A routine code of conduct review provoked harsh criticism from McComb school board president Kizzy Coney, who accused trustee Lynn Martin of hurting the district.
The school board member code of conduct is a three-page document that trustees sign each year. It addresses issues like the roles of trustees, their work with administrators, community relations and training.
Martin was speaking about the code of conduct at Tuesday’s meeting when she said “our current chair,” meaning Coney, had discouraged other school board members from attending state education conferences.
“That is a lie,” snapped Coney, who typically speaks in a low voice during board meetings. “You are doing it for the camera,” she added, referring to Vernell Simmons, who was recording the meeting on a cellphone.
Coney responded for about two minutes, telling Martin, “I can talk a lot of code of conduct with you with your Facebook posts.” She said Martin should not talk down to her and other board members “the way you always do.”
Coney said all board members get emails about upcoming education conferences, “so please do not sit here and lie and say I discourage people from going.”
She said Martin should “let go of your personal attitude, your personal agenda. ... Respect us enough not to down talk us.”
Martin did not respond when Coney finished, and she was the only board member to vote against the code of conduct. At the end of the meeting, Martin asked if the board could go into closed session.
“I’m being told that I’m a liar, and I would love to have the opportunity to correct that,” she said.
Trustee Angela Bates seconded the motion, but the board did not close the meeting except for a few minutes when it discussed entering executive session.
Martin and all other trustees declined comment afterward, saying that board attorney KaShonda Day recommended they refrain from discussing the issue.
In another matter, trustees approved a two-year agreement with the National Center on Education and the Economy, a nonprofit that will help McComb set up a “career ladder” for participating teachers.
One goal is to encourage good teachers to stay in the classroom by paying them more, instead of having them move into administrative jobs, which many do for a higher salary. The district will pay NCEE $249,000, including $199,000 for this school year’s work to set up the program, and $50,000 in 2022-23.
Trustees also:
• Voted 4-1, with Martin opposed, to approve district goals for the 2021-22 year. Martin objected to removing the goal that 88% of eighth graders read on grade level by the end of the year. Superintendent Dr. Cederick Ellis said administrators did not think that eighth-grade teachers needed the additional pressure that goal would create as the district tries to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, and that raising state assessment test scores is the most important task.
• Approved a “request for qualifications” from prospective bidders for a district-wide upgrade to its heating and air conditioning systems. McComb has received about $30 million in federal pandemic relief money, and much of it will be spent on this work. Ellis said the district is still working out the details of improvements to each building. After receiving the information from companies, the district will decide which ones get to bid on the work.
• Approved an agreement with GoFan for electronic delivery of tickets to sporting events. GoFan’s fee will be $1 per ticket that sells for $10 or less, and $2 per ticket plus 5% of the cost of a season-ticket package.
• Approved a recommendation from Baxter Rowley of the Mississippi Forestry Commission for repairs to a road on 16th Section property. The land is near the Magnolia-Pisgah Road, and heavy rains have washed out two spots near old culverts. Rowley estimated it will cost up to $4,000 to replace the two culverts and repair the road.
• Approved 16 student transfers, including 13 from South Pike to McComb. Nine of the 13 are because parents work for McComb, but the other four were for special circumstances, including a parent who goes to work early and is concerned a bus stop is on a road with high-speed traffic. One other student is coming from Brookhaven, one is going to North Pike and another to Lincoln County.
