In their second meeting after the arrest and suspension of their colleague Beverly Gallagher, Broward School Board members more openly discussed the uphill climb they face in restoring public faith in the board.

`BIG PROBLEMS'

``We have some big problems,'' Board Chairwoman Maureen Dinnen said. ``We have some that have arisen recently. And we have the [stimulus] funding cliff. I think we need some help with those. Whether it's professional development or . . .''

``Therapy?'' Board member Stephanie Kraft asked, only half-jokingly.

Federal stimulus dollars helped the school district plug some of its budget holes this year, and more funds are expected next year. After that, the money will be gone.

Board members only obliquely referred to the federal corruption investigation involving Gallagher, never naming her or the $71 million Hollywood Hills High School renovation project in which she allegedly took money from undercover agents to influence a committee that recommends companies for construction projects. (The project has since been scrapped because of budget cuts).

But during the board's annual meeting to set objectives and discuss how to evaluate the superintendent, Kraft and the rest of the board agreed they will need to do some team building once Gov. Charlie Crist appoints an interim person to Gallagher's southwest Broward seat. Board member Robin Bartleman was absent.

``There's been a change in our group,'' Kraft said. ``We need to process it.''

Eleven people had applied for Gallagher's seat as of Thursday afternoon.

Kraft said the school district's problems go beyond the board, with ``factions'' and trust issues with teachers and other employees -- in addition to a lack of communication with the public, an ongoing concern even before Gallagher was arrested last week.

``We're not getting the good things out,'' Board member Jennifer Gottlieb said. ``People are angry . . . I don't want recent current events to give us further setbacks.''

Board members said citizens and employees don't feel the board is approachable and that rumors and misinformation quickly spread among employees and parents.

They also said the district should fast track its plans to hire a new head for the recently merged public relations and governmental affairs departments.

MISINFORMATION

Board member Bob Parks partly blamed misinformation on comments posted on blogs that he called ``vitriolic.''

Said Superintendent Jim Notter: ``We haven't built a good parallel mechanism to react'' to social networking and the 24-hour news cycle.

Parks also criticized internal district audits for sometimes taking on a ``gotcha'' tone instead of offering solutions.

Some on the board have reprimanded auditors since they released a report over the summer that accused AshBritt, a contractor, of overbilling for repairs following Hurricane Wilma in 2005. AshBritt officials have denied the charges.

SUBPOENA

Federal agents have subpoenaed Michael Garretson, the school district's construction chief, to present all documents related to AshBritt.

Garretson said the district delivered 8,000 pages of records on Thursday. He also sent a memo this week asking his staff forany and all documents related to the company. ``Leave nothing out,'' he wrote.

The bottom line, board members agreed, is to try not to get bogged down in what Board member Ann Murray called ``the ninnies and the nay-nays.''

``I think you can get discouraged,'' Dinnen said. ``We can't do that. We've got to keep playing our game and doing our thing.

Miami Herald staff writer Hannah Sampson contributed to this report.

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