The following newspaper article ran in the August 29th, 2007, issue of the Bosque County News:
Cranfills Gap School Board Hears Complaints of Misconduct
Cranfills Gap---Accusations and admonishments flew during the Cranfills Gap school board meeting on Monday, August 20th, as several speakers and one board member accused the other regents of misconduct in handling a series of controversial events.
Among those who addressed the board, only one speaker was not critical. Cranfills Gap mayor David Witte told board members he felt that more student outings should be chaperoned by husband and wife teams.
The rest of the meeting was a baptism of fire for newly appointed Superintendent James Scott, who had been on the job for just over a week. Scott was left to sit patiently as board member Sue Lee and her brother accused the rest of the board of conducting an illegal, closed meeting in May and one speaker after another chided board members for their actions and those of former Superintendent Carla Sigler near the end of the 2006-2007 school year.
Among those events were: The use of teachers whose certificates did not qualify them to teach the courses they were teaching; the unsuccessful attempt by Sigler to fire science teacher Michelle Dubay; Sigler's subsequent resignation; a demonstration by students; and finally, a move by Sigler to expel and strip 2006-2007 Valedictorian Kaitlan Head of her title after Head was involved in an altercation with the salutatorian.
Those events had their effect. The district ended the year dropping from "exemplary" academic rating to "academically acceptable". In addition, a number of students have left or transferred to other districts, decreasing the student body from more than 120 at mid-year in 2006-2007 to 85 or fewer for the coming school year.
The decrease was addressed by former school board president Jerry Jennings, the first to speak at the Aug. 20 meeting.
"I've stayed away (since leaving the board)", said Jennings, "because it was my hope that this board would come together. That apparently has not happened. There's nothing that can't be fixed, but you have to work together to fix it. You'll be lucky to start this year with 80 to 85 students, and, by 2008-2009, money will start to be withheld by the state. You need to get over your differences. If you don't, we'll be like Fairy (a former Hamilton County town whose school was consolidated with Hamilton in 1967).
Next was Dorothy Powell, sister of board member Sue Lee and aunt of valedictorian Kaitlan Head. Powell criticzed the board for abetting Sigler in "retaliating" against Lee, by enacting unwarranted disciplinary action against Kaitlan Head, Lee's niece and denying Head the chance to participate in her graduation.
Powell also told the board (several of whom have accused Lee of "contacting the news media") that, in fact, it has been Powell who brought problems at the school to the media's attention. "I want you to know that I have done all I could to tell the world about your negative actions," said Powell. "I personally contacted Channel 25 television about the valedictorian--and the Clifton Record, the Waco Tribune-Herald, the Bosque County News, the Readers Digest, the Associated Press, the American Civil Liberties Union, the Texas Education Agency, the State Commissioner of Education, and Region 12 Service Center."
"I am also responsible for two articles currently on two websites on the Worldwide Web. If you google Carla Sigler, Cranfills Gap school, or Kaitlan Head on the Internet, you will find a lot of negative publicity. So, please, don't give the credit--or the blame--to anyone but me. I worked really hard to get it all out there."
Note: This newspaper article is continued in the next blog entry.
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