Monday, May 04, 2015

Special closed session set for Joplin R-8 Board Wednesday

Whether Superintendent C. J. Huff's lengthy verbal attack on board member Debbie Fort will be discussed is not known, but the Joplin R-8 Board of Education will hold a special meeting, including a closed session 5 p.m. Wednesday at the Administration Building.

Huff's attack, plus his earlier Facebook posts about board candidate, now board member, Jennifer Martucci, have caused an online petition and an anti C. J. Huff Facebook page to be launched, independently of each other almost immediately after last Tuesday's board meeting.

The meeting will be the first opportunity for newly-elected President Jeff Koch to put his stamp on the board.

The agenda for the open session includes:

-Board member etiquette
-Communication preferences
-Meeting availability
-Board of Education committee assignments.

The notice for the closed session says it is for "legal actions involving the district" and "hiring, firing, discplining, or promoting of particular employees."

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

*fingers crossed*

Anonymous said...

Huff will throw a sob story at them, they will feel bad for him and only give him a slap on the hand. Nothing will change.

Anonymous said...

I have attended many board meetings in my career but the cell phone usage rather texting or whatever is going on needs to stop! Rude and disrespectful! Let alone the public attack was about as low as you can go..not good

Anonymous said...

Isn't disclosing a past employees work record in an open meeting an ethics violation. That alone is grounds for removal or at least Debbie Fort has a good case for a law suit.

Anonymous said...

Joplin Schools right now has a very BAD reputation. That is all the talk where I teach school and at church and in conversations with friends that teach in other districts. The talk is about all the drama with the Huff the BOE, the money being spent, the Facebook postings, the petition the resignations of many staff the test scores, and so on. This has to be so bad for the morale of the staff. I would NOT want to work for Joplin School because I want to be proud of where I teach (I am) and every teacher deserves to have support and respect from everyone. Poor Joplin teachers are not getting this.

Anonymous said...

I don't think at this stage of the game that Martucci, Koch, and Fort will take poor little Charlie's sob stories. Not after what he did to Martucci and Fort. I don't think they're going to stand for it. He's had too many "slaps on the hand" and the people have suffered for it, and I highly doubt that Koch, Martucci, and Fort will let it continue after Huff's attacks. I hope they fire his ass or, at the very LEAST, suspend him.

Anonymous said...

You out way too much emphasis on the Board President. They have no more power than anyone else. The only thing they do is run the meeting. Their vote hold no more power/influence than any other member.

Anonymous said...

DO YOU HEAR THE PEOPLE SING
SINGING THE SONG OF ANGRY MEN
IT IS THE MUSIC OF THE PEOPLE
WHO WILL NOT BE SLAVES AGAIN!!!

Anonymous said...

I hope they fire his a** or, at the very LEAST, suspend him.

I don't sense that they've got the votes to do that, or more likely, put him on probation, although maybe one of the pro-Huff 3 is seeing the light after his tantrum during the last meeting. They ought to be worrying about how much worse it's going to get.

You out way too much emphasis on the Board President. They have no more power than anyone else. The only thing they do is run the meeting.

According to our host, he also is responsible for calling special meetings like this one, and setting the agenda. Does anyone think the pro-Huff establishment would call a meeting with "Board member etiquette" as the first item?

Unless of course those who are obsessed with text messages are correct this is truly the pressing problem facing the board; I don't like to cast aspersions on people's motives, but I have to wonder if for some this is the only criticism they can muster against the anti-Huff 3.

Anonymous said...

His conduct is and was very detrimental to the students and tax payers of the R8. Since there is no clear majority to vote the only thing is to let him know that will not be tolerated any longer and he is an employee of the district and his bosses are the ones who were elected. Once there is a 4th person whom feels the same way as many of us such as Mr Kimbrough for example maybe there can be more disciplinary action taken. I would vote for suspension and outline a clear job path for Mr Huff, then if he gets out of line again just keep him employed and vote against every one of his "for the kids" ventures that are clearly for him. Make him resign, not terminate his contract so we are not on the hook for that big salary. When he finally sees the light he will get out faster than ole Bessie.

Anonymous said...

Make him resign, not terminate his contract so we are not on the hook for that big salary.

If he's replaced by a superintendent who cleans house, the resulting sharp decrease in costly and pointless administrators should easily cover the cost of buying out his contract.

When he finally sees the light he will get out faster than ole Bessie.

That's perhaps our biggest problem: Huff has been trying to get another job for a while, but no one wants him. A lot of people have made serious accusations that ring true of "ole Bessie", but she appears to be more competent than he is, and has the self-discipline to avoid acting out on Facebook or in public meetings.

Anonymous said...

Do we want our children following the lead of bad behavior? Why is this being tolerated?

Anonymous said...

I hope they give him the same fairness and consideration given by him and his bullies to the teachers and staff they have targeted, humiliated, pushed around, ran off, and fired for no reason. That seems fair to me...but I'm sure they wouldn't want to be treated that way.