Two weeks after getting into a tense exchange with advocate Liz Meitl at the group’s last meeting, Shawnee Mission School Board President Brad Stratton on Monday offered a public apology to his board peers and Meitl for his remarks.
“I stepped out of the standards of protocol,” Stratton said to members of the board at the conclusion of Monday’s meeting. He then turned to Meitl, who was in the audience, and said, “I took it upon myself to engage a patron that I turn to and also apologize. That was outside our standard of protocol.”
Meitl and Stratton are set to meet tomorrow to discuss some of the information she’s requested about a number of facets of the district’s operations, from data on discipline rates by race, to human resources policy for building administrators, to special education documentation. Stratton told Meitl during the exchange at the previous meeting that she was only to interact with him regarding her questions about the district moving forward, and that he was setting aside time specially for the two of them to meet.
Stratton said on Monday that, upon reflection, he didn’t believe his comments had been proper from the board president.
“You voted me to be the president of this board. And I don’t want to do anything to jeopardize the trust you put in me,” he said to his board peers. “And I felt, after reflection, that I did not hold myself to that standard.”
Video of Stratton’s remarks on the matter from Monday are below:
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