Hanlon spared disciplinary action

Teresa Hinds

Friday, July 25, 1997 | 11:01 a.m.

State Board of Education member Bill Hanlon was spared a public dressing down for a threatening message he left on another board member's answering machine.

At the request of several board members, the disciplinary item was pulled from the agenda of the board's Thursday meeting in Las Vegas.

As a result of the lack of procedures in place to deal with such discipline issues, board President Dave Sheffield appointed a subcommittee to "look at strengthening the principals and ethics of the board."

The item was originally placed on the agenda at the request of member Dave Cook for a message Hanlon left on Cook's answering machine in March.

Hanlon said he threatened to "tear his ass up" if Cook made comments regarding graduation requirements and accountability on an upcoming Reno cable television show about education.

Hanlon made the remark, he said, because he didn't think Cook knew enough about the issues to address them in public.

Although Sheffield declined to identify which board members requested the item be pulled from the agenda, he did say it was pulled because "a few board members felt it (the disagreement) needed to come to an end."

Cook declined comment on the issue.

Hanlon, who writes an education column for the SUN, said he didn't care if the item was pulled from the agenda or not.

"It didn't matter to me what they did," Hanlon said. "I wasn't the one who put it on the agenda and I didn't have anything to do with taking it off."

Sheffield appointed board member Donna Husted as chairman of the subcommittee. Cook, Yvonne Shaw and Gary Waters were also appointed by Sheffield to sit on the subcommittee.