April 22, 2005
At the school board meeting on Thursday, April 22, the Superintendent's seat next to the Chair was filled by Gretchen Ivory and this won't be a one-time thing. After the regular agenda finished, the board announced Dr. Scottie Griffin's resignation. People in the audience whispered and school board members were filled with noticeable emotion.
The members voted individually to approve her resignation. The final count was 5 to 2 with both Bill Igbani and Muriel Wiggins descending.
"How did we get here was the energy that was put into the criticisms that began in July and ended tonight. That's how my vote went," said Wiggins.
"Clearly it was with much sadness that we have come to this at this point, but we really need to look forward now to working with the whole community," said School Board Chair Dede Smith.
School board members noted that this will allow them to focus on their most important issue, which was the topic of much of the public comment tonight--the achievement gap. Finding a new Superintendent can take months but until that time, both Gretchen Ivory and current Clerk Robert Thompson have been approved to fill-in.
There was speculation that she resigned in response to a recent negative Daily Progress editorial, but school board members denied this as the reason and said it was a combination of many things.
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