School Board Knocks Itself

The Ann Arbor Board of Education gave itself a verbal slap on the hand at Wednesday night's meeting when it approved a resolution that found board members and the superintendent "guilty of poor judgment" in the conduct of the I investigation of credentials of Mildred Bautista, former aide to the superintendent. In a 6-to-3 vote, the board accepted a motion from Trustee Paul Carrington, which was amended to include the board, "that the trustees and superintendent were guilty of poor judgI ment in choosing Miss Bautista and PhiI lip Mcllnay as his companions for the I California investigatory trip, and in takI ing a larger travel advance than was I necessary." I Both Miss Bautista and Mcllnay, depuI ty superintendent for planning, have now resigned from their posts with the administration following confirmation of charges levied by The News that Miss Bautista had fraudulent credentials. Objecting to t h i s resolution were Trustees Ted Heusel, Henry Johnson and Charles Good. According to Heusel, School Supt. R. Bruce McPherson should not be reprimanded because his actions only cost the board about $450 and only took five days to resolve. "How can we sit here in judgment of him," asked Heusel. "Are we now i ting a precedent to reprimand ourselves everytime we do something wrong?" Johnson referred to the board as j ing a fantastic capacity for absolving itself" and buckpassing no matter how well intentioned it may be. "The real test for the superintendent and the board . will come in the future," said Johnson. Although Trustee Robert Conn voteïl along with Trustees Ralph Bolhouse, Duane Renken, Cecil Warner, Ronald I op and Carrington in favor of the I mand he said that "both Miss Bautista I and Mcllnay had something to offer this I system and they did." Conn said that they did something for the schools - I "they put us right where we are now I and made us take a good look in each I school, in each home and on the streets I to know that we're not perfect." It was Trustee Bishop who moved I fore the vote to include the board in the I repi'imand: "The board must recognize I that it also bears some responsibility in I the series of events which occurred in I the past few weeks." The News was criticized by both I rington and Heusel who referred to an I editorial as "irresponsible in saying that I the board has not supported the I superintendent in his recommendations." I Carrington said that The News along I with some segments of this community had made an "hysterical responsëu) the entire Bautista incident. Following the first resolution to accept the superintendente report concerning the investigation and to also reprimand themselves and McPherson, the board acknowledged "a number of significant achievements which marked the preeeding year" in another resolution. During comments from the audience, which was eomposed of about 250 people, diverse points of view were presented to the board concerning the superintendent's report. James Lundy, who called himself a concerned parent, challenged McPherson with a series of questions concerning his judgment in the investigation of Miss Bautista and Mcllnay. "Why was Miss Bautista hired at $20,000 in Ann Arbor when she received a salary of only $12,000 when working with you in Philadelphia?" asked Lundy. As a supervisor for Juvenile Court, Marguerite Smith asked the board why no legal action was taken by the board for what allegedly was a fraudulent act. "I don't like the message that you're giving young people when you teil them that they shouldn't steal or break into a locker yet at the same time an adult administrator can carry out a fraud," she said. Miss Bautista was defended by Warner, speaking for the board: "Although she did submit fraudulent credentials she earned the salary she received and worked long hours and made a valuable contribution to the schools." Speaking in support of the superintendent, Human Relations Ombudsman I ert Potts said that "the last few weeks events have revealed the culmination of I 11 months of moufrtíng anxiety about a not-too-well understood or accepted process of change within and without the edueational system." Potts continued: "We have spoken of the need for change and progress from many personal perspectives; but we are apprehensive, fearful and ambivalent when incidences of change affect our life-style and make demands upon our adjustment and flexibility." j A cross-section of letters from members of the community supporting the perception and quality of McPherson's leadership were presented with Pott's statement and included one from Mayor Robert Harris. "I would personally hope that we have , 1 e a r n e d something by these experiencës," said Potts, "and will work together to make further progress in improving the quality and equity of educauon of all our students." Another supporter, Larry Sperling commended the board for its excellent procedure of following due process of law in the case of Miss Bautista. He also said: "McPherson is like a diamond and sometimes he scratches. But I would much rather have a diamond like him than a well-polished piece of costume jewelry." It was requested by Johnson that the board document its own report concernmg the board investigation of Miss Bautista and Mcllnay, and make it available in the near future in the same manner as the McPherson report.