Board of Education and Superintendent Criticized at Meeting

The January 6^th Pocahontas County BOE Meeting began with public delegations that were critical of both the Board Members and the School System’s Office.

Josh Hardy spoke to the members as both a parent and as the President of the PCHS Local School Improvement Council. He spoke in opposition to what he described as a “greatly misguided policy regarding communication in our school system.” He said it harkens back to the old way things were done at the high school and at the Board of Education, and reminds him of the days when they had a superintendent who didn’t communicate with anyone. He said this is something he thought we were getting away from, and the state has come in and said “our communication stinks.” He said some of the board members even ran for the board saying they would be a voice for the staff and the teachers, but this is not that.

At that point, Superintendent Williams told him that the second reading of policy 3112, Staff Communication, was removed from the agenda of this meeting.

Not deterred, Hardy handed out copies of the current policy 3112 -which has been in place since July of 2020- and the proposed revision of it. He said the current policy is an advisory policy which says staff should- but are not required to- submit their communications through the board, and it specifically says staff members shall not be prohibited from submitting their communications through the board. He was critical that the revised policy would leave all that out. Raising his voice into an almost angry tone, Hardy said leaving out the right of staff to communicate directly with the board is unconstitutional, loudly adding “YOU CAN’T DO THAT!”

Calming down, he said he would like to think that the person who drafted the revised the policy just made a mistake by leaving that out.

He also complained that when he called the Superintendent’s Office the day before to get on the Delegation list to speak at this meeting, he was told he had to show up in person 15 minutes before the meeting and fill out a request to speak as a public delegate. He said he never needed to do that before, a phone call or email was all that was needed. He said on this meeting’s agenda it says you can call to do that, so this was changed without board approval. When Hardy’s 5-minute time limit expired, Board President Grimes gaveled and told him his time was up, but Hardy ignored this and continued to talk for a few moments more.

After the meeting I was given a copy of the revised Delegation Policy, approved by the board, that no longer allows advance emails or phone calls, but requires delegates to make their request to speak at a meeting in person no later than 15 minutes before the meeting. It was explained that it was an error not putting that change on the agenda, but it will be corrected on all future agendas.

Hardy’s daughter Ramona Hardy, a senior at PCHS said she believes the BOE has let the students down by not hiring a counselor at PCHS, and Joseph VanMeter told the board he is not proud of the education he received here, as had 5 principals in 5 years and 3 superintendents – which is too much change and uncertainty.

At the end of the meeting during Board Member Comments, Frosty McNabb responded, to Josh Hardy’s comments. Content unedited recordings of both Josh Hardy’s remarks and McNabb’s response will be on our web page with this story.

Be sure to listen for part 2 of this meeting story where we will cover everything else that happened at this meeting.

Josh Hardy Recording below

Frosty McNabb Recording Below