LEW-PORT: E-mails spark review

<table width="234" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" background="http://static.cnhi.zope.net/flashpromo/niagaragazette/images/byline_234x60.jpg" height="60"><tr><td><div align="center"><font size="3" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">By Mark Scheer</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><br /></font><font size="1" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><a href="mailto:mark.scheer@niagara-gazette.com">mark.scheer@niagara-gazette.com</a></font></div></td></tr></table>
Niagara Gazette

June 10, 2009 06:51 pm

— The Lewiston-Porter Central School District will undertake an internal policy review amid concerns about the questionable content of several e-mails delivered by the school board president to other board members.
Andrew J. Freedman, an attorney for the school district, said he’s anticipating the board and Superintendent R. Christopher Roser will take a closer look at district guidelines as they deal with the aftermath of the public release of several controversial e-mails sent by school board president Bob Weller to other members of the board.
The e-mails in question were delivered by Weller using his own e-mail account and personal computer. They contained materials other board members found offensive and highly inappropriate for a district official, including derogatory depictions of President Barack Obama and Chelsea Clinton and demeaning comments about women.
Freedman said the district is in the process of conducting an internal investigation into the delivery of the e-mails and their release to the public. At this time, Freedman said, it does not appear as though Weller violated any district policies currently on the books, including one governing “acceptable use” of district-owned computers and resources.
He added that the district does not condone racist or sexist behavior of any kind and believes very strongly that all representatives of the district should be held to high standards of personal and professional conduct.
“We’re very pleased that Mr. Weller apologized for his actions,” Freedman said. “We want to put this unfortunate situation behind us and we want to institute a policy that will stop this from happening again. The district believes that acceptance of diversity is a cornerstone of education.”
Weller has said that the e-mails were intended to be humorous and were private messages that were not intended for public consumption. In a written statement released this week, he offered a “sincere and heartfelt” apology for what he described as a “private district matter” that has “become a public concern.”
Reached by telephone on Wednesday, Weller said he did not have anything else to add to his statement at this time but promised more information would be forthcoming. He added that he is scheduled to meet soon with one of his loudest critics, the Rev. Darius Pridgen, pastor of the True Bethel Baptist Church in Buffalo.
“These e-mails were private messages which were never meant to intentionally offend anyone and I regret that they had a negative affect on me, personally, and my district,” Weller said. “One must always learn from mistakes and I hope that this will serve as a valuable lesson from which everyone may learn. I know I have learned a great deal from this experience.”
Fellow board member Keith Fox said district officials have had conversations about the situation. He declined to comment when asked his opinion on Weller’s future with the board.
“What we decide to do and what Mr. Weller decides to do is obviously going to be up to us,” Fox said.
Board member Ed Lilly said the majority of e-mails sent by Weller involved information about supporting U.S. troops and included messages of religious inspiration. He suggested that Weller’s political adversaries purposely leaked copies of the controversial e-mails to the media in an effort to discredit him as board president.
“Weller should expect that his private messages will be kept private,” Lilly said. “Just because he holds public office, does not allow political adversaries to peek in his bedroom window or to offer his private e-mails to the media.”