ANN ARBOR, MI - Jeff Gaynor’s use of social media to inform residents of upcoming Ann Arbor School Board business has resulted in his removal as the board’s secretary.
Gaynor was removed from the role by a 5-1 vote Wednesday, July 15, with his vote being the only one dissenting. The board appointed trustee Susan Baskett as its new secretary.
Prior to the vote, Gaynor asked for specific examples based on the “general accusation” he inappropriately shared sensitive information, offering few other remarks at the meeting in defense of his alleged conduct.
“My public comments are in the interest of openness and transparency,” Gaynor said.
Board members were vague in their assertions that Gaynor had inappropriately used social media to promote actions the board would be taking, without giving specific examples of when that information might have been privileged or a violation of board bylaws.
Trustee Jessica Kelly said Gaynor should be removed as board secretary “for engaging in a pattern of unprofessional judgment and behavior that interferes with the board’s service to children, staff and the community.”
Kelly referred to Gaynor’s “pattern” of conduct as contrary to a board member’s fiduciary responsibility to the district.
“That includes being informed on the issues, not pre-publishing a vote on Facebook before a briefing and without deliberation,” Kelly said. “It means not sharing sensitive materials prior to board adoption. It means engaging with your colleagues here - not Facebook friends - during the actual meetings.
“I cannot remember which of the many complaints about the trustee’s behavior are still confidential and which he’s already posted about on social media.”
Board President Bryan Johnson said he has appreciated Gaynor’s dissenting opinions and contributions to the board, but raised issue with “either all the information” not being shared in his social media posts or it being shared “in a biased fashion.”
“I feel like I hit a brick wall,” Johnson said during the meeting.”I don’t feel like anything is going to change if we keep going down the same road. We don’t agree on everything, but we have an expectation that we won’t misrepresent the intentions of the board as a whole or take actions that jeopardize the success of the district.”
Saying it was “a board of education matter,” Ann Arbor Public Schools Spokesman Andrew Cluley declined to comment further when asked if any district information Gaynor has shared on social media was privileged, or would have violated any of the district bylaws.
Gaynor’s Facebook page, which notes his role as a board trustee and is separate from his personal account, typically posts agendas for school board meetings in advance, sometimes making note of important items going before the board.
On June 23, Gaynor shared via the account that he was informed by Johnson that day that a vote on a new five-year contract for Superintendent Jeanice Swift would be added to the board’s June 24 meeting agenda.
“As I post this, it has not yet been added to Board Docs,” Gaynor wrote. “I made my views very clear that the public should be informed well in advance of this vote.”
At 11:48 a.m. June 24, Gaynor made another post on the page noting the item had been added to the agenda. Gaynor also recently has provided similar notice to the public on his page regarding discussion of what the upcoming school year might look like.
“I’d say other trustees didn’t like the fact that I publicized issues that were coming up before the board before they were added, last minute, to the agenda - the prime example being the vote on the superintendent’s contract,” Gaynor said on Thursday.
“The board represents the community, and I do feel it is our responsibility to keep them informed and to allow people to provide feedback on the issues and decisions we are entrusted to make. One of my campaign pledges was to ensure openness and transparency, and I’ve worked consistently to make that happen.”
This is the second time the Ann Arbor Public Schools Board of Education has attempted to take action against Gaynor for his conduct.
In December 2019, some board members expressed concern and disapproval regarding Gaynor’s conduct as a board member, attempting to censure him in his role. The vote was denied in a 3-3 split, while another motion to remove Gaynor as board secretary was voted down by the same vote.
The board’s action came after Gaynor received a message from Superintendent Jeanice Swift that he was to have no contact with a student or her parents after he renewed an email exchange with the student on August 2019.
Gaynor said he was later contacted by phone by the Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Office, which relayed the parents’ request that he not have contact with their daughter. He was later interviewed regarding the communications by school district attorney Bill Blaha, who sent a 63-page report of the investigation to the school board on Oct. 25.
The conclusion of the report, Gaynor said, indicated the email exchange was not a violation “of Board Bylaws, Board Policies, or laws.”
Gaynor, a former Ann Arbor elementary and middle school teacher for more than 40 years, provided a statement to the board before the vote, extensively outlining the context of his interaction with the third-grade student that began in May 2018 during a routine visit to one of the district’s elementary buildings.
“I want to emphasize that I did not initiate contact with (the student) during this period, but rather I simply responded to her emails,” Gaynor said. “I did not see these emails as private or personal. I had no reason to believe (the student) did not mention these exchanges with her teacher or parents at the time.”
Last week, Gaynor confirmed he was running for a second school board term in November, via his Facebook page.
READ MORE:
Censure vote against Ann Arbor school board member fails
Ann Arbor school board member won’t stand for Pledge of Allegiance
Ann Arbor school board approves new 5-year contract for superintendent
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