Students, faculty address board as Walker County superintendent dispute remains unresolved
A group of Walker County teachers, parents, and students attending Monday’s Walker County School Board meeting due to concerns over the future of superintendent Damon Raines.
LaFAYETTE, Ga. (WDEF)- A controversial situation continued to evolve in Walker County Monday evening.
Last week, the Walker County School Board allegedly attempted to remove superintendent Damon Raines for reasons still unclear.
While the public did not get a chance to speak at that meeting, given the board was hidden from them by calling an executive session, today a few members of the public got a chance to address the board.
However, the information the board was willing to dish out was still limited, to the chagrin of an audience left with few answers.
Probably one of the most contentious moments of the meeting was when a student, Harrison Gilstrap of Lafayette High School, was attempting to speak, but was shut down by the board due to their rules of how many people could speak on a given topic. This rubbed many in the crowd the wrong way.
“I guess they’re afraid what the students think, and they’re only concerned about what they think, and that’s why they want Mr. Raines out of there in the first place,” said Gilstrap.
Gilstrap told us that he was planning to tell the board about a card Raines sent him while he was recovering from an injury last year.
Others in the crowd felt like their concerns were being ignored.
Lauren Maples, a special education teacher at Lafayette Middle School said, “The timing of everything is very questionable… Well you could tell by their facial expressions they didn’t want to hear the things that they heard. I don’t think they have the best interest of the educators and the students of Walker County. I think they have their own vendetta, and it’s clearly showing through their actions.”
While the topic of the superintendent wasn’t formally discussed by the board, one member made a motion related to the controversy.
Tina Painter claims an uninvited attorney showed up to Friday’s executive session, which was held out of public view for two and a half hours.
“(The attorney) refused to leave until he was escorted out by two Lafayette Police Officers,” said Painter.
She went on to call for documents presented by a different attorney to be publicized, which was voted down.
No further action was taken on the night against Raines, but that did not stop students from voicing their appreciation for their superintendent.
Katie Carroll, a student at Ridgeland High School said, “We know who superintendent Damon Raines is, and more importantly, he knows who we are. He knows every single one of our names. Here I hold one example of hundreds, maybe even thousands of personal letters that he has taken the time out of his day to send. It is so simple, but it is such a sweet act.”
We did ask once again if any of the school board members had a comment on the situation.
They once again declined.
