×
×
homepage logo
LOGIN
SUBSCRIBE

Coffman, Mosley at odds

By Grace Pecci - Staff Writer | Oct 18, 2018

NASHUA – Board of Education member Howard Coffman said he will not resign in the face of what he calls “bullying” by school employees, while district Superintendent Jahmal Mosley hopes the public realizes “temper tantrums is not who we are.”

During an Oct. 9 board meeting, Nashua Teachers’ Union President Adam Marcoux presented a letter to members asking for Coffman’s resignation. Marcoux did so not just on behalf of teachers, but also the Nashua School Custodians Union, Nashua Association of School Administrators and Directors and Nashua Association of School Principals.

Among numerous accusations against Coffman listed in the letter is the time in September when he reportedly got down on all fours during a board session to demonstrate what a temper tantrum looked like after being told he was acting like a child.

“That’s not what adults do,” Mosley said.

Moving forward, Mosley said, “I am committed to supporting and working with a community to move forward… I don’t want one board member’s inappropriate actions to be representative of our great work toward kids.”

In addition to the tantrum, the employees’ reasons for asking Coffman to resign include allegations of:

“behaving in such an unprofessional and inappropriate manner that others present felt their safety was in jeopardy,”

 making “lengthy” speeches at meetings,

 repeatedly interrupting Board President Dotty Oden,

 using disrespectful language toward other board members,

 making repeated and numerous requests for information, with no regard its necessity to conduct business, and

 using picky interpretations of “parliamentary procedures.”

Coffman’s response:

“If you have people who are not working well together, and that’s all of us, non-public sessions are absolutely off the wall and I got sucked into that,” Coffman said.

“I do not serve at the whim or desire of the unions, the school district administration, or other board members. I make no apology that I hold the district administration and board members to a high standard of transparency, accountability and fairness. I see this as my primary responsibility and will continue to do so,” he added.

According to the district website, Coffman’s term expires Dec. 31, 2019. He said he plans to complete the term.

“Their call of my resignation is intended to disrupt the operations and is bullying,” Coffman added.

Newsletter

Join thousands already receiving our daily newsletter.

Interests
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *