Decatur school board, superintendent agree to continue working together after meeting
Decatur Superintendent Joseph Coburn said he is ready to move forward with the school board after a four-hour executive session Monday night to discuss a possible separation agreement.
No action was taken when the trustees reconvened the meeting.
When asked why the agreement was listed on the agenda, Coburn declined to comment but said that when there are board elections and “significant” turnover on the board, trustees have an obligation to their community to set a vision for their schools which aligns with those who elected them.
“It’s a duty of the school board as they speak for the community,” he said.
Board president Thomas Houchin declined to comment on why the separation proposal was on the agenda and what the concerns were about Coburn.
“Our attorney has advised us not to comment at this time,” he said.
Dylan Barnes and Melonie Christian are newly-elected board members; Marsha Hudson Hafer was reelected to the board.
Coburn said in an interview that the superintendent and school board work together as “a team of eight.”
“That relationship is really important for districts to move forward because when the board and superintendent are of one accord, speaking the same language and communicating, that’s good for the kids,” Coburn said.
“Our team of eight is in a much better position than at the beginning of the night,” he said.
The meeting was especially good for the new trustees who want to do a good job, Coburn said.
Earlier this spring, removing the mask mandate became a hot topic of conversation in the Wise County school district of around 3,450 students. A petition on change.org called for school officials to lift the mask mandate and to make quarantining voluntary.
The petition garnered 810 signatures.
Coburn said the board voted April 7 to make wearing masks voluntary for students and employees.
“When you have a polarized political climate and a pandemic together, you are going to have strong opinions. I think school boards have been put in some really awkward positions to make decisions they thought they would never have to make,” he said.
“I don’t think school board members ran, thinking kids were going to wear masks during a pandemic,” he said.
