Killingly BOE member censured, accused of sabotaging student health center plan

A Killingly Board of Education member was censured Wednesday night by her peers after being blamed for “sabotaging” a plan to bring in a company to operate a school-based health center in the district.

Members voted 7-1 to censure Democrat Susan Lannon for, among other stated reasons, independently reaching out to officials from Community Health Center, Inc., or CHC, who were originally slated to give a presentation to the board on their proposal to operate a student behavioral and mental health center at Killingly High School.

Member Kelly Martin, the former chairwoman of a board subcommittee tasked with finding alternative student mental health service options after the board rejected a school-based health center plan in March, said CHC withdrew its proposal as they felt they would not be “welcomed with open arms” by the community and could possibly be entering “violative territory” if they agreed to run the center.

“Who could blame them?” Martin asked. “They would not want their good reputation ruined.”

It was not immediately known what penalties a board censure carries.

Martin, one of six Republicans on the board, accused Lannon of purposely “humiliating” CHC officials through her direct cost, staffing and operational queries to the company. She said Lannon also inappropriately forwarded an email thread to The Bulletin in which she questioned Martin’s motives in supporting the CHC plan and the company's ability to operate as well as a competitor.

Killingly student mental healthExplained: Rapid-fire legal actions ahead of Killingly's student mental health inquiry

Martin lastly accused Lannon of working with Generations Family Health Care, the company whose health center plan was previously rejected by the board, to “undermine” the CHC proposal.

That board’s rejection of the Generations plan in March, by a 6-3 vote, led to a citizen petition, a state Department of Education investigation and subsequent ruling by the state Board of Education to hold a formal inquiry – likely this month - into the board’s alleged failure to meet the behavioral and mental health needs of the district’s students.

Martin said the CHC proposal represented a “good compromise” that was looked favorably on by the state. She accused Lannon of politicizing the discussions with an eye toward derailing any proposal that wasn’t overseen by Generations.

Several other board members excoriated Lannon and those individuals who signed the state complaint petition. Member Jason Muscara characterized Lannon’s actions as “bullying tactics” that stemmed from political roots.

Muscara said the CHC plan would have provided nearly “everything” Generations supporters had been requesting regarding student services, but noted the CHC plan came with a mandatory parental opt-in requirement that Generations didn’t provide.

Democrat Lydia Rivera Abrams, who voted to reject the Generations proposal, said she was “not thrilled” with the CHC plan, but was looking forward to discussing the issue.

How did we get here?After rejecting one school health center, Killingly looks at another. What to know

“I had my doubts and concerns and now won’t get to ask (questions),” she said. “The process has been violated.”

Board Chairman Norm Ferron accused Lannon and petition supporters as intent on overriding a legal vote by lawfully elected officials, calling the process “unbelievable.”

Lannon, who attended Wednesday’s meeting virtually, denied engaging in any impropriety and rejected claims she intended to derail the CHC proposal.

“The questions I had were not out of scope,” she said stating it was the “overall image” projected by the board that likely led to CHC’s departure.

Board members Ferron, Martin, Abrams, Muscara, Laura Dombkowski, Jennifer Hegedus and Kyle Napierta voted to censure Lannon, who was not allowed to vote on the motion. Democrat Chris Viens voted against the measure.

John Penney can be reached at jpenney@norwichbulletin.com or at (860) 857-6965.

This article originally appeared on The Bulletin: Killingly student health center failure blamed on censured BOE member