Put poisonous conflict to rest
Franklin County board members must put a priority on better schools, not stew over superintendent complaints.
State police have cleared Franklin County schools Superintendent Charles Lackey of criminal misuse of his government-issued credit card. School board members can turn their full energies now to the passion presumably driving their service to the county: strengthening its schools.
Don’t count on it, though.
June 1, 2012 - 6:16 AM
Even in a county as large as Franklin, this is a poison that has and will fester. Lackey is done and there is no repairing this relationship. Frankly, I think you are wrong to suggest they try.
The state police cannot vindicate Lackey for his unethical behavior. They could only work for months creating a one inch document showing they had plenty to investigate but nothing that can currently (at this late date) result in charges. Good character is essential. Firing or demoting staff that speak out, refusing to validate the desires of 500+ petitioners and having test scores drop to the worst in 3 years are not actions of an acceptable superintendent.
It needs to be made clear that we will not justify bad behavior and poor leadership simply because it is not illegal. Our standards need to be much higher than that.