Hedgepeth said his understanding, upon the advice of the board's attorney, was that since a quorum was established at the beginning of the meeting and the two board members left during closed, the vote to fire the superintendent was a valid one.
Hedgepeth, who said a meeting has been called at 11 a.m. Thursday at the central office on Highway 301 to reinstate Frederick, said his decision to make the motion was tied to several factors.
Those factors include questions on whether Frederick's initial hiring was done properly and a proper contract was signed; questions around use of fund balance; unusually high salaries among central office staff and the lack of communication between the superintendent's office and the board.
The board Monday appointed Tyrana Battle, an assistant superintendent, as interim.
She had no comment at the school system's central office this morning, where rrspin made a request to view the minutes, and instead referred questions to the state Department of Public Instruction's School Transformation section, which did not immediately return a phone call as of this report.
Hedgepeth says he wants to work with the state board of education to help find a successor to Frederick, despite the call for a meeting Thursday, and give Battle an opportunity to apply for the position.
Hedgepeth believes the current administration is at the root of the problems within the school system. “Parents have lost all confidence in Halifax County Schools. We need new ideas and new leadership, different curriculum. We need to teach children as KIPP does.”
The Halifax County Black Caucus released a strong statement about the matter this morning. “Being awakened in the middle of the night to be informed that two members on the Halifax County Board of Education voted to immediately fire the superintendent, Dr. Elease Frederick is absolutely incredulous,” the statement said. “While we do not have all the facts at this time, the Advisory Council of the Halifax County Black Caucus wants to make it clear that it does not support political shenanigans by an insidious group that has only personal interest in mind. From the voters on her termination, there is very seldom, if any, issue raised about children and their education, only about who has been hired and how much money is being spent.”
The caucus's advisory council, the statement said, “Wants to know where was the school board attorney who allowed three people to carry on a meeting where there was not a quorum of members? We hope that the DPI will know that citizens are not accepting of this kind of behavior and hope they will immediately intervene because citizens are calling for Dr. Frederick's prompt reinstatement and a full investigation into the actions of the Halifax County School Board.”
Hedgepeth said, however, the caucus is the organization which is not fighting for the betterment of the students. “They've called me every name except a child of God. I'm about all the children in Halifax County.”
