The Greenwood Leflore Consolidated School Board voted Monday against extending the contract of Dr. Mary Brown, superintendent, beyond the end of the 2021-2022 school year.
Brown will continue as superintendent during the upcoming school year despite the board’s 3-1 vote. Board member Ro’Shaun Bailey voted against the decision, and Samantha Milton, board president, abstained.
Milton declined to answer questions about why the board decided not to extend Brown’s contract, which remains intact for 2021-2022.
In a written statement Monday, Brown said: “The board president, Mrs. Samantha Milton, made me aware after a special called board meeting today that my three-year contract would not be extended after June 30, 2022.
“I was given the option to submit a letter of resignation; however, I refused to do so at the time.
“I was not provided with a reason regarding this decision for a non-contract extension. However, I will continue to do what is best for the children in this district up until the end of my contract next year. I look forward to continuing to lead the district in a positive direction.”
Board member Magdalene Abraham, who voted with the majority, would not respond to questions about what led to the decision or what will happen next, saying Milton speaks for the board. Board members Kalanya Moore and Jackie Cooper-Lewis also voted to not to hire Brown again.
Milton explained that the board chose to make the decision at this time so that “we could start a superintendent search and she could start looking, too.”
Brown was hired as superintendent in February 2019 and is the first superintendent of the consolidated district, which was formed that year. Her three-year contract provides for a salary of not less than $150,000 a year. She had served as curriculum director for the now-defunct Greenwood Public School District.
Brown’s 16-year career at Leflore County and Greenwood schools was interrupted in October 2014. Dr. Montrell Greene, who was the Greenwood district’s superintendent then, fired her after she claimed during a radio interview that he had bullied and harassed her and other district employees.
Greene claimed she was insubordinate and in violation of district policies. She protested, and hearings dragged on for more than a year before the two sides settled and Brown was hired back as curriculum director. By that time, the board had fired Greene.
- Contact Susan Montgomery at 581-7241 or smontgomery@gwcommonwealth.com.
