School board talks nepotism clause

BROOKSVILLE –
The decision of whether to lift a nepotism clause in the two most recently drafted superintendent contracts was being considered as a bargaining chip Tuesday for upcoming contract negotiations with superintendent-to-be Lori Romano.

School board members Gus Guadagnino and Diane Bonfield expressed a philosophy of either eliminating the clause or “massaging” it during negotiations to accommodate Romano’s contract. The clause forbids a superintendent to have a family member in an administrative position, according to school board members, and Romano’s husband, Timothy Romano, formerly held such a position in Martin County.

“To say just because you’re related to someone you can’t work … do you have to get rid of them? Does one of them have to leave?” Guadagnino said. “I have no locks against nepotism, but once the interests of your family overtakes the interests of the greater good, I will wage a negative campaign against you.”

Bonfield said that she did not philosophically agree with certain elements of the nepotism clause, since education was often a “family affair” from teachers to guidance counselors. In February the school board voted 4-0 to approve the transfer of Bonfield’s daughter from Secretary II to Educational Diagnostician, Student Services. Bonfield abstained from the vote due to conflict of interest.

“You have hundreds of people in this district that are related,” school board member John Sweeney said. “You have to really be careful about what you say.”

However, if school board members were allowed to bet, they said, they would bet nepotism would be a “non-issue” regarding Romano’s contract.

According to media reports out of Martin County, Romano claimed her job was threatened last July because she did not participate in the Martin County School District superintendent’s re-election campaign.

Romano also said she was pressured to help the superintendent with course work for an advanced college degree, media reports show, and her husband claimed the superintendent did not renew his contract as principal out of retaliation for his claims that his school covered-up improper administration of FCAT testing and later filed a wrongful termination suit against the Martin County School Board.

School Board Chairman Matt Foreman, along with the board’s attorney and executive director of business services, were tasked by the board to negotiate Romano’s contract.

“I like the language in Mr. (Bryan) Blavatt’s agreement policy,” Foreman said, expressing his support to keep the contract as-is to prevent nepotism.

“I do, too,” said school board member Cynthia Moore.

Foreman tried several times to focus the board’s discussion away from policy philosophies that did not directly affect Romano’s contract, since the contract negotiations pertained strictly to nepotism outlined in the superintendent’s contract, and not policy district-wide.

“The fact is if this policy is a deal-breaker, we have to have an in-depth conversation about it,” Foreman said. “This is pretty standard as far as things go: You cannot work with your spouse as superintendent. To me, this should be the easiest part of the negotiations.”

School Superintendent Bryan Blavatt said that two heavy points explicitly drawn in his contract as superintendent were related to nepotism and a stipulation that, if he left his position before the contract expired, that he would be forced to pay expenses incurred during the search process to replace him.

“We were looking for stability,” Sweeney said, who was on the board at the time Blavatt’s contract was drafted.

“I’m going to be totally honest with you guys,” Blavatt said. “Nothing could have been a deal-breaker for me. I wanted to come here. Now … I wouldn’t have told you guys that during negotiations.”

The board agreed to allow Foreman to “argue strenuously” to get the best deal so as “not to give up the farm,” since Romano’s contract is a business transaction. The board agreed to allow Foreman to inform the board at a later time on how his negotiations with Romano went. Foreman said he’d like to see the contract finalized in a week or so.