Emergency Sumter school board meeting was canceled, sources say; media never notified after lack of confirmed quorum for Wednesday

Sumter school board's chairwoman on Wednesday called an emergency meeting for Wednesday night that was later canceled because a quorum was never confirmed, according to anonymous sources.

A public body can call an emergency meeting without 24 hours' notice, as is required by the Freedom of Information Act, but a Columbia attorney with experience in open meetings and open records law said he wonders if the meeting was a "genuine emergency," given this week's events involving Sumter School District's Board of Trustees.

Board Chairwoman Barbara Jackson called the meeting, per multiple sources who spoke with The Sumter Item on Wednesday on condition of anonymity.

Jay Bender, legal counsel for the South Carolina Press Association, said a genuine emergency could be a health issue, for example, at a school.

"Well, you probably ought to have a meeting to deal with that, and the sooner the better," he said.

In such a defined emergency, the public should be notified as soon as possible in advance, even though "they are not obligated to give 24 hours' notice for emergency."

"It's something that needs immediate attention, not something that they knew about in advance and just didn't get around to dealing with," he added.

If a confirmed quorum, or majority of the board, were to attend Wednesday and the meeting was officially scheduled for 6 p.m., the district office would then have been required to inform the general public and news media.

Bender contends the only emergency that has been created for the district was an illegal vote on Monday night at the full board's regularly scheduled meeting.

"It seems to me the emergency was when they acted illegally," Bender said, "and now they are trying to clean it up."

On Monday, the trustees voted after returning from executive session 5-4 to pay outgoing superintendent Penelope Martin-Knox the remaining balance of her contract and allow her to basically walk away, effective immediately. The motion also included the appointment of Brenda Hafner, the assistant superintendent/chief of schools, to the role.

Bender maintains the motion, vote and ensuing action were illegal under the Freedom of Information Act because they were not on the agenda.

He told The Item on Tuesday that the board effectively fired Martin-Knox, even though the word "termination" was not used in the motion.

According to Martin-Knox's contract, her termination must be approved by a super-majority of the full school board. The board on Monday fell one vote shy of that six-member threshold.

The motion was brought by Daryl McGhaney and immediately seconded by Sherril Ray. Others voting in favor of the motion were Matthew "Mac" McLeod, Johnny Hilton and Frank Baker, who is vice chairman of the board.

Those against were Jackson, Brian Alston, Shawn Ragin and Gloria Lee.

In open session, Martin-Knox said Monday she was not in agreement with the terms.

"It was illegal on the executive session and on the vote to end the superintendent's employment immediately and to place someone in her position immediately," Bender said Tuesday. "Those items needed to be on the agenda in clear terms, and they weren't, and the vote to do so was illegal."