200 rally to vent discontent

Two board members attended the rally.
By ERIC GROSSO
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
BROOKFIELD -- About 200 residents took part in a public rally on the Brookfield Center green, hoping to send a message to the school board many say lets personal vendettas influence its decisions, isn't fiscally responsible and puts personal gain over the district's improvement.
Tensions between residents and school officials climaxed during a meeting earlier this month, ending with members of the audience and school board involved in a shouting match.
The ruckus resulted in the suspension of Brookfield High School senior Garrett McMullin after calling certain board members liars at the meeting in support of former high school football coach Randy Clark.
More than 100 pupils protested the suspension outside the school, and board members Ronald Brennan and Ronda Bonekovic said they do not agree with the suspension.
Bonekovic and Brennan were the only board members who attended Saturday afternoon's rally, sponsored by residents who form the Save Our Schools committee.
Board sent newsletter
The confrontations at the board meeting stemmed from a newsletter sent by the board, saying that Clark tried to recruit players from other districts and that the football program had seen a large drop in enrollment. Clark called both of the reports lies.
He withdrew his application as coach last month, citing specific incidents in which he said board President Joseph Pasquerilla and Superintendent Michael Notar lied to him.
Clark advised those attending the rally that this "was just the first quarter" of the community movement, and that struggles are never won in the first quarter. He urged all those to "play hard until the fourth quarter is over in order to stop the lying and to stop the bullying."
Jim Terry, general manager and head coach of the Mahoning Valley HitMen, an indoor football team, spoke after Clark, noting what a shame it was that the kids of Brookfield won't get to play for not only a great coach, but a great leader as well.
John Litman, a former eighth-grade girls basketball coach, said his past criticism of Pasquerilla prevented him from being rehired as girls basketball coach last summer.
The newsletter last month also singled out Kathy Reiser, a middle school teacher, saying she had had four 42-minute periods of free time, including her lunch, during the 2005-06 school year, then complimented the dedicated teachers in Brookfield who "work hard without complaining."
Many Brookfield residents and teachers were upset the board didn't do more research before singling out Reiser, who said she does not have a 42-minute lunch period and used the other periods for school-related jobs.
Tim Filipovich, former high school girls basketball coach and Addison Elementary School principal, introduced to the crowd as "Mr. Brookfield," said the board members wouldn't need the newsletter to defend themselves if they followed protocol and listened to community input.
Citing the nearly 81,000 spent by the district on legal fees to settle grievances filed by teachers and staff, Filipovich called the school board embarrassing.
Arbiter's ruling
Earlier this month, Michael Paolucci of Cincinnati, a federal mediation and conciliation service arbiter, ruled to remove two letters of reprimand written by Notar against Jeff Bruno, a middle school science teacher.
The letters, Paolucci noted, came from incidents that were nothing more than "typical human interaction" and noted that there were "underlying hints" that Bruno was being unfairly targeted by other parties involved.
The original letters of reprimand accused Bruno of interrupting Pasquerilla at the school, walking past him and another teacher, and allowing students to play wastebasket ball while waiting for the bus, endangering their safety and disrespecting school property.
The arbiter sided with the Brookfield Federation of Teachers union, who argued that Notar did not follow proper protocol when placing a letter of discipline in a teacher's permanent file.
Filipovich later announced he was running for school board in the fall, hoping to "stop the school district from being destroyed."
The SOS committee also announced a town meeting at 2 p.m. Feb. 10 in the Yankee Lake Ballroom. The group will present "all legal avenues" in reference to the school board and superintendent. The group took donations Saturday for the cost of obtaining legal advice.