BUFFALO, N.Y. — There is an update surrounding the controversy over Nardin Academy leadership.
On Monday, provincial Elizabeth Dodge and board chair Tish Van Dyke released a new statement.
It says the previous statement from board members calling for resignations from the school's president and board chair last week was "rogue" and done without approval saying in part, "this irresponsible behavior has further damaged our school."
Last Thursday some students and staff members staged a walkout saying the school's leadership displays a culture of intimidation, mistrust, and harassment.
Then over the weekend, some philanthropists said they would no longer support the school financially until something changed.
Here is the statement from Elizabeth Dodge, U.S. Provincial, Daughters of the Heart of Mary, and Tish Van Dyke, Chair, Nardin Academy Board of Trustees:
Nine members of the 24-member Board of Trustees of Nardin Academy recently called for the resignations of the school’s president, Dr. Sandra Betters, and the Chair of its Board of Trustees, Tish Van Dyke, despite a pending formal independent assessment of Nardin’s leadership, including Dr. Betters and the entire Board of Trustees.
The very public nature of the those demands, numerous misconceptions and half-truths, as well as recent news coverage has been severely damaging to the Academy’s reputation and has divided our community.
As an ex officio member of Nardin’s Board, I (Elizabeth), have grave concerns about the actions of the minority of the Board who are pressing for Sandra’s and Tish’s removal. At times, their words and actions have been deeply cruel and damaging. As Trustee Larry Quinn said in a recent email to fellow Board members, “You have just destroyed the reputation of a very decent, committed woman [Tish Van Dyke], who has spent thousands of hours working on our behalf to help and assist Nardin. The endless string of accusations and innuendo have had their effect, you have broken our chairman – one of the most decent women I have ever met.” Simply put, this kind of behavior does not hold true to our mission.
When concerns about Dr. Betters were first raised by certain members of Nardin’s faculty and other stakeholders, the Board acted responsibly to engage outside counsel to assess the basis for the concerns. The Board agreed to a sound process for the completion of the assessment and the delivery of the final report of counsel, in accordance with customary protocols established by attorneys who specialize in this sensitive area.
Now, certain Board members have publicly expressed a desire for the Board to call for the resignations of our school’s President and Board Chair before the assessment has been completed by counsel. This rogue statement, released to media without Board consensus or approval, has done further damage to Nardin’s reputation. Furthermore, the demands to depart from our agreed upon process have emboldened members of our community to publicly criticize Sandra, and those criticisms have been echoed most recently by some students, in full view of the community served by the school and its stakeholders. This irresponsible behavior has further damaged our school. The demands of some Board members pressuring others for action before the assessment report is released is ill-advised and is simply poor governance. We have no doubt that in their minds, these Board members believe they are acting in the best interest of Nardin. However, their precipitous demands for action are not supported by an appropriate inquiry (and subsequent final report) and demonstrate blatant disregard for our agreed-upon process and, more importantly, the reputation of the beloved and outstanding learning community that Nardin represents.
At the end of the day, being a Catholic school requires more than simply teaching doctrine. It means that all those in our community—faculty, staff, and Board members—must behave in a manner that is congruent with respect and appreciation for others, even when we disagree.
We are so grateful for the generosity and contributions of Nardin’s donors and benefactors and recognize the tremendous impact they have had. We also know that Nardin’s mission and our dedication to our Catholic identify must always supersede any other influence, including monetary ones. Nardin’s commitment to living our Christian values of inclusivity, equity, and fairness can never be based on financial factors. Nardin Academy bears the name of its foundress, Ernestine Nardin, a Daughter of the Heart of Mary, and we are committed to protecting and maintaining her vision of educating children in a faith-based culture. We have every confidence that the best interests of Nardin will be served if we as a Board adhere to reasonable standards of good governance and fairness. We reject the urging of those who would have us short circuit our agreed process of deliberating the important issues before us. And we look forward to working with the entire Board to carefully examine the findings of the final assessment report, which will be completed and issued to our Assessment Task Force shortly.
We also reject recent speculation that we received advanced knowledge of the findings in the assessment, or that either of us have predetermined our position on how Nardin should move forward. That speculation is false and counterproductive. To our knowledge, no one on the Nardin Board has seen the report, and accusations that we will do anything other than carefully consider the report’s findings and then act accordingly and responsibly are off base. We look forward to healing divisions on the Board and in our school community. We also look forward to tackling the important issues that loom before our school. We recognize that Nardin is in a precarious place right now, and that some in the community may be actively working to undermine the school. However, we are committed to regaining the trust of our stakeholders, uniting around Nardin’s mission as a Catholic institution, and most importantly, continuing to provide excellent education to the children in our care.