Terri Smith, who has been on the Fayette County School Board for over 10 years, was a guest speaker at the Feb. 27 meeting of the Fayette County Issues Tea Party.
I must say, given the internal strife and the cloud of controversy surrounding the Fayette School System lately, I was impressed that Mrs. Smith agreed to a public forum to discuss some of the hard hitting issues that concern Fayette citizens.
The forum was well attended by concerned citizens: parents, teachers, homeowners and taxpayers. While the atmosphere in the room was “tense,” I thought the attendees were polite and respectful.
I would surmise that most of the attendees were not pleased with the job the school board has done, yet paid appropriate attention as Mrs. Smith made her opening remarks.
After covering issues from school budgets to school space to district voting, there were lots of questions from the audience. Most of the questions and concerns focused on the newly selected board member, Mr. Leonard Presberg.
When board member Sam Tolbert passed last summer, the responsibility fell to the board to select a citizen (in the open seat district) to fill his shoes. (For those of you who knew Sam Tolbert, it would be impossible to fill his shoes.)
Not only was Mr. Presberg selected unanimously by the remaining four board members to take the vacant seat, but he was voted in as the new chairman of the Fayette County School Board (3-2 vote).
The controversy surrounding Mr Presberg was obviously of most interest to the audience. Folks inquired as to his personal faith and belief system, as well as his qualifications to be selected as chairman.
While I appreciated that Mrs. Smith answered the audience questions to the best of her ability, I was struck by a couple of disconnects that were apparent as she spoke.
First, the reason that voters want to know about an elected (or appointed) official’s belief system is that it frequently reflects or is reflexive of the general political philosophy of the individual. Knowing how a person thinks is a pretty good indication as to what they might be thinking … go figure.
Second to that, Mrs. Smith felt that there was no significance to selecting Mr. Presberg as chairman. She shared that from her perspective the only role the chairman played was to “run the meetings.”
After nearly a dozen years on the board, I am shocked that Mrs. Smith has no more appreciation or understanding as to the importance the chairman has in representing the entire school district.
But not as shocked as I was to hear Mrs. Smith’s answer to the most relevant question of the evening, “Who vetted Mr. Presberg?”
Vetted? Vetted? Mrs. Smith again openly shared with us that she had “crept on his Facebook” and “googled” Mr. Presberg. When pressed further, she acknowledged that there was no formal vetting process in their selection process. I suppose it was an “if it feels good – DO IT” moment at the school board executive session.
That very moment made it painfully clear that our school board had abjectly failed in their responsibility to the citizens of Fayette County.
The school board is an elected position, to which the normal election process will bring out the strengths and weaknesses of each candidate. In making a choice that replaces a duly elected official, the school board had a legal and moral responsibility to make a decision that was informed and educated. Making a decision based on a “résumé” and a 5-minute interview is derelict and reprehensible. Not to mention, lazy.
While I appreciate the service of our elected officials, it is blatantly apparent to me that if what Mrs. Smith told us is true and accurate, the entire board is negligent and has demonstrated a clear case for an across the board replacement in the upcoming election.
Pat Hinchey
Fayetteville, Ga.
