OXFORD – The Oxford School Board of Education members did their best to address the community’s concerns over a move many called “deceitful” and “tricky” on Tuesday night.

Last week, the school board passed a resolution to extend the contract of Superintendent Randall Squier. However, many community members left the meeting believing no action had or would be taken at that time.

On June 8, the board extended Squier’s contract by one year, pushing his end date to 2012. However, a discussion about a letter sent to the district by seven community members led many to believe no action would be taken on the contract until further information from the public was received.

The letter asked that no action be taken until the board had a chance to read a petition signed by hundreds of district residents, asking that Squier’s contract not be renewed. Referring to the letter, board president Robin DeBrita said the board would need to consult legal counsel about the matter. “There will be no action at this time,” DeBrita said on June 8.

That comment led many to believe that no action would be taken on Squier’s contract, something DeBrita explained was a miscommunication. “I don’t think it was anyone’s intent to be unclear,” DeBrita said. “I understand people thought they were being deceived, but that was not our intention.” DeBrita explained that the action she was referring to was in the form of a response to the letter. Legal counsel was consulted after the meeting to determine what could be said in responding to the community.

Newly-elected board member Peter Heggie questioned why the information about Squier’s contract wasn’t made public. “I stayed through the whole meeting, and I don’t remember hearing anything about it.” Heggie said he has nothing against the superintendent, but did find fault with the way the issue was handled. “I’m against all of this back door stuff. As a board member, this back door stuff will not be done. That’s garbage. You can’t do that as a board member,” Heggie said.

Dawn Golden, another newly-elected board member, said it was her assumption that Squier’s contract was one of the two items tabled at last week’s meeting. One item, DeBrita had said, was in regard to the issue of the high school principal’s tenure. Golden addressed the crowd, asking if anyone knew what the other tabled item had been. “When I come on the board, this is going to change,” she said.

Several community members asked why the board felt it necessary to act on the contract before seeing all of the information from the public.

“We felt very comfortable moving forward with the decision based on the past year,” DeBrita said.