Judy Couey knows a school superintendent serves at the whim of the school board, but she contends she was treated unfairly in the process that saw her out the door in April.
“Superintendent can be dismissed for any reason,” Couey said. “It is like an at-will position.”
But when she was called on the carpet in April, Couey said she did not even know what she was being accused of.
Information has surfaced indicating Couey did not follow policy in her use of a school vehicle on a March trip to New Orleans for professional development.
“You don”t remove a sitting superintendent for that,” she said. “Normally under a situation like that, a board member or president comes and says policy and practice does not seem to be aligned here,” she said.
She said she thinks the board was given information to make her look bad.
“People ask me what I did, and when I say I honestly do not know, I honestly do not know,” she said.
She said she did not have the benefit of due process. This would have given her a hearing before the board or a hearing officer and allowed her to hear charges against her and know who was bringing them.
“I was told by (school board attorney) Dalton (McAlpin) that it would be a 5-0 vote,” Couey said, although later she learned that would not have been the case.
Couey was encouraged to get an attorney, and she did hire former Mississippi Gov. Ronnie Musgrove, but was not told what she needed to defend herself against.
“I think it was deliberate, well-thought out,” Couey said. “Me not knowing what I had done didn”t leave me many courses of action.”
She would have been arrested had she done something illegal. Couey chose to settle with the board rather than risk being terminated and losing not only the three years left in her contract but also the rest of the current year”s salary.
“I was between a rock and a hard place,” she said. “You don”t want a termination at that point … Rather than risk it, I entered negotiations to resign.”
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 43 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.