TKC EXCLUSIVE!!! HICKMAN MILLS HOT MESS CONTINUES ACCORDING TO E-MAIL BLAST!!!

Hickman Mills School district continues longstanding controversy in a stunning example that suburban schools also have their share of political fighting.

An Awesome TKC TIPSTER notes: "After the lack of ethics in the last school board election people are starting to pay more attention to all the cronyism going on. the lack of focus on education is catching up to Hickman Mills."

Accordingly . . .

CHECK THIS LATEST E-MAIL BLAST CRYING FOUL OVER HICKMAN MILLS SCHOOL BOARD HIJINKS!!!

I don't really have a dog in this fight but it is interesting to see the heated debate continuing even after elections and it's important to note the discussion/argument now moving online. Here is the e-mail blast circulating far and wide:

Sunshine Law not applicable in Hickman Mills?

Last Thursday was the normal night of the month for the Hickman Mills School Board to hold its regular meeting. This month, though, they held the regular meeting on April 4, two nights after the election; so this past Thursday they held a special meeting. While the agenda was posted in advance of the required 24 hours, a closed session was added less than 5 hours prior. For this meeting, this was Violation One of the Sunshine Law. One issue on that agenda was the continuing employment of the district’s longtime legal counsel, Chris Gahagan. His dismissal, by a 4-2 vote, was completed within the first 10 minutes of the closed meeting. This is Violation Two of the Sunshine Law because the district’s legal counsel is not an employee but a vendor, which makes this an open session issue.

After finishing the closed agenda, the board moved to the open session agenda, which included the item General Counsel. Board President, Bremen Anderson, suggested hiring Husch Blackwell on an interim basis “pending the release of an RFP”. As noted by board members Eric Lowe and Dan Osman, it seemed strange to have this item on the agenda unless others already knew the outcome of the closed meeting item. As with other issues during the board meeting, Board President Anderson simply ignored these complaints. Not mentioned was the need for an attorney well versed in school law.

This brings us to an interesting quandary. Board President Anderson is the first board president to establish an office for himself in the administration building of the district. As a side note, this is not a tiny room in the back of the building, but a large office next to the front door, which used to belong to the secretary for the associate superintendent for business. Anderson is there every Monday and has meetings with various people. One has to wonder if those meetings include other board members, perhaps to discuss future votes.
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