Sumter school board to have another called meeting Monday

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Before interviewing the third and final finalist for the district’s superintendent position Monday night at 6:30 p.m., Sumter School Board has called another special called meeting for 5 p.m.

A district spokeswoman distributed an agenda to the media Sunday.

Monday’s special-called meeting will mostly be held in executive session behind closed doors, according to the agenda.

On Sunday night, board Chairman the Rev. Ralph Canty said the trustees will be discussing points in their appeal of the state Department of Education’s “fiscal emergency” declaration with their legal counsel.

He said the full board may make a statement when it returns to open session.

On Thursday, the board voted 7-2 in a motion to appeal to the State Board of Education the decision of the state department, a move they can make according to protocol detailed by State Superintendent Molly Spearman in her letter to the district Wednesday that declared the “fiscal emergency.”

Both Monday meetings will be at Central Carolina Advanced Manufacturing Technology Training Center on Broad Street. Like all board-related meetings, the meetings are open to the public.

At 6:30 p.m., the board will interview Ronald Hargrave for the superintendent post. The other two finalists --

Cynthia Ambrose and Penelope Martin-Knox -- interviewed with the trustees on Thursday and Friday, respectively.

Interim Superintendent Debbie Hamm is in her second and final year as the district’s leader.

From 5 to 6 p.m., there is a community drop-in for Hargrave, also at CCTC’s training center.