Floyd steps down from school board
The Polk County Board of Education will need a new mem-ber, and likely will be holding a special election in November to fill the seat now vacated by just-elected Hal Floyd.
Floyd, who ran and won the District 6 primary against for-mer board member and then chair Harold McDurmon, stepped down from the school board and explained his reasons in a four page letter during the Tuesday evening Board of Education work session.
He said this morning in a brief interview that he would con-tinue to do his best to help the people of Polk County, and hoped he might be able to work to find a like-minded succes-sor to fill his seat.
Floyd resigned after his daughter-inlaw, now the assistant principal at Rockmart High School, discovered a newly up-dated state and local nepotism policy that he said in his letter wasn't previously presented to Polk School District officials by former Superintendent William Hunter.
The rule updates the classification of immediate family, and with it his daughter-in-law's promotion to administration fell under the new nepotism rule.
"At the time of my election, and during the first six months of my term, this was not an issue," Floyd's letter stated. "How-ever, after the discovery of the cange in the ruling, and the approval of my daughter -in-law as the new AP ( assistant principal) of RHS (Rockmart High School,) it became a matter of concern, investigation and clarification. I abstained from voting on the hiring of my daughter- in- law and therefore had no voice or sway over her hiring. That was the right thing to do, regardless of how it may turn out."
He added that once he was notified of the policy, and dis- cussed it with both the Board of Education's attorney and an independent attorney, they both gave the opinion that he should step down.
Later in the week, interim Superintendent Greg Teems said that Polk School District itself wasn't casting any blame for how the situation developed. He said he personally believed that Floyd did the right thing by stepping down.
He said the nepotism policy - which describes under what circumstances board members are allowed to keep their seats or relatives keep their jobs by outlining who can be a relative of a board member and hold administrative jobs within the Polk School District.
It's a state policy that should have been updat- ed in late 2016 with unclear language as to relationships between board members and personnel within a school district itself, Teems said. Teems added as well that with board and independent attorneys assessing the situation, it got a close look before Floyd made any move to remove himself from the board.
"I like that we look into t hings before we do them," Teems said.
Teems said that further clarification on the rule is likely forthcoming this year to ensure that situations like this don't develop here in Polk County or elsewhere again.
Floyd had only been on the school board for the past seven months when he took office in early January, and was voted in on a mandate of making positive changes to administration after he cited during his campaign numerous teacher complaints within the system.
He sat on the policy and personnel committees for the Board of Education prior to his stepping down on Tuesday night.
With his resignation, the Board of Education will require calling for a special election in November to fill the District 6 seat, which sits in the Rockmart area.
Qualifying for the open seat will be coming up in two weeks at the Polk County Board of Elections along with other seats that are coming up for election in Aragon, Cedartown and Rockmart this year.