Allendale School Board continues to spar over legal counsel, 'glaring hypocrisy'

ALLENDALE TWP. — The Allendale Public Schools Board of Education is still undecided on hiring a supplement to the district’s current law firm.

The APS Board of Education voted in January to switch the district’s legal representation from Thrun Law Firm to Kallman Legal Group. Text messages previously provided to The Sentinel showed board members affiliated with far-right Ottawa Impact PAC methodically arranged for Kallman to take over the district’s legal service before they took office.

More:Newly obtained texts show Ottawa Impact officials orchestrated law firm change before taking office

A presentation on law firm options to supplement Kallman, which has little school representation experience, took place during a work session Feb. 23. There was no agenda item for the topic during the board’s meeting Monday, March 13, but board member Kim Cannata requested placing the item on the board’s April agenda.

Cannata said she believes enough information has been provided to the board to make a decision in March.

“We had about three weeks,” Cannata said. “We had that work session (on Feb. 23). We asked questions. If board members aren’t answering those questions, then my opinion is that’s on them at that point. We can’t keep kicking the can down the road.”

More:‘Your integrity is very weak’: Allendale school board spars over law firm switch

Secretary Josh Thurkettle agreed, saying the board made the decision to switch from Thrun to Kallman on short notice. He asked for a vote on the supplemental law firm during the board's next meeting.

“I think the hypocrisy our board continues to show to the public is glaring,” Thurkettle said. “I think we were all elected as public figures and that means when we vote on things, or talk about things, or individuals ask us questions, we should answer them in the public. I believe that’s the least we owe our district.

“Furthermore, we have a responsibility to have discussions about things we may dislike or not want to be known for, but that is what it is. Sometimes we’ll vote against things and sometimes we’ll vote for things and I think we should share publicly how and why we stand on those and how we come to those conclusions. That in my mind is the way to provide transparency and to build trust with the community for this board moving forward.”

Michigan Association of School Boards

The board has also yet to decide whether it'll retain its membership with the Michigan Association of School Boards.

The board in February decided against joining the National School Board Leadership Council. The board had considered ceasing the district’s affiliation with the MASB — to which most school districts in Michigan belong — and replace it with individual memberships to the NSBLC, but walked the idea back after criticism of NSBLC's views on special education.

More:Allendale Schools walks back plan to join National School Board Leadership Council

But the board's continued membership with MASB is still in question. APS Superintendent Garth Cooper told The Sentinel the district’s membership with the MASB runs out June 30, but no decision has been made as to the board’s next steps.

The MASB is a “voluntary, nonprofit association of local and intermediate boards of education located throughout the state of Michigan,” according to its website. It provides many services to districts, including financial services, insurance services, policy services, legal counsel, labor relations, strategic planning and more.

Thurkettle said at Monday's meeting there was "still an openness about the MASB that needs to be addressed."

"We should do that sooner than later," Thurkettle said. "I would like to see that conversation happen also."

Hall of Fame's Ruth Crowe

Kevin Crowe spoke during public comment about his sister, Ruth Crowe, who decided last month to withdraw her name permanently from the Allendale High School Hall of Fame. Ruth said she wasn’t allowed to help with programming for an art workshop because she's gay.

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Kevin said AHS still hadn’t taken down his sister’s photo from the Hall of Fame. During his superintendent report, Cooper said the photo was taken down Monday and explained the APS Foundation manages the Hall of Fame, not the school.

Kevin said if the board were to revote as a symbolic gesture and approve of Ruth unanimously, she would rescind her request.

Treasurer Pamela DeJong said she's a founding member of the APS Foundation, an endowed fund within the Allendale Community Foundation — per the district website. DeJong said “it breaks my heart” that Ruth decided to leave the AHS Hall of Fame.

“I just need people to know I feel bad about this and I want you to know when we nominated that group of people, we didn’t ask what their sexual identity was,” DeJong said. “We didn’t ask anything else. We made the decision based on their qualifications. That was good enough for me and it still is.”

— Contact reporter Evan Sasiela at esasiela@sentinel-standard.com. Follow him on Twitter @SalsaEvan.

This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Allendale School Board continues to spar over legal counsel, 'glaring hypocrisy'