JERSEY SHORE – An interaction between Jersey Shore Area School Board President Michelle Stemler and her fellow board member Michael Allen, had a district resident voicing her concerns that Allen’s freedom of speech had been violated.

“I find this whole exchange right here problematic and troublesome,” said Raye Bierly, a resident of Piatt Township, which Allen represents on the board.

“He represents me, and if he has concerns about board business, I would like to know what those concerns are, and the fact that you’re saying board members in order to speak have to email you first to kind of get permission. Is that what you’re saying? Where’s that in board policy? These people are our elected representatives. They’re here to represent our interests and to muzzle them and to tell them when and how they can speak and not speak. That’s unbelievable. What kind of operation is this board running,” Bierly continued.

The issue arose at the end of the business portion of the meeting, when a request by Allen to speak during the old business section of the meeting was shot down by Stemler, who told him that he would have to wait until the next meeting to bring up the topic.

Allen then requested to have an executive session to discuss the topic of cost savings which was denied by Stemler because that topic is not one allowed by law to be discussed in executive session.

Allen then questioned why he was not allowed to speak at the current meeting.

“I just want to know why I wasn’t allowed, to start with. What was your reasoning for not letting me say anything? Was there a reason,” Allen asked Stemler.

“Typically I have asked that you present it correct to the board prior to just so the board is aware that someone wants to discuss something because if it is something of the past, a lot of times we need to kind of take out old information so that we’re prepared to have a discussion on something that somebody would like to discuss. That’s the main reason,” Stemler explained.

After a discussion with board solicitor Chris Kenyon, Stemler indicated that Allen could speak, which he did not do. He also decided to withdraw his request for an executive session.

Bierly noted that there are board policies pertaining to communication and transparency and also for what can be discussed during executive sessions.

“You have policies that say that board members do not conduct business outside of the boardroom. That executive sessions, for example, (are for) personnel or legal. You don’t even follow Supreme Court rulings that say you have to identify the specific reason, the specific legal purpose that you’re discussing. You have to tell more information, and you don’t do that,” Bierly said.

“The fact that you’re not going to let a board member speak, this is shocking. What is going on? What happened to the First Amendment right to free speech. There’s a problem, and somebody needs to address it,” she added..