01:00 AM EST on Friday, March 17, 2006

BY BARBARA POLICHETTI
Journal Staff Writer

EAST GREENWICH -- "Rude" and "childish."

Those are among the words School Committee Chairman Vincent D. Bradley used this week in a letter castigating other, unnamed board members for "unprofessional" conduct. .

"I am distressed to say that your School Committee is fractured by seriously flawed interpersonal relationships," Bradley said in the letter that he submitted to area newspapers for publication. "Witnessing rude, childish behavior by some School Committee members will disgust you to no end. I have no doubt that if this turmoil within the School Committee continues, we will, among other consequences, lose the superintendent to a position in another school district able to function on a more professional plane."

While Bradley did not name names, he said in an interview that he was referring primarily to board members Marilyn Friedemann and Steven Gregson.

"Their behavior has been really bad at the last couple of meetings," Bradley said, recalling that Gregson and Friedemann last week left a meeting "in a huff" after a vote did not go their way. "I think it is disgraceful the way the two of them act," Bradley said.

Asked to elaborate, Bradley said that Gregson and Friedemann make rude comments, have tempermental outbursts, speak when others are trying to talk and have side discussions while meetings are in session.

Asked for comment, Friedemann and Gregson rejected the criticism, saying that there is only one problem with the current School Committee and it is Bradley.

"He is absolutely the root of any problem," Gregson said. "Anyone who has known me for any amount of time knows that I treat people the way they treat me."

He said he has often heard Bradley describe himself as someone who "is consistently inconsistent."

"My interpretation of that after knowing Mr. Bradley for four years is that he lies," Gregson said.

Friedemann said the five-member School Committee was fractured when she was elected two years ago and the divisive force back then was Bradley. "I would remind you, Mr. Bradley, that you were at the hub of controversy and I helped you get out of that."

At the time, Friedemann said, the committee was filing numerous complaints against Bradley to various state agencies because he had asked the schools superintendent's secretary to type a political letter for him.

(The letter, which was distributed to newspapers, endorsed Friedemann and Suzanne McKee Cienki in their bid to get elected to the school board. After they won, Friedemann and Cienki voted to elect Bradleychairman.)

Friedemann said since she took office she has worked to bring the committee together and is tired of acting as "the babysitter" for the board.

She said Bradley, who served on the Town Council before being elected to the School Committee in 2002, has always stirred dissention and controversy and that his public record proves it.

"Those who come with unclean hands shouldn't complain," she said. "Vince, don't say you're an angel and a consensus gatherer when you have been at the center of every controversy in town."

Bradley said he wrote the letter to the editor because he was frustrated by Fridemann's and Gregson's behavior and feared the board would lose all credibility because of internal friction.

"The outrageous and unprofessional conduct that I've witnessed and [been] forced to tolerate during my term on the School Committee will have far reaching repercussions," he said. It might drive away qualified educators and deter taxpayers from financially supporting the schools.

The bulk of Bradley's letter is devoted to describing the progress the school district has made in recent years and praising its teachers and administrators.

Asked if he could use his role as chairman to rectify the situation, Bradley said, "I've never seen anything like this. In all the political battles I've been in, there's always been respect for the chair and for decorum, but the most skilled parliamentarian in the world couldn't control these two."

Gregson said that he has worked hard for residents, tackling tough problems such as the flawed high school gym floor, year-long teacher negotiations and health care reform.

"I'm just trying to do a good job for taxpayers," Gregson said. "What's Vince doing except stirring the pot?

"The credibility problem with the School Committee has always been -- and still is -- Vince Bradley."