New nepotism policy a boost for Beaufort County superintendent Jeff Moss

Giving a boost to superintendent Jeff Moss, a school board committee has approved a nepotism policy that would allow the superintendent's family members to work in any position in the Beaufort County School District that would not require his direct supervision.

The draft policy, -- which must still get approval from the full school board -- in effect supports recent actions by Moss, who deleted a section of the district's nepotism rule that limited the hiring of the superintendent's family members. Also, the policy means that Moss' wife, Darlene, could again be hired to a high-ranking district position, such as the director of innovation position that she resigned from in September amid public outcry.

The committee also took another step that could be controversial, eliminating a current provision that prohibits family members of district employees who award contracts from seeking employment with district vendors.

Those bidding on contracts currently must declare any conflicts of interest. But the committee's draft eliminates the need to report any conflict of interest to the superintendent or board. For board members, the policy is slightly stricter. No immediate family member can be hired by the district without written approval of the board.

While there was much debate over the draft during Thursday's meeting, several committee members successfully argued that there was no need for stringent restrictions on the superintendent. Instead, they said that the same limitations that currently apply to other district employees should also apply to the superintendent.

"As long as you do not have direct supervision, you're clear," said school board member Laura Bush.

Following two hours of debate, the draft was unanimously approved by the school board's human resources committee -- Mary Cordray, Joseph Dunkle, JoAnn Orischak, Michael Rivers and Geri Kinton. Other members of the school board also attended the meeting.

While the group ultimately agreed to a policy, several members only did so because, as school board attorney Drew Davis said, they will have "three more bites" at strengthening it before it can be approved by the full board.

Committee members asked for several more stringent measures but ultimately, never sought a vote to add them to the draft policy.

They included:

The last provision, suggested by committee member Mary Cordray, would preclude the spouse, sibling, parent or child of a superintendent from working as a director -- the same level of authority Darlene Moss briefly held before resigning as innovation director on Sept. 19.

The majority of Thursday's meeting was marked by differing opinions and interpretations of the draft nepotism policy.

In one instance, board member Evva Anderson questioned the limits on board members' relatives, using committee co-chairman Joseph Dunkle as an example.

"When Mr. Dunkle's kids grow up and want to be teachers, is he going to quit being a school board member just because?"

Not missing a beat, Dunkle responded, "Yes."

In another instance, Moss pointed to a provision that no family members could be hired to work in the "same administrative unit or school building or under the same immediate supervisor without prior approval of the superintendent."

He insisted the words "same administrative unit" refer to the district as a whole, despite board members arguing that contradicts the rest of the rule, which goes on to list several subsets of the district.

The district has also previously told The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette an "administrative unit" is defined as one unit of the district office, such as finance or food services.

Later, committee co-chairman Michael Rivers insisted the board would be asking for a lawsuit if it said "no immediate family member of the superintendent shall be employed within (the district) in any capacity," despite attorney Davis' assurances that was not the case.

Board member JoAnn Orischak said she still supports that provision, arguing it is the only way to prevent any future abuse of power by the district's top administrator.

"A nameless, faceless superintendent who we don't even know yet could take advantage of that degree of supervision (over a relative's supervisor) and be a real bully," she said.

Others countered that further restrictions will keep good employees out of the district.

"We can't seem to get through the forest ..." Bush said. "I don't think we want (the district) to look like a superintendent coming here with a spouse, male or female, who's a good teacher and we say, 'No, you absolutely can't be a part of this school.' If we're saying that, then that's a shame on this board."

Follow reporter Rebecca Lurye on Twitter at twitter.com/IPBG_Rebecca.

Related content:

• Dissent marks school board's first nepotism talk, November 17, 2015
• Beaufort County superintendent Jeff Moss gets high marks in school board evaluation; wife's hiring left out, November 25, 2015
• Moss to keep his job; wife resigns new post, board to revisit nepotism policy, September 21, 2015
• Superintendent changed nepotism rule: Questions arise following wife's hire for new position, September 14, 2015

This story was originally published December 4, 2015 at 5:34 PM with the headline "New nepotism policy a boost for Beaufort County superintendent Jeff Moss."