School board member Holland Powell said the proposed contract with the three benefits was “not equitable to this school system.”

Powell said he believes Jefferson is the right person for the job, but considering the schools finances, which could see state monies cut another 7 percent in January through pro-ration, the benefits did not seem feasible.

School board member Brenda Randolph-Obomanu, an educator, said she wanted to be fair, but teachers are buying their own classroom supplies, pay for their own life insurance policies and do not receive annuities.

“Dr. Jefferson is getting $800 extra a month for travel. We know the likelihood of using that amount is slim,” she said.

Only Udo Ufomadu voted against the revised compensation package. He wanted to withdraw the disability policies, but said Jefferson needed the life insurance policy and the annuity. Ufomadu said superintendents suffer extra stress because of their positions, and the annuity would “help him move on down the road” if needed.

Although school board president Henry Hicks Sr. voted with the majority, he bristled at the beginning of the meeting, chastising whomever leaked a copy of the proposed contract to The Selma Times-Journal the day before the meeting.

Hicks said the board needed to discuss these things before the public became aware of them. Hicks claimed the numbers that appeared in the newspaper Thursday in an editorial were incorrect. However, as Campbell discussed them, the same numbers were used as appeared in the editorial.

Hicks said, “those numbers were a work in progress; that’s what we were working with.”

Hicks added the body needs some policies to prevent school board members from speaking publicly as representatives of the board. Hicks said all the classes he had attended on being a board member stressed the superintendent and the school board president speak for the board.

“In this community, some of the simplest things can be the hardest to do,” he said.

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