The current school year will be the last for Greenville Public School District superintendent Dr. Debra Dace.
The Greenville Public School District Board of Trustees voted unanimously to begin formally searching for a new superintendent to replace Dace after the 2021-2022 academic year.
The board’s decision was rendered during its July 27 regular meeting.
Before the decision to end her contract was made, Dace had recently undergone a suspension during the summer.
Details surrounding the cause of Dace’s seven-day suspension without pay by the board appear to be mainly rooted in Kids First Education, LLC.
According to its website, Kids First Education, LLC was founded May 1, 2020 and works with K-12 schools and districts, providing teaching and learning solutions for administrators, teachers and kids.
The GPSD Board of Trustees went into an executive session during a June 29 special meeting to discuss a personnel matter, of which the outcome was not disclosed by board members.
However, GPSD board attorney Dorian Turner confirmed the board’s decision to suspend Dace.
According to the minutes of the June 29 executive session obtained through an FOI request, a motion was made by trustee Antoinette Williams and seconded by Dr. Oliver Johnson to enter into executive session to discuss Dace’s performance and a potential claim arising out of a $22,000 contract with Kids First Education, LLC.
The motion carried unanimously and the discussion of the superintendent’s performance “in connection with a procurement from Kids First Education, LLC.” ensued.
According to the executive session minutes, “The board determined that Dace failed to appropriately communicate with and/or misled the board regarding the procurement of services and materials from Kids First following the Board’s denial of a $22,000 contract with the company; subverted the will of the Board in procuring services and materials from a vendor with whom the board had just recently denied a contract; and subjected the district to potential litigation and/or monetary liability arising form services and/or commodities provided by Kids First Education.”
Following the discussion, was a motion made by Johnson to suspend Dace for seven days without pay. The motion was seconded by Williams and passed by a unanimous vote of the board.
Subsequent to the special meeting, GPSD board president Jan Vaughn said all personnel matters allow contracted employees five days to appeal any disciplinary actions or decisions made by the board.
Dace said in a statement, “As Superintendent of Schools, I am responsible for all day to day operations of the school district and will always strive to do my very best at all times.”
