Clinton City Board of Education member Carol Worley resigned her position Wednesday night following a two-and-a-half-hour closed-door meeting where she and her colleagues received legal counsel regarding a letter received alleging that Worley had an inappropriate relationship with “retaliative behaviors” that the complainant felt warranted accountability from both Worley and the board.
While school board attorney Rebecca Williams contended that the 150-minute closed session was within the scope of the North Carolina Open Meetings Law, as it pertains to attorney-client privilege, Press Association attorney Mike Tadych argued that only portions of the meeting followed the letter of the law.
The board meeting began at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Clinton High School auditorium with a 5:50 p.m. start to closed session, which lasted until 8:20 p.m.
Immediately after returning to the auditorium, chairwoman Linda Brunson received a motion and a second to open the meeting, then Worley asked for a moment of personal privilege and, once granted, tendered her resignation, which was, Williams said, effective immediately.
Worley was first elected to the board 16 years ago and was serving the remainder of a term that would have given her 20 years on the school board.
In her brief remarks, Worley stated that she was resigning for personal reasons, mainly some health concerns, and that while she may be leaving the board, she was not leaving her “love for this community.”
“My service on this board has never just been about occupying a seat… Every decision I have made, every question I have asked, every issue I have raised, and every cause I have championed has been rooted in one fundamental belief — our children deserve the very best opportunities we can provide them,” stressed Worley as she read her statement from a computer screen. She went on to say what a privilege it had been for the community to entrust her with the responsibility to serve the last 16 years on the board.
The meeting was adjourned immediately following Worley’s statement, and no further business was discussed despite the relatively long agenda of school business that was supposed to be tended to Wednesday night. No board members made comments after Worley’s resignation.
The only school business that was handled Wednesday night was before the closed session — a donation from Backpack Buddies (see that story next week in The Sampson Independent).
Following the meeting, Williams said she detailed options for the board during the closed session, all presumably associated with the letter though that was not confirmed. In addition, Williams said she summarized the letter from the complainant and provided answers to board members’ general questions. She also noted that she informed board members of what they could and could not discuss during the closed-door meeting so as to follow the N.C. Open Meetings.
Also during the closed meeting, she said, Worley considered the option of resigning, and asked for some time with her thoughts. She took that time, Williams noted, and it was during that time that she wrote the statement she gave when the board returned to open session.
N.C. General Statute 143-218(a)(6) provides, in part: General personnel policy issues may not be considered in a closed session. A public body may not consider the qualifications, competence, performance, character, fitness, appointment or removal of a member of the public body or another body and may not consider or fill a vacancy among its own membership except in an open meeting.
Tadych contended that any discussion of the letter should have been done during an open session and not behind closed doors, and that the time Worley took behind closed doors to form her thoughts was also not allowable under the law.
“Decades of case law says public bodies like the school board are to err on the side of openness,” the Press Association attorney wrote. “They can receive advice from their counsel in closed session about how to comply with the Open Meetings Law. They can probably receive advice on the board’s options should a complaint be received about one of its members, but only in the abstract.
“Where things change for me,” Tadych continued, “is that if the board attorney gave them a list of options should a complaint be received about one of their members along with a synopsis as to why they are getting those options in closed session; allowing questions (whether answered or not) about the options’ potential impact on a board member; and giving private time to allow the board member involved to draft a resignation statement goes too far. It runs afoul of the second sentence of the law as it provides a path for the board and its members to ‘consider the qualifications, competence, performance, character, fitness, appointment or removal of a member of the public body.’”
Tadych also noted that “the board member who resigned upon resumption of the open session (Worley) clearly considered the prohibited conduct concerning herself with a quorum of the board present. The other board members’ decision to give her time to craft a resignation statement must have been, at least in part, in consideration of the letter’s synopsis as applied to the accused board member, which is prohibited by the statute. No authority exists to continue a closed session to allow a member to draft a resignation statement.”
Williams did provide the complainant’s letter to The Sampson Independent Thursday, agreeing that it was a public record. She also stated Wednesday night and reiterated in an email Thursday that she felt the board “adhered” to the Open Meetings Law.
“The closed session was properly convened under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 143-318.11(a)(3) to preserve the attorney-client privilege between the board attorney and the board,” Williams noted in an email response. “The legal options presented were part of that privileged consultation. To correct a factual inaccuracy in your previous email, my advice was directed to the board as a body throughout the meeting, and there was no discussion regarding the personal impact to any individual board member.”
The school board attorney explained that she acquired the letter before the Wednesday meeting, and that she spoke to the sender and confirmed the letter was legitimate.
The letter, which did not identify the complainant, detailed concerns about what the writer called Worley’s “retaliative behaviors targeting myself and my family” and stemming from the inappropriate relationship noted in the correspondence.
The letter described the inappropriate relationship as beginning in February, and escalating to these behaviors, which were said to be “targeting” the complainant and their family.
“Her retaliation has included harassment, via US mail, sent to my home and workplace, threatening messages via text, phone calls and being present in my work spaces/parking areas.” The letter went on to say that child safety within the district has become “a paramount concern,” because of Worley’s “access” to school locations, and that she would be able to have “influence and impose like duress on a child.”
The letter continued, emphasizing that “Ms. Worley should be held accountable for these actions to prevent further harassment and misconduct to further Clinton City School families.”It ended with a request to the board directly which stated: “Respectfully, we ask the board to convene with legal counsel and provide just action focusing on these behaviors, not out of retaliation but for accountability.”
A representative for the complainant stated that they have no comment at this time.
When Clinton City Schools Superintendent Dr. Wesley Johnson was asked for his comments on Worley’s resignation Thursday, he stated that the board member chose to resign for personal reasons and that she “served as a committed board member for over 16 years, and was one of the six board members who originally hired me (Johnson) as superintendent.” He added that “during my time as superintendent, I was privileged to get to know Ms. Worley and her family, and spent numerous times with her as a women’s Dark Horse soccer parent and fan.”
Dr. Johnson said both the Clinton City School Board and he “respect Ms. Worley’s decision to resign and wish her well in life beyond board service.” Board Chairperson Dr. Linda Brunson echoed Johnson’s statements.
The board will meet next Thursday at 4 p.m. at the central office, and will begin the process to fill Worley’s unexpired term on the board.