ANDERSON, S.C. — A school board member’s resignation was final when he emailed it and said it was effective immediately even though he sent another email three days later saying he changed his mind, a judge in South Carolina has ruled.
Anderson County School District 2 Trustee Stu Shirley sent his resignation email to the board on May 14 after a meeting over whether to buy out the superintendent’s contract. Three days later, he sent another email saying he rescinded his resignation.
The board split 3-3 on whether to let Shirley back on the board and a lawsuit was filed.
Judge Cordell Maddox ruled against Shirley, saying to require board members to debate and vote on whether to accept a resignation would just create more political fighting and that the board’s actions left little doubt on its intentions.
"Within a day, the School Board removed Shirley’s name, photo and information from its website, and also closed his email account,” Maddox wrote in his ruling which was obtained by The Independent-Mail of Anderson.
Trustee Kevin Craft, who was sued over the refusal to let Shirley back on the board, said he was satisfied with the ruling.
"I hate that this has happened to our district," Craft said. "The bad part about it is the other three board members wasted over $37,000 of taxpayer money in legal fees.”
