The termination hearing for former Greenwood School District administrator Mary Brown resumed Friday morning, meeting for the first time since May.
The hearing began with the continued testimony of former Personnel Director Willie Young Jr., who spent more than a decade with the district before his position was eliminated in June 2014.
Brown, former assistant superintendent for curriculum, was fired by Superintendent Montrell Greene in October 2014 for alleged insubordination and violation of district policies.
In a half-hour interview with Greenwood talk show host Lee Hall, recorded shortly after her termination and subsequently broadcast online and on the radio, Brown claimed Greene had harassed and intimidated her.
Brown has maintained that Greene fired her in retaliation for her criticisms of him, including testimony she gave during the non-renewal hearing of Percy Powell, former principal of Greenwood High School. Greene has denied these claims.
Lisa Ross, Brown’s attorney, has argued that her client’s termination constituted a violation of her First Amendment rights.
Young, who began his testimony at the hearing’s last meeting in May, spent three hours under examination before being released from the stand for medical reasons. The hearing was adjourned at 3:30 p.m.
Young is expected to resume his testimony at the hearing’s next meeting. No date has been set, but Ross confirmed that it will not be until the new year.
Young said that under Greene’s administration, district personnel have been largely excluded from hiring decisions. He also testified that district employees no longer have an effective means for bringing complaints against the superintendent.
The normal method for voicing such complaints is for employees to bring their concerns to the school board, although Young said the board is “not much help” anymore.
Hearing Officer Luke Schissel ordered the hearing into closed session after Carlos Palmer, attorney for the district, objected to Ross asking Young if he had ever witnessed any harassment or bullying of district personnel by administrators.
Schissel has repeatedly excluded the public from the hearing, citing a Mississippi statute allowing the hearing officer to move the hearing to closed session if it “deals with matters involving the reputation of another person.”
After Young was released, former assistant to the superintendent Shaunteria Flowers took the stand to testify on Brown’s behalf.
Flowers stated that under Greene’s administration she had been both a victim of and a witness to bullying and harassment. She said her loyalty to the district was repeatedly questioned.
Flowers’ testimony drew an immediate objection from Palmer, at which point the hearing was moved into closed session for over an hour.
•Contact Nick Rogers at 581-7235 or nrogers@gwcommonwealth.com.
