JUST STOP TALKING . . .

Dear SACS CASI Review Committee Members,

My name is Randy Sain. I am principal at East Burke Middle School and husband of school board member Karen Sain. I, along with my fellow middle school and high school principals, was interviewed by you today at 9:45 AM in the Curriculum Lab in Morganton. I would like to explain my actions and dispel any half-truths or innuendos you may have heard.

We were told a week or so ago that SACS CASI was coming and we were to be there at 9:45. We were given no other indication of what to expect or what the tenor or tone of the questioning would be. I didn’t know if it would be accusatory or truly a fact-finding venture and we were never told that we could not record the meeting. I brought my digital recorder with me to the meeting and, as soon as I sat down at my seat, placed it out in open sight and turned it on. I never tried to hide it or be secretive about it. We sat for a couple of minutes before the moderator began the meeting. He introduced the committee members and then made the statement that he did not want to know our names, that we would remain anonymous and that anything said in the meeting was to remain in strictest confidence. Immediately, I turned the recorder OFF and placed it on top of my portfolio. No questions asked or responses given were recorded at all. In retrospect, I should have put it back in my pocket but I just didn’t think about it. I understand that one of my colleagues can attest to the fact that I stopped the recorder but I didn’t pay attention to who saw me do what at the time.

After the meeting concluded, I put the recorder back in my pocket and left. On my way back to school, I received a call from a colleague in the meeting asking if I had had a recorder in the meeting. I confirmed that I had but that it had only recorded for a couple of minutes until the moderator had said that the meeting was to be confidential and anonymous so I had stopped recording. I was driving and couldn’t get it out of my pocket to look at the length of the recording but, as soon as I got back in the building, I looked and saw that I had recorded for 3:02. I immediately deleted the recording and e-mailed my colleagues.

I apologize for the inconvenience this has caused both you and them. I did nothing maliciously or with the intent to limit anyone’s free speech. My rationale was simply to prevent any of us from being misquoted, misunderstood or maligned on the blog. Had we been asked NOT to bring a recording device, I never would have done so, regardless of whether our statements got to the blog or not. I would like to bring to your attention the fact that many who were not in the meeting are aware of this incident. This spread of what should have been a confidential incident is exactly what the school board AND administration has been dealing with for the past year. Again, I apologize to you folks for the inconvenience my action caused. I will also apologize to my colleagues for the same reason.

Sincerely,

Randy K. Sain

(emphasis and paragraph breaks added)

The opinions expressed by the group of principals were supposed to be confidential.

Bringing a visible tape recorder to the meeting implies intimidation of others at the very least.