LR5 dumpster fire flares up. Dropped lawsuit, hostile meeting are the garbage this time
The Lexington-Richland 5 school board is the gift that doesn’t stop giving when it comes to examples of what not to do.
The latest examples: Don’t sue someone just to drop the suit a couple months later, and don’t silence critics while simultaneously creating a circus atmosphere.
LR5 voters know what needs to be done to put out the dumpster fire that is their school board. At election time, kick off those board members who consistently light the blaze.
Here’s what a board shouldn’t do: Sue a former superintendent who exercised his First Amendment right and formally questioned the hiring of an interim superintendent. The former superintendent, Stephen Hefner, questioned the hiring in a complaint filed with the district’s accrediting agency.
If a board knows it took all the proper steps in the hiring, it should let the complaint process play out. In the end, a board that did right would be vindicated. In fact, that’s what happened as Cognia, the agency that accredits the school district, decided to take no action.
But this is the LR5 board we’re talking about.
The lawsuit happy board sued. After Cognia said it would take no action, the board kept alive its lawsuit. The board voted twice to keep the lawsuit alive, with the latest vote coming just last month.
In deciding to withdraw the lawsuit Monday night, as reported on by The State’s Bristow Marchant, school board Chairwoman Jan Hammond said “we do not need to continue to spend one more penny on this.”
Maybe the board should have considered this — don’t file the suit in the first place so you don’t spend any pennies on it. Instead, focus on decision making that will positively affect schools.
Now, we come to Monday’s board meeting — or the reality show drama portion.
Here’s what a board shouldn’t do — silence constituents who show up to speak at a school board meeting after being the target of a school board member’s subpoena.
Monday, a spokesperson for a dozen people whose Facebook pages have been subpoenaed by board Vice Chair Ken Loveless showed up to speak, but was cut off by the board’s chair, Jan Hammond, as reported by The State’s Alexa Jurado. Hammond claimed the spokesperson was trying to speak about a certain member, which isn’t allowed. But at the point the spokesperson was interrupted, she hadn’t named any board members.
It led to a hostile atmosphere.
Later, when a former LR5 board member got up to praise the board about a recent audit and named specific current board members, she was allowed to speak. So, someone who doesn’t name a board member can’t speak because she might criticize a board member while someone who wants to praise current board members can speak.
Petty tyranny is never a good mode of operating for a board.
The spokesperson was eventually allowed to speak but couldn’t reference the ongoing lawsuit.
People looking to be heard are dealing with a frustrating situation that they believe hurts their quality of life. For outsiders, it’s time to grab your popcorn and enjoy the latest episode of LR5 Board Gone Wild.
Across the United States, school boards and other governing bodies have dealt with a rise in drama and hostile meetings. But what is distinct about the LR5 board is that the drama doesn’t appear to be emanating from irrationally irate voters, but from the members of the board.
While other Midlands school district have had fighting between board members and flare-ups with angry constituents, no other board than LR5 has a member who has subpoenaed nearly 30 critics and media members. No other Midlands school board is being sued with claims of voting behind closed doors. No other school board had a lawyer who quit and said the board was “operating in a manner that is dysfunctional and not conducive to the well-functioning of the district.”
These are things that a school board shouldn’t do and fuel for a dumpster fire.