Beaufort Co. school board member is allowed to talk about employee complaints, board says
According to the Beaufort County school board’s chairwoman, board secretary William Smith is allowed to speak about the four employee complaints filed against him in June — but he’s choosing not to exercise that right, he said Wednesday.
For months, board members have cited attorney-client privilege to avoid discussing the nature of the complaints against Smith, the seriousness of the allegations or the resolution the board reached in an August executive session meeting.
Board chairwoman Christina Gwozdz read aloud an email she received from Andrea White, who represented the board in the grievance matter, at Tuesday’s school board meeting.
“You asked whether it would be necessary for the board to vote to waive the attorney-client privilege to allow Will Smith to speak to the media about the grievances filed against him,” White wrote to Gwozdz.
“Such waiver is unnecessary. Mr. Smith may speak, either at a board meeting or via contact with the media, if he chooses to do so. He would be speaking as an individual trustee and not on behalf of the board.”
Gwozdz said Wednesday that she didn’t think this email applied to the rest of the board, though she said “you’d have to ask an attorney.”
When asked Wednesday if he previously believed that he was free to speak about the grievances, Smith declined to comment and referred the question to his attorney, Clifford Bush III.
When asked what the nature of the grievances was, Smith declined to comment and referred the question to Bush.
When asked how the grievances were resolved, Smith said he would not take any more questions.
“After that last article, my attorney advised me to refer all questions to him on this matter,” he said Wednesday, referencing a recent column in the Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette calling for Smith to discuss the employee grievances with the public or resign.
Messages to Bush’s office were not returned Wednesday afternoon.
Gwozdz cited the Packet and Gazette’s column, and board member JoAnn Orischak’s subsequent request for the board to discuss waiving Smith’s attorney-client privilege, as the cause of her email exchange with White.
Unknowns remain
White advised the board in July not to publicly name Smith — an elected official representing voters in parts of St. Helena Island and Beaufort.
Smith’s identity was disclosed in internal board emails obtained and published by The Island Packet and The Beaufort Gazette in August.
It is still not known whether Smith was disciplined in the matter. He has kept his position as the board’s secretary, and as a member of the operations committee.
Gwozdz said Wednesday she “did not feel comfortable” saying how many board members had viewed the grievances.
In early August and behind closed doors, the board received verbal advice from White on how to resolve the employee complaints made against Smith.
The board publicly voted to accept that advice but never publicly disclosed what that advice was.
The district rejected four Freedom of Information Act requests made by the Packet and the Gazette in August for documents related to the grievances, citing attorney-client privilege..
All in all, the district paid more than $16,000 to the Columbia law firm Story & White to represent the board in the grievance cases — part of which went to hiring a private investigator to conduct a background check on Smith.
An October FOIA request by Hilton Head Island resident Tony Cambria revealed that the school district checked whether Smith had a permit to carry a concealed weapon and requested extra police presence during at least one board meeting in June.
This story was originally published February 6, 2020 at 4:55 AM.