In two 3-3-1 votes, with Place 1 Trustee Kevin Johnson abstaining and the "no" votes represented by Place 4 Trustee Cory Vessa, Place 2 Trustee Mary Bone and Place 7 Trustee Danielle Weston, motions to censure Bone and Weston for an alleged attempt to prevent the board from passing its budget on June 16 failed.
Place 5 Trustee Amy Weir addressed the board as the requestor of the censure measure, stating that she had written the resolutions within days of the meeting, and that they are based on no previous events.
"Walking out of the meeting, where the budget is going to be approved, is not helping this board," Weir said. "It is not helping us, the district, our employees (or) our students. We should not have to make adjustments for your bad behavior in order to pay our employees, period."
Agenda items tied to resolutions to censure were considered in open session during the meeting, where Bone criticized the process, calling it "political theater."
"You guys are biased against me, it doesn't matter what I say," Bone said.
Bone reiterated that she left the meeting because she believed Weir would be attending the meeting in person having tested positive for COVID-19. She also said the resolutions were "defamatory" in nature.
"This is the stuff we talk about all the time on the dais that we don't want our district, we don't want people to do it here," Bone said. "You guys have done it. We do not come here with an open mind. We do not look at things from a systematic viewpoint."
Weston also criticized the censure, saying that it reduced people to "obstacles," and that it was "disrespectful to due process." She also criticized the resolutions written by Weir for "ascribing motives" to her departure of the June 16 meeting, and disagreed with information regarding district closure and its impact on the budget process presented in them as fact.
"The majority has weaponized their majority over Dr. Bone and I, which not only damages board dynamics, but it sets a horrible example for our students," Weston said.
She also reiterated her previously stated justification for leaving, believing that Weir would be in attendance based on the "containment apparatus" prepared in the meeting room, constituting a violation of district policy and hypocrisy given previously strict COVID-19 protocols in place.
Regarding the importance of the date of the budget meeting in relation to passing a budget in compliance with statutory requirements, Place 3 Trustee and Board Presiden Amber Feller and Place 6 Trustee Tiffanie Harrison clarified that June 16 was also the last day all necessary staff would be available to be present for and facilitate the meeting without recalling them from scheduled vacations.
In the public comment section of the meeting, some speakers spoke in support of the measure to formally reprimand the two trustees. However, not all speakers supported the measure, including former RRISD board member Terri Romere, who herself was censured during her time on the board. Romere pointed to a previous attempt to censure the two trustees, as well as a Chapter 87 suit that sought to remove Weston from the board.
"All these people have, Vessa, Feller, Harrison and Weir, is to censure you," Romere said.
The censure resolutions would have required Weston and Bone to respond to calendar invites for board activity, attend meetings unless extenuating circumstances would prevent them from doing so and provide prior notice to the board president regarding planned absences.
The board previously considered measures to censure Bone and Weston after they abruptly left a September 2021 board meeting. However, a temporary restraining order filed by Bone and Weston in the 425th District Court of Williamson County prevented the board from acting on the measures. The suit was dismissed in April, according to court records.
