Three members of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Board of Education abstained from a vote Tuesday to release the results of the board's investigation of Superintendent Crystal Hill.
Two of the three, Monty Witherspoon and Lenora Shipp, said Friday that their abstentions reflected concerns about how the board would release the findings, though neither provided detailed explanations.
They spoke to WFAE during a CMS back-to-school media event Friday, when CMS again told reporters that officials would answer questions only about back-to-school operations. Both Witherspoon and Shipp praised Hill and backed her leadership.
Witherspoon said he abstained because he believed the board already had a “process for releasing information” but that “we had not gotten to that yet.” He also believed "it wasn’t clear exactly what direction we were going to go" with releasing information through the motion.
“I absolutely believe in transparency, I believe as much should be released as possible,” Witherspoon said. “But it’s sort of putting the cart before the horse, in my opinion, when we have processes already in place. This is probably the third media briefing that we’ve had with our superintendent. We’ve had one board meeting. And there’s not been a statement from the board as of yet.”
Witherspoon said he believes the board should have made a unified statement when Hill returned Aug. 11 after a two-month suspension. He declined to elaborate on what that statement might have said.
“Not in the particulars,” he said. “Again, if you look at the state statute, it tells us exactly what we can and cannot do. But, yes, we need a statement to say where we are, and not just where we were in the past but where we’re going.”
The board did release a statement the night it announced Hill’s reinstatement, claiming the investigation found “issues that will require ongoing attention as it relates to leadership and operational practices.”
Shipp, meanwhile, initially suggested that the board had established a process for releasing more information.
“I felt like we already had a process in place, we already understood what we can and can’t do,” Shipp said.
But when WFAE pressed Shipp to explain, a communications officer told Shipp that she didn’t have to answer the question, and she declined to elaborate.
“My abstention is what I felt in my conscience to do at that time,” she said.
The third board member who abstained, Board Chair Stephanie Sneed, told reporters earlier this week that, as board chair, she wanted to remain neutral.
The board voted Tuesday to release "the investigation process, key lessons learned and recommended improvements to governance, policy procedure and oversight" but withhold legally protected or confidential details. CMS staff are expected to release a report before the end of September.
