Public reaction at special meeting overwhelmingly critical of Jeff Moss, wife's hiring

Twenty-one members of the general public walked to the lectern Monday night during a special meeting of the Beaufort County School District board of education, and 21 times the board and Superintendent Jeff Moss heard the same theme: The hiring of the superintendent's wife to a newly restructured and highly paid job was wrong.

A disgrace.

A reeking of impropriety.

Appalling and unethical.

Horrible public relations.

The criticism flowed swiftly and harshly, often met with applause from the 50 to 75 people in attendance at the school district's meeting room in Beaufort. Some asked for the board to take corrective action, some criticized the board members who had remained silent or allowed the matter to get to this point, and some just couldn't understand how Moss could think any of this was OK.

The comment period of the meeting originally had been scheduled to last 30 minutes, but with more people still wanting to speak, the board extended the time to allow them to be heard. Not everyone who spoke was critical of Moss, however. Four district employees were allowed to speak, and each defended their superintendent.

Most of the crowd at the school district's meeting room in Beaufort applauded when the speakers asked for the board to take corrective action on the hire and criticized those board members who had so far stayed silent on the matter.

Hilton Head Island resident Richard Bisi was one of the members of the public to speak. He called for Darlene Moss' resignation and pointed out that Jeff Moss was directly responsible for his wife's hiring by changing the job description, the nepotism policy and picking the direct supervisor for the role.

Bisi also asked board chairman Bill Evans to recuse himself from any independent investigation into the hiring and the nepotism policy change after Evans pledged his support for Moss in a letter to the editor published Sunday in The Island Packet and The Beaufort Gazette.

"You said both were consistently employed by the same school district because both were highly regarded educators. You know and I know that is not the issue. You've got an obligation to set the bar high and not stoop to these kinds of shenanigans."

Beaufort resident Calvin Jordan was also critical of Evans' letter and Jeff Moss' restructuring of the position his wife would be hired for. Jordan compared the restructuring to a former Beaufort High School principal's changing of grades in 2011 and 2012, an action that ended with the principal's dismissal.

His recollection brought a laugh and applause from the audience.

"The words that shocked me the most were that Dr. Moss 'merely made edits,'" he said. "...All (the principal) did was merely make edits, and he's no longer with us. You, the board, made sure of it."

Many also criticized Jeff Moss for not accounting for the appearance of impropriety, and Hilton Head Island resident David Striebinger added that he thought Moss had failed to try to defuse the situation before the furor grew and criticized his "arrogant and combative posture" following growing outrage.

School district employee Carmen Dillard was critical of what she called the "circle of distrust" that had formed in the general public. Dillard, a former Coosa Elementary School principal, said she learned of a group who disliked changes she made at the school communicating via anonymous email.

When Dillard learned of the group and offered to attend the meeting, only nine people showed and the "storm blew over," she said.

She urged the board to "not shoot ourselves in the foot" by trying to remove Jeff Moss from his position.

Several of the speakers responded directly to Dillard's claim.

Beaufort resident Rebecca Bass said there was no conspiracy, only concerned residents, while Port Royal resident Mare Deckard called the idea a "ridiculous, straw-man argument."

Dillard and Mona Lise Dickson, who both served on the committee that interviewed Darlene Moss and the other candidates for the director of innovation position, said Darlene Moss had the expertise to help Beaufort County schools in her new role. Dickson, one of the last public commenters, said Darlene Moss was hired because she was the best candidate.

While many of the speakers conceded that Darlene Moss could be the best candidate for the position, the appearance of nepotism and impropriety made it hard to swallow, as Beaufort resident Kimberly Morgan put it.

"There is no culture of suspicion," she said. "This is our community. We've invested our time, our money. These are our children. You have to earn our trust. You have to earn our respect.

"The question is the appearance of any impropriety. And the series of decisions that led to her hiring are, for the lack of a better term, very shady."

This story was originally published September 21, 2015 at 9:46 PM with the headline "Public reaction at special meeting overwhelmingly critical of Jeff Moss, wife's hiring."