‘Salacious Accusation’ Scuttles Interim Assistant Superintendent Vote

Board of Education member Keisha Smith-Carrington, pictured here at a meeting earlier this year, said that she did not want her vote on an interim Assistant Superintendent to be misconstrued.

The school district is still without an interim Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction, apparently thanks to an outburst from an audience member at the Feb. 20 Board of Education meeting.

The position was vacated when interim schools Superintendent Evany pagan was appointed at the end of last month.

The board was holding the required public hearing on the proposed contract for the position when a man who identified himself as a township resident made what one board member later characterized as “salacious accusations” against the candidate.

In an opinion piece running now in the Franklin Reporter & Advocate, board member Robert Trautmann said that “at least two” board members changed the way they had previously indicated they were going to vote.

The candidate, who the Franklin Reporter & Advocate will not name, is a school building administrator. The contract – which would have been in effect through the end of June – called for that person to be paid their normal salary, plus a per diem stipend of $110. The person’s replacement would have been paid their normal salary, plus a per diem stipend of $100.

Board members voting against the appointment were Keisha Smith-Carrington, Betty Whalen and Richard Arline.

While board members don’t normally explain their votes, Smith-Carrington said before the vote that she was “concerned” about “stability in the district and stability in building leadership.”

Smith-Carrington said she was explaining her vote because she did not want her position to be misconstrued.

The final vote tally was 4-3 in favor of the candidate, but five votes were needed for the resolution to pass, according to board business administrator John Calavano.

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