Part six
Re “Gourley Wanted to Fire Coté, but She Made the First Move”
As the only announced departing member of the School Board in this election year, Steve Gourley’s severe friction with departed Supt. Dr. Myrna Rivera Coté has became a dominant theme in his farewell message.
Although their strongly held differences were shielded from the community, the sheer exhaustion after battling her perceived stubbornness the first half of his term convinced him not to pursue a second four years.
“Working in that kind of environment,” said Mr. Gourley, “where the Board wanted one thing and the Superintendent wanted something else, was like walking up Mt. Everest with an elephant on your back. It made this job so much more difficult and time-consuming.
Did the vehement feelings ever flare into the open?
“There was a certain amount of back-and-forth on the dais and at other places where it was quite obvious she and I did not get along. I don’t think she and Scott (Zeidman) got along at all well.
“There also was exasperation at some points from the three new Board members. But we never had outright wars.
“All of us had the same trepidations, that if she were to leave us, we would have no one to replace her.
“One reason we had no one to replace her was she told Patti Jaffe (the new Super) in December that three of us on the Board were going to fire Patti Jaffe.
“Which, of course, was the farthest thing from the truth. As I was considering in November and December (as Board President) who we had to replace Myrna, Patti Jaffe was one of those candidates.
“The situation was, What can we do if someone just walks out?
“I don’t want to point fingers at anybody. I didn’t think anyone here had enough administrative experience to have filled in temporarily or permanently for that position other than Patti.
“Although I had some disagreements with Patti as well, in January or February, I was told she was retiring.
“That gave me extreme trepidation at the time I was getting ready to write the annual evaluation of the Superintendent. We had just lost the last person who might be able to fill this position.”
(To be continued)
