During a recent board meeting, member Shelley made accusations about Kirk Twigg, and his role in revising the carryover fund. Following these accusations, multiple parents and students spread these same accusations on social media, and in the press. Kirk Twigg did not respond.
Yesterday, the board met for a public hearing about the budget. Twigg took the first 5 minutes to address the accusations against himself, and other members of the board.
Last week, Mrs. Shelley accused me of wrongdoing, and violating 4 year regulations. I had no idea what she was talking about so I simply let her speak. Since then, Bonnie Jule, at the February 8th board of supervisors meeting, explained how the consideration of the carryover funds was dropped off the board of supervisors agenda, informing me and clearing me and other board members of wrongdoing.
Kirk said, addressing Shelley. He continues:
It seems that Mrs. Shelley believed, and then propagated some kind of conspiracy theory. I would like to lay her fears to rest, and inform the community that I did not tell the staff to reschedule the public hearing on the carryover funds.
He continued:
I want to say first of all, that Mrs. Shelley has violated our board code of ethics by not coming to me directly first, but instead addressing this publicly. If she had come to me directly, I would have known better what she was talking about, and we could have cleared this up sooner. Personal attacks and accusations toward our fellow board members are not appropriate, and certainly are not constructive. I am hoping that we can deal with our disagreements with a statesman like fashion, and not resort to accusations without facts.
He said, addressing the concern that these meetings have become a place to make personal attacks instead of addressing real issues. He continues:
Also, yes I did go to Dr. Flenard seeking information and a possible reorganization of the carryover funds. The board of supervisors cannot come to agreement about giving their employees bonuses and continue to table the subject. I was concerned about their voting down our carryover based on bonuses, and was gathering information for alternatives that we might consider proposing. Those alternatives were emailed to each board member by Dr. Flenard.
He goes on:
In the interest of transparency, the information this board has received from Dr. Flenard was sharing the questions I asked. I want to give our employees the bonuses that were in the carryover proposal, but If that is voted down, I want to be ready with an alternative plan for other places where that money is needed. It is the responsibility of each member of this board to be informed, gather information, and consider possible scenarios so as to be ready for different circumstances. And I find that having mutually respectful relationships with the board of supervisors allows me to be better informed about what’s coming, and how to respond to it.
Twigg closed with this:
I follow the saying, “don’t bite the hand that feeds you”, Mrs. Shelley’s conspiracy theories continue to cause drama and hurt the reputation of this board as a whole. This would all be alleviated if we could offer each other some grace and follow the code of ethics. Let’s do unto others as we would have them do unto us.
It seems that all of the accusations against Twigg were false, and spread by Mrs. Shelley in order to hurt the reputation of Twigg, whom she and other members of the board already have disdain for.
Regardless, public comment at this most recent meeting proved that Twigg's response didn't matter. Teachers and activists who spoke continued to attack Twigg, and the board's majority; even bringing up past statements regarding "book burning" that have been debunked by SCSU.
Members Shelley, and Cole also continued to be hostile towards Twigg during the meeting, frequently interrupting his attempts to move the meeting along. Mr. Rabih Abuismail even took it upon himself to try to stop the bickering on the board, with little success.
While many like speaker Daniel Latham, advocated for this immature partisan sparring to end on the board, we have yet to see any such sparring to come to complete halt.
Putting politics aside, at the very end of a 7 hour long meeting, the board finally came to an agreement to a approve a budget to be sent up to the board of supervisors.