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Fox Creek School Board elections marred by possible improper endorsements by teachers

Funding and jobs may be in jeopardy
web posted May 12, 2006

MERRIWETHER – Fox Creek Charter High School held their public election of the Board of Directors for the publicly funded school on Thursday. What took place on Wednesday; however, has Edgefield County School District officials scrambling for answers. EdgefieldDaily.com received calls and information that at least one teacher handed out a flyer with a “slate” of candidates some of the teachers were endorsing for the election on Thursday, as parents dropped off their students at the school Wednesday morning. Others said the flyer came home with their child. EdgefieldDaily.com faxed a copy of the flyer to the Edgefield County District Office and a simple flyer set into motion a chain of events that could pose serious problems for the school and the teachers involved.

The seven teachers signed the document in their own handwriting. One of the teachers, Nancy Cowart, confirmed her signature when shown the flyer and her signature. The other six, Russell Schneider, Amanda Schneider, Cliff Richards, Andre Baskett, Brooke Rushing, and Mark Komoroski were not reached for comment. One parent provided a name of the teacher they said passed out the flyers at the school during school operational hours. We are currently confirming other sources supporting the claim at this time.

Quoting the flyer, in an ironic choice of words produced by teachers at the school, “The end of this school is also the beginning of many new happenings.” Further down in the titled “Endorsement of Candidates for the Board of Trustees for FCHS 2006-2007” flyer is the following quote; “The following slate is endorsed by the faculty members whose signatures appear below,” then listing the preferred candidates and the above teachers signatures.

Dr. Keesley said the District policy clearly states no endorsement can be given by any teacher in such elections. Dr. Keesley mentioned the GBI Policy Section also refers to the Hatch Act, adopted in its latest form in 1993 into Federal law. Under its provisions, government employees who, “use official authority or influence to interfere with or affect the results of an election or nomination,” are in violation and in addition, employees cannot “circulate nominating petitions”.

Nancy Cowart is a Teacher of the Year recipient at the school and is the first signature on the endorsement.

Under the state and local governance portions of the Act, “If the Merit Systems Protection Board finds that the violation warrants dismissal from employment, the employing agency must either remove the employee or forfeit a portion of the federal assistance equal to two years salary of the employee.” Seven teachers signed the document and each signature could constitute a separate action. Federal funds are received by Fox Creek Charter High School. The school is currently attempting to get federal loans for a new building that may also be affected. District officials could not say if state and local funds could be in jeopardy if a violation occurred. 

Dr. Keesley said her office has been in touch repeatedly with the School District’s Attorney, Greg Anderson, about the matter. “This is very serious,” she said, adding the district has “no choice but to act on it”.

Further information came on Thursday making matters worse. The original flyer received by EdgefieldDaily.com has a thin black line that runs across the page. Parents and students said the line on the flyer proves a school copier was used to produce the endorsements. According to them, the thin black line that crosses the paper is present on a test and other documents printed by the school copier due to a malfunction with the machine. A test taken on Thursday in the Biology class of Mr. Komoroski had students asking if the line was striking out a question they did not need to answer one student said. The student said Mr. Komoroski told the class the line appearing on the test was the result of the problem with the copier.

The line is irrelevant since copiers imprint markings undetectable to the human eye that reveal the information needed to identify the copier used.

EdgefieldDaily.com returned to Fox Creek at the closing of the polls at 7:00 pm to observe the vote count to report the public election results. When the Editor entered the building Nancy Cowart, who was managing the ballot box, said, “You are going to have to leave. You are not allowed here.” She stated that the ballot box was being taken to “a room” where it would remain while those present watch a “video presentation” and that afterwards, between 8:15 and 8:30, the box would be brought out and tallied. “I am overseeing it,” she said. Ms. Cowart also stated 82, or 40%, of the 206 eligible votes were cast in the election.

By 9:00 pm Thursday, EdgefieldDaily.com was contacted with questions of why the ballot box was not opened and counted when the polls closed. Also questioned was who would had access to the ballot box during the extended period of time the box was out of public view. Fox Creek school officials did not provide those answers.

Twelve of the thirteen endorsed candidates won the twelve positions in the election EdgefieldDaily.com later learned. The two candidates not listed on the endorsement did not place in the election. It is unknown if they will challenge the results due to the existence of the flyer and the irregularities it possibly represents.

The original document in our possession will be turned over to the proper authorities. A copy of the flyer can be downloaded here. (.pdf file)

 

 

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