Hiring doesn't come up at school meeting, but 2 board members, resident see issues

School board members met Tuesday night for the first time since the Beaufort County School District hired the wife of the superintendent for a newly restructured administrative position, but they did not discuss the controversial move.

What steps, if any, the board might take in the future are unclear, but at least two board members expressed concern over the circumstances around Darlene Moss' hiring as director of innovation, a job that will pay her $90,466 annually.

JoAnn Orischak of District 11 said she had asked the chairmen of the human resources committee -- Michael Rivers and Joseph Dunkle -- to take the issue up at their committee meeting on Tuesday, but it was not on the agenda.

Asked after the board meeting whether she thought the hiring was appropriate, she said, "Knowing what I know now, no."

The Island Packet and The Beaufort Gazette have reported that Superintendent Jeff Moss approved the new position in question and deleted a portion of the district's ethics policy that contained language on nepotism and could have been interpreted as excluding his wife from working in the district office.

Jeff Moss has denied any wrongdoing, saying he doesn't remember when he made the ethics rule change but that it had nothing to do with his wife. School District attorney Drew Davis could not pinpoint a date when Moss, who has been superintendent since 2013, made the change but said it was after Aug. 1 of this year. Moss received a copy of the job description to review July 22, and the opening was posted online Sept. 25.

Jeff Moss said he did not know of his wife's plans to apply for the job when the newly restructured position was created or when he changed the ethics rule. He also said he played no role in her selection for the position.

Too, Jeff Moss has defended his wife's hiring by pointing out that he does not supervise her. Darlene Moss reports to chief instructional services offer Dereck Rhoads, who directly reports to Jeff Moss.

Orischak was joined in her concern by Rivers, the co-chair of the human resources committee. Rivers said he thought it would be hard for a subordinate to report to a superior about their spouse, and hard for a married couple to show a complete disconnect from one another at work.

"The human element always plays a part," he said. "Once you become one, you can never be two. ... If you're married, you're married."

Several other board members declined to comment on the situation. Board Chairman Bill Evans and District 10's Bill Payne say they support the hire.

Although neither Jeff Moss nor the board discussed the hiring during the official meeting, one resident spoke on the issue in the public comment portion and called on Jeff Moss to resign or for the board to fire him.

Reporter Matt McNab contributed to this report. Follow reporter Rebecca Lurye at twitter.com/IPBG_Rebecca.

This story was originally published September 15, 2015 at 10:26 PM with the headline "Hiring doesn't come up at school meeting, but 2 board members, resident see issues."