More than 1,100 people demanded ethical governance from the Charleston County School Board at the Charleston Area Justice Ministry's 12th annual Nehemiah Action, the largest annual gathering of individuals committed to social Justice in the Lowcountry.
The Nehemiah Action followed months of testimonies and stories shared by individuals throughout the Lowcountry about their dissatisfaction with the school board's leadership. Several students have shared that they felt unsafe and uncared for by the board. Since last September, the board has dismantled its Health Advisory Committee in an attempt to limit diverse sexual education curriculum, pushed out Black superintendent Eric Gallien, and caused its current Chief Academic Officer, Michelle Simmons, a Black woman, to undergo a rigorous hiring process before hiring its current Superintendent, Anita Huggins, a white woman, with little to no process.
On Monday, more than a thousand people gathered at Mt. Moriah Missionary Baptist Church to challenge the board to do better.
"At every turn, they have shut the community out and shown a clear disregard for the voice of the people, who have been demanding them to do better," read a letter from an anonymous teacher in the school district.
"In the past few months, CAJM has very clearly communicated with the school board and district about the timing of our event," the organization said in a press release. "They had a budget workshop and committee of the whole meeting scheduled for this same date, and we had many discussions about streamlining those agendas and starting those meetings as early as possible so that board members and Ms. Huggins would be able to attend the Action. However, last week, they added a special board meeting to deal with the approval of purchases and contracts worth more than $250,000. Then, this past Friday night, additional and more complex items were added to that agenda, including the renewal of contracts for staff.
These topics are not ones that can be skimmed through. These are complex policy and budget issues that require careful thought and attention. The work of a school board is not light or trivial and these members have very important work to do - we appreciate their attention to their governance role. That being said, these are surprising late additions to a meeting on the same day as the Nehemiah Action."
Rev. Patricia Bligen Jones, CAJM Co-President and Pastor of Hebron Zion Presbyterian Church, and Penn Doucher, a high school student and co-chair of CAJM's education committee, presented Monday night’s demands to Charleston County School Board Chair Keith Grybowski, Superintendent Anita Huggins, and Board Members Courtney Waters, Daron Calhoun, and Darlene Roberson. Grybowski was asked to champion the following requests:
- Support a motion for the board to conduct an audit of the current school board's compliance with policies and ethical governance performed by an outside entity.
- Support a motion to change and/or add policy language to ensure audits of the board are continuous.
- Increase required training for school board members around ethics, conduct, conflict resolutions, Robert's Rules of Order, and restorative practices.
- Conduct a 360-degree evaluation of the superintendent's performance within 90 days, focusing on student priorities and management/engagement.
Grybowski said "no" to each of them.
Concerning the question of increased training around Robert's Rules of Order, Doucher reminded Grybowski that the question was based upon a research meeting the education steering committee held with Grybowski, when at the time, Grybowski gave the board a "D" letter grade on how well they had been following ethical principles from the state school board association. Grybowski also said in the meeting that he believed the board had not been properly trained.
Grybowski changed his position before Monday's Nehemiah Action.
Superintendent Huggins was asked to support the following requests:
- Advocate for an assessment of the board's policy compliance and ethical governance within the next 90 days by an outside entity.
- Propose an independent audit of the district's HR, Finance and operations departments to begin within the next 90 days by an outside entity.
- Advocate that the board work to hire an outside firm to conduct a 360-degree evaluation of the superintendent's performance as superintendent
Superintendent Huggins said yes to the first, and no to the final two, adding that she wants to be held accountable by the community. Doucher responded, "When you say you want to be held accountable, we're giving you the opportunity to back that up with action."
Waters, Roberson, and Calhoun were asked:
- To support a motion for the district to conduct an audit of the board's compliance with its policies through an outside entity
- Ensure that the audit results are available to the community within 30 days of completion.
- Support allocating funding in the budget to ensure recommendations from the assessment are implemented.
- Support a motion to change and/or add policy language to ensure audits are continuous.
- Support changes in the board policy to increase training that board members are required to attend, specifically around ethics and conduct, conflict resolution, Robert's Rules of Order and Restorative Practices
- Support a motion for the board to work with CAJM and the community to hire an outside firm to conduct 360 evaluations of the superintendent's performance.
Waters, Roberson, and Calhoun answered yes to all five. Dr. Carol Tempel, a longtime CAJM member, wanted to be present but agreed not to attend this meeting in order to avoid any potential conflict with FOIA laws about a board quorum. Though she was not able to attend last night, she issued a press release in support of all questions.
The board members called on all in attendance to actively attend school board meetings held at 75 Calhoun Street. The next school board meeting is on Monday, April 29th at 5:15 pm. You. need to arrive by 4:15 pm to sign up to make a public comment.
"Having served for the last 14 months on this dysfunctional board has been stressful, to say the least," said Board Member Roberson. "Being part of the four who continuously lose their votes can be trying, but continue to serve with grace and pride. It's time to take your school district back. It's unacceptable for Moms for Liberty to descend upon Charleston and take over this district. If we don't speak truth to power, then we're going to go back 50 years."
Moving forward, CAJM says they will still be pressing for these audits, training, and evaluations.
