After 10 hours of testimony and several hours of closed-session deliberation, the Greenwood Leflore Consolidated School Board voted to uphold the dismissal of Kellia Washington as the district’s chief financial administrator.
The vote was 2-2. Dr. Ro’Shaun Bailey and Magdalene Abraham voted for the dismissal, while Board President Samantha Milton and Jackie Lewis voted nay. The fifth board member, Dr. Kalanya Moore, recused herself from the vote. The vote followed a public hearing held at Washington’s request.
Moore said her vote would have been a conflict of interest due to her recent appointment to the board of the Mississippi Association of Educators, which is also represented by Washington’s lawyer.
Milton said the tie vote upheld Superintendent James Johnson-Waldington’s recommendation for Washington’s termination.
Milton and Lewis both said the evidence they heard did not lead them to the conclusion that Washington’s termination was warranted.
Washington’s lawyer, Jackson-based Jason Owens, said it was his position that the board did not vote to uphold the termination, since a majority was not reached.
“We’ll just have to wait and see what they do now,” he said, adding that so far he had not been contacted by Washington to discuss any potential legal action moving forward.
When Washington received a termination letter on Nov. 17, she was working in the district as its chief financial administrator. This position was different from her role as business manager during the 2021-2022 school year.
Washington was non-renewed as business manager but was issued a contract for the other administrative position for the 2022-2023 school year.
In Thursday’s hearing, Johnson-Waldington said his recommendation for termination was “based on violations of the Mississippi Code of Ethics in three instances.”
Legally, Washington had five days to ask for a public hearing and was required to be kept on payroll until the date of her hearing, which was first set for Dec. 16.
Owens said she received pay until Thursday’s hearing but is unsure whether Washington will receive any additional pay past that date. He did not know the amount of her salary.
The termination went into effect following the board’s vote, according to Milton.
Washington was accused of failing to complete eight to nine months of bank reconciliations, which ensure the district’s ledgers reflect what’s actually in the bank.
Washington was also accused of failing to inform the board of a roughly $320,000 discrepancy owed to the Internal Revenue Service, which has since been resolved, and approving payment to Fortenberry & Ballard P.C., a Brandon accounting firm, for services the company allegedly did not complete.
All of these were matters related to her job performance as business manager in the 2021-2022 school year. Johnson-Waldington said he had just learned of the issues with Washington’s performance and issued the letter shortly thereafter.
He said hiring outside entities to perform what he said were Washington’s duties cost the district $13,000.
Washington’s case against the district argued that her termination was wrongful and based on personal feelings rather than professional assessment.
She said under oath that the district’s current business manager, Lakenya Thomas, “made misrepresentations (to the superintendent) about what I had done, and after that, it became one thing after another.”
Washington said she had told the superintendent at the time, Dr. Mary Brown, about the money owed to the IRS but did not disclose an amount because Washington was resolving the issue.
Washington also said she never told the board she had completed all of the bank reconciliations when she had not. She said her statement to the board just indicated that bank reconciliations had been completed, without any indicator of a quantity. She said she worked diligently with others in the district to remedy whatever problems she encountered and informed the superintendent when she discovered errors.
Washington testified that Thomas “wanted me out of the business office” and that Washington was moved to an office in the bus shop warehouse as a step toward her termination.
She alleged that, while working in that office, she sent multiple letters requesting accommodations required by the Americans With Disabilities Act as well as basic supplies but was not supplied any.
She said she told Johnson-Waldington about this and he responded, “Fine,” but then she received a letter saying she was being moved.
Washington’s lawyer, Owens, said all she was asking for in the public hearing was to be able to finish out her contract and preserve the integrity of her name.
-Contact Katherine Parker at 662-581-7239 or kparker@gwcommonwealth.com.
