School board
committee reports from meetings of April 29 |
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Starting in 2022, school-board seats could
be filled according to high-school districts
A Johnston County Board of Education committee agreed Wednesday to petition the N.C. General Assembly for permission to elect future board members from residential districts based on high-school attendance boundaries.
The committee learned it's too late to submit a local bill making that change during the General Assembly's "short session" that began this week. Even so, members agreed to push ahead with the proposal, perhaps holding a public hearing on the matter in mid-June in case the Legislature reconvenes for a special session later this year. Otherwise, the proposal would have to wait till the Assembly's 2021 "long session" starting in January.
In either case, the change could not take place before the election of 2022.
At first, the committee considered a draft resolution calling for election of the school board's seven members from the same residential districts currently in place for electing Johnston's county commissioners.
That changed after committee member Ronald Johnson pointed out that the commissioners' districts split Smithfield in two. Better to have districts aligned with high-school attendance areas, he said.
But Johnston presently has eight high schools, not seven. Committee Terri Sessoms suggested combining the North Johnston and Princeton attendance zones as one election district since those high schools are significantly smaller than the other six (Clayton, Cleveland, Corinth Holders, Smithfield-Selma, South Johnston, and West Johnston).
While the plan would require each of the board's seven members to come from separate residential districts, all would be elected by voters countywide. That's how Johnston's county commissioners are elected.
During Wednesday's discussion, two of the committee members whose current terms on the school board expire in 2022 --- Ms. Sessoms and Tracie Zukowski --- said they do not plan to seek re-election two years from now. Both are in the middle of their first four-year terms on the board.
Peggy Smith, who chairs the committee, chose not to seek re-election this year, which means her service on the board ends in December. She reminded committee members that the South Johnston area presently lacks a representative on the Board of Education and that the West Johnston-McGee's Crossroads community will be without a representative when she leaves office at the end of the year (none of the eight remaining candidates for the board in November's election are residents of that area).
Looking further down the road, Dr. Smith said the bill to be sent to the General Assembly could include a provision allowing Johnston County to increase the size of its school board as additional high schools are built in years to come.
Board member Teresa Grant is the fourth member of the Membership by Districts Committee who took part in Wednesday's discussion.
WHO SHALL HANDLE SCHOOLS' LEGAL MATTERS FROM NOW ON?
The other committee that met via teleconference on Wednesday was appointed by Board Chairman Todd Sutton to determine whether Johnston County Public Schools should continue contracting with attorneys for legal services on an hourly basis or employ a full-time staff attorney.
Peggy Smith also chairs that committee, which includes board members Teresa Grant, Ron Johnson, and Terri Sessoms. Mike Wooten, chairman of the school board's Finance Committee, also took part in Wednesday's discussion.
"We need a blended model," Mr. Wooten suggested --- in effect, a combination of a staff attorney complemented by specialists hired as needed to deal with thorny legal issues, especially litigation.
That approach drew support from all the committee members.
Until early in March, Johnston's school system employed Smithfield attorney Jimmy Lawrence on an hourly basis to handle routine matters and the Raleigh law firm of Tharrington Smith to handle broader issues. During fiscal 2018-19, the system paid Mr. Lawrence $314,188 and Tharrington Smith $119,663 --- a total expense of $433,851 for the year.
The school board's recent confrontation with a large budgetary shortfall prompted discussions about less expensive alternatives, and Mr. Lawrence subsequently submitted his resignation March 6 after serving the system for more than 20 years.
Prior to Wednesday's session, members of the Legal Services Committee had been assigned to research how other particular school systems are handling tasks requiring attorneys. They found varying options, ranging from Charlotte-Mecklenburg's staff of six school attorneys to Wilson County's reliance on monthly retainers and hourly rates to call on attorneys in private practice as needed.
Going forward, the committee will have to work out how Johnston's "blended model" will be crafted --- by drafting a job description and advertisement for a staff attorney along with formal requests for bids from attorneys sought to handle whatever additional duties the school board specifies.
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