Missouri attorney general investigating how Hickman Mills school board does business
The Missouri attorney general’s office is looking into a complaint alleging spending irregularities by members of the Hickman Mills school board. The complaint also suggests that leadership problems remain a barrier in the school district’s decadelong struggle to regain state accreditation.
The complaint, a copy of which was obtained by The Kansas City Star Editorial Board, accuses school board President Byron Townsend and Vice President DaRon McGee of entering into contracts and spending more than $16,000 of taxpayer money on an out-of-town retreat in August “without the approval or acknowledgment of the board.”
Board retreats typically are held in the district and cost significantly less money. And the board usually has to approve expenditures ahead of time.
The complainant also accuses the board of approving a contract for an attorney even though at least three board members had not seen the agreement to pay Fields and Brown LLC more than $200 an hour for legal services until several days after a 4-to-3 closed session vote was taken.
Townsend told the school board the contract was not available so they couldn’t see it, but then proceeded with the vote on the contract anyway.
Townsend referred a request for comment on the complaint to district spokesperson Marissa Cleaver Wamble, who responded with a statement: “The Board is actively working to complete its consideration of this matter and anticipates collaborating with the attorney general’s office to resolve the complaint.”
Attorney General Eric Schmitt’s office said, as is normal procedure, that it “could neither confirm nor deny” any investigation.
The complaint underscores a fundamental problem on the school board, which is not only sharply divided but composed of members who appear unable to work together.
Townsend and McGee, who resigned from a Missouri House seat in 2019 amid allegations that he sexual harassed an employee, consistently vote together with two other board members — Carol Graves and Ann Coleman — on district issues against the other three members, Tramise Carter, Irene Kendrick and Cecil Wattree.
The split often plays out in public meetings, with board members bickering over decisions made by the majority coalition while information is withheld from the other three. Even a holiday greeting card sent out to residents only included photos and names of the four-member Townsend/McGee voting bloc.
Such pettiness should embarrass the clique in charge, who are acting more like some of the less mature middle schoolers than like community leaders.
The complaint exposes dysfunction that’s doing nothing to improve learning for students in a district that has been struggling to regain its state accreditation since since 2012.
One of the areas the state’s education agency considers when reviewing a district’s accreditation status is how well the board governs the district. If this is the kind of shenanigans going on in Hickman Mills, it’s no wonder that accreditation has remained out of its reach.
On April 5, residents in the Hickman Mills district, which is located in South Kansas City, will choose a new school board. Seats held by Carter and Wattree are up for grabs, with Wattree of course trying to hold on to his position. Other candidates are Terri-Barr-Moore, director of government relations for the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority, Beth Ann Boerger, a retired bookkeeper for Kansas City Public Schools and John Carmichael, who won a seat on the board in 2019 but was later disqualified because he had not lived in the state long enough at the time.
The future of the Hickman Mills school district depends on electing a board that can work together and focus on delivering quality education for the 5,600 students rather than wasting time fighting.
This is where you, the voters, come in. The attorney general’s investigation will take some time, but what’s already obvious is that change is desperately needed.
This story was originally published February 20, 2022 at 5:00 AM.