! shari haldeman ‘Anonymous parent and, teacher rd & Sth Grade Parent ‘Tracy § Goodrich Craig McMeekin ICSD Teacher Michael Friedman ‘Anonymous (8th grade parent) Multiple grade parent Jennifer Bimbaum Parent ofa 6th and 3rd grader ‘Yoshiko Hogg | ‘Aimee Bacon ~| Jen |Katie Henderson |and- and Sth-grade [parent ‘Anonymous IHS parent | i Gregory Goodrich 7th grade teacher Kathryn Camera | Leah O'Connor parent | of two 5th graders | Peter Jones. Britany McCown ‘Margot Chiuten ‘Laurie Pattington Sth and 9th grade parent ianonymous Dawn Forman Kelly Evans 1s3rd grade parent ‘3rd & 6th Grade Parent ‘Sarah Alabi - NE parent ‘Anonymous Multi-stakeholder... I'm a teacher for ICSD, a taxpayer and | have family members ‘attending school in Icsp 5th grade parent, ‘Caroline Mom of an ICSD 5th grader, and an ICSD 2nd grader ‘Anonymous |Parent of a Sophomore at IHS and taxpayer “Kimberly Knight | Laurel beard | Boynton and CHES parent. ‘Denise Park | ‘Elementary teacher ‘Anonymous, parent of 4 ICSD children ‘Anonymous Teachers Aide -staff member who ‘resigned this schoo! year Parent of a 6th graded at Dewitt Middle school parent ‘Anonymous 5th & 8th grade parentGina ‘Cusano-McLaughiin Parent of two children in the ICSD Jennifer Krause Yoshiko Hogg Bruce Carter Katie Williams Angela Ehmke Lisa Trent Elizabeth Scofield Seth Brahler Meloney McMurry Lyza Maron Tracy Goodrich 7th grade parent and district employee Anonymous-Parent of _| "4th grader Parent of high schooler | Church | ‘anonymous EA member] ‘Anonymous ESP member |Rodney Chinn Florencia Ardon Parents of two CHES ‘students [Didier Chinn-Ardon ‘Parent of 4 students in | ‘the district 'YaelDaphna Saat | [Gideon Saar ‘Adam Sear Craig McMeekin ‘kristin McCarthy |Anonymous Parent of ‘two students at IHS Rebekah Coleman-Brahler Parent of 3rd grader Andrew Schwartz 7th grade teacher ‘Taura McMeekin Jared Marion Melissa Marion Anonymous Catherine Hart Jamie R Jett Timothy A Jett Madison muscente Brianna muscente Anonymous 11th grade patent Maria muscente Anonymous - Parent of three elementary aged ‘children "9th grade parent Cheryl Kramer Lilian Yavits Parent of three students Parents for 3rd and 6th grade students. ‘Alita Trouble Howard Anonymous- K,4th,5th grade parent ‘Anonymous- K,4th,5th grade Father Judy P. Ward \Brian Bessire Farr Carey Tara O'Malley‘Suzanne Jablonski Liz Quadrozzi Concemed Ithaca High ‘School parent Paul Galgoczy | |Concemed community |member and tax payer |Erin Buchanan