Hilton Head Island Packet Logo

Our View: School chairman did right thing; problem remains | Hilton Head Island Packet

×
  • E-edition
  • Home
    • Customer Service
    • Mobile & Apps
    • Archives
    • Contact Us
    • eEdition
    • Newsletters
    • Subscribe
    • Contests
    • About Us
    • Sponsorships
    • News
    • Beaufort Gazette
    • Bluffton Packet
    • Special Reports
    • Databases
    • Local
    • South Carolina
    • Traffic
    • Crime & Public Safety
    • Business
    • Politics & Elections
    • Military
    • Nation & World
    • Professional Opinion
    • Lottery Results
    • Blog: Untamed Lowcountry
    • Sports
    • College
    • Golf
    • RBC Heritage
    • Recreation
    • High School
    • MLB
    • NFL
    • NBA
    • Outdoors
    • Columnists
    • Jeff Shain
    • Cast & Blast
    • Politics
    • Elections
    • Business
    • Real Estate
    • Technology
    • Full Stock Listings
    • Market Summaries
    • Mutual Funds
    • Treasury Rates
    • New Employee/Promotion Form
    • New Business Owner Form
    • Living
    • Celebrations
    • Religion
    • Food & Drink
    • Family
    • Outdoors
    • Holidays
    • Columnists
    • Lowcountry Gardening
    • Made With Love
    • Faith in Action
    • Entertainment
    • Arts & Culture
    • Local Events
    • Holidays & Seasonal
    • Horoscopes
    • Comics
    • Puzzles & Games
    • Columnists
    • Mindy Lucas
    • Opinion
    • Editorials
    • Other Views
    • Readers Opinion
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Submit a Letter
    • National Voices
    • Editorial Cartoons
    • Columnists
    • David Lauderdale
    • Liz Farrell
  • Obituaries

    • Classifieds
    • Legal Notices
  • Special Sections
  • Jobs
  • Moonlighting
  • Cars
  • Homes
  • Place An Ad
  • Mobile & Apps

Editorials

Our View: School chairman did right thing; problem remains

IslandPacket newsroom@islandpacket.com

    ORDER REPRINT →

October 09, 2015 03:57 AM

Beaufort County Board of Education chairman Bill Evans did the right thing to resign this week.

But the cancer within the school district is Superintendent Jeff Moss. As long as Moss remains on the job, the school district will have no credibility. That is grossly unfair to the students, educators and taxpayers of Beaufort County.

Moss still thinks there's nothing wrong with this picture: His wife accepted a newly-created, $90,000 job in the school district's central office, and Moss changed district nepotism rules that should have prevented her hiring.

Moss has added insult to injury with his murky memory, conflicting statements and the assertion that he did not know his wife was interested in the "director of innovation" job.

SIGN UP

Sign Up and Save

Get six months of free digital access to The Island Packet

SUBSCRIBE WITH GOOGLE

#ReadLocal

Evans' knowledge of the move, and his personal approval and subsequent support of Moss, crippled his ability to lead the district out of this mess. It damaged the goodwill and trust Evans built in 24 years as a principal and district administrator in the county, followed by his election to the school board. It is a shame that is has come to this, and Moss should never have put Evans in this position. But by stepping down, Evans cleared the way for the school board to begin rebuilding public trust.

The board must first come out of hiding. It is foolish for the school board to address a credibility catastrophe by talking among themselves in secret.

The public has a right to hear the board's discussion on the very public issue of the superintendent's behavior. Yet hours of discussion have taken place behind closed doors since the public got wind of this disaster.

The public remains baffled that an elected board would turn over to an administrator the authority to change a rule in such a way that it brings monetary gain to his family. If the board did so thinking it could trust the highly paid face of the school district to act ethically, Moss blew them out of the water. And therein lies the problem. The board can presumably restore a system of checks and balances. But it should not be expected to change the mindset of a superintendent who thinks this is business as usual.

The public isn't buying it. The school district has a major problem of trust on its hands that still has not been corrected.

  Comments  

Videos

Clemson coach Brad Brownell recaps loss to FSU

How Caden O’Brien’s adoptive parents set the table for his success in baseball and landed him at UNC

View More Video

Trending Stories

Buying or selling a home in Beaufort Co.? Here are the most popular neighborhoods

February 19, 2019 09:16 AM

Victim killed in Beaufort crash involving tractor-trailer identified as Savannah teen

February 19, 2019 10:56 AM

Child, dogs removed from Beaufort County home filled with animal feces and urine, police say

February 19, 2019 05:05 PM

These Beaufort Co. historic sites could become a national park. Here’s what it means

February 19, 2019 12:59 PM

Body of missing 33-year-old man recovered off Tybee Island, reports say

February 19, 2019 09:43 AM

Read Next

Principal sex-in-school case demands Beaufort County School District to come clean, now

Editorials

Principal sex-in-school case demands Beaufort County School District to come clean, now

The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette Editorial Board

    ORDER REPRINT →

February 06, 2019 01:40 PM

Public trust in Beaufort County School District and the school board is the key issue in the case of Hilton Head high school principal accused of having sex in the building with on-duty sheriff’s officer. The school district needs to come clean.

KEEP READING

Sign Up and Save

#ReadLocal

Get six months of free digital access to The Island Packet

SUBSCRIBE WITH GOOGLE

MORE EDITORIALS

Hilton Head principal sex-in-the-school case demands clarity from superintendent

Editorials

Hilton Head principal sex-in-the-school case demands clarity from superintendent

January 13, 2019 08:06 AM
Reopen investigation of Hilton Head Island High principal on sex in the school

Editorials

Reopen investigation of Hilton Head Island High principal on sex in the school

January 07, 2019 05:43 PM
Keep saying no: Beaufort County school board right to deny money for Moss in FBI probe

Editorials

Keep saying no: Beaufort County school board right to deny money for Moss in FBI probe

December 11, 2018 07:39 AM
Beaufort County Sheriff vs. Town of Hilton Head Island: A fight we should not be having

Editorials

Beaufort County Sheriff vs. Town of Hilton Head Island: A fight we should not be having

November 10, 2018 07:22 AM
5 things we learned from Tuesday election results in Beaufort County

Elections

5 things we learned from Tuesday election results in Beaufort County

November 07, 2018 10:01 AM
Hilton Head Island mayoral race: Style, substance and the peoples’ right to know

Editorials

Hilton Head Island mayoral race: Style, substance and the peoples’ right to know

November 02, 2018 09:22 AM
Take Us With You

Real-time updates and all local stories you want right in the palm of your hand.

Icon for mobile apps

Hilton Head Island Packet App

View Newsletters

Subscriptions
  • Start a Subscription
  • Customer Service
  • eEdition
  • Vacation Hold
  • Pay Your Bill
  • Rewards
Learn More
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletters
  • News in Education
  • Photo Store
  • Archives
Advertising
  • Information
  • Place a Classified
  • Local Deals
  • Special Sections
  • Place an Obituary
  • Today's Circulars
Copyright
Privacy Policy
Terms of Service


Back to Story