Torres: Lawsuits, book bans, another superintendent out ... school board is a mess

We know what they say about hindsight. But what do they say about being shortsighted?

The Brevard Public School district capped off another stellar week in what has been a rather stellar last four months for the school board.

That is, stellar if the board's goal was to not work together, generate unflattering headlines, appear petty and foolish, install a revolving door on the superintendent's office and tarnish what previously had been an impeccable reputation for the district.

Oh, and there's the matter of one board member suing another.

It brings to mind Jimmy Breslin's comedic look at the mafia and in particular "Crazy Joe" Gallo's antics in the best-selling novel "The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight."

But perhaps this is what happens when school boards become less about actually overseeing educational policy and the district’s $1.5 billion budget and more about scoring political points.

Even with political ideologies contaminating the supposed non-partisan board tasked with ensuring our children have access to a good education, November's new muscle-flexing school board's decision to dump longtime superintendent Mark Mullins now seems extremely shortsighted. I know, I know. With hindsight comes great clarity.

Instead of waiting out the school year to see if they could work with Mullins, the board majority ― chair Matt Susin, and newcomers Gene Trent and Megan Wright ― didn't waste any time executing what looked like a prearranged coup.

They then brought in interim superintendent Robert Schiller, even though his resume read like someone whose goal it was to work in all 48 contiguous states. They gave him a five-month contract in December to babysit the district, though others say he was doing his best impersonation of Meryl Streep in "The Devil Wears Prada."

More: Schiller slams Brevard School Board, adding to turmoil amid superintendent search

Schiller's aggressive and sometimes demeaning style caused morale in the district to sink, according to Susin as well as school board member Jennifer Jenkins. And remember, it was already pretty low with the divisiveness caused by mask mandates, LGBTQ restrictions dictated by Tallahassee and the rise of a Moms for Liberty ― a conservative group of women who maybe don't realize liberty means freedom as they lead the charge to ban books they don't like in our schools.

"Respect for the professionalism and extensive expertise of our BPS staff is a top priority," school board member Jenkins told me in explaining why she voted to oust Schiller. "Concerns about an immediate shift in culture and working environments were brought to my attention in early January."

Jenkins, the board's sole Democrat who normally serves as a lone voice, joined the other four board members in the vote to suspend Schiller.

But even if we accept the school board's complaints about Schiller, this is still on them. They got rid of Mullins and brought in Schiller before, it seems, they'd thought this through.

The final straw, apparently, was a bizarre 12-page letter Schiller recently sent Susin, demanding more money. Perhaps Schiller wanted out. Perhaps he knew this particularly thin-skinned board would show him the door after reading the letter describing the board as immature and unprepared.

"The immaturity of the Board despite being in office for 3 months is astounding. They don’t know or do not want to learn what they don’t know," Schiller wrote. Schiller also blasted the school board for self-imposing an "absurd" May 9 timeline for the selection of its new permanent superintendent.

More: Going 'Rogue': Matt Susin in the hot seat over leadership of Brevard County School Board

Schiller explained that no decent school superintendent would leave their district before the school year ended. In many states, school runs until the end of June. He also blamed the board for its own problems attracting candidates.

As of Thursday evening, with the deadline to apply fast approaching, only 18 candidates have put their names forward, according to the BPS website. Schiller intimated candidates were being scared off by the board's "lack of preparation" at meetings, failure to follow its own policies and "horrendous videos of Board meetings."

He's not wrong. The videos are painful to watch. Still, this departure is not Schiller's failure, it rests with the board.

Considering the massive amount of money now being paid out in severance packages, maybe they should have waited to see how things with Mullins would pan out. Susin disagrees.

"It was the right time for Dr. Mullins to move on," Susin said. "He left under good graces."

Susin defended the board, saying they were working hard to tackle "national issues" like school discipline and teacher shortages. He disagreed that the last few months have tarnished the district's once-impeccable reputation while acknowledging the board needs to do better.

"We need to do better and I've been working hard toward that goal," he said. "We need to come together as a community. We end up getting divided by social media posts and newspaper articles."

Newspaper stories, like this one, get written when news happens; it's events that drive our coverage and certainly this board has been accommodating when it comes to providing headlines.

But that's just what transpired this week. Two senior cabinet members, who had put in their resignations once Mullins was let go, left in January.

In March, Jenkins filed a lawsuit against Susin and the school board in a Brevard County court, accusing the chair of illegally withholding phone records. She's suing for their release. The two have clashed often since Susin was elected chair in November.

Susin has also come under criticism from fellow Republican board member Katye Campbell for going rogue on occasion. She complained that Susin addressed Brevard County's legislative delegation and discussed things that the board had never come to an agreement on, such as looking at expanding a firefighting academy at Palm Bay Magnet High School to two other schools; publishing school district expenditures over $500 on the Brevard Public Schools website; and implementing a "parent and volunteer expansion program" with Health First and the Brevard Zoo.

Also, earlier this year, the Phoenix Foundation of Central Florida, which donates to the arts in Brevard schools, announced it was cutting ties with the school district, citing in part Susin's actions as board chair, which included asking a Christian minister to pray before a board meeting.

Unfazed and undeterred, Susin said they need more parents, church groups and pastors to get involved in the schools.

The school board is a mess. But they can still get it right. They can stop getting "divided by social media posts and newspaper articles" if they just stop with their bad behavior and decisions. They can cast aside petty differences, political aspirations and put the children first.

Gee, what a concept.

Contact Torres at jtorres@floridatoday.com. You can follow him on Twitter @johnalbertorres or on Facebook at facebook.com/FTjohntorres.

Support local journalism and become a subscriber. Visit floridatoday.com/subscribe

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Lawsuits, book bans, superintendent ousted: School board is a mess