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After two officials resigned at the school board meeting earlier this week, the board is giving its side of the story.
LEXINGTON, SC Questions continue following the abrupt resignations of two Lexington-Richland District Five leaders earlier this week.
During Tuesday’s school board meeting, Superintendent Dr Christina Melton and board member Ed White resigned.
RELATED: Lexington-Richland School District 5 Superintendent Resigns
White left the building after saying, “I disagree with the 3D elements of the settlement agreement that this council was involved in with Dr Melton and I am leaving the meeting.” I will no longer participate in this council.
Later in the meeting, Dr. Christina Melton, recently named SC Superintendent of the Year, read her resignation.
Ed White released a statement saying in part, “My fellow board members have signed a secret settlement agreement with Dr. Melton to terminate the superintendents’ contract without a public vote,” White wrote. “They wanted to present the false facade that she had resigned and hide it from the public until the end of the school year, ostensibly to avoid the criticism they would receive for their actions. I refused to sign the agreement. . ”
RELATED: Lexington-Richland 5 Superintendent Was Forced To Resign, Former Board Member Says
The school board responded on Thursday with a lengthy statement that reads in part:
“As a first step, the Council takes these allegations seriously, in particular those raised by Mr. Ed White. Notwithstanding the publicity surrounding the announcement of Mr. White’s resignation and the statements he made as a member individual Board on the evening of June 14, 2021 and thereafter, the Board wishes to respond to all allegations that it acted inappropriately or illegally in relation to Dr. Melton’s resignation. ”
Lexington-Richland School District Five is issuing the following public statement on behalf of Superintendent Christina Melton: https://t.co/aPIPPCrYbH pic.twitter.com/2xm7I3gmfy
– Lex-Rich 5 Schools (@ LexRich5Schools) June 15, 2021
The statement goes on to say that it did not violate any Freedom of Information Act law in dealing with Dr Melton’s resignation. And in Dr Melton’s contract – which they provided – Article 11 states that the contract can be terminated by “mutual agreement of the parties”, which, according to the Commission and Dr Melton’s statement, is what happened.
We contacted the State Ethics Commission to see if it would look into the allegations regarding this situation to which they responded: “The State Ethics Commission can neither confirm nor deny the existence of a complaint about this matter. “
The Lexington-Richland Five Education Association issues a statement regarding the resignation of the superintendent of @ LexRich5Schools @chrimelt. pic.twitter.com/yefPEvBQ3N
– Lexington-Richland Educational Association 5 (@ LexRich5EA) June 16, 2021
The board says it wishes Dr Melton the best and will ensure a smooth transition for staff, students and families.
A special board meeting will be held on Tuesday, June 22 to discuss an interim superintendent for the district.
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