A Board of Education Appointment and a Conflict of Interest

The below is a letter that I sent to the editor of "The Selma News" this morning.  I attempted to send it to "The Smithfield Herald" but that paper only accepts letters of 200 words or less.  I can hardly ask a question in 200 words or less.  So, I am also blogging it here.

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To the Editor:

On Tuesday, January 3^rd, the Johnston County Board of Education appointed Mr. Todd Sutton to fill the Board’s vacancy created when Larry Strickland resigned his post to serve in our state legislature.  In total, nine people applied for consideration for the open position, myself included.  I say that to stress the following point.  I am not writing this letter because I was not the one selected to fill that position.  I was under no illusion that I would be the front-runner for that slot.  There were some fine applicants, Mr. Sutton included.  My philosophy was simply that one cannot be considered if one does not apply.  I do not personally know Mr. Sutton, and from everything I have read about the man written by mutual acquaintances, he seems to be an honorable individual.

Mr. Sutton has two children in the Johnston County school system, as do I.  I am glad to see that a parent is willing to get involved in the educational system that is instructing his children, which was the same motivation I had in proffering an application for consideration for the open position. 

According to the Johnston County School System’s own web site, a news story was published the same day as Mr. Sutton’s appointment.  One of the things mentioned caught my attention.  “Sutton’s wife, Lynda, is a teacher with Johnston County Schools…”  That, my fellow citizens, is where I have a problem with the Board of Education’s selection.  Many corporations and government agencies have regulations against someone being in a position of oversight of one’s spouse or family member.  This should be no exception.  Although Mr. Sutton may very well be an excellent candidate otherwise, this one item should be a cause for disqualification for the position.  Furthermore, this was an appointment, not an election, so such a consideration is even more relevant.  My saying this is why I wrote the disclaimer at the front end of my letter.  

As a taxpayer in Johnston County, a voter, and a father of two (soon to be three) children in the   This is my only gripe about the selection of Mr. Sutton for the open school board seat.  This is a potential conflict of personal interest.  If Mr. Sutton’s wife worked as an educator in a different school system, a private school, or even one of the local charter schools, I would have no problem with the appointment of Mr. Sutton to the Board of Education.  As a matter of fact, I voted for Mr. Sutton in November’s election because of the reputation he had.  However, as I wrote earlier, I don’t know Mr. Sutton personally, so I did not know that he was running for the Board of Education while his wife was and is employed by the same school system that he would potentially oversee.  Had I known that at the time, I would not have voted the way I did.

county’s schools, I have a problem with the spouse of an employee of the school system being in a position to influence working conditions, budgets, compensation, and policies that personally affect their household.

This is nothing personal.  I tend to be objective about such things and I would have the same perspective regardless of whomever it was that got the appointment should they have been in the same circumstance and whether or not I had submitted my own application for the position.  I do know that out of the eight other candidates that applied, there was probably an excellent candidate that should have instead been primarily considered by the Board of Education.  Instead, the board unanimously agreed to allow a potential conflict of interest, and for that I blame the Board of Education, not Mr. Sutton.

Johnston County School Board bans distribution of literature such as the Gideons New Testament and other stuff

I had already commented on this once.  I just hope that they do it CONSISTENTLY across the board.  I am tired of circus ticket coupons and restaurant fliers coming home with my son's school notebook but somehow a Gideon's New Testament is objectionable.  The ACLU SUCKS.  Seldom do I agree with them.

From WTSB:

School Board Approves Controversial Policy
Johnston County school board members on Tuesday deliberated for over an hour before voting 5 to 2 to approve a controversial policy, which limits non-school related materials on school grounds.

School Board Chairman Larry Strickland and Board Member Donna White voted against it.

Superintendent Ed Croom (pictured right) said, for years, Johnston County Schools has allowed organizations like Gideons International to visit campuses and distribute New Testaments and other religious literature.

But Croom said that last year a couple of groups approached him with material, which he deemed inappropriate for students.

"It was stuff I didn't want my son to see, to have the opportunity to see," Croom said.

