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At a meeting Monday evening, the Montgomery County Board of Education accepted the resignation of Superintendent Melvin Brown – a move that Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed and city business leaders said would end a positive tenure of growth and advancement within the school district.
However, during the meeting and prior to the board entering an executive session, board member Lesa Keith said she spoke with Brown and he informed her twice that he wished to resign.
“I will not stop someone that wants to resign,” Keith said. As she made her comments, Brown, seated two seats away, smiled and shook his head.
According to two sources familiar with the ongoing conversations between the board and Brown, the superintendent’s decision to leave was based primarily on the board refusing to extend his contract, which expires at the end of the year.
The decision not to renew Brown’s contract was made by the board at least partly, the sources said, after Brown initiated an evaluation by an outside agency of the board’s effectiveness.
“Same old in-fighting stuff that’s been going on for years – that’s what’s behind this,” the source said. “The review wasn’t the only reason but it was a big reason.”
For his part, Brown took the high road, telling WSFA-TV after the meeting that he was content with the decision he made to step away.
“I have to do what’s best for me and what’s best for my family,” Brown said. He also said he had several projects, including a book, lined up.
The lengthy meeting was one of the most well-attended board meetings in history, after members of the Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce encouraged people to attend. Chamber members also had spent the last couple of days – after Brown’s resignation letter was leaked over the weekend – applying pressure to board members in an effort to get the board to extend Brown’s contract.
Just before entering an executive session, Keith took a direct shot at the Chamber over its actions.
“The Chamber of Commerce coming in here – they have never come in here in their lives,” Keith said. “But the pressure that they put on us was just undue. It was just wrong. I’ve always looked up to the Chamber of Commerce, and hey, if I run again, I’m sure the banners are gonna come out – ‘Don’t vote for Lesa.’ Amen. Do it. Because this town needs to know exactly what the Chamber did.”
Just before Keith spoke, board vice president Cassandra Brown spoke and blamed “miscommunication” and “petty actions” for many of the problems. Keith agreed with that assessment and added that while Superintendent Brown had a “beautiful vision” for the district, in her opinion he failed to adequately include the board in that vision.
Prior to the meeting, Reed released a statement praising Brown’s work.
“Brown’s resignation as Superintendent of Montgomery Public Schools will mark the end of a period of strong leadership and tangible progress in our school district,” Reed said. “During his time as superintendent, Dr. Brown’s vision and dedication has helped steer Montgomery’s schools toward a brighter future. His ability to deliver results and his commitment to improving education for our children has made our schools better.”
Following the meeting, Anna Buckelew, president of the Montgomery Chamber of Commerce, called Keith’s comments “regretful,” and suggested that those types of comments were indicative of the kind of problems that led to Brown’s resignation.
“The comments made by Lesa Keith were just so regretful, and some of the comments made over the weekend, frankly … the nature of that may be one part why we’re here,” Buckalew said during an interview with WSFA. “With a superintendent that’s very frustrated. With a board that makes it very difficult for him to do his job.”
Brown will work out the remainder of his contract, which expires in November.
