Wyandanch school board hires outside attorney after voting to oust president

The Wyandanch school board is hiring an outside attorney to respond to an appeal made to the state by board president Latesha Walker after a unanimous vote to strip her of her powers.

The board voted 4-0 last week to hire Candace Gomez of Garden City for an undisclosed amount. Gomez was hired by the Wyandanch library board in 2019 to conduct an investigation into a trustee who was later ousted by the board.

During the executive session of a Dec. 15 school board meeting, Walker, who was elected in 2020 and voted president by the board in July, said things became "disorderly" and after board members "refused to yield to order" she adjourned the session and left.

But the remaining members returned to public session, and trustee Jarod Morris made a motion to relieve Walker of her duties as president and appoint vice president Yvonne Robinson to the seat. The motion passed 4-0, with Morris, Robinson and trustees Charlie Reed and Nancy Holliday voting. Trustees James Crawford and Shirley Baker were not in attendance.

Holliday then made a motion to make Morris vice president, which passed 4-0.

"It’s time that we restore this board, it’s time that we work in unity, peace and harmony," Morris said after the vote.

Neither Morris nor Robinson responded to Newsday’s requests for comment. Through the district’s public relations firm, the board declined to comment.

Walker released a statement on Dec. 17 calling the vote "an egregious act" and "contrary to law." She filed an appeal to the state Education Department that same day asking for a stay, which has been granted "pending a decision on the merits of the appeal," according to department officials. The board has until Jan. 21 to respond to the appeal.

Walker stated in the appeal that the "majority of the board" has "abused procedures and protocols" and is "incapable of maintaining proper decorum or exercising common decency during executive or public sessions, neglects oath of office, incites hostility and/or inflammatory comments for Wyandanch leadership and constituents."

In an interview last week with Newsday, Walker said that the "majority" refers to Robinson, Morris, Holliday and Reed.

Walker noted that on Dec. 1 she wrote to the New York State School Board Association asking for an intervention due to the problems, and that on Dec. 8 a meeting was held with the association, Walker, Baker, Superintendent Gina Talbert and Al Chase, the district’s state monitor.

In a meeting document, Walker laid out a series of protocol and procedure abuses. Among them is that majority members have called for more than six special or emergency meetings since September and that because the members "do not understand the difference between governance and interference," meetings go into executive session on matters that could be discussed publicly, and last five to nine hours on average.

The document also mentions unannounced committee meetings, unauthorized school visits and interference with investigations as well as superintendent personnel recommendations being "repeatedly questioned, criticized and disregarded" by the majority.

"If we can’t sit in a room and govern accordingly based on our policies and procedures, our strategic plan and fiscal guidelines, then we’re not meeting the mission," Walker told Newsday. "And that means we’re failing this community."

By Denise M. Bonilla

denise.bonilla@newsday.comdenisebonilla

Denise Bonilla has worked at Newsday since 2003 and covers the Town of Babylon, including the villages of Lindenhurst and Amityville.