After three school board members left a standing April 18 meeting amid policy debate and in protest of a questionable appointment attempt, the Hickman Mills School District looks to work out differences with unified plan.
By Tyler Schneider
What was supposed to be the Hickman Mills C-1 Board of Education’s Inauguration and Reception on April 18 quickly dissolved into a heated policy debate, culminating in three board members walking out before election results could be certified and board officers subsequently elected.
The fiasco was initially stoked when board member Terri Barr-Moore submitted a letter of resignation on April 7 after moving out of the district. She joined the board last April alongside director Beth Boerger after earning the most votes of four candidates.
Barr-Moore’s vacancy is the second the board has faced in 2023. Clifford Ragan III, a former board vice-president, was appointed via a board majority vote in February. He assumed the seat vacated by perennial politician DaRon McGee, who joined the Jackson County Legislature in January after winning an uncontested race in the Fourth District last November.
Ahead of the April 18 meeting, it had become fairly well-known within the community that some members of the board were considering a move to once again appoint Ragan to fill the vacancy created by Barr-Moore.
By the time 5:30 p.m. had rolled around on April 18, it was standing room only for a time within the board room of the Hickman Mills C-1 Administration Center.
As the meeting started, Brandon Wright, the lone newcomer to the board who earned 1,569 votes to finish second behind incumbent Irene Kendrick (1,595) and ahead of the other incumbent, Byron Townsend (1,441) in the April 4 election, had apparently already taken his oath of office prior to the meeting and was requesting to be seated as the meeting commenced.
A 3-2 vote against this request, with Boerger and Kendrick in support of seating Wright, brought on a twenty minute closed session to discuss the matter. Wright was forced to await his fate alongside the meeting’s many public observers.
When they returned, HMC-1 attorney Carla Fields Johnson summarized the situation.
“Mr. Wright was elected into the seat of director. The question that the board is trying to address is: when is the appropriate time for him to be seated?”
Was the ‘new board,’ which includes Wright, to preside? Or the ‘old board,’ which featured all but Wright and included Ragan as an interim member? The latter was awaiting that decision from the audience after finishing fourth in the primary with 1,349 votes.
The way the ‘old board’ President Carol Graves ordered the meeting agenda seemed poised to block Wright’s vote on a replacement member from being counted. Kendrick again made a motion for Wright to take his oath prior to recognizing Barr-Moore’s resignation (and the vacancy it would create).
“Those of you that have been in the board meetings, you know the old board takes care of its business before [we] seat the new board,” Graves responded. “How can the new board take up business again? I’m following the board policy as the board president, just as many other board presidents did when they sat here.”
Boerger spoke up to cite a conflict between Grave’s actions and board policy BDBB-2 (Agendas).
“The tentative agenda related materials and minutes of the previous meeting shall be mailed to each member four days prior to the stated meeting,” Boeger said. “This addition was just made yesterday, which does not meet the four-day minimum,” she added to applause from much of the room.
Graves ignored Boerger’s comments and made a motion for a roll-call vote to approve the agenda as it was. It passed 3-2 on the same lines.
The dominoes began to fall from there as HMC-1 attorney Fields Johnson cited two resignations set to be recognized: that of Barr-Moore and another from Ragan (as a member of the ‘old board’, in order to be seated on the ‘new board’).
However, Board Secretary Ramanda Hicks only recognized the vacancy created by Barr-Moore.
A two-minute silence followed as Hicks read Barr-Moore’s resignation letter aloud. Following the reading, Townsend, the board’s incumbent vice president, moved for “Clifford Ragan to fill the vacancy.”
“Excuse me? That’s not on the agenda,” Boerger interjected.
Townsend tripled-down and repeated the motion.
“You’re trying to waive policy again to sidestep the normal process of appoint someone to the board,” Boerger said, citing board policy BF (Board Policy Process-Suspension of Policies).
“As part of the discussion, I also want to state that it’s been brought to my attention that Ragan had violated board policy BBBA-1 No. 5 (Board Member Qualifications),” Boerger added, alleging that Ragan had not satisfied his personal property tax payment requirements and couldn’t be seated.
On those grounds, Boerger made a motion to remove Ragan’s name from consideration as Barr-Moore’s replacement. Graves refused to recognize it.
“Policy BBE provides a process to fill the vacancy that allows the board to use a different process due to the timing or other relevant matters,” Graves said in response.
“Well, it still remains that he is not qualified under BBA-1. Goodnight,” Boerger stated as she left her seat with Kendrick and Wright in tow. Dozens of teachers and district employees followed.
UPDATE:
A few days of silence brought unity behind the scenes, according to a district press release.
“Hickman Mills C-1 Schools Board of Directors is pleased to announce a decision to move forward after the events of recent weeks. The board has… developed a plan demonstrating that the board is unified… To demonstrate this unity, the board will start the new governance cycle with co-presidents and operate with a six-member board to ensure decisions are made with a collaborative mindset,” district spokesperson Justin Robinson wrote in an email.
The district held a follow-up meeting to discuss the co-presidency deal on Monday, April 24.
Obeng began the session by repeating the solution suggested in the email. Under this agreement, were the board to approve it, Kendrick served as co-president alongside Graves. The board would continue to operate with just six members “for a short period” before naming a seventh.
After more discussion, the topic was shelved for vote until after the new board could be sworn in. Although Kendrick and Wright had already been sworn in via documents, all three took their oaths again at the same time.
Following this brief moment of unity, the board went right back to its old habits in a 3-3 split vote to establish the co-presidency.
Director Ann E. Coleman said she was concerned that duties hadn’t been explicitly delegated between the two co-presidents. She also wondered how long the change would be in effect, noting that the resolution didn’t include a set period.
After discussion, the board agreed that Graves and Kendrick would form a subcommittee set to delegate these co-presidency duties.
Because Missouri’s education policy gives boards until July 15 to fill positions of secretary and treasurer, the board voted unanimously to have its co-presidents seated before then.