Mary Eppolito's run for a M-W school board seat begs the question: Why?

HIGHLAND MILLS - Mary Eppolito expects people to question her as word spreads throughout the Monroe-Woodbury School District community about her candidacy to be elected to the Board of Education. Why, given the school district fired Eppolito as principal of Pine Tree Elementary, that she won a labor grievance ruling along with a monetary award, and currently has an alleged gender discrimination suit pending in federal court, would she want to run for a seat on the board? First, Eppolito said, as an educator, she wants to make sure the needs of students are being addressed in light of the severe budget challenges Monroe-Woodbury is facing. She believes she can bring much experience to the Board of Education table from the perspective of a teacher, administrator, and community resident and as a children’s advocate. Additionally, according to Eppolito, she wants to make sure the Board of Education sticks to its oversight and advisory role, adheres to proper protocol, follows the district’s chain of command and focuses on policy making versus micromanaging day-to-day operations. Eppolito also believes that’s not happening and said she links her firing last year as an example of board over-management. While Eppolito acknowledges her own recent experience of being fired by the district as a reason for running, she repeatedly stressed her candidacy is not the result of anger or vengeance. “That’s not me,” she said. “I want to do this because I want to do what’s best for the kids and I want to make certain the board functions the way it’s supposed to. I’m running because something terrible has happened in this school distinct.” Career moves Eppolito, who lives in Highland Mills, said she came to Monroe-Woodbury from the New York City School District in 2000, first as a reading teacher at Pine Tree Elementary. After receiving tenure as a teacher in 2002, said Eppolito, district officials suggested she consider pursuing an advanced degree in administration. She did, but at that time, there were no administrative positions available in the district. Eppolito accepted a position as an assistant principal in the Minisink School District. In 2005, she said, she was invited to come back to Monroe-Woodbury and apply for the available assistant principal position at Pine Tree. She got that job, and in 2007, was promoted to principal. At her most recent performance evaluation in February 2009, Eppolito said, she was given high marks, with “nothing but exceeds expectations.” But on April 2, 2009, when she was called to the superintendent’s office, Eppolito said she was shocked to have been told by District Superintendent Joseph DiLorenzo that he wanted her to resign, that she should cite personal issues as the reason, or she would be fired. Termination “He said he does not have the support of the board to move me forward,” said Eppolito. “My direct supervisor didn’t know about this until 30 minutes prior to this meeting. I refused to resign. They had no choice but to terminate me. If we (the assistant principal Lauren Donohue who was also fired) were being fired, why were we allowed to sit in our jobs and do our daily work as administrators (until the end of the school year)? People couldn’t make sense out of it.” Eppolito requested specific reasons for her termination to be put in writing. When she received hers, “the reasons were contradictory to the performance review,” she added. “If it really wasn’t about my job performance, what is the real reason?” Eppolito, Donahue and Assistant Superintendent Carole O’Neill have all filed gender discrimination suits. Recusals and conflicts If elected, Eppolito would recuse herself from any board discussion and action regarding the lawsuit and related issues. She said she would she would have no concerns over doing that and felt there was no conflict of interest. “As a community member, I have the right to run for the board,” said Eppolito. “As a fellow taxpayer, I, like anyone else, am eligible to run for the board and address the issues at hand. As a board member, the priorities are the education of our students, our school community and our taxes. The discussion or the impact of the lawsuit is not a main topic of focus for the current or future board.” But Brian Sokoloff, the attorney representing Monroe-Woodbury in federal lawsuits that Eppolito and the other two women have brought against the district, sees it differently. “While I strongly defend the right of any taxpayer in the Monroe-Woodbury School District to run for the Board of Education, Mrs. Eppolito’s candidacy raises concerns,” wrote Sokoloff in a statement to The Photo News on Wednesday. “She is currently involved in litigation against the school district which, I believe, could easily lend itself to a conflict of interest.” “It may also compromise the district’s ability to discuss this issue in a frank and open manner during executive session,” Sokoloff added. “Mrs. Eppolito certainly has the right to run for the Board of Education; however, her motivation is certainly questionable and needs clarification. If she were elected, she would be conflicted out of so many board items that the voters would be getting a partial Board member.” Eppolito said what happened to her and providing such detail to voters is the link to why she feels why certain board members have overstepped their roles. “What I’m trying to get at is the board, primarily the board president, has taken it upon themselves to take on a role of running the school district without following protocol and chain of command and allowing the professional staff to do the job they are hired to do,” she said. “I’m an educator. People had warned me about politics and education. I was the fallout. There’s too much power on the part of the board president and the majority of the board members who take the lead of the board president.” Politics Eppolito, who now works for the Pawling School District as its director of technology, said her candidacy is intended to bring “honesty and integrity” back to the board. “I don’t have a political agenda,” she said. “I don’t have children in this district. I have no family members who are employees of this district.” She disputed that voters would see her candidacy as a way of getting back at certain board members for voting for her termination. “What benefit do I get sitting on a volunteer board where I invest my time and effort and resources to my community, if not to support the students, staff and parents in a district that I love?” Since then, Eppolito and Donahue won an arbiter’s ruling this spring, awarding them more than four months of their past salaries because the district breached their contract, by giving them too little notice before letting them go. March 1 was the contractual deadline to inform both women they would not be brought back for the 2009-10 school year. The arbiter rejected their requests to reinstate them. “I’m probably the last person you’d ever label as a politician,” said Eppolito. “I feel it’s my role to stand as an advocate for children and what children need to be successful (in the district). I know all board members say kids come first.” She also feels the way the board operates must change. “In spite of what happened to me, I still feel a tremendous love for this district, its professional staff and faculty and students,” said Eppolito. “I’m disheartened when individuals come to me with concerns of fear and distrust and a sense of unhappiness about working for the district. I believe something positive can come out of this negative. “The direction the school board should give is being supportive and being an advisor to the education of the students in the district, not micromanaging or giving a specific order to a specific administrator or staff. The community wants to share ideas, initiatives, have collaborative efforts and dialogue. With the current board members, they don’t feel they can have that conversation with them.” As a community member, I have the right to run for the board. As a fellow taxpayer, I, like anyone else, am eligible to run for the board and address the issues at hand. As a board member, the priorities are the education of our students, our school community and our taxes. The discussion or the impact of the lawsuit is not a main topic of focus for the current or future board.” Mary Eppolito, M-W school board candidate While I strongly defend the right of any taxpayer in the Monroe-Woodbury School District to run for the Board of Education, Mrs. Eppolito’s candidacy raises concerns. She is currently involved in litigation against the school district which, I believe, could easily lend itself to a conflict of interest. It may also compromise the district’s ability to discuss this issue in a frank and open manner during executive session. Mrs. Eppolito certainly has the right to run for the Board of Education; however, her motivation is certainly questionable and needs clarification. If she were elected, she would be conflicted out of so many board items that the voters would be getting a partial board member.” Brian Sokoloff, the attorney representing Monroe-Woodbury in federal lawsuits that Eppolito and others have brought against the district Who’s running? In addition to Mary Eppolito, six other candidates are running for three seats on the nine-member Monroe-Woodbury school board. • Running for re-election are Michael J. DiGeronimo, the current school board president; Erich Tusch, the school board’s vice president; and James V. Galvin. • Looking to return to the board is former longtime member Theresa Budich. • Also running are newcomers Laurie Murphy and John B. MacDonald. Board members who are not up for re-election are: John Broderick, Natalie Brooks, Wayne Chan, Eleni Kikiras Carter, Raymond Rivera and Jennifer Trumper. Voters will go to the polls on Tuesday, May 18 to make their choices.