Official criticizes new Board of Education appointment David Saussy

One public official is criticizing the selection process that the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Board of Education used to appoint a new member in December, arguing that the process lacked transparency.

School board members chose David Saussy from among 15 applicants to fill the seat vacated by Mia Burroughs, who was elected to the Orange County Board of Commissioners.

At a public meeting, board members asked the applicants a series of questions which the applicants had a minute to answer. Board members then voted on the applicants, and Saussy was selected.

Orange County Commissioner Mark Dorosin said he disagrees with the way Saussy was selected.

“This is a community that values transparency and engagement, but the board never said why they chose one candidate over another,” he said.

Dorosin said the school board’s lack of transparency undermines residents’ trust because they have no sense of why the selection was made.

“Any time a public body has to make a decision, there is a discussion about the merits before them,” he said. “But the board picked the candidate without any public discussion.”

Mike Kelley, chairman of the Board of Education, said the process the board used to select Saussy was the same process it has used in every similar instance since 2002.

“As an elected official, I take my responsibility seriously, and I’m pretty transparent in what I’m doing and what the board is doing,” he said.

“If I ever have a question about what another board member does and I don’t understand it, I usually somehow communicate with that board; I don’t usually write an article about it,” Kelley said, referring to a column Dorosin wrote for Chapel Hill News that called the process “opaque and close-mouthed.”

The selection process was difficult because the board received more applicants than ever before, Kelley said.

“Every board member makes a decision based on what they think is best and based off of the characteristics they thought were valuable,” Kelley said.

“David stood out as an applicant because of his experience with the school system, his work on the School Improvement Team and his long term goals, views and priorities.”

Saussy will serve the remainder of Burroughs’ term, which expires in November.

Saussy said he applied for the position because he has two children who attend Glenwood Elementary School.

“The board is an opportunity to advocate for all of the public schools and all of the students,” Saussy said.

Saussy said he has an understanding of the education children need to be successful because of his work with the global health care company GlaxoSmithKline.

“My background as a scientist has trained me to look carefully at problems that are presented and make sure that I do a thorough and objective assessment of all the data at hand before coming to a conclusion,” he said.

Saussy said his goals include targeting broader issues, such as budgetary difficulties and the challenges they present to physical infrastructure.

“The district has a lot of challenges ahead of it as far as goals of closing the achievement gap and in terms of continuing to provide a quality education for all children,” he said.

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