Schools governance policy introduces “too much politics,” says board member

The Horry County Board of Education on Monday passed three new board governance policies, with one dissenting vote.

One governance policy mandates that the facilities committee chairman appoint five board members from the facilities commission to “any 10-member selection committee involved in decisions concerning the construction of new facilities.” Board members who are not members of the facilities committee may also serve if needed.

When the district solicits bids for contracts, bidders are vetted through selection committees before the contract goes before the board for final approval.

The measure passed, with John Poston of District 8 casting the lone “no” vote.

“I think it introduces too much politics in the process,” said Poston. “It’s a five and five, and I don’t like the ratio. I don’t object to board participation in assessment and selection committees. I think a five and five is kind of an awkward situation. It has the risk of being too political.”

Poston said facility department staff have an “accountability” in how they select which companies are awarded contracts, while board members are not experts in vetting the bidders.

“Staff have an accountability for how they take on the procurement process,” said Poston. “My fear is board members, since they’re not full-time employees that don’t have time to dig into procurement codes, they tend to make their decisions more political as elected officials. That’s the nature of the beast.”

Poston gave a hypothetical example of hiring bus drivers, although the new policy only applies to new construction.

“We have people who do a great job, they can check CDL credentials, they can take a skills test with them, they can check their temperament, they can check a lot of different things,” he said. “All I can do is say ‘looks pretty good to me.’ But that’s an unqualified opinion. Therefore, what could influence whether I hire a bus driver? Well, somebody calls and says ‘hey, my brother-in law is applying for a position as a bus driver.’ That’s the kind of conversation board members get, unless you want to take on a different role as a procurement officer.”

But Horry County School Board Chairman Joe DeFeo has said that staffers are also subject to outside influences, and said the board needs to be more involved in making decisions.

“The purpose is to be a lot more like some other school districts where the board gets more involved in the building of the programs, and we have checks where the public has an input through the board and their elected officials, but at the same time we use the opinion and the expertise of some of the people in facilities,” said DeFeo, claiming that staffers are not held accountable by the media, while board member are.

“We need to take ownership of what happens at least to a degree,” he said.

Two other governance policies passed unanimously.

One gives the chairman of the facilities committee the power to appoint a board member from the facilities committee to selection committees involved in “major construction” projects other than new facilities construction with a budget of more than $4 million. Board members who are not on the facilities committee are also eligible to serve.

The final policy approved by the board will ensure that “audio/video” recording are made of executive session discussions by selection committees concerning facilities and capital improvements projects. The recordings can be made available to the public after the procurement process is complete, and confidential information will be redacted as permitted by law.

This story was originally published December 13, 2016 at 1:16 PM with the headline "Schools governance policy introduces “too much politics,” says board member."