The Union County Board of Education placed Dr. Jimmy Carter as the interim director at its called June 23 meeting. The action was the culmination of a series of events that left the district without a director for a short time.
Parents had voiced concerns at the May and June board of education meetings regarding bullying, vaping and other student behaviors. Carter abruptly resigned after the parents spoke on June 9.
The board accepted his resignation then sent Brad Griffey, second district board member, to seek a temporary director from the administrative staff and the board recessed to await Griffey’s findings.
The recessed meetings saw speeches by two principals, a parade of mostly school employees led by David Coppock, board chair, an apology from Carter for his hasty action and general pleas to restore Carter to his position as director of schools.
But Carter clearly stated that he could no longer trust that he would have the board’s support in making decisions, refused to be fully returned to his former position, and offered to serve for 120 days until a permanent director could be hired. The board reconsidered the acceptance of the resignation and accepted the offer of a 120-day contract.
Coppock set up a series of board meetings on the remaining Thursdays in June and into July if needed to approve any changes to the FY22 and the FY23 Budgets and to make personnel and financial decisions necessary to begin school in August.
At the June 23 meeting, Dr. Jimmy Carter offered to serve as interim director under his original contract, until such time as the board decided to continue the search for a new director. Danny Wayne Collins quickly made a motion to that effect; however, Marty Gibbs, provided a second, and clarified the motion to approve Dr. Carter as interim with full duties and powers including budget and personnel until the law would allow the new board to revisit the subject and make another decision regarding Carter’s status. The new board will meet on September 8.
In regards to property for the new middle school, the board approved moving $15,000 from undesignated funds to a cost-centered line in order to cover the cost of the survey, title search and subsurface drilling to keep within the 60 day option to purchase the property. Ms. Stackhouse and Carter are to review the contracts and determine the appropriate professional services to retain.
The board's final action was to approve the new website for the school system that is scheduled to open on July 1.
The board will meet on June 30 if necessary, but most likely will meet at the regular meeting on July 14.