Bloom Board President Says He Was 'Misrepresented' in Patch

It's not often Patch gets mentioned in the public meeting of a government body, so I thought I'd draw a little attention to this.

At the Monday, Jan. 9 Bloom 206 school board meeting, Board President Henry Drake took a moment to read a statement confirming his knowledge of the .

Drake started by saying his previous statements were "misrepresented" in a Patch story.

"I knew about the possible changes," Drake said. "I didn't know a staff member had sent information to the media."

Because I wrote the story in question, I want to address this.

On Friday, Jan. 6, during my brief phone conversation with Drake, I told him I had been informed by a former staff member that there would be a reduction in force in the district as well as some scheduling changes.

Drake's response was, "I don't know anything about that." I asked if I should talk to the superintendent, and he said "Yes."

That was it.

My next call was to the office of Acting Supt. Lenell Navarre. While the superintendent was not immediately available to comment, I did get an explanation as to what was going on from Bloom's Director of Human Resources Joe Malizia and wrote the story.

Did I misunderstand Henry Drake's response? Perhaps.

Fortunately, he made clear his level of knowledge and his stance on the issue at last night's board meeting.

In addition, Drake said the District will be looking beyond staff cuts in terms of saving money, including cutting insurance costs and transportation costs.

On a side note, Acting Supt. Navarre credited Patch with writing an even-handed story that presented both sides well.