Williamsburg County board holds self-assessment workshop focused on trust, governance and possible school closures

Gwen Hampton, director of leadership development with the South School Boards Association, led a half-day board self-assessment workshop for the Williamsburg County School District on June 6, guiding trustees through exercises to identify priorities and governance practices.

Hampton opened the session by asking members to consider "How do you lead when you're not in charge?" and to complete a rapid introductions exercise that asked each member to state their service length, expectations and a colleague they enjoy working with. Trustees who spoke during the session included Mac Burgers, Kenneth (Dr.) Burgess, Austin, Carlo Israel, Jerry Dix, Gary, Janice G. and Jennifer, who described goals such as strengthening the board, supporting the superintendent and centering students' needs.

The facilitator stressed core governance roles: the board selects and evaluates the superintendent, adopts policy (the transcript repeatedly referenced "Section B" as the board policy section), approves the budget and should avoid directing staff. "You have an opportunity to lead without authority," Hampton said, urging members to support the superintendent while holding that office accountable through board processes.

Members used a red/green/yellow dot exercise to prioritize topics for group work. The groups' top concerns, reported back to the full assembly, were trust, the potential closure of schools and keeping politics out of district decision-making. On trust, groups cited "failure to follow our own policies," inconsistent communication and meeting in small private groups as causes of distrust; proposed remedies included consistent policy administration, clearer communication and accountability.

On school closures, trustees raised concrete operational concerns: the effect on students' academics and morale, increased transportation distances (commenters mentioned the Hemingway community) and limits on extracurricular participation if students must travel further. Proposed actions included greater transparency with the public, community forums and gathering transfer/enrollment data to inform any closure consideration.

Multiple speakers warned against using social media as the primary source of information. "Don't let social media drag you into the energy of social media," one facilitator remark read, and members agreed that unofficial channels can distort the sequence of events and complicate governance.

Several members recommended training and workshops to strengthen board practice; Hampton encouraged trustees to attend conferences and to keep the focus on student achievement. "Trust is easy to destroy and hard to repair," she said, calling for consistent, ethical conduct and public-facing transparency.

Superintendent Dr. Moore closed by thanking the facilitator and the board. Quoting Martin Luther King Jr., Moore said, "The function of leadership is to create more leaders and not more followers," and urged the board to continue the "moving forward together" theme as it implements any follow-up steps from the assessment.

The session produced a set of next steps the board can act on: follow existing policies (including the school-visit guidance referenced in the session), collect enrollment and transfer data, hold community meetings on potential closure proposals, and complete further training to reinforce governance practices. The board also scheduled a meet-and-greet with the superintendent for June 11 and agreed to suspend a previously planned June 9 work session by voice vote.