LR5’s attorney resigns over ‘dysfunctional’ school board, cites concern for her reputation
The attorney for the Lexington-Richland 5 school board has resigned, citing her disagreement with how the embattled school district’s board operates and how she feels it has made decisions without consulting her.
Attorney Andrea White, who has served as the district’s attorney for a year and a half, sent board chairwoman Jan Hammond a resignation letter on June 13. Citing state rules for attorneys, White said “a lawyer may withdraw where the client insists upon taking action that the lawyer considers repugnant or with which the lawyer has a fundamental disagreement.”
The brief letter, which runs to just over a single typed page, does not specify what action of the board induced White to leave her job. But it makes clear the attorney feels board members have not listened to her advice or consulted with her before taking action.
“(T)he Board is, at the present time, operating in a matter that is dysfunctional and not conducive to the well-functioning of the District,” White writes. “As an attorney, I am bound to provide advice and counsel I believe is in the client’s best interest. That legal advice is necessarily based on the facts with which I am presented.
“When a school board fails to consult me prior to making a legal decision that could adversely impact the board or the school district; ignores my advice; and/or does not provide complete and accurate facts about a matter, I am placed in a position where I cannot represent that client without compromising my own integrity and professional reputation.”
White says that she does not take the decision lightly, noting that “In my 34 years of representing school districts across South Carolina, I have not been placed in the position in which I find myself with this Board.”
White’s resignation is the latest departure from the Chapin-Irmo school district in the past year, with the most prominent example being the departure of former superintendent Christina Melton after clashing with board members over COVID-19 restrictions in schools.
Neither White nor board chair Hammond immediately responded to requests for comment from The State on Wednesday.
This story was originally published July 13, 2022 at 3:47 PM.
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