After spending over an hour in executive session Tuesday during a special called board meeting, the Marlboro County Board of Education made a statement to the public.

Board Chairman Jackie Branch read the statement.

“Students, parents, staff, and community members – thank you for being here tonight and for playing an essential role in the district. Without your support and your voices, we would not be able to achieve together all that we strive to accomplish for our children. As a Board, we always encourage and will continue to promote community involvement in decision-making based on our policies. We understand that there may be confusion with regard to personnel communication, and we take this opportunity to clarify any misunderstandings so that we may all move forward in a positive direction. Our top priority is ensuring that we have a strong curriculum for our kids, and we want them to achieve success inside and outside of the classroom.

As an initial matter, please understand that the Board and the Superintendent cannot and will not comment on individual personnel matters. We respect our staff members’ privacy, and the Board will not and should not discuss specific personnel concerns, which could create a conflict for individual Board Members. One of our primary functions as a Board is to serve as the final authority on professional staffing issues that come before us by virtue of the power vested in us by S.C. State Law and Board Policies.

It is crucial that our stakeholders know that information circulating within the community does not represent a fair and accurate picture of our employees and decisions being made about assignments. We work hard to earn the trust of our constituents, and we hope that you can understand that we are not at liberty to share certain information. Please consider that you may hear or could hear comments that are one-sided and do not present the totality of the circumstances. Indeed, Board Policy GCQF provides specifically that the Board will follow the law when any action is taken to discipline, suspend, or dismiss a professional staff member. At this time, the Board has taken no action with regard to any District administrators. We understand that Mr. Andrews, as our Superintendent, posted positions for next school year, and some have expressed confusion over this given how word has spread like wildfire in our community.

When the Superintendent presents information for our consideration, the Board – as a whole – will consider that information and respects that “the superintendent will be responsible for the placement of employees within the district.” Along those lines and as provided for in Board Policy, the “powers delegated to the board by law are delegated to the board as a whole” and “suggestions and recommendations regarding the administration will be made directly to the superintendent.”

The Board balances this power and authority with the Superintendent’s duties and Responsibilities. In particular, the Superintendent is charged with, among many things, “nominating for appointment, assigning, and defining the duties of all instructional, administrative, and support staff, subject to board approval” and “evaluating personnel and programs in accordance with board policy.” The Board will hold the Superintendent accountable, as our one employee, and expects that he will and does accept responsibility for his actions and recommendations made to us.

The Board looks forward to receiving personnel recommendations from Superintendent Andrews in the future.

Board member Michael Coachman said people have asked why the jobs were posted and it seems to reinforce the idea that people have been terminated. Branch said, “The superintendent brings recommendations to this board. And nothing is approved until the board as a whole makes a motion to approve that. So, basically nothing has been done, nothing can happen without Board approval.”

Coachman wanted clarification.

Branch said, “No action has been taken and no recommendations have been brought to the board.”

Vice-chair Rev. James Smith stated, “I understand the position of the board.”

“As I stated before, the only thing I want to see is things done fair.”

Danny Driggers made a statement. “A lot of folks like yourself probably saw how we rank within our state of South Carolina in education this past few days. I think it’s time this board, the community, the school system, we need to start working towards education values strongly. Now, if the personnel is there that we can use, then we use them. If the personnel is not there, then we move on from that. It is time to worry about education at Marlboro County more than anything else. It’s not replacing people, it’s not moving people, it’s time to work on education values.”

Coachman added that from day one, his goal was to make sure children get educated and that they are safe. “And we put the best-qualified candidates in place to do that job for us,” he said. “And anytime we can hire within our county, people that are qualified, it’s welcome. At the same time, we are all held accountable for what we do. So, as a district, it’s time for us to band together, and bring this county together.”

Coachman reminded everyone that it was about the children and not about us. “And I know that we have people in place to do it, let’s come together,” he said. “Anything that happens in the future is for us to do what’s best for our children here in this county. Put our best foot forward and move forward.”

Branch thanked everyone who came Tuesday because it showed they really care about the district, the students, and the community.