Wake school board members criticized the superintendent. Is his job at risk?
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Some board members criticized Taylor over proposed special education cuts.
- Board cited accountability and communication issues over conflicting staff info.
- Firing would require cause or a $339,930 one-year payout if terminated early.
Wake County Superintendent Robert Tay lor is under fire from school board members over his handlng of a proposal to eliminate 130 special education teaching positions.
School board member Toshiba Rice questioned whether they should talk about firing Taylor during a heated board meeting on Tuesday that ended in the superintendent saying he’ll propose alternatives to the job cuts. None of the other board members went as far as Rice, butt several expressed their disappointment in how the district’s leadership handled the special education situation.
‘I can’t tell you how sad and hopeless I feel about this situation,” said board member Chris Heagarty. “There have been multiple failures at several levels.”
Taylor said he’s not worried about his job situation.
“If we show up to the next board meeting, and they decided to fire the superintendent, that would be an expectation that I wouldn’t have,” Taylor said in an interview after Tuesday’s board meeting.
The board would have to fire Taylor “for cause” or pay him one year’s salary of $339,930 if it terminated his contract early. The last Wake superintendent who was fired was Tony Tata in 2012.
Board concerns about staff escalating
Taylor, 58, was sworn in as superintendent in September 2023. He replaced Catty Moore, who retired after five years as superintendent of North Carolina’s largest school district.
In November, the board extended Taylor’s contract through June 2029 — the maximum length allowed under state law for superintendents. But even before the contract extension, there were public signs of tension between Taylor and board members.
In October, then board chair Heagarty accused district staff of giving inaccurate and conflicting information to board members about renovations at Ligon Middle School in Raleigh and about a parent’s child abuse complaints against a substitute teacher.
Rice publicly leveled complaints at Taylor earlier this month as the board voted to tear down Ligon’s historic main building as part of a plan to rebuild the campus.
Board questions staff’s handling of budget reductions
The complaints reached a new level this week as board members questioned staff about why they had proposed eliminating 130 special education teaching positions.
Administrators had said they don’t expect to have enough unspent federal grant money, which they’ve relied on in the past to pay for recurring special education expenses. As a result, staff had proposed an $18 million budget reduction in special education for next school year.
Several board members complained that Taylor should have notified them sooner about the funding problem. They said the late notice sparked an outcry that included protests at schools last week.
“If we knew in the fall, why were we not raising the alarm to the public, to the General Assembly, going to our U.S. Congress representatives, planning ahead so we are not putting this on the backs of special education?” board vice chair Sam Hershey asked.
Ahead of the protests organized by the Wake County chapter of the North Carolina Association of Educators, Wake NCAE had accused Taylor and other senior administrators of being “out of touch” for proposing the special ed cuts. Taylor denied the accusation, pointing to how often he visits schools and meets with teachers.
Board raises concerns about superintendent
Multiple board members accused staff of providing conflicting information about the special education budget situation in one-on-one meetings and at Tuesday’s meeting.
“What I’m not going to keep doing — sitting at this board table for the past two years — is let staff tell me one thing in front of my face, go do another thing, and then come and present another thing to me as a board member,” Rice said. “Quite frankly, I’m tired of it. I think it’s disrespectful and all of this completely falls on you as a superintendent.”
Rice noted that the superintendent is the only school district employee the board can hire and fire. Rice asked if she needed to make a motion that they consider what to do about the superintendent.
It was one of several heated exchanges between Rice and staff on Tuesday.
“If you say that responsibility falls on the superintendent, you’re absolutely right. and I am the only person that the board can hold accountable,” Taylor responded to Rice.
But Heagarty said this was not the first time that staff has given different information to board members. He said that behavior is unacceptable.
“It’s demoralizing,” Heagarty said. “It destroys your faith and your ability to work to get things done. I would just, you know, urge the superintendent as the superintendent, our chiefs, you have to get a handle on this.”
Superintendent promises more staff oversight
Taylor told the board that the district could have done a better job of communicating how and why they had proposed the special education reductions.
In an interview after the meeting, Taylor said he’s not worried about his working relationship with the board. Taylor said he is trying to address the concerns that the board has raised.
“A lot of what they talked about in terms of inconsistencies, those are things that existed before I ever arrived,” Taylor said. “What I’ve tried to do is put in processes that have accountability.”