Croom said an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union told him that if the school system allows one group, such as the Gideons on its campuses, then it must allow all groups.

"I know this doesn't bode well in the Bible Belt and Johnston County," Croom said. "But we can't differentiate any one group over another."

School Board Attorney Jimmy Lawrence (pictured left) agreed. He and Deputy Superintendent Ross Renfrow fielded questions from school board members.

In May, Lawrence said the school board received a letter co-signed by representatives of the ACLU and the Freedom From Religion Foundation.

"We had the ACLU wanting to know where we were regarding this policy," Lawrence said.

School Board member Keith Branch said that, in making this decision, they had Johnston County students' best interest at heart.

"If we knowingly open ourselves up to litigation, we're not acting in the best interests of Johnston County Schools," Branch said.

School Board Member Butler Hall said this issue had been very disturbing to him because of his religious beliefs.
"I've spent a great of time struggling with this policy," Hall said. But he said school officials had received requests to distribute literature, which he described as "blasphemous."

White differed with her colleagues. She said, "Johnston County is a faith-based community and we need to take risks for what's right.”

"This policy will have a domino effect on our schools," White said. "Whatever the outcome of this vote, I won't be part of this domino effect."

School Board Member Peggy Smith said she and her colleagues took an oath to defend the Constitution.

"We can't promote religion. We have a Christian society but its’ churches and parents who have the responsibility to carry on the fight," Smith said.

Will Johnston County Make Exceptions?
Before Johnston County school board members adopted a policy limiting the display of non-school related materials, they briefly discussed regulations, which allow annual after school events in which different community groups, including religious groups, can distribute literature on high school campuses.

School Board Attorney Jimmy Lawrence said Buncombe County has adopted a similar regulation.

The Buncombe County regulation allows high schools to sponsor "community information events" to provide organizations an opportunity to share informational material about the services they provide.

Buncombe County prohibits groups from distributing “vulgar, indecent or obscene” material, materials that contain personal attacks, encourage students to commit illegal acts “or acts that violate school rules,” or promote “unhealthy or illegal activities by children, such as tobacco or alcohol use."

Will Johnston County Schools Ban Gideons?

Will Johnston County Schools Ban Gideons?

Proposed policy will prohibit group from distributing Bibles on school campuses
 
For generations, Gideons International has distributed New Testaments at Johnston County Schools. If a new school board policy is passed, that era is over.

The Board of Education, at its Tuesday meeting, is scheduled to vote on a policy regarding the distribution and display of non-school materials.

Johnston County Schools spokesperson Tracey Peedin Jones confirmed the new policy will affect the Gideons.
"If this new policy passes," Jones said, "the Gideons will not be able to distribute Bibles."

Jones said no school policy exists directly related to the distribution of literature by outside agencies.

The Board has been utilizing case law and Supreme Court rulings in making decisions.
"At this point, Jones said, "the Board believes that the school system needs to implement their own policy that complies with the latest mandates of the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court."

The proposed policy states, "Only school-sponsored and curriculum-related publications and materials may be distributed or displayed during the school day, on school grounds or at school activities."
At least one area pastor expressed disappointment in the proposed policy.
"Having worked with the Gideons all my life I am aware that it is becoming more and more difficult for them to get into our schools," Micro First Baptist Church Pastor Tim Stevens said.

“It would certainly be sad if at the same time that the Gideons are finding new opportunities in Russia and China to distribute Bibles they were excluded from doing so in our own public school system,” Rev. Stevens said.

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Troy's commentary:  If the policy passes, I hope that ALL such stuff will be stopped.  We get constant coupons for circuses, restaurants, fliers, and marketing materials that come home with our son THROUGH THE SCHOOL.  I find these items far more offensive than a Gideon's New Testament.

UPDATE: The Johnston County Superintendent of Schools has said that this was in response to the ACLU making a stink about an agnostic group that was denied access to the schools to pass out their literature. Basically, the school system, rather than standing up to them, wants to knuckle under to their pressure.

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