SC school board was ‘hostile, abusive’ toward former superintendent, says ex-member
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Lexington-Richland 5 superintendent resigns
Christina Melton, the S.C. superintendent of the year, abruptly stepped down from her leadership role, and a school board member resigned alongside her. How has the district responded and who will take her place? Read the latest.
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A South Carolina school board created a “hostile and abusive work environment” for the state superintendent of the year with the goal of getting her to resign, a now-former member of the Lexington-Richland 5 school board said.
Former board member Ed White made the claim after a dramatic board meeting Monday night at which Superintendent Christina Melton emotionally announced her resignation.
White also resigned his seat mid-meeting on Monday night, saying he did “not agree with the settlement reached with Dr. Melton.”
“I felt that it was the only action that I could take to express the serious nature of my objection to the way our Board has decided to conduct the public’s business,” White said in a statement to The State on Tuesday. “My fellow Board members signed a secret settlement agreement with Dr. Melton to terminate the Superintendent’s Contract without a public vote. They wanted to present the false façade that she had resigned and keep it from the public until after the school year adjourned, ostensibly to avoid the criticism they would receive for their actions. I refused to sign the agreement.”
White blamed board vice chair Ken Loveless, secretary Nikki Gardner and board member Catherine Huddle with forcing Melton to resign.
“I witnessed the hostile and abusive work environment these three created for her that would make it impossible for any Superintendent to succeed,” White said. “Then they demanded that Mrs. Melton, the Superintendent of the Year, resign. There was no basis for terminating her employment.”
Gardner, Loveless and Huddle, citing policy that allows only the board chair to speak to reporters, did not comment on White’s statement.
White also said the board should have held a public vote on Melton’s employment if members did not want her to continue as superintendent.
“Unfortunately, I do not believe that I can solve this problem serving on this Board and don’t want to preside over the damage to School District Five that this Board is creating,” White said.
Monday’s meeting followed the normal pattern until White held up his letter of resignation and walked out of the meeting during a discussion on an executive session report on an employment matter, which filled 68 open positions in the district. That number had been as high as 125 open school positions as the school year winds down.
After White left, the board returned to executive session to discuss “a contractual matter” at the end of the meeting, and Melton announced her resignation when the board returned to open session around 10 p.m.
Earlier in the meeting, the board had recognized Melton recently being named state superintendent of the year, complete with a presentation of flowers to Melton and her family.
In a statement late Monday night, Melton said it was “bittersweet” to leave Lexington-Richland after spending more than 10 years there, where she received multiple “best of” awards. Her first was in 2012 when she, then an elementary school principal, was named principal of the year.
The State reached out to members of the Lexington-Richland 5 school board on Tuesday. Of the six members still serving on the board, only three responded: Gardner, Huddle and Loveless. They all said that board policy prohibits them from talking to reporters about Melton’s departure and that the board chair has to answer media questions.
The board chair, Jan Hammond, did not respond to a call, voicemail and an email sent Tuesday by a reporter from The State.
Irmo Mayor Barry Walker was one of the more prominent people online to speak out about the school board’s decision.
“As Mayor of IRMO, I hope the Chairman of the trustee board will reach out to the town and explain whats going on,” Walker posted on Facebook Tuesday morning.
Walker told The State he had not been in touch with members of the school board, but he hopes to find out more information about Melton’s departure.
“We’re going into the end of school, and we’re going to need kids to continue learning through the summer, and to recover from COVID,” the mayor said. “I want to know what the hell is going on.”
This story was originally published June 16, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
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