School board desperately needs new blood

Wanted: New faces on the Beaufort County Board of Education.

Four of its 11 seats will be filled by voters this November, but so far they have too few options for change.

When the public learned last September that Superintendent Jeff Moss changed district nepotism rules so that his wife could be hired to a new $90,000 position in the central office, it was immediately clear that the school board had no control over the district. And the board made it clear by its subsequent stumbling and bumbling that a new majority is desperately needed.

At first, public reaction was sharp.

Now, in election season, the community needs that passion for change more than ever.

We know that citizen involvement can produce results. Two citizens alarmed by the brazen behavior of the superintendent and a board that gave no indication of caring what he did, took action last fall. Kimberly Morgan of Beaufort and Skip Hoagland of Windmill Harbour filed complaints with the State Ethics Commission.

As a result, the commission is to hold a hearing in August to consider allegations that Moss knowingly used his position as superintendent to sign a consulting contract between his wife and the district, and that he changed the district’s nepotism rule, allowing his wife to be hired to the district job. Moss also must answer an allegation that he participated in a governmental decision in which an immediate family member had an economic interest when he presented his wife to the school board as a job candidate in an executive session.

Regardless of what the state board rules, citizen action is now needed to clean house.

Citizens who love to complain now have a chance to do something constructive about the problem.

It requires more than writing comments online. It requires even more than going to a school board meeting to be treated dismissively by a board that doesn’t want to hear from anyone but each other — behind closed doors.

That’s not enough. Beaufort County needs new school board members, and that means more candidates.

This week, two incumbents finally got a little completion, but more is needed. The deadline to enter the race is Aug. 15.

Paul Roth of Okatie and Earl Campbell of Lobeco, both advocates of the status quo, each got an opponent this week. That’s good. JoAnn Orischak of Hilton Head Island, often the only voice of reason on the board, faces no opposition. In the Bluffton seat of retiring longtime member Laura Bush, three people so far have signed up to run. All four seats need that level of participation.

Roth was censured by the board Tuesday night after he publicly calling Orischak a “hot chick” and said other board members are “screw ups.” He previously called citizens who questioned Moss’s nepotism “loony.”

Clearly, the board needs help. An infusion of new blood is the best way for the school board to regain public trust, and that is in the hands of the citizens.

It is not an easy task to serve on the board, especially for anyone with enough backbone to buck the system and stand up against the nepotism, secrecy and name-calling that have ruined the district’s reputation and aggravated taxpayers and rank-and-file employees.

The school district’s credibility will be rebuilt one board member at a time. With four seats open, now is not the time for apathy. Now is the time for action.

This story was originally published June 23, 2016 at 6:11 PM with the headline "School board desperately needs new blood."