Board Member Attendance Update -- Nelson's Abysmal Record Requires His Resignation

As the school year comes to an end (teachers were in attendance yesterday for an In-Service Day) and most D181 constituency groups head off for a summer of fun and relaxation (we hope), we thought it appropriate to revisit the Attendance Record of our elected Board of Education members, who along with the Central Office Administrators, are tasked with year-round responsibilities.

We have updated the Board Member Attendance Page after each meeting, so you can all open the link and see for yourselves what we are about to report below.  (Click to open link.) For purposes of an equal comparison, our critique below (with the exception of Nelson who we have more to say on) is based on the attendance record over the last 32 meetings, starting with May 6, 2013, when Ms. Garg, Ms. Vorobiev and Mr. Clarin were sworn in.

We applaud Ms. Garg and Ms. Vorobiev who lead the board members in attendance.  They personally attended 97% of the meetings, missing only one.  They have fulfilled their obligations to the community that elected them.  Thank you.

Following in close second is Mr. Clarin, who personally attended 94%, missing only two.  Keep up the good work Mr. Clarin!

Tied for third place with an 88% personal attendance rate are Mr Heneghan and Mr. Yaeger.  Mr. Henghan was absent for 2 meetings and present only by phone for 2.  Mr. Yaeger was absent for 4 meetings.

In fifth place is Mr. Turek, who personally attended only 81% of the meetings.  He was absent for 5 meetings and present only by phone for 1.  We expect better attendance from the Board President.

And in last place is Mr. Nelson who personally attended only 32% of the last 32 board meetings.  That means he was physically absent 68% of the time.  He was absent 35% -- 11 meetings.  He was present only by phone for 10.  (Anyone who has listened to the meetings in which he was present by phone knows that this essentially meant he wasn't there, as he had almost nothing to contribute and often seemed caught off guard when asked to vote.)

SHAME ON Mr. Nelson!  He has let his electorate down.  He has not fulfilled his obligations.  In fact, his attendance record has actually gotten worse in the last year, compared to over the last  1 1/2 years that our attendance chart tracks.  The chart started with the 1/14/13 meeting and spans 41 meetings.  He was personally in attendance for 41% of those meetings.  He was absent from 32% and participated only by phone for another 27%.

This downward attendance trend shows that he has "left the party."  Time for him to do so officially and resign, in order that a truly committed community member can fill his seat and work with Dr. White's administration and the other board members who actually want to show up and do their jobs.