Friday, July 20, 2007

What do you think?

Last night at a special called meeting the Lee County Board of Education made what some consider to be a controversial decision.

Haven’t heard about it? This is what we have in the paper and on our site.

“The Lee County Board of Education has decided to go in a new direction—one that does not include Superintendent John Painter.

During a special called meeting Thursday, the Lee County BOE voted 4-1 to transfer Painter from his position as superintendent to a special assistant status with the board. He will now work as a consultant for the BOE during the three years remaining on his contact.

“I think Mr. Painter has been a superintendent for 16 years in Lee County; he’s done a great job,“ BOE president Napoleon Stringer said after the meeting, adding that the school system needs a “new direction (and) a new way of doing things.“

Stringer and BOE members Larry Boswell, Fred Copeland Jr. and George Spence each voted in favor of transferring Painter’s status within the school system.

BOE member Roger Keel voted against the motion to transfer Painter, and Larry Patterson abstained. BOE member Lee Ann Roughton was out of town and unable to attend the called meeting, which was announced Tuesday afternoon.“

We have also posted the complete transfer agreement. You should take a look at it because there is some interesting stuff in it.

There were about 100 people at the meeting last night and a few spoke their minds. But overall, there hasn’t been a lot of reaction to the school board’s actions.

I know that there are many of you out there have something to say. Let us know what you think. You can post your reaction here or on our Web site.