By Stephanie Mariel Petrellese

The sanctity of the hiring process employed by the Garden City School District came under fire by two parents at the October 15th meeting of the Garden City Board of Education.

Garden City residents Rosemary Brosnan and Laura Sikorski claim a group of approximately 40 parents were upset after a teacher they were very pleased with at Stratford School was not hired for a permanent position at the end of the last school year after working two years in the district. "I'm going to go out on a limb here and say almost the entire class worth of parents...really believe that the hiring process failed to result in the best choice for our students...Nobody is really satisfied that the process worked and we have serious concerns that it is just going to continue," Si-korski said.

The women are especially concerned with the sanctity of district hiring committees. While under no legal obligation to include committees in the hiring process, the district has made use of them for years as a way to involve the community in what is generally believed to be one of the most important decisions impacting students-the hiring of teachers.

Committee size and composition varies, but they are generally made up of faculty members and parents. Hiring committees do not select one person; through interviews, they narrow down the number of candidates and present a list to central administration. The board decides whether or not to ratify the superintendent's recommendation.

Brosnan claimed there is an "appearance of impropriety" and cited several examples of rumors she has heard regarding hiring committees. She asked for proof that a committee member who had a niece being considered for a position abstained from the vote. She also said she heard that one candidate who was interviewed has an aunt who is a "good friend" of Assistant Superintendent for Personnel Fino Celano. "I want to make sure that there is no fa-voritism there," she said.

Brosnan said she heard a rumor that when a candidate came in for an interview, "the committee members kiss[ed] her and greet[ed] her...and [said] how are you, how's your family, it's so nice you're all grown up."

"I have a problem with that," said Brosnan. "I want to know that this board, who serves at the whim of the community, addresses those issues and speaks to the committee members...The problem is at the committee level. I want to be guaranteed that that doesn't happen again because it's unacceptable to me as a parent."

Superintendent Dr. Robert Feirsen said the committee member did abstain from a vote on the hiring of a distant relative and that the rumor regarding Celano was unfounded. He acknowledged that upon meeting the candidate a committee member realized she was a former student and greeted her with a "spontaneous display of emotion."

Kenneth Monaghan, president of the Garden City Board of Education, also defended the committees. "We recognize that there has to be credibility in that process," he said. "The board makes the assumption when that process is complete that there are no impro-prieties involved."

Since it is a personnel matter, both Monaghan and Dr. Feirsen refused to comment on the individual teacher at Stratford who was not hired permanently. Monaghan added that the hiring process has improved significantly over the nine years he has served on the school board. He acknowledged it is not perfect and said the board is always willing to listen to suggestions on ways to make it better.

The district reaches out to the PTA and SEPTA, who try to elicit volunteers for the committees among their membership. "We look upon this type of service as both a privilege and a responsibility," said PTA President Angela Heineman. Volunteers are given guidelines and are required to attend an orientation session. She said confidentiality is stressed and volunteers are reminded that they are "one voice among a group of voices."

"We do what we can in order to facilitate this process, along with the board and the superintendent," said Heineman. She added that members of the PTA's executive committee have met with the su-perintendent and school board members to discuss regarding the sanctity of the hiring committees. "We're not just talking about the safety, well-being and education of our children. We're talking about someone's career, and we are talking about the running of the school district."